[Tommy]

This story sounds very familiar to me. I paid money to an engine builder with a long, strong reputation. It was only after deadlines were missed and lies were told that I discovered he had quietly sold his business (with his name on it) to an unskilled buyer. Two years and many angry customers later the business was failing under the new owner, and he could not make the monthly payments he owed the original owner. So the original owner reclaimed his business. When I complained to the original / now again owner about my losses, he denied responsibility because it was under the other guy. My loss was not enough to warrant legal action, but I consider the original seller complicit in the action that deceived and ultimately defrauded customers. Plainly I would not have purchased from an untested owner, and the original owner would not have been paid as much for his business had he openly acknowledged the sale.

That is why past reputation is not nearly the whole story when selecting a vendor.