Portland Timbers odd new sponsor

By William MacKenzie,

Enron and Blackwater aren’t available. Maybe that’s why the Portland Timbers have teamed up with home improvement contractor DaBella as their new kit sponsor.

It used to be that sports teams linked up only with highly regarded businesses that would enhance their mutual reputations, not tarnish them. Apparently, the Timbers, Portland’s much-loved professional soccer team, don’t care.

The Portland Timbers announced a new multi-year jersey rights partnership with Hillsboro, OR-based^[1] DaBella on Nov. 15, 2023. The arrangement meant DaBella would be featured prominently on the Timbers’ home, away and specialty game kits and club apparel.

The team will kick off its preseason wearing the new DaBella jerseys on Feb. 10 at the 2024 Coachella Valley Invitational in Indio, California, helping spread awareness of the company to enthusiastic soccer fans.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the Timbers deal with DaBella came together after DaBella officials, including Donnie McMillan, Jr., president of DaBella Exteriors, and DaBella CMO Bastian Cowsert, and  Timbers officials, including owner Merritt Paulson, CEO Heather Davis and CRO Joe Cote, met at Providence Park in July 2023.

DaBella saw the value of teaming up with a respected professional soccer team. “Brand matters in our category; the majority of our customers are putting on a roof once,” Cowsert told the Sports Business Journal. ”So having brand equity translates to a commitment in quality and customer satisfaction.”

DaBella’s reputation in the home improvement universe, however, suggests the company, which provides roofing, window, siding, and bath replacement services, is far from an admired leader with “a commitment in quality and customer satisfaction”.

Do a little research, including of some major media, and you’ll find questions about McMillan and a previous business, a stream of negative reviews of DaBella’s business practices, and concerns about the company’s ethical lapses.

From 12/21/2009 to 03/23/2011, a Donnie McMillan, Jr. was connected with a brokerage firm, Chase Investment Services Corp of New York, NY, in the business of buying and selling securities.

According to The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which acts as a self-regulatory organization that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets, McMillan’s suspension as a broker was sought on October 1, 2012 and finalized on Jan. 4, 2013. On that date, he was permanently “barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity” after failing to respond to FINRA requests for information relating to his employment.

In March 2010, when McMillan was president of a Mukilteo, WA-based window replacement company, Penguin Windows, the company reached a settlement with the Washington Attorney General’s Office over a complaint made against it by the state’s chief legal office.

That complaint alleged the company misrepresented its products, making false claims about the energy savings customers would achieve and misleading consumers into thinking that the in-home appointments they set up with Penguin were something other than sales calls.

Penguin subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal bankruptcy court in Seattle, WA on Feb. 25, 2011. The company, which was legally incorporated as Statewide Inc., shuttered later that year.

McMillan founded DaBella in Oregon that same year.

The company, which has since expanded to 46 locations across 17 states, has accumulated a massive stream of negative customer reviews on a wide variety of sites since then.

Yelp

2023 :  “If I could give zero stars I would… They will not stop calling and coming to my door PUSHING their “free roof estimate” BS… They take advantage of the kindness of people who don’t want to push them away and be rude but I’ve had ENOUGH.”

2022: “This outfit is the most unprofessional, unqualified construction company in Oregon. Check their record with OCCB (Oregon Construction Contractors Board)…Their customer service is abysmal and the work that was done on our house had zero supervision while it was being completed…Do not trust this company. They are deceitful and you will end up worse off than when you started. ..Oregon homeowners should be protected from dishonest, predatory businesses like this one…just look up their contractors license (194160) and read how many complaints they continually receive. It’s horrendous and Oregon homeowners should be protected from dishonest, predatory businesses like this one.

Pissedconsumer.com

Recent comments: “Do not let these people in your house!”, “Do not use this company”, “This is not a company I would trust. If they don’t respect you enough to return phone calls, give you a timeline, they won’t respect you enough to follow through and do a good job”, “Hire Dabella at your own risk. I recommend avoiding them completely.”, “Don’t bother with DaBella, they are a terrible company”.

Consumer Affairs

“Assume it’s 2x as bad as it sounds! Sales people LIED to me on timing. Told 6-8 weeks, took 16 weeks…they just dish the work out to local contractors, whoever is cheap! They send some ** contractors who didn’t have their own materials or tools needed who ripped off thousands of dollars of custom historical trim.”

Better Business Bureau

“DaBella agreed to knock $5,000 off initial price of $ $27,694 for new roof. When I received my first statement the $5300 was not deducted off my bill. I then again called ***** and he said he would talk to the finance department to take care of the deduction. I called him 5 more times within the next three weeks with no response or when he did answer phone he said he was working on it. Finally after three weeks he said there was nothing he could do because the job was done and loan was pushed through.”

DaBella President Donnie McMillan, Jr. has said the Timbers are “an organization that shares our core values”.

If so, that’s regrettable.

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^[1] In 2022, Connect Commercial Real Estate reported that DaBella had closed on the purchase of Anderson Tower, a 75,034 sq. ft. office building in Austin, Texas for its new corporate headquarters, leaving Hillsboro, Oregon behind. The move never occurred, though DaBella does have an office there.