I hate to say it - but this one happened to my own mother!
Mom found a landscaper after visiting his nursery. Having an existing business, Mom figured this guy was legit. He came and looked at the property with grandiose ideas of a pond, a vineyard, a family orchard - a whole new shangra la!
Twenty grand for the whole project!
Knowing something was up, I asked to see the plan.
"Well he has a drawing and I'll get a copy of it," she said, having given him ten thousand dollars to start the job.
After a few improperly installed irrigation lines and dropping off about 20 plants (at about a $9.95 value each) which my Mom planted, he asked for the second $10,000.
By this time Mom got wise and refused. Needless to say he never showed up again and when he was summoned to court at small claims - he showed the judge pictures of work that we had done claiming it was his own!
Moral of the story -
Get it in writing - a full description of the work!
Get a plan - a scale plan with all the details noted!
Pay only a minimal deposit - wait for results before shelling out money!
Check for a valid contractor's license - a lot of landscapers don't have them.
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