I need your advice ! (attorney, landscaping, purchase)

[gaucon1973]

Hi guys,

I hired this guy from Craiglist to replace the sod and he took my $500 deposit and never did the work .. What should I do ? I am thinking to take him to small claim court but I am not sure he will give back the money ..so it is gonna cost me more ! However I can not stand the fact that he will keep doing the same thing with other people.. Can I report him to the police? Are they going to do anything ? I have a copy of his driver license with an address he is no longer living there.. and an PO Box on his business card ..Is there anyway that I can find out his current address?

thanks

[AONE]

Absolutely file a police report. Make a record of this.

I suggest never give people the money until they are there doing the work. If they can't afford to have the supplies on hand to do their job you need to find a company that is more flush and not operation on a shoestring budget.

If you go to court you are eligible to recover the court costs filing fees, and interest on the money. It isn't hard to win the decision it is hard to collect the money. If he has another job you can garnish wages, but if he doesn't you have no real means to get anything., Its a poor system and you get little support from the courts.

Don't forget to look at the better business records on people you might do business with, also ask for references.

Best of luck with this.

[gaucon1973]

thanks for your advice, AONE

[beckycat]

That's horrible! I would report him so he doesn't continue to do this. Did you give him cash or a check?

We have a landscaping business and we do sod. If it's a big job, we do ask for half down. It's not that we can't afford to purchase the sod, it's for our safety to cover the sod in the event we don't get paid. I must say out of the 8 years we've been doing this we've never had a problem with getting paid. Knock on wood.

Sorry to hear this and I hope somehow you can recover your money. I know ppl will say it's CL, but it can happen anywhere.

[rholborn]

Pipl - People Search is a website you can use to look up people, it's quite helpful.

[Crane's Rooster]

You can report it to both law enforcement and the better business burea and also the Attorney General's consumer protection department.

He is likely liable both criminally and civilly. You may never see the money again but there is a likelihood he could be criminally punished.

[gaucon1973]

Originally Posted by beckycat

That's horrible! I would report him so he doesn't continue to do this. Did you give him cash or a check?

We have a landscaping business and we do sod. If it's a big job, we do ask for half down. It's not that we can't afford to purchase the sod, it's for our safety to cover the sod in the event we don't get paid. I must say out of the 8 years we've been doing this we've never had a problem with getting paid. Knock on wood.

Sorry to hear this and I hope somehow you can recover your money. I know ppl will say it's CL, but it can happen anywhere.

Becky, I gave him a check and he already cashed it.. btw, thanks you all for your advices.. I will do what you guys told me to do

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by gaucon1973

Becky, I gave him a check and he already cashed it.. btw, thanks you all for your advices.. I will do what you guys told me to do

Jerk! I just don't understand how ppl can do that. It's downright awful. I wonder how he sleeps at night.

[seain dublin]

Never ever give anyone here money in advance for work on your home. This is the land of crooks.

I can't tell you how many people I have run across in the two years we have been here that have the same exact story including my FIL.

Know someone else who foolishly paid in advance to have a website designed for their small company. They paid in advance and nothing ever got done. The guy always had some reason as to why he couldn't work on it.

This state is filled with dishonest people.

[seain dublin]

You also need to report that to Craigslist so they remove him.