Shear Nature Landscape

Tim came to me on 4/12/13 stating that he had run across some hard times with his business.  He stated that if I paid up front for future lawn care services, he would give me a discount.  Being a small business owner myself, I know how things can get, so I decided I would help him out.  I ended up writing him a check for $500, in agreement with Tim that he would take care of my lawn through the end of the year.  He had agreed to return in a few days, and start the work that I had prepaid him for.  I have not heard for him or seen him since.  I had no reason not to trust him, as I had worked with him for over a year.  I have made multiple attempts to contact him, via phone/text.  I have definitely been scammed, and want to warn anyone that I can to prevent this from happening again.

I am writing this not as a customer but as the next door neighbor of a customer. First off, the crew trenched the yard for irrigation. They left the trenches, 8" wide x 12" deep, open for 3 weeks. There were no caution sings, tape or cones in place. There are small kids next door that ride their bikes on the sidewalk. This was very dangerous. The main issue I have is that a worker broke a window in my home with a rake.. The owner told my wife he would fix it. He looked at the window then gathered all his equipment  and left. She thought he was going to Lowes for glass. He never covered the pane and didn't come back. The next day my wife called him several times and got return phone calls. As of now, day 3, I have called him, still with no call backs. It stormed heavily the day after this incident and I had water coming in on the new flooring and paint that had been installed just months before.

Can't believe Tim Cole calls himself a real company.   We had used his services and had spent over $6,000 with him in landscaping.  He did a sprinkler system recently and what a disaster it was.  First, he wanted half up front which was no problem and said he would be at the jobsite "first thing in the morning" he appeared 4 days later late in the afternoon.  He claimed he had to order supplies.  What doesn't Depot have?!  Then he rushed through the job and called me for the balance of the payment.  He was so desperate that he demanded to come the restuarant where we were having dinner!  I told him no and he asked if he could wait at our house until we came back from dinner and again I said no that we wanted to check the work first and he could wait until tomorrow.  He reluctantly agreed and when my husband and I went to check out the work the entire backyard was dug up and it obvioulsly wasn't complete.  The next day he showed up and we checked the front but not the back.  We overpaid him by $30 bucks as he gave us a total and we didn't check it.  He rushed to the bank and cashed the check and when we went in the back yard the sprinkler system was not working at all and he didn't place a cover over the sprinkler system.  We tried him several times and he ignored our calls.  All I can say is what a  LOSER Tim Cole is.  I guess we will see him in small claims for a horrible job.  Don't use him, he's a con who wants fast cash and doesn't follow up with quality work.  
We got this referral from another Angie's List member who does excellent work but will not be named because it was not his fault.  He even tried to contact Tim but Tim had his money and with his smug and arrogant attitude just blew off everything figuring he had his cash and it didn't matter.  When the other person told him I was placing a review Tim Cole's response was "so, I don't get business from Angie's List anyway...."  well this review is posted on over 9 sites on the internet so I hope keeping our $30.00 and not finishing the job was worth it.  This guy is a poor excuse for a business owner and  doesn't know what customer service is or the power of the internet.