A North Miami Beach couple said a landscaper took off with their money without finishing the work. They couldn\u2019t get an answer or their money back. Courtney Allen has this 7Investigates.<\/p>\n
What started as a simple landscaping job\u2026<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cHe\u2019s good, he\u2019s smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Left this North Miami Beach homeowner not only in the weeds\u2026<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cThe yard looked like crap at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
But out thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cNever saw him again.\u201d<\/p>\n
When DJ Gentile and his wife decided to spruce up their yard, they found a man looking for work on a social media app.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cMet with him, obviously, got his drivers license, and then at that point, we waited for a quote from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gentiles say the man told them he recently moved from near St. Petersburg to Miami for a fresh start.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cHis story was they got devastated when a hurricane came through there, everything got flooded so it killed everything, he had no work, nobody was worried about their landscaping, everybody was worried about rebuilding their homes. Sounded legit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gentiles agreed to pay him $2,850 to trim all trees, haul away debris and more.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cHe came that first day, did the cleanup, did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
DJ gave the man $850 to start and says at first, everything was going smoothly.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cNext day he shows up, nice and early. He gets to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
After two days, DJ says the man asked for the rest of the money, $2,000 to buy supplies and finish the work.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cHe says, \u2018I need that money, send it to my wife again,\u2019 and my wife did.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he didn\u2019t show up the next day, DJ\u2019s wife sent him a text.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cHe said \u2018We\u2019re gonna be a little late.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Text messages show the man wrote, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, having vehicle problems, but I\u2019ll get it handled as fast as possible and get straight to your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
As time passed, DJ\u2019s wife started to worry, texting the man, \u201cI\u2019m starting to freak out honestly,\u201d but he assured her, \u201cThere\u2019s no reason to, I\u2019m very good at what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
They never saw him again.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cHad no reason to believe that he was going to, you know, do that to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
They filed a complaint with the North Miami Beach Police Department, but were told this was a civil matter.<\/p>\n
We called and texted the man to ask about the allegations that he took the Gentile\u2019s money without finishing the work.<\/p>\n
His voicemail was full and he didn\u2019t respond to our text.<\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cIt\u2019s disheartening, maybe it\u2019ll change our outlook on you know, hiring the little guy which is unfortunate because I was the little guy at one point.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gentiles eventually bought the supplies they needed and finished the job themselves.<\/p>\n
Their warning? Buyer beware. <\/p>\n
DJ Gentile: \u201cMy hope is that somebody else sees this, that maybe he\u2019s trying to scam.\u201d<\/p>\n
Especially when hiring someone you find online.<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s company is listed as \u201cactive\u201d on Sunbiz. We reached out to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation to ask about whether they were aware of any of this, but we have not heard back.<\/p>\n
Courtney Allen, 7News.<\/p>\n