Georgia Yardworx Landscaping and Home Improvement

Work was never completed.

After obtaining 3 bids, we made a preliminary decision to use Georgia Yardworx for a MAJOR landscaping project at our home. (I did insist on references to contact and they were provided.) Upon obtaining satisfactory references, we decided to contract with Georgia Yardworx to complete our project. On 5/8/12, we paid a ?deposit? toward the 50% due (up front) on our contract and were told that the project should not take more than 8 weeks (depending on weather) to complete. Due to complications with our funding (because of an overseas spouse),we advised the contractor that we would need to delay the start of the project in order to have the funds ?on hand? to meet the terms of the contract, or we would need to set up a payment schedule. Payments were deemed to be acceptable and a mutually agreed upon payment schedule was set up on 5/23/12. Work began the week of 6/4/12 with the installation of a Roof Cricket. On 6/11/12, the landscaping work began and we were excited. By the end of June, we received an invoice from one of the sub-contractors for payment because he told us he had not been paid by Georgia Yardworx. I was assured by our contractor that the matter would be taken care of. On 7/20/12, I received another invoice in the mail from the same sub-contractor, again stating he had not been paid and that he would file a lien on my property. Time passed as work was sporadically started and completed in small increments. Finally, after having nothing but a dirt (and/or mud) yard for 50+ days, the first loads of sod were installed in the back yard on 8/8/12. The propane tank and exterior piping (still) had not been installed. I questioned the contractor about putting down the sod before the tank was in place and the piping buried in the ground and was told that ?they? would make sure the sod would not be destroyed with the installation of the propane tank and exterior piping. Since we were on a payment schedule, we tried not to make an issue of how long the entire project was taking to be complete, but when we did ask about completion, we were verbally assured that EVERYTHING would be done by the time we made our final scheduled payment. On 9/13/13, we cancelled the installation of the Solar Ridge Vent as the product never arrived at our home even though we were told it had been purchased, and different dates for installation had been scheduled (and rescheduled) since June. When I confronted the contractor and asked specifically if the vent had been purchased, the story changed to the vent was ?still back-ordered.? On 9/21/13, we made our final scheduled payment, even though the overall job was still not complete. Some small projects and lawn maintenance were sporadically completed in October, and then November passed with NO work completed. On 11/7/12, we were hand delivered notification from a materials supplier, that a lien would be filed on our property if they were not paid by Georgia Yardworx. We had to make repeated phone calls to the supplier to follow-up on the situation as we were (again) assured by Georgia Yardworx, that the invoice would be paid. We contacted the supplier again on 11/26/12, and was advised that payment had been received from Georgia Yardworx. My husband and I arranged a face-to-face meeting with the contractor on 11/28/12 and were assured the work would resume and be completed in December. In December, some lawn maintenance was completed, some irrigation repairs/adjustments were made, and boulders were finally installed as part of the landscaping, but again, the propane tank and exterior piping were never installed. On 12/28/12, we sent an email to the contractor asking for an explanation of why the propane tank and piping work had still not been completed. On 12/29/12, we received a response email that stated, ?we will be finishing the gas in the next week? (week ending 1/4/13). The contractor never arrived that week and we did not hear from him until a text message arrived six days later (1/4/13 at 2:05 p.m.) stating, ?I am scheduling the gas line for next week as we speak? please let me know.? We were so tired of getting the run-around and continued excuses, we sent an email to the contractor on 1/5/13 which demanded all outstanding work (and warranty) work be completed by 1/11/13 or we expected a refund of monies that had been paid for the uncompleted work, and gave the contractor until 1/31/13 to provide the funds. Multiple emails, text messages, and more excuses for more delays ensued. We refused to accept any more excuses after dealing with this company for 8 months. Needless to say, the work was not completed by the 1/11/13 deadline and on 1/31/13 we received written communication from the contractor stating what amount(s) would be refunded to us and when we would be paid. The contractor ended his email stating, ?At this point we are just interested in settling everything as soon as we possibly can and going forward.? The first ?refund? payment hand-delivered in our mailbox on 2/9/13 was a check that was not honored by the bank due to NSF (non-sufficient funds), and the second promised payment of 2/10/13, never arrived. After obtaining advice from legal counsel, on 2/16/13 we decided to pursue legal options and filed Statement of Claim with the Paulding County Magistrate (small claims) Court and will let legal system decide the outcome. UPDATE: Two Default Judgments were granted by the Judge in Paulding County Magistrate Court on 6/25/13, in the amount of $2852.15 as the defendant did not show up to the hearing. As of September 18, 2013, I was still waiting on payment for the judgments issued and sent another demand letter to the defendant requesting restitution. At that time, I also discovered that the "business" (Georgia Yardworx) had been shut-down and the owner was operating under another name, Envy Home and Garden. This is the third company name that I know of that Keith D. Southern has used for his landscaping company. On October 3, 2013, I received an invoice from a trenching sub-contractor in the mail. The sub-contractor was demanding payment of $350.00 from me for work Georgia Yardworx contracted him to complete on my property in June 2012, because he was never paid by Keith Southern. This was the third request from this sub-contractor. Hand-written messages on the invoice were progressively more angry which made me feel threatened, so I involved the local Sheriff's department. I personally know two other people that have been "victims" of this man and they are trying to recover over $25k in funds. I have also obtained information regarding additional sub-contractors that were never paid for services rendered for work completed (for Keith Southern) estimated at over $7000. I may never see a dime of the money owed to me, but in light of all the additional information I now know, I will be contacting legal counsel. Full Restitution was received May 1, 2017, to the satisfaction of both parties.