Austin Landscape and Trees

I will go on record that this individual should never be hired for any job doing anything. He was all "aw shucks ma'am" and sweet as pie when my 89 year old mother called him for tree trimming and resodding of her backyard. I had instructed my mother to call me when he came to her home (my niece was with her) so I could approve his quote, etc. Boy was I suckered by his "just folks" approach. He quoted us 1800 dollars to clear her overgrown backyard and trim some of her trees and lay sod in the backyard. He stated that he would accept payment after he had completed the job to our satisfaction. My niece was present as a witness. We approved the quote and he started the work a few days later. Yesterday my mother called him regarding completing the work and he told her he needed 1000 dollars to purchase sod. I came by her home to check on the progress of the work and she infiormed me of his request for the money to purchase sod. What sent up a red flag was I had recalled his statement that he wanted payment after job completion. I then went outside to check the work he and his crew had done in the back. I saw that the gate to my mom's backyard was wide open and I attempted to close it and realized it was off the hinges. I informed my mother and she said she knew nothing of the gate being open or broken. My niece was present and confirmed that. I called Mr. Horrigan and left a voicemail asking about the gate and also told him I decided to have someone else lay the sod. He later called back and vehemently denied that his crew had broken the gate. I said I couldn't imagine how else it could have happened as my 89 year old mother certainly couldn't have done it. Mr. Horrigan became extremely belligerent and loud, yelling over me and using the "F" word. My niece was in the room and could here him over the phone. He kept screaming that we owed him 1200 dollars for sending his crews out to clear her backyard and threatening legal action if we didn't pay him and he said if we didn't pay him he would send his crew with the truck and dump the cut limbs and branches on my mother's front yard. I calmly informed him that it was not our intent not to pay him for the work that had been completed but I questioned the 1200 dollar amount since the original quote had been for 1800 dollars and he had asked for 1000 dollars to do the sod. So if my math is correct that would mean we owed him 800 dollars since we had declined for him to do any further work and he had not been given money to purchase the sod (1000 dollars). He continued to argue and I told him 800 dollars was what I would pay and that he could come pick up a check. He screamed "I'm halfway across town! I don't want you to give me the money you can have your mother give me the money!!!" He later texted me and snidely requested we send him 800 dollars overnight. I texted him back that we would send him a cashiers check via the mail. In the meantime he had left a voicemail as well stating that he would have fired his crew had he known what happened but after all there was a lot of mud up against the gate so that is why it broke (basically admitting his crew broke it) and he didn't know why I was upset over what amounted to a "10 minute fix". Well, if they broke the gate why did neither he nor his crew take ten minutes to fix it. In addition, why did no one inform me it my mother if the broken gate bust just left the property and the gate wide open? Had he simply behaved in a professional manner in the first place ( honor his verbal agreement) and simply said he would take care of the fence and not later sent texts threatening to sue and calling me names and generally being the most unprofessional person I have ever had to deal with. I actually called the police so I would have it on record that he had been aggressive and incredibly rude over the phone and threatened to dump debris on her lawn and so we would have some defense should he decide to retaliate against my mother or myself. This guy has a powder keg temper and I would never in a million years recommend he step foot on anyone's property for any reason. Do not hire this person! He is a scary guy.