Home Improvement June 18, 2024

Scam Type

Home Improvement Scam

Business Name Used

Unavailable

Date Reported

June 18, 2024

Postal Code

65714

Total Dollars Lost

$ 5000

Scam Description

****** ***** and one of his brothers with a crew were going door to door seeking work in my neighborhood. Joseph presented a card that stated TJ’s Tree Service, licensed & insured, with a phone number of 417-824-2844. There was no address, nor his name on the card. I asked him his name and he told me Joseph Jones. I hired him and his crew to till, reseed our lawn, put down straw, and roll the lawn, and weed and feed the lawn. They did all but roll the lawn and the weed and feed. I paid them $5000.00 and made the check out to ****** ******  They promised several times to return in 2 weeks to roll the lawn and weed and feed. After 2 weeks, I called them and was told that they would be out on that Friday, the 26th. It rained on the 26th, then I called them to see when they might be coming out on a later date. Joesph stated that they would be out on Monday, the 29th. I called Joseph on the 29th and he said that his dad, Calvin Jones, would be coming out to check the lawn to see if it was still too wet to roll. He never showed. I called 6 times on the 1st of May and got no answer. I left a message for Joseph stating that we will be on a trip next week and I will call one more time. By May 1st, Joseph was refusing to take my calls and it got to the point that I was not able to leave a message on his phone.
I went online and found articles about Calvin Jones and his sons. I found an article about them on Dec.14, 2021 from Springfield Business Journal/BBB, one from KYS on May 7, 2020 – all with service complaints. At the time of these complaints the name of their company was “C&J Tree Service. They have changed their names several times. They go door to door seeking work and when they get the work, they don’t necessarily finish it. This is a family of scammers with Calvin Jones being the dad and his sons, Joseph, Tyler, and I believe Ron and sometimes other males, along with an elderly woman help with some of the work, but the check is written to Calvin Jones and he tends to cash it within 30 minutes of leaving the job. In my case, Calvin was not present, but his sons and the elderly woman was present to help with the work.
I reached out to KY3, speaking to Ashley Reynolds, and my news story was broadcasted on Thursday, June 13th at 5:00 and at 6:00. I am currently informing BBB, and I am also sending information to the Attorney General.
If there is any other thing that I can do to help stop them from continuing scamming others, please let me know. I was told that they have been at this for over 10 years.
NOTE: The address of the scammer that was given – **** ** ********* **** ************ ** *****- was not listed on the card that ****** ***** gave. I researched Calvin Jones online and found this address for him.

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