Sprinkler Contractor Fraud
 

I am embarrassed to report that I was defrauded by a sprinkler company, Arrow Lawn Services (not to be confused with Arrow Landscaping) run by Sean and Stephanie Fletcher. I should have known better and want to warn the community if Sean is still out there soliciting work. We bought a house, have not moved in yet and were in town in May for a few days to get work done, including getting a poorly maintained sprinkler system fixed. Sean came, evaluated the issues and said he needed to get parts because the system was in such disrepair (it was). Because I was leaving town the next morning and wanted a fairly expensive Wi-Fi controller installed, Sean asked for payment and prepared a very detailed, itemized invoice. Because he got decent google reviews and seemed very professional in his invoicing and explanation of the issues, I wrote a check for almost $1,700 and he was to return in a week. Needless to say, he never returned, and will not respond to voicemail messages, texts and emails. We went to the business address in Umatilla, only to find an abandoned home. Be careful and do what I did not do, do not pay in advance. Give a neighbor a check to hand to the contractor when he is done.

Pay with a credit card. You can contest payment with the credit company if the service/product is substandard or not provided. If a contractor won't accept a credit card payment, find another contractor.

Consider it your initiation to The Villages.
Never pay in advance.
Sorry you got taken.

Did you contact your bank about the check, you may still be able to stop payment.

Check written May , he probably cashed it on the way home………

I would NEVER write/pay/send any personal check for any reason.
Cash or Credit card only for me.

My landscaper, being a small business will not take credit cards, I pay him by the quarter. so every three months, I go to Chase bank and get a cashiers check worth 3 months payment and send it to him.
Easy Peesy

Why not personal checks?

Thank you for sharing this. A good reminder for us all. I'm sorry it happened!

Keep trying to get justice. People who choose to be scumbags need to be exposed and pay for their evil ways.

MichelG....you would pay in cash?? BIG MISTAKE!!!!

They registered that business a year ago, and the year before registered a shell massage parlor.

FLETCHER, STEPHANIE | Florida Company Directory

If you have not done so already, you need to file a police report. You may not get your money back but at least you may stop these people from doing the same thing to other people.

Seniors vs Crime in The Villages Seniors vs crime may help you.

Probably had friends write the glowing reviews. Sorry to hear your troubles.

Police warn: 'Do not use outdoor blue Post Office bins'

so this is why there are USPS mail issues:

check washing. . .

you need to use certain types of pens to prevent the use of personal checks to prevent it if your mail gets stolen. .

The reasons here can happen within the post offices as well, or from truck heists, etc. .

This is why i use electronic payments from my on line bank account wherever possible, I still have unused check books from the 2000, and I don't need waste time going to the bank, because I have better activities to do during the day than stand in line at a bank.

I won't be judgmental about who is doing this, but they are people who lack respect for the US systems . . .