Paradise Hardscapes is just one of Christopher Daily’s F-Rated companies, according to the Better Business Bureau.Photo: Paradise Hardscapes
What’s in a name? One Colorado landscaping company has encountered quite a few problems for having a name similar to a dishonest landscaper’s business.
Paradise Landscape Management, based in Greeley, has been in business since 1997 and employs 10 workers.
The company’s owner, Rob Scarzello, noticed that something was off around three weeks ago, according to CBS4.
Unbeknownst to him, the Better Business Bureau had sent out a warning about the company Paradise Hardscapes, based in Broomfield. In the past month alone, the BBB says, it has received 22 complaints against Paradise Hardscapes.
“Consumers claim they give (Christopher) Daily a deposit and the business does not return to start the work,” the BBB said in a news release. “Consumers also allege that when Daily’s business does start the work, they often times do not finish what they have started. In addition to uncompleted work, consumers claim that Daily’s workmanship is inferior and consumers will have to get another company to come out and redo Daily’s work.”
According to the BBB, Daily has used the aliases Chris Carter and Walter Pilgrim. He owns several “F-rated” businesses aside from Paradise Hardscapes, including Pristine Scapes, Abundant Turf Solutions, Douglas Landscaping and Concrete Inc.
After the BBB alert went out, Scarzello began to receive angry phone calls from customers Daily apparently had scammed out of thousands of dollars.
“People were calling me very upset (saying) we’re not showing up for work, taking money and not returning phone calls,” he said.
One person was so furious that he threatened to kill Scarzello.
“Every other word out of his mouth was an ‘F’ bomb,” Scarzello said. “I was trying to calm him down. He didn’t want any part of it – just wanted his money. He told me he Googled me, knew where my address was and was on his way.”
Scarzello called the police, who were able to calm the man down.
According to the FOX31 Denver Problem Solvers, Daily has several warrants out for his arrest and commonly targets elderly customers or ones with health issues who cannot do the yard work themselves.
“I don’t get it with him because you don’t treat customers that way,” Scarzello said.
Scarzello has spent close to 20 years working on building his company’s reputation and he depends on customer recommendations.
“It takes years to establish trust with people, your customers,” he said. “It takes minutes and seconds to destroy it.”
The BBB has made a note on Paradise Landscape Management’s page that it is not associated with Paradise Hardscapes in any manner. It also urges customers to do their homework and decline to pay until the job is done.
