BEWARE!
Lawn Care Scammers

I am still in the process of adding the video at the end. It is a large file and may need to cut it into 3 parts.

If you receive a card similar to the one in the picture, you may want to think twice before calling them. 

On May 14, 2025, the above card was left at my door. As you can see, the card says "We do all yard work for cheap." I am an older person with several health issues and haven't been able to keep up with all the yard work, so I called the number on the card. The person who answered said his name was Dustin (I could tell he was young, probably a teen). He said he and his sister Jamie were trying to raise money to go visit their grandmother in Illinois. I told him he could come and give me a quote if he wanted but that I am disabled and can't afford a lot so I didn't know if I would be able to hire him. He said he could come the next day to see what I needed and give me a quote. We agreed he would come around 4:30 the next day.

On May 15th at 3:03, Dustin sent me a text letting me know it would just be him coming because his sister was busy. I said I was back from the doctor, so he could come anytime. Dustin's mother brought him over and she obviously felt he was capable of giving a good quote since she stayed in the vehicle.  I showed him the three areas I needed cleaned up. One area was behind the carport right by the house, one was along the other side of the house and closer to the shed, and the third was around the shed and the complete fenced in area. I pointed out plants that I specifically didn't want cut down (like irises, lilies, hostas, etc. and he said no problem and that he knew weeds from regular plants. He said he has been doing lawn care for relatives and friends for a few years. I told him I didn't need the lawn mowed. I only needed weed eating, cutting brush and limbs, general yard cleanup, and getting rid of the ivy and anything on the fence. He said he could do all of it no problem and could also haul away the brush etc. as they have a burn pile at their house. I asked him what he would charge for all of it, and he said $70. Then he said if that was too high, we could negotiate. I said no, I would pay the $70. I again pointed to all three areas and said and that is for all three areas correct. He looked around again and said how about $75. I said okay, and he said he could start that night but some of his equipment was at a relatives so he would need to go get it first. While we were talking he seemed very ambitious, so I told him I could help him market his little business and build him a website and host it for no charge because I was excited to see a young person willing to work. He was very excited about the website. To be clear, the website was not part of the agreement for the yard work he was to do for the $75 and was something I wanted to do extra to help him. We went back to the vehicle, and in front of his mother, I shook his hand and said okay $75 and see you soon. He came back around 5:30 that night and said he couldn't get everything he needed, so I went and got my loppers for him to use. He also forgot gloves, so I lent him a pair. He started working a bit before 6 pm on the first area by the carport. Shortly after he wanted some water and to use the bathroom. Then went back out. At 6:39, he sent a text saying all his equipment was dead and that he would have to leave and come back the next day. See the texts below.

He called me that night and was very excited about the website and wanted to get started right away. I told him I was eating but could talk about it a little later. As you can see, he sent me a text at 8:04 checking to see if I was done eating.  He sent me a google drive document (see picture below). We discussed some details and he purchased a url. At that time, his sister was home, and I spoke with her on the phone as well. That night, I stayed up and created the website for him. The next day, he and his sister were very pleased with the site. Below his document is a video of the website. I told them they would need to supply pictures, testimonials, and any other content they wanted and I could switch out the ones I used.

That morning, I didn't see my loppers in the carport. I started looking for them and found them lying in the weeds in the first area. I was not happy and took a picture, then picked them up along with his empty water bottle and waited for him to return. The next time he came out, after only working a short time, he said he needed more money because it was a bigger job than he thought. He also said he only agreed to clear the fence line by the shed. I told him no that wasn't the agreement. I even showed him the picture and said, if that were true, why did you start in the area by the carport. Then he had his mother come over and she claimed he only agreed to do the fence line. She wasn't even with us when we discussed what would be done, so another lie. I explained that I couldn't afford anything more. I also pointed out the website I built was to help him earn more business, was already an added bonus above what we agreed and I was giving it to him for nothing and was even going to host it for 3 years no charge. She then said no one asked me to do the website and that I needed to pay him more. I said I can't and that was not the agreement. At that point, I reminded her that he set the price, not me and when he asked if I wanted to negotiate, I told him no, I would pay his quoted price. If he now feels he should have asked for more, that is not my fault, and he needs to keep his word. I told her I would take the site down and he needed to do what he agreed, but she said he would only do the fence line. I went in the house and got the $75 and gave it to his mother. I said I wouldn't give him any more and they needed to finish the job as originally agreed. By accepting the $75, I believed that meant they would stick to the original agreement. I went in my house and unpublished the website and sent Dustin and Jamie an email saying they needed to remove my nameservers from their url account. They left shortly after. After they left, I went out to look at what had been done, only to find that Dustin had completely taken out a large peony bush that wasn't even in any of the areas he was supposed to be working on. He also destroyed other plants like the hostas and irises too. (I found out days later that they also removed my rhubarb plants). See image.

As you can see above and also in the texts below, Jamie sent me a message asking why I took the site down. I explained what her mother said. 

May 20th, I get the following texts messages. First, Jamie lies and says she was there when he agreed to only doing the fence line. But then I called out her lie and even provided the picture of where he left the lopper the first night which was the area by the carport, proving he knew he agreed to doing all three areas, and she then admits she wasn't there when the agreement was made. 

That evening, Jamie came over with Dustin and I told her how upset I was that the plants had been destroyed. She apologized and said they would make things right. They got there at 4:45 pm. We talked for a bit and by the time they actually started working, they only worked for about 45 minutes, then picked up equipment and left a little before 6 pm. See the text messages that followed below. In that thread, Jamie did post a couple pictures of what they did, but I am including a walk around video below so you can see the property better, so I will not post those here.

As you can see in the messages, although they claimed several times they would be coming back out, they have not been here since May 21st, and it has now been a month since they agreed to do the work. As you can see in the following video, the work is far from being done. (Note: I misspoke the date in the video. This video is from June 10th, almost a month from when they were hired.

As you could also see in the above text messages, I have requested they return my money in full since they broke the verbal contract, did not complete the job, and destroyed plants that I now have the cost of replacing. It is now June 16th and I have not heard anything from them since they lied on May 31st and said they would be here sometime that week. They refuse to respond to me and are content with stealing my money and scamming me. To protect others from having this done to them, I have put up this site to warn you. Think twice before hiring Dustin and Jamie Barnes from the Independence, MO area. If you find their card on your door, save your money, time, and avoid frustration, and DO NOT CALL THEM.