ARVADA, Colo. -- Another homeowner has reached out to Contact7 to warn others about an artificial turf installer taking cash and not delivering.
Brenda Messingham first hired Jared Sposito in 2015, to install an artificial turf soccer field, on the west side of her property in Arvada's Northwood Acres subdivision.
Back then, his company was called "Greens with Envy."
She said she was satisfied with the result, so she hired him again last March, to dig up sod from the rest of her yard and replace it with the artificial turf from the soccer field, which was going to be dug up and turned into a swimming pool.
She said he told her his company was now called, "19th Greens."
She said she didn't give the name change a second thought.
Had she checked the new name online, she would have learned that it had been given an "F" rating by the Better Business Bureau.
She said Sposito took her money and left a mess.
Messingham told Contact7 she paid a 1/3 of the project's cost ($3,600) up front, and that all Sposito and his crew did was dig up sod and leave it piled in the yard.
The turf installer posted a picture of the project, with the torn up sod, on his company's Facebook page, with the hashtag #repeat customer, but he never finished the job.
"He always gave excuses about what going on," she said. "He was short staffed. He had other projects that he needed to finish."
She said she kept texting him, to find out when he was going to finish the work.
Messingham said Sposito showed up with two people the following week and did a little more work, but didn't remove any of the loosened sod.
"My biggest concern was my HOA," she said. "I had these big mounds of grass that were sitting back here that needed to be removed."
She said after Sposito continued to give her one excuse after another, she hired a second contractor to re-lay the artificial turf, essentially paying twice to get the work done.
"I had to get my own dumpster. I had to do a lot of the work myself because (Sposito) left me basically out of three grand," she said.
The Arvada homeowner took Sposito to small claims court, and although she won a judgment of more than four grand, she hasn't seen a dime.
"The most frustrating thing about it is I don't feel like the courts are there to help us," she said.
Brian Brandfas told Denver7 the same thing in October.
Brandfas, who helps foster dogs, hired Sposito to install artificial turf in his back yard, because his dogs were wearing out the regular grass.
He paid $2,400 up front.
"(Sposito) came by the house and picked (the payment,) told me that he was going to get the job going in the next few days...and never showed up," Brandfas said.
He too took Sposito to court, and won, but hasn't seen a cent.
Messingham said she probably won't either.
"At this point in time, it's not about the money," she said. "It's about making sure that Jared doesn't continue to do this to other people."
