Got Scammed

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Aug 20, 2004
Messages
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Yesterday, I was just coming in from working on the blacksmithing trailer. There was a knock at the door. A nice mid-20s young man said they were doing some landscaping work just up the street (I had seen the florist truck and two men and a woman working earlier) , and he noticed my Acuba plants by my Camellia bushes. He said they use them in foliage displays for weddings and such and would trim them back to about 4' high, thin them out, and reshape them for free. I had been planning on doing the same thing, so I told him if he wanted to trim them go ahead. I washed up (took about five minutes), and went out to see how they were doing. They had cut off all 5 of my 6-7' tall acuba about 6" above the ground and bundled it up and put it on the truck. They had taken the 10' tall Camellia bush and lopped it off about 5' above the ground. The one fellow was heading for my three other Camellia bushes. I told them to stop and asked what the He!! they thought they were doing. They said they were trimming back my plants like I told them to. I said that they had said they were going to thin and trim the plants ,not cut them off at the ground. I asked for a business card and the older man told the woman to get one from his wallet. I took the card and told them to stay where they were and not cut another thing. I went into the house to call the police and before I could dial they were gone.The card is for a New York based business that supplies greenery to florists.

Now, I know the acuba will sprout back up and be fine again in a year, and the Camellia will be OK with some shaping , but this really pi$$ed me off. There is really nothing that can be done to the people, since I gave them permission, and they said that I misunderstood what they were going to do.
I gave the card to the Police, in case they had any other reports and wanted to know who to look for.
Stacy
 
What you get for free is worth what you pay for it. Summertime is the season for scams -- landscaping, roofing, paving driveways -- they show up with a little extra blacktop yada yada yada. It's always a better deal to work with a local business you already know.

Letting the police know is a good idea, they can get a better picture of who's in the area doing what.
 
It's always a good idea to keep a shallow grave dug and have a bag of lime around just for these occasions
 
Yeh I had the same thing happen, they had asked about some Hydrangea flowers in my next door neighbors yard. they wanted it for pot purry . I told them to ask the neighbor and went back to work. The next thing i know the neighbor came out and asked what the heck happened to his plants. They had cut all the flowers off and left. Luckily he did not like the flowers anyway. Took 3 years to grow back right. One side point my next door neighbor was my Commanding Officer. Glad he did not get too upset could have been really uncomfortable.
 
Here in Bastidville they don't even ask.

I have a Hydrangea that I have babied for years. The plant is huge and when it blooms a traffic stopper. It would not fit in a large room if it was inside.

Until last year, I came home after work at it was cut to around 6".:mad:
At least I can say they were neat. They left nothing behind not even a leaf or stem.

They just clipped them towards the bottom and took 'em. :thumbdn:
 
i would check with flower shops and see if any were paid a visit by this couple selling your plants. you might get lucky and find out who they are or at least leave your info with the florist just in case they stop in. i would set up a video camera if you can, they might come back when you're gone.
 
Damn. That stinks. Very few states could you even defend your garden.

What low rent vile humans they were.
 
Sorry to hear that. I had a garden full of Kalo (taro) completely pulled out roots (corm) and all. Not a stitch left of any of the plants. The sense of trespass and violation is a bummer.
 
Mark Williams said:
Just kidding..........

maybe.
Click to expand...

you have to write that in just in case right :D:D

a base ball bat to the knee-caps works well too :D

a bunch of low lifes for sure.. but rest asured they will get caught one day, the more they do it the more chances they take and the more chance of getting caught.. it's just a matter of time for them.
 
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