AJ'S LANDSCAPE

I hired Arthur the owner of A'Js Lanscape on 12/13/2018 to do yard cleaning up, trash removal and weed elimination at my rental property. We negotiated a price of $250 for the work that needed done. He was to start the work the following day. He showed up late, which I didn't mind as much but I had to leave about 5 hrs into the job because I needed to be at my job xmas party. He said that he would be done with everything about an 1 hr later. I hesitated to pay him all of it because I have been taken advantage of in the past when doing so. I advised him if he can promise me he would finish it all and leave it looking nice I would pay him in advance. I even told him I have been taken advantage of in the past when paying someone in advance to complete a job and they never did. He promised he would! Low and behold when I returned the next morning to check, he left my yard a mess!! There was mud, dirt and debris all over the back patio and all up the door to the house, the front yard was not touched (he didn't do any of the work there) and he left a pile of leaves, trash etc all over the front yard walkway.... I live in an HOA community so Im glad I got there to remove it before they seen.... I text him to ask why he left it a mess and didn't finish the job and he text back and said "My Mom called and told me someone in my family passed away so I had to leave". If that was the case my condolences to his family but Im pretty sure that's a lie cause if true im sure he would have contacted me to say so! Needless to say he said "I will make it back later to take care of it". I have yet to hear back from him and its now over a week ago. I have since had to hire someone else to finish the job! Beware if you hire him not to pay him until the job is finished!