Affordable five star handyman LLC

Alejandro – Oct 28, 2020

Scammer’s phone 575-650-0252 / 575-202-6614

Scammer’s website www.fivestarhandymanservices.com

Scammer’s address Las Cruces, NM

Country United States

Type of a scam Employment

Initial means of contact Not applicable

I hired Joe DiPascuale to do some home renovations for me. He had allegedly just moved to Las Cruces NM and was looking for work, and he was referred to me by my mother who lived in the same complex as Joe and his wife. Joe came over and gave me an estimate for $4000, and asked for half up front. He claimed to be licensed, and has yet to prove that. He boasted about work he had done in Los Angeles for celebrities, and even showed me some local work he had done for The Bean Cafe. He also talked about how he went to Florida to help rebuild after the destruction caused by hurricanes years ago. He seemed honest and legitimate. I had no reason to doubt him except for one commend he made saying “You know I’m good for the work, because your mom knows where I live.”

His paperwork says “Five Star Handyman” is his company name, though the website phone number and number on his card doesn’t work, and all the links on the website are broken. I imagine it’s not a registered company, but I am going to investigate that further.

I paid him the $2000 cash the day he gave the quote and he kept saying how quickly he would get it done. He seemed to be over ambitious about how much he could get done in the amount of time he claimed he would have it done. He said he would have the whole living room done in two days. He was flaky right from the start, promising to be here by morning and arriving by 1pm or not at all. Two days ago he asked for more of the money, and admitted that he had “no money”, even though I just gave him the $2000 last week. He gave us a story about how his truck and wallet had been stolen in Florida, and has yet to get a new license in the 5+ months he has really been here. He has photos and a scanned copy of the license. It’s a South Carolina issued license. Somehow he has managed to get a loan from a local lender with the scanned copy of his license, and he asked ME to deposit it for him, which I declined.

As far as work initiated, he has cut out some of the drywall, but barely got anything done last time he was here, nailing up pieces of wood to look busy. He is supposed to redo the archway in the living room and add cabinets at the bottom, but now he won’t show up at all or communicate. I have caught him in multiple lies too and his stories jump around or do not add up.

I called someone he did work for previously to see how he was with them and he said that Joe is a scammer and jumps from town to town, state to state doing this same thing to people. Joe over promises and DOES NOT DELIVER.

Danny –

Victim Location 80922

Total money lost $3,400

Type of a scam Home Improvement

This contractor goes by Joe he asked for the money in advance in order for me to receive the deal on the materials that were being ordered the materials never came he then also started painting my house and left it half painted. I paid him half and he came and painted half and asked for more money stating his spray paint machine was stolen and needed to purchase another one. He skipped town and is now avoiding my calls and texts.

Charlotte –

What state and city did this happen