GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Customers of landscaper Aron Calton's businesses have been reaching out to the 13 HELP TEAM since our initial story aired Wednesday night. We've also heard from landscapers who want to help finish any jobs that Calton didn't,
Cody Kooman contacted the HELP TEAM as well. He said he knows Aron Calton and is concerned that all the complaints against Calton can hurt the trust in the landscaping and snowplowing business as a whole.
"Not only are we helping the community with the work that needs to be done, we also have families of our own that need to be taken care of and with situations like this, if it starts damaging our businesses, that's also damaging our income for our families," said Kooman.
Kooman owns Custom Klean Power Washing in Coopersville. He and a team of landscapers met with the 13 HELP TEAM Wednesday afternoon, offering to complete the work that Aron Calton is accused of not doing, especially for those who may not have enough to cover the costs to pay another company.
"We have a lot of really good connections," said Kooman. "I know a lot of very good business owners that have in their heart to come out and help, and I think us as a group to show up at somebody's house to actually physically get something done, even free of charge. Honestly, we could probably make that happen."
Kooman came out with a list via Facebook about all of the companies that are partnering together to offer their help.
Dan Hanson said that on May 23 he paid Aron Calton's company, Lake Michigan Pool and Outdoor Services, $630 to have his grass mowed every other week over the summer.
He said Calton showed up twice and then disappeared. He said he finally had to do the job himself.
"He dug that concrete slab up because it ran from here to here," said Hanson.
The 13 HELP TEAM also spoke with Aron's brother, Ryan Calton.
Ryan sued Aron in court in 2022, winning a default judgement of just over $1,000.
Ryan hired Aron to do general landscaping work, but claims he never showed up after the second day of work.
"I kind of disowned him a long time ago, but I tried to rebuild in that relationship when we hired him to do this work and then he burned us that way," said Ryan.
Katie Grevious with the Better Business Bureau said they have gotten complaints too.
"In the specific case of Calton's Handyman Service, they have multiple unanswered complaints against them, which are on their profile that any consumer can see or read about," said Grevious. "That's why they have that letter grade, that's why they have that F Rating."
We also heard from Aron Calton himself.
He emailed the 13 ON YOUR SIDE newsroom to say that the statements made by customers were untrue and demanded we remove them from our website. We called him Wednesday morning asking for an interview. He told us we were defaming him and said he would contact a lawyer and then hung up. We then followed up with an email to him asking once again for interview. He simply said "see you in court," and then backed off that threat saying the publicity was good for him.
"It's finally coming to light where he's going to get caught," said Kooman. "He's going to get in trouble for it."
While some of the businesses that have partnered together often compete for the same contracts, Chad Tropea, who owns C & T Lawncare, said the effort is bigger than the competition.
"Any of these customers out there that have been affected by these, by this guy, that we're here to sit there and step forward, help out whatever we could do, you know, whatever they need," said Tropea. "We're here to help."
"Reach out to one of us, you know, make sure to do the vetting process," said Curtis Rasch, owner of All American Landscape Management. "You know, look us up on Google. Make sure people have, you know, nice reviews that look like they come from real people. You know, we're all more than welcome to help. We're excited to help."
As a company that has years of experience in landscaping and snow removal, Dan Sneller of Sneller Snow and Grounds said that when you're looking for a company to do work on your property, even if it's to fix work done by previous contractors, you should do your research.
"I recommend getting multiple proposals," said Sneller. "See what the options are. Different companies are going to have different strengths and different focus, so get to know the potential options. Check references, ask for recommendations, and I know it can be very tempting to go with the lowest price, but often the low bid is going to cost more in the long run; either in terms of frustrations or poor workmanship that needs to get fixed by someone else, or lost down payments."
The Michigan Attorney General's Office has received the BBB's investigation into Calton's Lawn Care and Landscaping. They told the 13 HELP TEAM that they're still looking into it, however, if customers have had similar experiences with Aron Calton, they can file a complaint on their website, or contact their local police department.