You contracted with the defendant to build you a greenhouse.
But it never happened.
I did start. I purchased supplies.
Why don't you have receipts for their work?
There was flash flooding warnings and my shop was underwater.
And then, the dog ate the receipts.
They know you're a liar. You're a scammer.
Any scammer who comes before Tribunal will lose.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
[Cassandra] Your Honor, this is case number 2051,
Azbill versus Frost A.
Your Honor, this is case number 2051B, Goldstein versus Frost.
- Thank you, Cassandra. - All parties have been sworn in.
You may be seated.
Okay. Let's see. This is a mini class action suit.
And a class action suit is a lawsuit being brought by individual plaintiffs
having nothing to do with one another
but they are alleging the same wrongdoing by the same defendant.
And basically what your position is, Mr. and Mrs. Azbill,
is that you contracted with the defendant to build you a greenhouse.
You got his information
from Facebook Marketplace, and it never happened.
That he made excuse after excuse and he hasn't returned
your $4,105 as promised.
Your position is they pulled the plug much too soon.
Had they not, you would've actually finished the project,
so you owe them nothing.
Let's start. The first time you saw him on Facebook Marketplace
was what date, do you know?
- The 30th of August, I believe. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
On that day, what did you do?
I reached out to him via Facebook Marketplace.
There's some small talk back and forth regarding my wish to have a greenhouse.
I spoke to him about it being kind of close to the house.
He could run plumbing.
He said he's a plumber too actually even.
And so I felt confident.
Mr. Frost, are you a plumber?
[David Frost] I have contractors.
[Judge DiMango] You can get contractors
- but you yourself... - Yes.
... are not personally a licensed plumber?
[David Frost] No, I am not a licensed plumber. No, ma'am.
- Okay. - The same thing I told the Goldsteins.
I have electricians that come in and plumbers.
How many people do work with you at your company?
Uh, currently I have one electrician,
one plumber, and then four laborers.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. So on the 31st,
he delivers you a contract and an estimate.
And you actually sent them some photographs
of what the structures would look like,
- is that correct? - [David Frost] Correct.
And we can show them up on the screen.
Now did you build these, sir?
- Are these your greenhouses? - [David Frost] Yes, ma'am. Yes.
The one, uh, leaning on the house, that's a lean-to.
And then, the one on the right, it's a post and beam
- but smaller of what they wanted. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
So now you sign the contract, you give him $4,105.
So when did you agree to begin with him?
- When did you... - [Jennifer] The weekend of the 9th.
Did you agree to do the work on the weekend of September 9th?
I said I'd like to try
and get the supplies because it takes a little while.
No, you didn't say that.
[Jennifer] No, there's a signed agreement.
- [Marshall] It's a signed contract. - You didn't say that, sir.
- I read the papers. - It says--it says to be determined.
- [Marshall] That one is not the contract. - [Jennifer] We actually
have a receipt that my husband wrote up
because we felt it would be appropriate.
Let's have the document that you have
that you say has the date because that's the letter that we read in our file.
That he signed and even offered his Social Security number at the time.
[Judge DiMango] Thanks, Cassandra.
Marshall Azbill of MGA Group hired Green Thumb Structures, that's you.
We have agreed to a start date the weekend
of 09/09/23 signed by you, correct?
Your Honor, I did start.
I purchased supplies.
That is starting the job.
- So you did start the job according to... - [David Frost] Yes, ma'am.
... you because you went out and made purchases.
Purchases of what for the--for that?
Uh, lumber and, uh, other supplies.
- Uh, I have pictures. - [Judge DiMango] You have those receipts?
- Excuse me? - I have pictures.
You have pictures of lumber.
- There they are up there. - [David Frost] Yeah.
And that's great. Is that your lawn, ma'am?
- [Marshall] No. - [Jennifer] No.
That's at my shop.
[Judge DiMango] Not at their home.
- Did they ever get to your home? - No, ma'am.
You don't have any pictures of any lumber in your yard?
- [Jennifer] No. - [Marshall] No.
Maybe it was the invisible greenhouse.
[laughs]
Anyway, he doesn't come on September 9th because I have all your emails.
I'm sorry I can't make it on September 9th
because I forgot what your reason was on that one.
[Jennifer] He said, I have an employee that had a court case.
I just said, okay, I'll give the guy benefit of the doubt,
- he has an employee... - [Judge DiMango] But you see,
that to me was the first sign
that you, sir, were a scammer.
That was the first sign. Why?
Because nobody really cares about your employee's ability
to go to court and that you should know that he was paying child support
because you're the one who pays the child support,
and so therefore--that's unnecessary.
Whenever people scam, they go on and on with useless,
irrelevant details.
So then the next thing, you send them a message,
sorry, 9th not looking good.
Now the lies begin, according to them.
What do you tell them on the 11th. Do you remember?
I do because it's right here in the text message.
You say, "My truck is packed and loaded.
I'm just waiting for Amazon now."
New delay.
Amazon.
On the 12th, what happens?
- No sprinkler, right? - Right.
[Judge DiMango] No sprinkler from Amazon.
So far, we have an excuse on the 9th, the 10th,
the 11th, the 12th, the 13th we're up to now.
And on the 13th, what's your excuse on the 13th, do you know?
Your machine wasn't working.
You had a broken machine at the home. You remember that?
- I remember. - I do.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. So now we have that.
Now you tell them no more problems.
You know why there was no more problems?
- Because his father's tractor... - Because he was gonna have
- the guys sleep over. - [Jennifer] Oh, right, right, right.
- Another sleepover, yeah. - [Judge DiMango] He was gonna have
the guys sleep over his house,
so that when they got up in the morning, the loaded truck,
the guy, the unbroken machine were all getting up and ready to go.
- And... - [Jennifer] His father's tractor,
he was gonna be borrowing with a backhoe.
[Judge DiMango] And then what happened on the 14th?
The babysitter didn't come on time.
So on the 14th, you guys had had enough.
Tell us what you said.
I basically gave him one last chance
and I said or we'll just have to have our money.
The next morning, he said, "I have guys calling out on me left and right.
It looks like I'll just have to refund you."
Which we then said give us the money.
[Judge DiMango] Is that that what you said?
- And he didn't do that either. - [David Frost] Yes.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. Judge Levy?
[Judge Levy] How come you didn't give it back?
[David Frost] Uh, there was material bought off of Facebook.
I wanna see proof, because they told you the same thing.
I wanna see proof.
- You're an IT guy, right? - [Marshall] Yes, sir.
You went online when he showed you those photographs?
What'd you find out about those photographs?
Costco makes a nice product
- is what I found out. - [Judge Levy] Yeah, those--yeah,
those are stock photographs. They know you're a liar.
You're a scammer. You took the money.
You put it in your pocket and you weren't gonna give it back.
You think that you were actually gonna look good coming in here and lying?
[scoffs] You must have confused us with some other court show.
- Let's see. - The one with that lady?
[laughing]
[Judge Levy] This ain't Judge Judy. She'll let you get away with that.
I don't.
I didn't say it.
[laughing]
[Judge Levy] All right. So now we know that you lied to them.
Now we know that the contract pursuant to the terms
you were supposed to start on September 9th.
You also had to have a license in your state
in order to build a greenhouse, which you also didn't have, right?
You're not licensed. We already checked.
- You wanna lie about that too? Good. - I'm not.
[Judge Levy] Right. So you're not licensed at all.
He didn't tell you that, right?
[Marshall] No, sir. And I had to look up the Green Thumb afterwards.
- Yes, sir. - [Judge Levy] Of course.
And the Green Thumb is just nonsense.
It doesn't exist. It's you,
- right? - Correct.
[Judge Levy] The $4,100 that you stole from them, what'd you use the money for?
You say supplies, we're gonna have a real big problem.
What'd you spend the money on?
I'm not gonna answer that question.
That's okay. I--if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't either.
Okay. Just to go over real briefly now,
Judge DiMango asked you about Monday, September 11th.
That's when he said that he bought this hydro system,
- right? - [Jennifer] Oh, yeah.
[Judge Levy] He's waiting for an Amazon delivery of a hydro system.
He didn't have it. He doesn't have it today
- because he never bought it. - [Marshall] Right.
You stole their money.
- [David Frost] No, I didn't. - [Judge Levy] Of course you did.
You performed zero of this contract.
What was gonna happen, even if you did by some small chance,
do what you said you were gonna do and build it?
What do you think would've happened when the building inspector came by
and said, "Hey, guys.
Who did this?
This is all coming down."
Because they would've given your name,
building inspector would've looked up your background,
saw that you were not licensed, insured,
bonded, all the plumbing work, electrical work, gone, ripped out.
You knew that, right?
No, sir.
How long you been in construction?
About 15 years.
Really? Let's go to your contract itself.
I looked at that.
It says compliance with laws.
What it says is you will provide service in compliance with all local laws,
which include permits, applications, licenses, and insurance.
You breached that.
That paragraph 6, materials and labor provided.
You will provide a list of each and every party
furnishing material and/or labor.
You breached it.
So here we are, you trying to hold them
to a bogus contract when you yourself didn't do anything in it
to support your following the terms and conditions.
I mean, how did you think this was gonna play out?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Why don't you have the other receipts for their work?
- Uh, there was flash flooding warnings. - [Judge Acker] Uh-hmm.
My shop was underwater.
And then the dog ate the receipts.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Couples Jennifer and Marshall Azbill...
and Erin and David Goldstein are suing contractor David Frost
after they claim he took their money
to build greenhouses and never did any work.
But David says both couples never gave him time to complete the jobs,
as indicated in their contracts.
I'm curious. How old are you?
[David Frost] Thirty-three, Your Honor.
- [Judge Levy] You got kids? - Yes, I do.
- [Judge Levy] How many? - I have three.
How old are they?
Twelve, seven, and two.
You know who kids look up to?
- Their father. - [Judge Levy] First and foremost?
You're damn right.
That's who they want to be.
Do you want your kids growing up to be just like you?
- No, Your Honor. - [Judge Levy] Do better.
Judge Acker.
Mr. Frost, let's go back to some evidence that you say that you had.
And it's great because I have all these devices up here.
So we can just cut to the chase.
They were looking for QR codes.
You show me the receipts or just give me the order number,
I'll look it up now and then we'll all know
that you didn't commit a big crime.
[Jennifer] And we requested the QR codes.
- [Judge Acker] Yeah, I saw that. - But [indistinct] return it.
[Judge Acker] Because it's so easy.
This is the sprinkler.
- That's the... - And this is what you received?
No. And that's--doesn't look like it's under an order.
[Judge Acker] Yeah, let's see.
- Let's take a look. - Well, if you go--
if you press back, it says buy again.
[Judge Acker] It says Wi-Fi sprinkler timer.
And you've pulled it up
and it says actually that it was last purchased
on September 10th, 2023.
And is this the purchase that you claim you made for them?
Yes.
[Judge Acker] Let's see where it went.
- To my... - [David Frost] It was to my home.
You purchased it on 2023
and then it went to your house and then where'd it go?
It went with the rest of the supplies.
Which is where?
At my shop.
[Judge Acker] Why didn't you give it to them?
Why didn't you return it to Amazon?
What was the point of buying it and not delivering it?
I don't know, Your Honor.
[Judge Acker] That's strange.
You know what else is strange?
Why don't you have the other receipts for their work?
Because--okay.
Just recently, we had a pretty decent rainstorm.
And there was flash flooding warnings.
- [Judge Acker] Uh-hmm. - And my shop was underwater.
And then, the dog ate the receipts.
I think I've heard enough on this matter.
I don't have anything further.
Judge.
Basically the gig is up here.
Where'd the money go? What happened?
Ma'am, I am a young father
- trying to make it by with... - [Judge DiMango] Yeah, I had a father
who was young too when I was born but he didn't start
- stealing from people. - [David Frost] I mean,
I'm just trying to make it by with what I can with whatever jobs I can.
I'm trying to do what I can.
[Judge DiMango] So what did you do here?
Why didn't you do what you had to do?
- What is all this baloney? - [David Frost] I...
Why?
I had a really--I have a bad truck
that just doesn't wanna run properly.
So you used this money towards other things
and you really were just stringing them along until you could get yourself moving.
[David Frost] No. No, ma'am. I...
[Judge DiMango] Yeah, that's what you did.
Why didn't you wanna give him any more days?
- I'm just curious. - [Marshall] We actually--
- we gave him I think... - [Judge DiMango] Because he had--
- his contract does say he has 30 days. - It does
and we didn't file until the 31 or 32--
so we did wait until the 30th day before I filed, Your Honor,
- just to follow the proper... - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
That's--just curious as to what your reasons were.
- I know what my reasons could be but... - [Marshall] My reason
was keeping my wife happy in this whole process.
- [Judge Levy] Smart man. - That--so that was my thing, Your Honor.
- Okay. All right. - [Marshall] That I didn't like
this from the beginning but a happy wife, happy life.
And that's what I was trying
- to go through, yes. - [Judge DiMango] Happy wife, happy life.
But no greenhouse, you're gonna buy your herbs in the supermarket
- like everybody else. - I'm fine doing that, yes. Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. Very good. Thank you.
[Judge Acker] Thank you.
- You may take a seat. - Okay.
And I'll ask the Goldsteins to take the stand, please.
Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein, you're also suing the defendant.
You're seeking a refund of $2,500
for a deposit you made for him
to construct a greenhouse that was not built.
Mr. Frost, your defense in this matter
is that the Goldsteins canceled within three days of the time
that you had to start and you owe them no money.
You signed the contract with the defendant on November 8th.
- Correct. - [Judge Acker] And as I read
the contract, he has within 30 days to start.
- So that would bring us to December 8th. - [David Goldstein] Correct.
However, the text messages indicate
that he'd made a representation to you
that he was going to start the work before December 8th.
- Yes. - Uh, do you recall when that was?
Um, we--he met us on the, uh, 8th at our home.
So, he did drive out from South Carolina to Georgia,
met us at our home under the premise of looking at the site,
making sure there was no grading or anything that needed to be done.
Um, yes, we signed the contract.
And before he left, he agreed upon starting,
um, either that Monday or Tuesday, which would've been the 13th
- or 14th. - [Judge Acker] Monday was November 13th.
In fact, there is a message from either you or your husband.
"Hi, David. Just touching base, I know you'd mentioned
an expected start day of today or tomorrow."
That would be November 13th or November 14th.
What you said on November 14th was,
"I'm running a little behind."
But all in caps,
"But either me or my lead guy is gonna come out
either tomorrow or the next day."
- Do you recall saying that? - [David Frost] Yes.
[Judge Acker] Did you come out tomorrow or the next day?
- No, ma'am. - What happened?
I had truck problems.
[Judge Acker] You had truck problems?
What truck problem did you have?
Uh, the valve cover was leaking
and the, uh...
... fourth, uh, spark plug was burned up.
You look very sleepy. You look like you're nodding off.
- Are you under the influence of anything? - No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Uh, I did fix my truck.
Uh, I had...
- How long did it take you? - [David Frost] About...
- [Judge Acker] Three days? - ... four to five days.
Four to five days?
- My goodness. - [David Frost] Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] So, after you fixed your truck, sir, what happened?
I loaded up and I was on my way.
It was raining currently that day.
I stopped at Harbor Freight to get tarps.
Um, I did cover the concrete.
The tarps kept flying off the material.
[Judge Acker] And then the concrete was ruined?
- Yes. - [Judge Acker] So, I'd like you
to show me a picture of the damaged concrete.
And I'd also like a receipt for the concrete that you purchased.
- They didn't... - [Judge Acker] Do you have that?
They didn't ask for a picture and no, ma'am, I don't have the receipt.
[Judge Acker] No receipt?
Surprise, surprise.
Judge DiMango.
You know, once again,
uh, we really could've just interposed these texts
onto the first case that we did
because they're all fraught with the same things.
However, you guys were getting texts in the middle of the night on this,
- but... - Well, he wouldn't communicate
and just dropped off. And then you'd get a...
- We... - ... text in the middle of the night.
We'd get no responses during the day to any of our communications
reaching out to him and then wake up the next morning,
had received something at midnight, 1:00 in the morning.
Well, I did see that. But, you know, you guys,
you missed the part where he left his phone home.
[Erin] We did miss that.
We asked for our refund when we realized we felt we had been caught in a con,
which we expressed to him, I felt we had been caught in a con,
and that he was just making regular excuses.
After I felt we had been caught in something,
I started doing some digging.
- [Judge DiMango] So, let's see... - I had a friend help me
do some digging and realized
we actually share the same photos
- that he sent us [indistinct]. - [Judge DiMango] And that's what
I wanna bring up now. Okay.
- This is the greenhouse... - [Erin] That's the greenhouse.
... that you claim you built.
You sent these photos
- to the Goldsteins, correct? - [David Frost] Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] You sent that to them as well.
That's the same photographs that you sent the Azbills,
- is that correct as well? - [David Frost] Yes, ma'am.
I told them, uh, it was around Thanksgiving.
I said, "Wednesday after Thanksgiving, you guys can come pick up the supplies."
- And they refused. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
- No. Well--okay. - [Judge DiMango] Well, I'm gonna
pass this over to Judge Levy.
You said you did some background research
once you realized it was a con?
- Yeah. - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] What'd you find out?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
- I don't have a criminal past of... - [Judge Levy] Didn't?
... grand larceny.
What happened in August of 2020?
You spent eight months in jail, right?
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Couples Jennifer and Marshall Azbill,
and Erin and David Goldstein are suing
contractor David Frost after they claim he took their money
to build greenhouses and never did any work.
But David says both couples never gave him time to complete the jobs
as indicated in their contracts.
You said you did some background research
once you realized it was a con?
- [David Goldstein] Yeah. - [Erin] Yes, sir.
What'd you find out?
Um, I had a friend help kind of just do some dig around
'cause I was just--I just felt obviously something wasn't right.
And we learned that there was, uh, an arrest earlier in 2023
and that there was an outstanding civil litigation,
which turned out to be Jen and Marshall Azbill
and, um, did some search on the business, that the business didn't exist.
He told us that it was licensed...
- Licensed and bonded. - ... and bonded.
The contract that we had even states how he'll get all permitting.
Um, obviously no, none of that took place.
The business didn't exist.
Um, I did go and seek out the Azbills on social media,
see if I could find him to reach out, asked if that was them,
that we were in a situation with David Frost.
And she was like, "Oh, oh, yes. Call me."
And as she spoke to me,
- it was eerie that it just mirrored... - [David Goldstein] Yeah.
[Erin] ... one another, our circumstances.
So, we have you committing multiple crimes
in different states.
And you actually sent him a text in which you said
that you're aware of his arrest history.
You got that text, right?
Yes.
[Judge Levy] So, here you are being accused
of committing serious fraud, grand larceny.
And now, you're being told
that the people that you are committing the crime against,
the victims are aware of your criminal past.
I don't have a criminal past of grand larceny.
What do you have a past of?
DUIs.
What happened in August of 2020?
You spent eight months in jail, right?
You were incarcerated in Indiana, weren't you?
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] Uh-hmm.
Listen, you don't wanna talk about that crime that you committed, do you?
No, I don't.
[Judge Levy] Not proud of that, are you?
Well, the case was not, uh, a...
[indistinct]
... the--there was no statement taken from me.
There was--the case--
... it was--it was all unheard.
- Uh, they... - You spent eight months in jail.
Yes, because my attorney told me that...
Uh, you know, when people tell me that their attorneys told them,
- so in other words, you had a lawyer? - Yes.
And your lawyer had the information regarding what you were being accused of?
Yes.
And the lawyer knows and told you what the maximum penalty was
if you went to trial, were convicted, and lost?
You go away for a very long time.
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] Yeah.
So, my point is, all these two people had to do was call the police.
And you knew that if they did that, your world is over.
You hurt people.
And when these people are asking you to give them back their money,
you were willing to throw caution in the wind.
I told the Goldsteins they could come Wednesday.
It's not the point that I'm making.
And the fact that you don't understand that, sir, it's frightening.
I have nothing further.
[Judge DiMango] We're gonna retire to deliberate...
- Okay. All right. - ... at this time.
- Thank you very much, everyone - Thank you.
This case is now in recess.
Parties will be recalled.
[dramatic musical sting]
I think what we need to address amongst the three of us
is there is a contract that says that this was his start date,
but then clearly in the provision it says he has 30 days within
which to complete this.
So, did they prematurely cut him off and stop him,
and is he correct that this lawsuit is not right at that time or not?
And I think it's pretty clear that when you put a paragraph like that in,
you have every intention of doing the job,
following through with it, and completing it.
I think that his behavior throughout
with regard to these two particular clients of his
was pretty obvious from the start
he was not going to do any work as promised.
He was taking their money,
using it towards something else
'cause he pretty much said he used it towards other things.
He just didn't wanna say.
I mean, listen, he didn't perjure himself to that extent with what he did with it.
They caught on.
And I think at that point, they had every right to terminate the contract
despite that provision in his papers.
[Judge Levy] And his problem was that he picked on the wrong four people.
If he spent half as much time
just doing what he was supposed to do
as opposed to jerking around and stealing and scamming,
he probably would be successful.
But there's something else going on in his life
that's not making that possible.
And I hope for the betterment of his children
that he gets his act together.
He gave them no basis to think that he was gonna do anything
that he said he was going to do or that he committed to doing.
Sure, he had 30 days within which to start.
But in both cases, he told them, "I'm gonna be there on the 13th,
the 14th, the 17th, the 20th."
And that's what made it clear.
- He wasn't gonna... - That's what made it clear.
- ... do his job. - And there's no evidence
that he even did anything.
I mean, you know he kept saying, "Oh, I bought materials.
I bought this." He shows me the Amazon.
Those sprinkler heads didn't convince you?
- It was... - No, he shows me
that there were some sprinkler heads ordered
but they never went anywhere.
Everything got lost in the shop.
There was nothing credible there.
I think that all parties are entitled to a refund of their money.
- Hundred percent. - Me too.
Unanimous.
[dramatic musical sting]
Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
[Judge DiMango] Thank you.
Well, whatever is happening in your life
is apparently interfering with your business world.
And that is not good
because you end up with what we have in here.
On top of that,
everything about your text messages
indicates that you scammed these people.
You lied morning after morning, day after day.
And you actually had the nerve to put a quote in here.
You said it to the Goldsteins, I think.
Proverbs 26:17 says,
"Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog
- by the ears." - Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] Well, I got a quote from Confucius.
Any scammer who comes before Tribunal will lose.
So you, sir, have lost.
There was no intent from the inception for you to carry through
with building their greenhouses, none.
So, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein,
you have prevailed in the amount of $2,500.
Mr. and Mrs. Azbill, you have both prevailed in the amount of $4,105.
The verdict as to all of you is unanimous by this court.
And the admonitions to you, sir,
come from each one of us
who really feel that you have done a disservice
to not only these people but probably others as well.
So, please do something with your life.
That's the verdict of the court.
- [gavel bangs] - [Marshall] Thank you, Your Honors.
- Thank you, Your Honor. - Thank you, Your Honor.
[Cassandra] This case has concluded.
All parties are excused.
[theme music plays]
For them calling me a fraud, a scammer, I don't believe in it.
Uh, we kind of felt robbed.
I did not scam them.
We've got two young kids.
I just wanna be able to build my own or have my own vegetables
right at my backyard.
They're rich snobs.
You know, it was definitely a violation,
you know, with him sitting at our kitchen table, discussing this.
To be honest, I got a lot of other happy people.
I give them trust until they break it and David obviously broke it.
I really don't care.
Justice did prevail.
Uh, I don't care.
- Watch out for David Frost. - [Marshall laughs]
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]