Delays, poor and unfinished work, and broken promises. It's what customers across the Denver metro area say they experienced after hiring a contractor to work on their yards.

The website claims the company is the most trusted landscaper in Denver, but multiple clients who say the contractor behind Mile High Artscapes still owes them hundreds of thousands of dollars would disagree.

"It's been hell. It's almost bankrupted me, the stress that it's caused for the last two years on us, on the family, the marriage, the financial aspect of it, everything," said Castle Rock resident Brien Fienen.

Fienen didn't know what he was getting into when he hired a contractor to build a pool in his Castle Rock yard in September 2023.

"My kids love swimming, and the football players come over during the summer, and they swim every day. So it was for the kids," said Fienen.

Michael West of Mile High Artscapes, also referred to as Mile High Artscapes of Colorado, quoted Fienen about $100,000 for the project. Once Fienen paid a $30,000 deposit, the work began.

"It just quickly spun out of control. He'd come over and do a little bit of work. Once he finished that work, he'd want more money per the contract, so we paid him more money, and then he would be late starting the next step of the project," said Fienen.

After Fienen made two more payments, he said West stopped showing up. Fienen was out more than $100,000, with nothing but a hole in his backyard to show for it.

"My wife had to go back to work, just so we can, you know, cover the payments on this," said Fienen.

Up in Denver, Stephen Martin was dealing with the same situation.

"We also have a daughter who has special needs, and we wanted to use the pool for therapy for her," said Martin.

In August 2023, Martin hired West to install a pool for $140,000.

"He never really got going on the pool. That caused some, obviously, some concerns. He kept telling me that he was delayed with other projects. Then he came out and dug a hole in our backyard, and then didn't do any work on it in the pool," said Martin.

After Martin paid West about $100,000, he said West walked away from the project.

"It was very clear to me that, you know, Mike West and the Mile High Artscapes company, you know, Mike just simply stole my money," said Martin.

Both men said the work that was done on their pools was done wrong, and fixing it cost them more money.

"To the tune of about $145,000 on top of the money that I've already given to Mike," said Fienen.

After doing some digging, the men found each other, and other people who say they were scammed by West.

"I sort of collected a group of people here that you know had been defrauded," said Martin.

Mile High Artscapes is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, and the site lists 11 complaints against the business in recent years.

West signed promissory notes to both Fienen and Martin.

"He willingly signed a promissory note, still promising that he's going to pay us back money every month. Obviously he didn't," said Fienen.

When West defaulted on those agreements, both men took him to court.

In December 2024, Fienen won a default judgment against West for nearly $320,000.

In March of this year, Martin also won a judgment against West for nearly $380,000 after West failed to show up for a hearing.

Online court records show Michael West has been a defendant in four other breach of contract cases in the last year. Two of those cases were dismissed, and two led to default judgments against West.

In March of this year, another default judgment was issued against West for $7,500 in Jefferson County Small Claims Court.

In all these cases where judgments were awarded against West, online court records list the status as "unsatisfied," suggesting no payments have been made.

While Martin has attempted to garnish about $5,000 of West's wages, his law firm, Torbet & Tuft LLC, says they have not yet received any funds from Mile High Artscapes of Colorado. Fienen has also not been able to collect on his judgment.

"I haven't seen a dime," said Fienen.

 CBS Colorado's Olivia Young made multiple attempts to contact West online, over the phone, and in person, by visiting multiple addresses associated with Mile High Artscapes. She was unable to make contact initially, but when a new phone number appeared on the Mile High Artscapes website, Michael West answered.

West told Young he was not aware of any judgments against him and that he has finished all his jobs.

"He needs to be stopped. He needs to be taken off the streets, arrested. He's ruining lives at this point," said Fienen.

Fienen and Martin hope law enforcement will step in before someone else falls victim.

"In our case, you know, to take money away from a kid with special needs who was going to use that pool for therapy. And, you know, Mike simply didn't care," said Martin.

Fienen said he called Castle Rock Police, but they would not make a report, saying this was a civil matter. A spokesperson for Castle Rock Police said without a case number to look into, they could not speculate on the situation.

A spokesperson for the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office said a case like this could potentially be criminal, but their office would need law enforcement to refer charges to them in order to get involved.

Mile High Artscapes is still advertising services on its website and social media pages.