Just an update: I finally talked to a representative from this guy's insurance company (after 4 days of giving me the runaround). I have a claim submitted, and sent them a copy of the contract, copies of all payments I gave him, and pictures of his "work." I'm trying to not get my hopes up, but I feel like I have a really good case to get my money back or have them get a new contractor to give me a pond.
@TJ - I took your advice from our phone call and called my homeowner's insurance to see about the tree theft. They don't cover anything like that, so I'm hoping this guy's bond will cover it. I'm not exactly sure how they'd determine the value of the trees he took, other than by measuring the remaining stumps he didn't remove and giving me an estimate. I had 2 different guys tell me that I had $3-5k worth of trees in my little lot, so it'd be nice to get some of that back, as I was planning on using that money to invest back into the pond. I'll keep everyone updated.
