I Worked And Now They Want Their Money Back Saying That I Stole

A lady hired me and 4 friends for a yard work job. For this job it was agreed that we would all get paid $20 an hour to take trash out of her yard, and to rototill and seed her back yard.

We had worked that entire Sunday very hard and made a significant difference to the yard. We rototilled the yard in it's entirety, cleaned up 1400 lbs of garbage (the weight receipts I have from the dump), and we overall did what we were asked.

The lady was extremely happy that we did the work. She refuses to check the job we did even though I really wanted her to. I am a college student that did more work doing demo and trash removal in my life and I'm new to landscaping. In my opinion we did end up doing a good job. The area was fully filled and seeded with hay to cover the seed. The only job the lady had was to properly water the grass seed for two weeks (ish) for the grass to properly take seed and grow. The soil was quite dry though so I would imagine that this would take lots of water l. And I warned her about this saying that it would be best to water early in the morning or late at night to reduce waste due to evaporation.

The original pay was going to be $640 for the labor for 4 people at $20/hr for 8 hours not counting an hour lunch break we did to get more string for our weed eater and $100 extra for the dump fees and gas that ended up fully going into the job. However, during this job she kept wanting to give us more money. To this I wasn't sure what to say so I agreed because I have never had a person want to give me extra money.

The lady wanted to pay me $30 and hour for being some kind of foreman type person, and gave us all tips of $40. This added up to her being out $980.

This is all fine and well at first, but then the next day she checks all of the work we did, and is very dissatisfied with our work. She sends pictures of things and issues that we did not agree on. That being weeding her garden and parts that weren't her exact area that I said I would work. That being her back yard and the pool around her yard. The other thing that we did not do was clean out her goat area she had on a concrete slab because it was all rotten hay and shit. This area I could have done, but I did not have the time that day or a mask that I would have liked to have worn for it.

The lady goes on to start saying that I scammed her and did not take any of the calls I sent or texts and only was saying that I scammed her and that I did absolutely no work there. She then says she is going to move on with her life and block me forever and be the bigger person. I had tried to get control of the situation over text, but she kept saying that I did not do my full job.

A week has gone by since then, and now a random guy is texting me and threatening to sue me now. I want to send the entire text chain, but this sub reddit does not allow videos. The main claims that I must return the money because I did not do my work. He claims that I tampered with her cameras around her house and stolen items as well. He said that he will go to my college and tell whoever is important that I had done this and will try and get me kicked out. He also said I took illegal photos of the house. I did not steal or tamper with any cameras. I honestly didn't take any pictures even though I really wish I did. The man is threatening to call my school and try and get me in trouble which is very worrying to me.

I am willing to return the extra money that she gave me, but I am not willing to make my friends cough up money for her and this mystery man. To make this pay as much as my friends (25 and hour technically with the tip), I would give $80. My fear is that they will say that I did not do this or that this is not enough money.

What should I do? This money is a life saver for all of us and especially me because I am coming to the end of my college year and am not going to be able to afford rent if I give her all of the money I had made. If it truly is the right thing to do, and I am breaking a real law that would require me to stay at this town for some law suite, I will be happy to fork over the money to avoid that. Yet this feels like I'm being bullied for the money.

What do I do?

(I can post the texts if that is wanted)