Natural Green Landscape Management, Inc

I had an extremely awful experience with Natural Green Landscape Management, Inc I reached out to Natural Green Landscape Management to perform the following work on my backyard. 1) Kill the weed. 2) Remove the excess dirt. 3) Level the backyard. 4) Buy and install flagstone with 1.5 inches’ gaps in between. Anthony was the representative that came out to look at the backyard and to understand the project on Dec 3rd, 2016. The initial schedule to meet up earlier in the week did not work for Anthony, so he Postponed to meet over the weekend. When Anthony stopped by on the morning of December 3rd, 2016, I made it very clear that I wanted the entire backyard to be at the same level and at or below the current cement patio level. I informed him that I specifically wanted a 2-inch-thick stone of a lighter color and when installed, I want a 1.5-inch gap in between them. He said, he understood my requirements and informed me that he will be sending a quote through email. On Tuesday, December 6th, 2016, I received my quote for the work I wanted to get done. I have attached the quote for your reference. After reviewing the quote, I realized that Anthony had shown (on the quote) that 6000 lbs. of stone will be required. Per my calculations and other verbal estimates I had received, I would need about 10-11 tons (20000-22000 lbs.) of stone to cover the area I wanted the stone installed on. I immediately reached out to Anthony, explaining to him that he might have heavily underestimated the amount of stone needed. We exchanged a couple text messages over which he explained that his estimation of the stone required was sufficient and if we needed more it was better to order more when needed. I told him that he probably knows best since he has probably done multiple such projects and that I will go with what he says. A couple of days later, Anthony requests to have Felix (supposedly the main guy for the project) come and check the work site and make sure he understands. When Anthony and Felix show up, I repeat my requirements and make sure they both have understood it correctly. During this visit, I also gave Anthony a check for 30% ($898) of the quoted amount as required per the contract. After going through several pictures of stones, Anthony sends samples of the stone through Felix. When I see the stone samples, I immediately reached out to Anthony informing him that the stone samples were very thin and did not match my requirement for 2 inches and that I do not want that thin stone in my backyard. Anthony informed me that those samples are probably just broken pieces from the original but the original stone will be 1.75 – 2 inches thick. I said, then that was okay. Anthony had informed me that the work would begin on Monday, December 12th, 2016. Nobody showed up until noon. I reached out to Anthony and he told me that Felix got delayed while picking up tools from the previous job site and hence will begin work on Tuesday, December 13th, 2016. Felix did show up on Tuesday and from the looks of it, removed all the weed and rototilled the land. Nobody showed up Wednesday, December 14th, 2016. On Thursday, December 15th, 2016, Felix shows up again and is spreading the dirt. I informed him and the other person who was his helper that the land is not properly leveled and he needs to remove the extra dirt before he can level the land. I even took pictures and sent it to Anthony. Anthony confirmed that more dirt will be removed and compacted before the stone is installed. However, no more dirt was removed and Felix and the helper dug a trench and left the site. I then get a text from Anthony informing that to get the extra dirt out he will need to get a low boy container and more helping hands and it will cost $625 more. Also, by then, Felix had delivered a crate of stone and every single piece was less than 2 inches, in fact most of them were less than 1 inch. On informing Anthony about this, he said that he will sort the stone and will only install stones closer to 2 inches. During the conversation, he also said that they had underestimated the quantity of stone required and that the additional stone needed will cost $3500 more. This is estimation done very poorly. You cannot give an estimate for $2994 and then add $625 +$3500 to it later. I had made every requirement clearly from the very start so this request was not reasonable at all. I made it clear to Anthony that I cannot afford such increase in project cost and will need to reconsider continuing it. Also, I informed him that since I had already paid him 30% of the cost, he needed to remove the extra dirt and level the backyard for that cost. Also, he needed to bear the cost of the stone since he had ordered the wrong thickness. To this, he informed me that the stone was non-returnable and that he had informed me about that, earlier. He told me that he had used the 30% of the money I had paid him to buy the stone and had not charged me for any labor that was already utilized. I acknowledged that he had told me that the stone is non-returnable but, it was his mistake that he ordered the wrong stone. Also, the contract does not state that the 30% of initial deposit will be used to buy the stone and Anthony also did not say so. Besides, the stone is placed right in the walkway to the backyard making is extremely inconvenient to go around it. This can be dangerous for people walking around it to get to the backyard in case a stone comes loose from the crate. Anthony agreed to remove the excess dirt and level the backyard and said that he will find a buyer to buy the stone and requested that I keep the stone on my property until it is sold. I agreed to let the stone be on my property until it is sold but have requested several times that is be moved from the walkway into the back yard. However, neither has Anthony responded to move the stone crate nor has anyone shown up to remove the excess dirt or level the backyard. I have even given Anthony the option to deduct the cost of rototilling and removing the weed and return the balance of my money back to me but, I have received no response. Felix came and cleaned the mess of weed and dirt that was left on the side of the house and filled up the trench he had dug but, the stones were not moved, nor the excess dirt removed. Below is a summary of my complaints against Anthony (representing Natural Green Landscape Management Inc.); 1) Frequent tardiness. Not starting the project on time and leaving it incomplete. 2) Inaccurate estimation of the amount of dirt to be removed and the proper leveling of the backyard. 3) Inaccurate estimation of the amount of stone needed for the project. 4) In-correct type of stone was bought for the project. 5) Stone crate was left in the walkway making it dangerous for people walking on that path. 6) Keep my 30% of the money and not completing the project to that value. 7) Keeping the backyard non-usable for so many days. 8) Mental frustration. Currently, I am left with the backyard that’s rototilled and the soil is not leveled. I have paid for the excess soil to be removed but it has not yet been done. So, the money is gone but the work is not done. The crate of stones is still sitting in the walkway posing a danger in case a stone comes loose from it, injuring someone. And, several instances of trying to reach Anthony has yielded no results. It is 1st January 2017 and a 4-day project has not yet been completed even after almost 30 days. I have been left with no choice but to approach the claims court to resolve this issue.

Great,

Would hire them again.