Front Range Landscape and Nursery Inc

I am rejecting this response because:The response is full of statements in practically every line. To refute each and every one of their statements (especially relating to the egregiously claims about the watering instructions) would be a further waste of my time. The bottom line is that the business is trying hard to cover up for reneging on their warranty since the cost of the trees exceeds $1000. There was a single tiny leak in the drip system when *** came out, not leaks all over the place as falsely alleged. I have had other new plantings this season including bushes, all of which are thriving including of Frontrange's own trees. If I were 'killing' the trees as they falsely allege, the rest of my yard would not be green and lush. The obvious conclusion is that they sold sub-standard trees and *** admitted as much when he came out. He said that they do lose a fair percentage of trees each season and it was likely that I had been especially unlucky in having such a large percentage fail. The misfortune was actually in doing business with Frontrange who do not stand behind their warranty.
Sincerely,
*** ***

The watering instructions are to be gone over upon purchase, not when the trees are installed as Ms. [redacted] is claiming.  Due to the fact that the sale was made over the phone, [redacted] (the sales person) explained extensively the watering instructions over the phone with Ms. [redacted] when the trees were purchased on 6/22/2016, in addition to the watering instructions being explained on several occasions since in order to save these trees.   Her claim that the watering instructions were never explained to her are completely false in an attempt to validate how she could have possibly killed 4 out of 6 trees, 2 of which have been replaced with Co Blue Spruce.  Her claim that she was always wanting the 4 trees replaced is also completely false.  The first contact Front Range Landscape and Nursery had with Ms. [redacted] was on 8/17 @ approx. 8 am when she sent an email that said: “Hello [redacted] and [redacted], I ordered six Austrian Pines (7’ tall) on 22nd June this year that were delivered and installed on 7th July.  Please see attached invoice for your reference.  The installation and connection of the drip system to each of the trees was done by your crew and I paid the charges for each service separately as reflected in the invoice.  Two of the trees have dried out and don’t look as if they will survive this season.  As per the warranty on the trees, please arrange to have 2 replacement trees delivered and installed and the dying trees removed.  Please call me on 720 328 2154 to set up a date at the earliest so that the trees will have a chance to root before the cold comes in.  Thank you.” Clearly Ms. [redacted] was asking for the replacement of (2) “dried out” Austrian Pine.   The irrigation adjustment Ms. [redacted] is referring to is the emitters that were installed off of her existing drip line to avoid needing to hand water.  However, it is still Ms. [redacted]’s responsibility to set the clock properly and be sure that the drip line was running properly, in working order, for these trees to receive the sufficient amount of water per the watering instructions, 30 gallons every other day (through the summer). From that point on Front Range Landscape and Nursery sent several emails back and forth with Ms. [redacted] about the proper irrigation for these trees and watering instructions were also emailed over for her to review as well.  After the watering instructions were explained in length again, she was instructed to correct her watering (as we do not warranty against negligence).  From there she was approved for the (2) Austrian Pine replacements, it was at this point that she mentioned the additional (2) trees that were just starting to show stress from the improper watering.  Front Range Landscape and Nursery explained to Ms. [redacted] that if she corrected the watering schedule and increased the water the trees were receiving, as well as be sure that she gave the trees one day of water and one day of oxygen, then these trees would green back up, as the (2) trees under stress were in the very beginning stages of stress and if the watering was done properly they would begin to thrive.  However, the watering was not corrected properly, and the trees continued to decline.  [redacted] had several follow up calls with Ms. [redacted] in regards to how she needed to be watering and the trees continued to decline, so [redacted] drove out to her property to analyze how the trees were being cared for as it was evident by the (2) additional trees decline that the trees were not being cared for per the written watering instructions Ms. [redacted] received and had explained to her on several different phone calls in several different ways.  What [redacted] found when he went out to the property was a drip irrigation system that had leaks all over it, as well as, the clock had been turned off for that drip zone (after [redacted] gave Ms. [redacted] specific instructions on how the clock needed to be set).  The leaks in the drip line of the irrigation system affects not only how much water is going to be produced through the emitters but also, the pressure that would allow the water to reach the end of the irrigation line.  This means the irrigation could be running for the time required to get 30 gallons of water when the system is in working order and the first few trees on the line would get only a portion of the water that would be produced on a non-broken pipe and the trees on the end of the irrigation line could possibly receive non-of the water that the system was designed to give.  A broken pipe on a drip system is detrimental to the consistency of the water produced and brings the reliability of the water produced to nothing.  These trees did not receive the water that was required.  Front Range Landscape and Nursery made it very clear that each of these (6) trees required a minimum of 30 gallons of water every other day, it was Ms. [redacted]’s responsibility to be sure that not only the clock on her irrigation system was set properly so that the trees receive 30 gallons of water every time they were watered but also that the irrigation system was in working order so that the trees consistently received the 30 gallons of water required.  It is the homeowner’s responsibility to care for the trees per the watering instructions once the trees are installed.  The homeowner is responsible for the lack of water applied to these trees that caused the trees to die. In addition, her claim that existing trees and bushes thriving with the water they have been receiving has nothing to do with the new trees being installed or the irrigation required for new trees.  New trees will require a different watering regiment in order to establish their root system, there is no comparison.  Ms. [redacted] needs to reference the conversations that Front Range Landscape and Nursery has had with her, in order to reference the number of times the watering instructions have been extensively explained to her.  The fact that she still does not comprehend further proves that these trees were not properly watered.

On 6/11/2016 Ms. [redacted] and Mr. [redacted] came into the nursery with the images of the 7’ Columnar Scotch Pine that had died.  At that point they told the owner they had been watering their trees every day, not every other day, i.e. the over watering that the owner told them.  The roots were not getting the opportunity to get oxygen with watering them every day.  It was at that time that the owner agreed to replace the (1) columnar Scotch pine that did not survive due to their error in watering and went over the watering instructions they received at purchase that clearly states the trees need to be watered every other day.  The owner made an exception to warranty this first tree as our warranty clearly states we do not warranty against homeowner error in watering.  He did this in order to correct the watering to allow all the remaining trees to thrive.  They tagged the replacement tree with the owner, which is still tagged for them in our nursery, and were offered another copy of the watering instructions.  They were instructed to follow our watering instructions as we would not warranty any other trees that were not watered properly.As previously stated they contacted us later in June to discuss the remaining (3) columnar scotch pine that were dying.  We attempted to work with the customer understanding that they lost several trees due to their error (at that time 4/8 had died) and we offered to cover the labor to plant new trees with a new 1 year warranty and remove the dead trees if they purchased the new trees (species of their choosing) from our nursery. The only time that we have discussed the Austrian Pines is on 5/22/2016 when they sent an email stating that they were concerned about the [redacted] at the tips.  The [redacted] that they were concerned about was the new growth that had not yet pushed and candled.  At that time the tree was green and very healthy.  They were not aware of how the candle looked on a tree that is growing and this was explained to them.  We have never seen images since or had an opportunity to discuss the additional (2) Austrian Pines or why they died.  No attempt was made to contact us after the additional columnar Scotch pine trees were lost.   This all began because we warrantied a tree, which by their own admission they were not watering properly and was not covered under warranty due to improper watering, as laid out on the contract they signed.  However, the company’s’ owner made an exception in order to not only keep the customer happy but also to take the time to fix their watering to be sure that they did not lose any additional trees.  We continued to work with this particular customer when they lost the additional (3) trees by offering to remove the dead and pay the labor on the replacements if they simply covered the cost of the trees.  Since that conversation on the phone they have not contacted us stating they lost more trees or that they planned to purchase material as replacements from another nursery.  Now they are wanting to compromise by buying trees from another nursery and expecting us to pay for that, after we have gone above and beyond our warranty and contract to work with this customer.  We will not pay for the additional trees purchased from another nursery.  If the Austrian have also been lost, this customer lost 6 out of the 8 trees we installed which is further proof that the watering instructions were not followed or corrected, even after explicitly going over them on several different occasions with our professional staff.  By their own statement in the second reply “we reduce water supply to the trees despite the owners’ instructions” and in the first reply stating “we have sought other professional advice on watering”.  The customer admits they went from over watering, by watering every day, when they lost the first tree, to disregard of all of our instructions and professional advice to water how they saw fit, losing the additional 5 trees.  They did not follow our watering instructions that have been proven by years of installations and high survival rates.  6 out of 8 is not indicative of our proven method and evident by their statements it was not due to a un-heathy tree but rather disregard for watering instructions on these larger trees.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Through both of our complaints there is a clear message that we followed the Front Range instructions on watering since the trees were planted. We never said we watered every day. We put 30-40 gallons on the Austrian pines every OTHER day and 15 gallons on the Scotch pines every OTHER day which is what the instructions stated. We lost the trees because we followed these instructions. Yes, we cut the water when the owner confirmed the trees are dying of overwatering and yes we sought professional advice which confirmed our suspicions we were overwatering but it was too late. No further concessions, our demand stands as is. This business must honor its warranty obligations.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

As previously stated the [redacted]’s had the option of coming down to the nursery and picking out their own tree, as well as we offered to send images of the replacement tree that was tagged for them and [redacted] stated that they did not need to see images.  There was no need to follow up with the customer after the tree was tagged, as the tree was the best available 12’ Austrian Pine for their replacement, as well as, the customer was not concerned about seeing images of the tree or coming by the nursery to see the tree.  Therefore, the [redacted]s had ample opportunity to come down and see the tree if they wanted to be selective.  As for concerns on the shape of the tree, as each person’s body type is very different, every tree in the nursery will have different proportions for the same size and species.  We do our best to tag the most similar in shape, size as well as quality to what was lost to keep every customer happy, however, it is impossible to have two trees with the exact same shape, hence why we encourage each and every customer to tag their own trees. As far as scheduling.  The [redacted]’s required that the tree be replaced on a Saturday.  [redacted] was doing her best to meet their request of a Saturday.  [redacted] and the customer had discussed Saturday planting and that she needed to work with the Owner to schedule an exact date and time.  When a Saturday came, [redacted] called the office asking when the tree was coming, however, since we had not called [redacted] back to discuss a specific date or time, she was not scheduled for that day.  Saturday plantings are very difficult for us to accommodate as they are not typical.  We then did confirm a date with her and had to reschedule due to circumstances out of our control.  We then got the tree replacement scheduled and installed on 7/18/2017, a Tuesday. The warranty is for a straight swap, like for like, a 12’ Austrian Pine died within one year and was replaced with a 12’ Austrian Pine with no out of pocket expense to the [redacted]s per the warranty.  Per the singed contract it is a one time replacement, therefore, being disappointed that there is no warranty on a perfectly healthy tree is unfounded.  We are extremely cautious that every tree that leaves our nursery is healthy, especially replacements.  After the tree was installed and the customer called with concerns and sent images we sat down with Hubert, who sold them the original trees.  He stated that the tree looked great and perfectly healthy and asked why the customers would be concerned about such a healthy tree.  The [redacted]s forfeited their many opportunities to come down and walk each and every tree on the lot to tag the particular Austrian Pine tree they wanted as their replacement and they declined and asked that we pick it out.  Then we offered to send images of the 12’ Austrian Pine tree to be tagged for them, that they also declined.  Asking for the common decency of a phone call to discuss the tree tagged, after we offered them these things in unfounded.  If the [redacted]s wanted to be particular, they needed come down to tag the tree, or they need to trust that we tagged the best available healthy 12’ Austrian Pine tree as their replacement.

[redacted] contacted Front Range Landscape and Nursery in April to discuss getting one of her Austrian Pine trees replaced.  She was approved for the 12’ Austrian Pine replacement tree on 4/13/2017.  We offered that the [redacted]’s to come down to the nursery to personally tag the...

replacement tree, or if needed we could tag the tree since they live in [redacted] (our nursery is in [redacted]).  We always prefer that customers come down to pick out their own tree as every tree has its own shape and character, however, [redacted] asked us to tag the replacement tree for her.  The 12’ Austrian Pine tree was tagged shortly thereafter, the first week in May.   As with any tree that gets tagged in the nursery, the tree gets tagged with the customer’s last name prior to writing up the paperwork to ensure that we have the best tree reserved for that customer prior to working them into the schedule for install, and to ensure that we have the tree in stock.  The customer is always more than welcome to come down and look at their tagged tree from the time it was tagged until it was planted.  If they had come down in April/May to tag their replacement they would have seen that this tree was the best tree available for the 12’ Austrian Pine replacement.  We have been sold out of the 12’ Austrian Pine trees since about the beginning of July.  If we had waited to tag the replacement tree as [redacted] claims, there would be no tree to bring out to plant on 7/18/2017. Being that the [redacted]’s live in [redacted] we needed to be sure they were worked into the schedule at the same time as other deliveries in their area.  The weather played a factor in getting the tree replaced, however, on the scheduled delivery date the customer sent in images of the newly planted replacement tree with concerns that the tree was dying.  Upon looking at the image of the tree with the Owner, Hubert, there are no health concerns to this tree.  The 12’ Austrian Pine tree has green new growth on the ends of its branches all the way to the leader at the top of the tree.  After calling [redacted] to discuss the image of the tree, it was explained to him that this tree is in fact very healthy, it simply has some interior shed (all Austrian pine shed their needles from the interior).  This shed is what caused the [redacted]’s to be concerned for the health of the tree, it was explained to [redacted] that this tree was perfectly healthy and there are no concerns for this tree not to thrive in their yard, however, with any replacement it is a onetime replacement within the one-year warranty.  Therefore, the replacement tree is not covered under a warranty.  We also explained to him that the tree would thrive in his yard if it was properly irrigated.  [redacted] stated that they would take care of the tree.Tell us why here...

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/08/07) */
I am responding to this complaint- again. In an email that was sent to Ms. [redacted] on July 27, 2015 at 10:27am, Front Range Landscape and Nursery agreed to each of her requests. We have agreed to replace the trees, in the Spring, with...

similar species and size. Because our work is largely weather dependent, both for receiving seasons and planting seasons, we agreed to have all the work done no later than [redacted] 1, 2016 but that we'd want to get it done sooner. We also agreed to a full one year warranty from date of planting in the Spring 2016 to that same date in Spring of 2017.
I'm attaching a screen shot to prove that this was sent and when.
We believed this to be a very fair resolution to this dispute, two weeks ago.
Perhaps Ms. [redacted] just needs to check her email?
As this matter was resolved two weeks before this complaint was filed, we would like this complaint to not only be closed but removed from our Revdex.com history.'
If there are any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 9, 2015/08/20) */

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:i was never offered to have the image of the tree sent to me.  I would have accepted that offered and declined the tree they picked and we would have come down in person to select the tree.I am not the one that requested Saturday delivery - they were since I lived out in [redacted]. If that was the case I would not have accepted a Tuesday delivery!  As for the tree being selected in April or May, I really doubt that since they had very full and healthy trees back in April and May of 2016.  If they only had this kind of skinny and dieing trees in April or May of 2017 (which is prime time for planting) it would either put them out of business or make them sell the trees for a lot less than what I paid for. I still stand that they picked the tree from left overs and did not tag the tree when asked.  After all it took quite awhile for them to get me on their schedule since I live "way out in [redacted]".  Also with the first scheduled delivery I was indeed given a specific date from [redacted] just not a specific time.  When I called and asked for an ETA in the afternoon on that specific day [redacted] is the one I was talking to and she asked me who I had spoken to about it being delivered that day.  She was speechless when I said it was her and then gave me the excuse that since I was not given a time it did not get scheduled.  The way I see it is that [redacted] told me a date and did not get it on the schedule.
Point being even though trees like people come in all shaps and sizes there are a lot out there that can be grouped into categories.  One being sickly and another being full and beautiful.  I did not get a tree replaced in the full and beautiful category like I purchased  instead I received a tree in the sickly category!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Ms. [redacted] and Mr. [redacted] first came in with concerns about one of their 7' Columnar Scotch Pine the beginning of June.  After the owner looked through the pictures with them and discussed what was going on with the tree it was determined that they were not properly watering the trees....

 All purchases receive a very detailed watering instructions that need to be follow in order to get these trees to establish in our very arid summers.  We agreed to replace (1) columnar scotch pine on 6/11/2016 that died due to this improper watering and went over the watering instructions in detail so that the remaining (3) that were alive at that time would begin to thrive.  A few weeks later they came back into the office with images of the remaining (3) that died.  It was determined that they had not corrected their watering schedule however, in order to work with the homeowner the owner agreed to remove the extra (3) trees that had died and plant (3) new trees of the home owners choosing from our nursery at no charge if they paid the price of the tree.  This was a compromise as the trees are not warrantied as stated in our contract due to "loss due to acts of nature (e.g. hail, tornado, insect damage, disease, fire, wildlife), owners or 3rd party damage neglect or damage (e.g inadequate watering, physical contact, etc.)".  The home owner requested a different species of tree as a replacement because they wanted something that would not be so susceptible to drought and we offered different species that we had in stock and they refused it.  The offer that we gave them still stands if they would like the (1) replacement tree they were approved for on 6/11/2016 prior to correcting the watering and the additional (3) planted and delivered at no charge if they purchase the tree itself and the dead (3) would be removed at no charge.

Front Range Landscape and Nursery replaced (2) Austrian pine in the end of August with Colorado Blue Spruce as Front Range Landscape and Nursery did not have the size Austrian Pine in stock that the customer lost.  Ms. [redacted] decided that instead of waiting for a new shipment of the same size...

Austrian that she would like to pay the difference for the more expensive (2) Colorado Blue Spruce.  When [redacted] was approved for the (2) replacements watering instructions were re-explained to her (copies were also emailed over to her for her records) and Front Range explained that she needed to be sure that the remaining (4) trees were properly watered as there is a one year warranty “with the exception of loss due to nature, owner or 3rd party damage neglect or damage (e.g. inadequate watering).” (see attached signed highlighted receipt).  The warranty only covers the trees if they are properly watered, it is the home owners’ responsibility to care for the trees and be sure that they are properly irrigated per the watering instructions we provide both at the time of purchase, published on the website, and every time a customer calls into the office. [redacted] then began to be concerned about (2) additional Austrian Pine trees.  [redacted] spoke with [redacted] on the phone several times, explaining and re-explaining the watering instructions that had been emailed over to her.  It was evident that she was not following our instructions.  [redacted] explained exactly how these trees needed to be watered and explained that if she followed the instructions the trees would survive, he also explained that if she did not properly care for and water the remaining trees they would not be under warranty.  She continued to lose the additional (2) Austrian Pine. When a customer that have that big of a loss we always go out to the property to see how they are being irrigated and cared for, as that is what would cause such a percentage of loss.  On Thursday, 10/6 [redacted], with 15 years’ experience with these trees and irrigation, went out to your property to inspect the irrigation system set up for the trees and to inspect the care of the trees to discuss the additional 2 Austrian Pine that the customer was concerned about.  He inspected the irrigation system with her and found first hand that the system was not only turned off (not running) but the drip had leaks in the system that would affect the amount of water these trees would receive when functioning.  A tree cannot survive without water and proper irrigation.  The homeowner is responsible for the care of the trees after installation.  We do not warranty against negligence, as laid out in the contract that the customer signed, see attached highlighted signed contract. Front Range Landscape has already replaced 2 out of 6 trees and we will not replace any more trees due to improper care.  There were a total 4 trees that have been lost, 2 Front Range Landscape and Nursery already replaced, and 2 that are not cover under warranty per the signed contract.