James River Nurseries, Inc.

Review: Doug R[redacted] at James River Nurseries designed and planted 14 trees and 4 large landscape boulders in a raised bed with mulch in our backyard. The job totaled about $8,000.00.

Within 12-18 months 5 of those trees have died. The 3 evergreen trees that died within 12 months were replaced with 2 (not 3) trees of another variety unbeknownst to us. Those 2 replacement trees died again in 6 months. The other trees that died after 12 months were never replaced because they were out of warranty. My view is that 40-50% of the plantings a professional landscaper installs should not die within 18 months. Additionally, my expectation is that the 2 replacement trees that died within 6 months of installation should be replaced with the 3 trees from the original design.

I have contacted Doug multiple times and he has shown that he is not willing to discuss this topic. Additionally, Doug committed to (multiple times after follow-up) finalizing our backyard design and never delivered. He explained his lack of response throughout the year by saying he transitioned roles within the company and the company is no longer focused on residential landscape, but only larger commercial jobs.

Overall, it's been an extremely disappointing experience with Doug and James River Nurseries. My opinion is that James River Nurseries selected the wrong trees for the application, installed trees that were of poor quality, and based on feedback I’ve received, failed to prepare the “hole” to allow the tree to thrive.

In summary, I fully understand that the terms of the warranty and don't expect James River Nurseries to honor the trees for a lifetime. That said, for the money invested in these trees, I believe it's reasonable to expect a longer life than 18 months. The replacement trees that died again (and were of a different species that originally purchased and switched without our approval) should be honored in the warranty.Desired Settlement: My expectation is that the 2 replacement trees that died within 6 months of installation should be replaced with the 3 trees from the original design.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],We are in receipt of the Customer Complaint referenced by the

case number: [redacted]. Please accept this letter as our response.We are including/attaching the landscape proposal offered to

[redacted] as part of our response. Please note that our warranty is included in

our proposal. I have copied and pasted it below for your review.2. Warranty: we will replace any place one time that dies

within one year of the date of planting. We are not obligated to replace any

plant that dies as a result of drought, freezing, vandalism, theft, neglect or

wildlife damage. Failure to pay your account according to terms voids any

warranty. Transplant, replacements, annuals, and sod carry no warranty.Please notice that in our warranty: if the plantings are

neglected, i.e, not watered properly by the homeowner, the warranty is not in

effect. Also it is specifically stated that replaces carry no warranty.Plants and trees are living items that are affected by many

variables…weather conditions and proper watering are very important. Over watering

can be just as detrimental as under watering to the survival of the plant or

tree. We encourage our customers to monitor the health of the plant materials

especially in the initial year of planting.James River Nurseries has been in the landscaping business

since 1983. We are will known in the Richmond Metro area as one of the top

landscaping companies. Please visit our web-site[redacted] to view many of the wonderful

projects we have installed and are very proud of. A big part of our success is

a result of developing relationships with our customers. We take pride to

assure our customers are satisfied with the work we perform.In [redacted] case, [redacted] was very aware of [redacted]

concerns. Doug went out for the initial site view to design the [redacted] landscape.

During installation [redacted] again visited the job site to make sure the plant

material was placed and installed properly. Doug also informed Mike H[redacted] out

President as well as other members of our staff on the details of the issues in

the project. It is our practice that when a customer is unhappy…it is discussed

with other members of our team to produce a solution to resolve issues.Doug has been an employee of James River Nurseries since

August 10, 2010. He has received many pay increases and a promotion as rewards

for the outstanding customer service and feedback received from many of our customer.

[redacted] case is the only complaint James River Nurseries has had on our

history with the Revdex.com. We have been a member at least since

2001, maybe longer. We, of course, have customer complaints but in 99% of the cases….we

have worked with our customer and resolved the issue. Unfortunately this is the

1% type customer.[redacted] original trees that died were replaced as stated in

our (Our Year) warranty. After the replacement trees died, Doug offered to

replace those trees at our cost. Doug did not offer to give out free material

as it is specifically stated in our warranty that replacements are not under

warranty. [redacted] expectations for James River Nurseries to warranty our

replacement trees are outside of our normal business practice.At this time we will offer the following as a compromise to

[redacted] request for Settlement.We will install the (3) 8-10’ [redacted] tree from the original design

at a cost of $600.00. Please note that 1 of the trees is at no charge. This offer

must be accepted in writing within 60 days of this letter and the installation

will be performed within a 2 month period after acceptance. There is no

warranty offered on these trees.Sincerely,Philip S [redacted]