A A A Landscape Specialists Inc

Review: This complaint is in regards to how the owner of AAA Landscaping Specialists, [redacted], scheduled work to be performed. I had previously contracted with AAA to have my backyard landscaped, work completed Oct 2011-Jan 2012. I contacted [redacted] Feb 2013 to have some follow through maintenance services completed. I am displeased with how the scheduling of this job has been handled. From the beginning, it took several attempts to contact AAA. Once the initial meeting was set up at my home for 7:30 am, [redacted] was 30 minutes late with no explanation. I explained the work I needed to have completed, primarily mulching. At the completion of the meeting, [redacted] stated he was very busy and would have to look at his crew availability, but that it would be done in roughly 1-2 weeks. I would be told the specific day his crew would be coming by once he looked at his schedule. Today I was shocked to see people on my property this morning without my permission. Although I was able to quickly determine what was going on, I count it lucky I didn't have any other engagements away from my home today. The crew needed my presence to move vehicles parked in the driveway in order to do the job, and they needed me to explain the work I was asking to be done and where. I also prefer to be home when work is being performed on my property so as to supervise or answer any questions. I contacted [redacted] via e-mail asking for an explanation. He responded that, I walked [redacted] thru the job yesterday and left you a note on the back of my card indicating we would be by today to do the work. I stopped by myself and rang the doorbell. I did not get an answer. The time he rang the doorbell was 8:00 am the day the work was completed hardly an opportunity for the homeowner to make appropriate arrangements. I also never received the card, and I was home the entire day he indicated he stopped by.I have no complaints as to the quality of labor and work performed.Desired Settlement: I am submitting this complaint so other potential consumers may be aware of how AAA Landscaping Specialists, specifically [redacted], inappropriately conducts customer service. His business is highly awarded, to include an A+ Revdex.com rating, and my experience does not live up to that rating.

Business

Response:

I find this "complaint" to be completely without any merit.

I hired David after interviewing 2 other Landscape Design companies that seemed expensive and not very responsive. I wanted to create an outdoor entertaining area in my backyard and put in all new plantings. It was a big project as the yard was on a slope and needed to be graded. David and his team did a great job from start to finish. They listened to what I wanted and presented a complete design and estimate within 2 weeks. I made some minor revisions to their design plan and they started when they said they would. Once construction started I requested a couple of in-progress revisions and David told me upfront what they would cost and I approved them. His team started EXACTLY at 7:00 AM every day and kept the site as clean as possible during the 8 week project. David suggested that I install lighting to showcase the new area which at first I didn't think I needed. I took David's suggestions and am glad I did as my yard now looks like a resort at night with subtle but beautiful nighttime lighting. I highly recommend David and his team. They are talented, reasonably priced and true to their word.

David came through for us with flying colors for the second time in a row! Seven years ago we entrusted AAA Landscape Specialists, Inc. to design and accomplish all the work on an extensive project including; lawns, artificial turf, plants, trees, irrigation system, drains, walkways, curbs, planters, gas plumbed BBQ and much more for our new home. Not only did David and crew accomplish all the work before the expected completion date but also exceeded all of our expectations in every way. Therefore, it should have been no surprise at all when we called David again without hesitation when we decided that we needed someone to design and install landscape lighting. In our opinion AAA Landscape Specialists are the best without a doubt! Also, of special note [redacted] was amazing. We were truly in awe of how proficient he was at his trade. If you need lighting or any other landscaping needs you owe it to yourself to give David a call.

Review: I met with [redacted] who said he was the company owner to have a significant landscaping done for my home in [redacted] CA[redacted] was cordial and even came out on a Sunday for our initial meetingAt that time he said they charged a fee for the design and that the design cost would be reduced from the actual cost if we went with him for the final jobI was sold by the design quality and web site they had and paid $for design with every intention of using them to do the projectA week later a design person [redacted] came out and we talked about my vision, he took pictures, measured etcEverything seemed to be up to parThen a few weeks went by and no designI finally got a call from [redacted] the designer and he said the emails he was sending to me were bouncing backI gave him my email again (turns out that the company owner did not write it down correctly) and patiently waited for my designs to arriveStill no designsI emailed the company via the web site and left a bad reviewThat finally got them energizedThe company owner is a hot head, his emotional outbursts and harassing phone calls to me at work were ludicrousI told him simply I did not get any designs they did not deliver please refund my $He made a bunch of excuses about how busy he was, the designers wife had a baby etcThen he immediately sent me some designs that were cartoonist in character and did not reflect the discussion I had with his design personAgain not delivering as promisedIt is a simple case of not meeting the contract specification and doing the jobAll I asked for was a refund since he did not do anything and we could go our separate waysI gave him business days to deliverNothingI would ask that the Revdex.com contact the ownerMy desire is to solve this in a simple and unemotional mannerIt is a hassle to go to small claims court pay the $and sue for my $Bottom line is like the previous Revdex.com complaint AAA Landscape specialist, Inc don't deliver on their contract.Desired Settlement: Refund of $750, I have asked the owner for this and gave him business daysNothing yet, not even a phone call since his last emotional outburstHis desire is to be such a big pain in the butt and force me to go to small claims courtAfter all he has the money now it is my problem to get it back
Business
Response:
Dear Mr[redacted],
None of us ever like to hear complaints, and if we at AAA Landscape
Specialists ever do get a complaint (which is almost unheard of) we evaluate
them for accuracy, honesty, and validityYour complaint lacks all threeSince
this is a public forum, as much as I hate having to respond d about which of our Award Winning Designers I
felt was best suited to your projectWe agreed that [redacted]- who to your misstatements and as much as I dislike having to respond to your lies and dishonest characterizations of our company, I am also thankful that this forum allows us to do soFirst lets look at the facts: You met with me on Sunday, April 7th, During this initial meeting we discussed in detail our design process, our design options, and a realistic timeframe to develop your plansWe also walked around the backyard and we spent a lot of time discussing your project in detailWe discussed trees, privacy concerns and elements on our website that you likedYou pointed out BBQ and the stacked stone veneerWe talked about your desire for a wall down the side yard and we talkehas been the lead
designer of many of our award winning projects was a good fitI showed you our cover photo on Landscape
Architect and Specifier Magazine which [redacted] and Myself designed, I showed you
several of the articles which featured AAA Landscape Specialists in Landscape
Contractor Magazine and in Fine Magazine, I showed you examples of the 3-D
renderings we produce and encouraged you to spend some time on our website www.landscapespecialists.com prior
to meeting with [redacted] to further develop your ideasWe discussed time frames and
how busy we currently were and prior to accepting a design deposit I also informed
you that we were very busy, and that designs typically take 2-weeks from the
time that you meet with our designer to get your initial concepts backI also let you know that [redacted]’s wife had just had
a baby and that [redacted] may not be available to meet for another weekYou said you
were fine with thisWe signed a design agreementWe then continued talking about our process
and you then asked us to expand the scope of work to include the front yard as
well for future implementation and you signed the design contract for the
second time reflecting this changeYou
indicated that a 3-week time frame was fine and that you were excited to get
started but not in a hurry[redacted]
followed up with a phone call to you the following day and scheduled a design
meeting with you on April 13, Since
I was not at that design meeting the next section of this response to you is
[redacted]’s account of the interaction and communications between you and him
Mr [redacted],
I spent several hours consulting with you on April 13th,
I measured your lot, took
pictures, and spent time walking and driving around the neighborhood with you
looking at landscape projects you found interestingI took several pages of
detailed notes and went thru my notes with you to confirm my understanding of
the project with you prior to leavingI
indicated to you that my turnaround time for a preliminary concept would be
about three weeks since my wife had indeed just given birth to our second child
and you indicated that you understood
I attempted to email you an update on Thursday May 2ndThe e-mail address I tried bounced backI
went so far as to try three different variations of your email all of which
bounced backI then left you a voicemail that same day asking for confirmation
of your email addressYou in turn left
me a voicemail, which I retrieved on Sunday May 5, upon returning home
from my weekendI emailed you the three
dimensional design images that night, which is within the time frame we
discussed
All of this I have documented including the bounced e-mails
and the follow up to you with the correct e-mail address, so your claim that
you did not receive anything from us is not only ludicrous, it is easily proven
otherwise
Your feeble attempt to discredit my design work as
“cartoonist in character” only serves to further discredit youOur work with AAA Landscape Specialists, Inchas
won many awards and our work has been featured in several well respected
publications including Landscape Architect And Specifier magazine and Landscape
Contractor Magazine among others
I also have detailed
notes from our initial meeting that completely debunk your argument that the
design did not reflect our initial discussion of your wishes
When we first met I was, indeed, genuinely interested in your
project, which is reflected in the level of detail in the design I spent numerous
hours creating for youWhile you seemed
to be an honest person then, your actions since prove otherwiseYou have made several wildly and easily
disproven claims about us and the fact that you would not only steal my hard
work, but have the gall to expect a refund is utterly patheticI did not spend over a decade honing my craft
through education and experience to let someone with a clearly low moral
character take that from meSo if it
takes going to small claims court with all my detailed documentation to prove
you wrong and receive what I’ve earned, then I am more than happy to take time
out of my busy schedule to do so
The next time I heard anything from you was at 8:pm on Sunday,
May 5th when I received your rude, dishonest, completely
unprofessional and entirely inaccurate reviewThis review really concerned me
because my only other interaction with you was during our initial meeting and
it was so positiveYour review was a shock to me and all I could do was
scratch my head in total disbelief that anyone could post such a thing without
even calling me or asking me for a status update
I immediately upon receipt of the review replied back to
you via e-mailThis is the e-mail I sent you at 9:pm on Sunday May 5th
Dear [redacted],
I have received your e-mail and will follow
up with [redacted] in the morningSince you have not called me or reached out
to me at any point in time since you met with [redacted] I was unaware that there were
any concernsLet me assure you that we are 100% customer oriented and that [redacted]
is an amazing designerI am completely confident that if he has
indicated to you that he was having e-mail issues then that is a fact
You paid a 50% deposit towards the design which is customary, had your
initial design consultation with [redacted]- our best designer, and I am sure
that the design is either completed or awaiting your response to the initial
conceptsI will have a definitive answer for you tomorrow as to the
statusThis is an extremely busy time of year for us and [redacted]'s wife just
gave birth to their second child so he may be running a little bit slow, but we
are still within the time frame that I promised you when we metI read
your review and fortunately for both of us there is not any truth in your allegations
All of the reviews are truthful and factual and I assure you that there has
been no change in the running of the company or the quality we produce
We are a family operated company with long term employeesWe take
extreme pride in our quality and customer serviceCustomer satisfaction and
quality workmanship have always been our highest priorityAny negative
reviews- especially one like yours which have no real basis in truth hurt
everyone involvedI am sure that that is not your intentionYou did not make
a mistake in hiring us to do your designOur process is thorough, complete,
and comes with revisions to the initial concepts if requestedLet me know what
it is specifically that you are complaining aboutI will follow up with
a phone call tomorrow to youYou may also reach me directly on my cell phone
The number is listed below
Sincerely,
Monday Morning the 6th I called [redacted] to find out
what was going on and to gather all of the facts which are that [redacted] attempted
to e-mail you on May 2, at the e-mail address that I provided him (which I
had written down incorrectly for him)When
the e-mails he sent bounced back as undeliverable, he then left you a voicemail
message indicating that he had the wrong e-mail addressYou responded by leaving him a voicemail
message with the correct addressHe then e-mailed you the beautifully
completed design work screen shotsHe also e-mailed them to me
I then followed up with a phone call to you at 7:am on
Monday morning and instead of having a rational discussion with you, you
instead yelled at me, called me names, accused us of being thieves, claimed
that we took your money and didn’t do any of the work and then you hung up on
meI then called you back a second time and very politely informed you that
[redacted] had completed the work and that he had e-mailed you the design workYou
claim to have not received it so I told you that I also had it and will send it
to youI e-mailed it to you twice and
you did acknowledge receiving it at 8:am on May 6th
So in summary, you have a contract with us to provide design
work, which we have fulfilledYou have an outstanding balance due to us for
the design work of $
If you would like to go to court I actually look forward to
itWe are right, you are wrong!
We of course will be filing a counter suit to collect the
balance due to us
You are inaccurate and irrational and rather than make a
simple call to me to follow up on the design work status you instead chose to publically
post libelous statements
After I politely informed you that you had made an error and
that we had in fact completed the design work you instead chose to threaten me
with a lawsuit if we didn’t refund your deposit
You have been provided a beautiful design from one of this
countries top landscape designersHere is a link to the design work we have
completed which I am making public so that anyone who reads this complaint can
see for themselves the outstanding quality, the creativity and the true value
and workmanship which goes into every one of [redacted]’s designshttp://solanabeachlandscape.com/design-plans-5132013/
President
A AA Landscape Specialists, Inc
###-###-####
Consumer
Response:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaintFor your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
The issue is simpleThe company has not to date delivered as promisedThe company owner and the design person have lost any connection to the truth in their responseThe company owner has been verablly abusive to me, made harrassing phone calls to my place of work and continues to make statements in his response to the Revdex.com
They have failed to communicate or deliver any usable productI have given them $and have a handful of cartoonist unusable products that they through together at the last minute and call design workThis was done in response to my original complaint to the company owner and to simply cover their a--
I simply don't want to do buisness with people who don't deliver, verbally abuse me, and make accusations and defamatory comments about my characterThen they claim to have great customer serviceYou have to be kidding meIf they were a viable stand up company the fundamental expectation anyone would have is a refundWe are not talking about a huge some of money$They did nothing and simply want to keep the money
My individual observation is that people who take money and don't deliver are in fact thieves
I am not sure what the Revdex.com can doI am willing to meet and lay out the facts
Bottom line, all I wanted is a simple refund for a deposit in which I got no productIf they are as great as they claim to be and they find me to be someone they don't want to work with it seems to reason that we part ways in an amicable manner provide a refund and we go our separate waysNot so in this case
The company owners response, calling me a liar and other derogatory statement have no place in a professional businessThese continued verbal assaults are of course offensive and only serve to ratchet up the rhetoric
If this is in a public forum I would hope that others might read my response and compare it to another complaint to the Revdex.com against this company from a different consumerVery similar in natureIt demonstrates a trend of poor cutomer service and lack of product delivery
At the end of the day all I want is my $backWhy can't they provide it? They have done nothing to earn it
Regards,
Business
Response:
Mr[redacted],

We’ve had two great experiences with David and the AAA Landscape team. The first job he upgraded and updated our back yard. For our second project David transformed our front yard and increased the curb of our home dramatically. You know what they say, first impressions are everything!

In both experiences AAA Landscape exceeded our expectations. David’s helpful guidance through the initial design to the finishing touches of lighting was great. I would highly recommend David and his professional and courteous staff to anyone looking for landscape work.

This complaint is in regards to how the owner of AAA Landscaping Specialists, [redacted], scheduled work to be performed. I had previously contracted with AAA to have my backyard landscaped, work completed Oct 2011-Jan 2012. I contacted [redacted] Feb 2013 to have some follow through maintenance services completed. I am displeased with how the scheduling of this job has been handled. From the beginning, it took several attempts to contact AAA. Once the initial meeting was set up at my home for 7:30 am, [redacted] was 30 minutes late with no explanation. I explained the work I needed to have completed, primarily mulching. At the completion of the meeting, [redacted] stated he was very busy and would have to look at his crew availability, but that it would be done in roughly 1-2 weeks. I would be told the specific day his crew would be coming by once he looked at his schedule. Today I was shocked to see people on my property this morning without my permission. Although I was able to quickly determine what was going on, I count it lucky I didn't have any other engagements away from my home today. The crew needed my presence to move vehicles parked in the driveway in order to do the job, and they needed me to explain the work I was asking to be done and where. I also prefer to be home when work is being performed on my property so as to supervise or answer any questions. I contacted [redacted] via e-mail asking for an explanation. He responded that, I walked [redacted] thru the job yesterday and left you a note on the back of my card indicating we would be by today to do the work. I stopped by myself and rang the doorbell. I did not get an answer. The time he rang the doorbell was 8:00 am the day the work was completed hardly an opportunity for the homeowner to make appropriate arrangements. I also never received the card, and I was home the entire day he indicated he stopped by.I have no complaints as to the quality of labor and work performed.