Ace Landscaping Corp

Review: In a letter dated April 28, 2013 my wife and I complain of improper drainage of our home due to improper landscaping by ACE Landscaping. The grading, sloping and not packing down the soil resulted in creating a large and long crevice on the right side of our house and ruining our lawn. The sloping also created water to settle outside our basement window. Fortunately, it did not leak and flood our basement. In addition, we have an upward slope along side the fence, which should have been flat. We contacted the owner of the company, [redacted], to have him come out to fix these problems but either didn't show up or didn't call back. In the end we had to hire another landscaper to fix the problem and paid him at our own expense.Desired Settlement: Partial reimbursement and fix the upward slope in our backyard.

Business

Response:

I am responding to the complaint that has showed up on our Revdex.com file. We were definitely notified by our past client that there were issues with their drainage and that we needed to meet. I scheduled a time to meet and met the client at their residence. We discussed the various situations and what was causing the problems. I had set a time for us to come to assist with the improvements and then we got a call from the client stating that I had sent a worker over who did not know what they were talking about. That worker was "me*. Apparently the impression I left with her at the time, was not good.

During our meeting I stated that we were willing to assist them in fixing the settling that had occurred around their foundation of their home, but by no means was this my companies responsibility. As I stated it was a foundation problem and the settling that was occurring was caused due to the lack of compaction from the general contractor who built their home. It should have been compacted when back filling the foundation.

I told our client that the area needed to be brought back up to the elevations that were stained on the side of their foundation. You could tell where things had settled and where we had originally had the grade around the home. Our landscaping next to their foundation consisted of rock and weed mat. No sprinklers, no shrubs etc... Any irrigation water that may have caused issues was a minimum of 4'+ away from their foundation.

The customer installed gutters with down spout chains that were allowing the water to spill into areas not far from the foundation. When the water continued to drain in the area, it eventually found a weak point next to the foundation and caused the settling. The customer made no efforts in diverting the water with splash pads.

In the end, I could see that we were getting no where fast with the customer, they wanted several hundred dollars worth of work to be done for free which was not going to happen, now we are receiving the letter I am responding to.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] I reject the response because the improper drainage on the side of our house had nothing to do with the foundation as this house was built in 2010, which means the foundation had already been settled when my wife and I bought the house in June 2012. The builder investigated this and confirmed it is not the foundation and who also told us that the landscaper (ACE) would blame him (the builder). How is it that the foundation decides to settle again after ACE Landscaping did the landscaping? Answer: ACE did not bring enough soil in and compact it down enough like it should have been, especially with a layer of river rock laid down on it. A lack of enough soil and the weight of the river rock caused the "foundation" to sink which further caused our drainage problems. Therefore, the owner of ACE Landscaping, [redacted], does not resolve my complaint. In addition, [redacted] failed to address the upward slope of your backyard where our fence meets the field behind us, which should have been sloping downward (like the rest of our yard does) to allow proper drainage.

As far as the side of our house is concerned we still wish to have partial reimbursement in the amount of $450 for which this amount is half of what we paid to another landscaper to fix the problem.

Regards,

Business

Response:

In regards to the complaint that is on file, I feel that this is going nowhere fast. I truly believe that the customer will/would not be satisfied no matter what our response is in regards to this matter. Unfortunately the individual that is causing the stir is not the individual we dealt with through the project. We were dealing with his wife ([redacted]) and not once did we deal directly with the husband. There were several things that happened through this entire process that made me feel extremely uneasy. For example they laid claim that they found our website and that we were Christians and god fearing individuals and that is why they felt we would be a great fit for their work. That is so far from the truth that it is comical. Nowhere in our website do we state any religious faith. Why would we. Secondly, when I met [redacted] about the complaints, she told me what her problems were, I told her that I would figure out a number to assist her in getting the settling fixed, but not once did I accept responsibility for the settling conditions. When I left our meeting, I got a call a couple of days later and she thought I was just one of the crew that was out there, she did not even remember me from the installation nor did she remember me from the meeting that we had. So, I am done with this, as I stated, I do not believe there is a win for us either way, so I feel it is best for me to move forward. Anything else, please let me know [redacted]Office ###-###-####Fax ###-###-####Cell ###-###-####

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. I understand and acknowledge what the owner says about my wife hurling personal things at him that have nothing to do with business, which made him feel "extremely uneasy", BUT [redacted] does not address the business issue and the problem: ACE did not bring enough soil in and compact it down enough like it

should have been, especially with a layer of river rock laid down on it. A lack

of enough soil and the weight of the river rock caused the

"foundation" to sink which further caused our drainage problems. In addition, and once again, [redacted] failed to address the upward slope of your backyard where our fence

meets the field behind us, which should have been sloping downward (like the

rest of our yard does) to allow proper drainage. I still wish to have partial reimbursement in the amount of $450 for which

this amount is half of what we paid to another landscaper to fix the problem.

Regards,

Business

Response:

As I stated before, regardless of what I say the homeowner is not going to agree with me and is strictly in this for a financial conclusion. At this time, I have and I will not continue to banter back and forth with them over the problem. It is now at a point that it is an I said he said type of deal and I do not have time or the energy to continue to argue over this. Please advise me of what the outcome is. Thanks

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by [redacted] of ACE Landscaping in reference to complaint ID 9633297, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  I acknowledge that the solution to the problem is "financial" because [redacted] refuses to take responsibility for a job his company did that went bad (foreseeable or not) and failed to fix it to our satisfaction. Instead, my wife and I had to hire another landscaper, [redacted] of AZ Grading, to (1) tear up our lawn on the side of the house, (2) bring in enough soil (3), compact it down, (4) level the grade and (5) fix our water drainage problem. Therefore, I am still asking for partial reimbursement in the amount of $450 for which this amount is half of what we paid AZ Grading. This has been and is my view on the matter.Regards[redacted]