Flowerscapes

Complaint[redacted] did great work however significantly exceeded the high end of estimate - almost by double. She said she would work with my irrigation contractor but did not meet with him or communicate with him. I told her that I traveled a great deal and that my wife would not water the plants. Three plants in the garden died and one planter was installed with no drainage. She said that was not needed. When I came home from a trip there was standing water in it which I asked her to address. She said she would and when I came home the second time after travel there was still standing water. I then drilled holes in the planters and significant amounts of water drained from the pots. She sent a snarky note saying that this was not her responsibility even though she had said she would work with the irrigation contractor. She also charged for time she had not yet worked and when I questioned the tasks (there were still plants that needed trimming and deadheading) she sent a defensive angry note. Her billing was very sloppy - where she charged the same rate for her individual time as for a crew of three and defended that by saying she was not charging for travel. She refused to provide instruction about the care for the plants thought that was promised as well. I offered to pay for the replacement of the plants and asked for an itemization of the plants that were purchased. She insisted on being paid for the time to replace the plants. While I was not happy with that, I told her I would leave this to my assistant as to how to proceed. She then refused to do anything.Product_Or_Service: Landscape design and installationDesired SettlementAt this point I would like a refund of her over charges of $2000 and replacement of the plants that died at no cost of time or labor.Business Response In all my years of business no one has EVER filed a complaint. My contract was to remove the existing plants, prepare beds with new soil and organic fertilizers, design new landscape and install plants. As explained to customer repeatedly I am not responsible for the care of the gardens. I was happy to offer advice on proper watering, I did speak to his irrigation provider on the phone, and I offered my cell number to give to irrigation person in an attempt to coordinate being at the property at the same time. I was never contacted by the irrigation person. I have several documented attempts via email of the importance of proper watering especially in the first few months when the plants are more vulnerable because their roots have not taken hold. The three plants that died did so due to a lack of water. The customer had drip lines installed in the pots and some were dispensing too much water. I expressed this concern to his assistant and to homeowners several times. When I arrived to plant a second area a large planter on the side porch was 80% dead. I removed the plants that had rotted from the stem from too much water and actually added more annuals that I happened to have at no charge to customer. His assistant pointed out that day one of the topiary plants on the front step and it had standing water. This was one of two IDENTICAL pots. I had put almost a full bag of marble chips at the base of each for drainage. Because the pots were so deep and I did not want to mark the stone on the stairs I chose not to puncture the base. The pot on the right only a couple feet away from the other was thriving and healthy. The only variable was the drip line in each was on different zones and one was obviously getting way too much water. I removed the drip line, poured as much water out as I could and attempted to do a complete walk through with his wife [redacted] to point out to them areas of concern but she was not available. When I returned home that evening I wrote customers an email identifying my concerns and advised them to drill a whole in the base of the pot that was overflowing with water or I could come back and empty it out and replant it. There was nothing more I could do at that point. This customer lives over an hour away from me. The customer sent me a sacastic email saying "I don't understand why you didn't just drill a whole"(as a garden design person I don't travel with a drill!) He also accused me of not deadheading the plants because there were new dead heads when he arrived home. Annual flowers can produce dead heads daily and he was watering his roses with spray heads on the blooms(even though I spoke to his assistant saying this is turning the pedals brown because the sun in scorching them because of the water on the pedals it reflects the suns rays but she disagreed and they kept the spray heads in place.) [redacted] did send a second email acknowledging that he "may have come across condescending and that that was not his intent. In my reply email I agreed that yes, he had been condescending but I was still willing to work with him to get the gardens looking the way they did the day I planted them. Even though it is not part of my contract I do care very much that the gardens look as beautiful which is why I was willing to help guide them but my advice was not adhered to and the plants that I had been pointing out a concern for did eventually and sadly die. The customer wants to hold me responsible despite all my attempts to remind him that plant care is NOT my responsibility but that of the homeowner.I do have a maintenance plan that I offer to customers and I come usually every two weeks to dead head and use my organic disease or insect sprays as needed. I offered this to [redacted] and at first he didn't want it then he did. The day I was scheduled to arrive at his home with two workers (which again is over an hour drive)I just happened to text his assistant to see if she would be onsite that day so I could directly physically point out any issues in the gardens and she told me "[redacted] was mad about your last email. Don't come and he wants a list of plants and their prices." I was surprised as I had no idea why he would be upset about my email. Apparently because I acknowledged his condescending demeanor he was "mad" at me and fired me without even notifying me! I would have driven over an hour and had to pay those two employees if I hadn't by chance texted his assistant. I decided to speak with [redacted] directly in an attempt to understand why he was upset, he did not pick up his phone so I left him a voice mail saying I would like to talk to him about the situation. I did not know why he was angry and wanted to speak to him in an attempt to resolve whatever the issue was. Although he showed no respect for me or my employees by not even notifying us not to come I was willing to have a one on one discussion with him. Later that day I got an email that said the following, "[redacted] I listened to your voice mail. No need to call back or write. Your services are no longer needed". About a week later his assistant texted me saying she was still waiting for her list of plants. I responded letting her know [redacted] had fired me via an email on [redacted] 3 and that I would happily forward her the email if she needed me to. I also informed her that because he fired me I would not be offering him anything. Subsequently I got an email from [redacted] threatening me that he was going to post pictures of his dead plants on [redacted] that he was going to report me to the Revdex.com, insulting me personally calling me a "prima donna" and accusing me of terrible customer service and more.....his email was full of anger, sarcasim, accusations, and insults. It was truly not how I wanted things to end because again I care very much about my customers being happy with their new landscape. Both he and his wife loved the work I had done and because they couldn't get the irrigation right soon enough they lost plants. For some reason they just don't get that is NOT my responsibility and as a small business I can't just absorb other peoples errors in judgment. I decided again because it really bothered me that the plants had died to go and assess what was needed, I offered to replace the plants at wholesale cost but would have to be paid for my labor. I don't work for free and I'm certain [redacted] doesn't either. I felt very generous to offer this man anything after he had insulted, threatened, and fired me! He responded with outrage that I expected to be paid for my time. Then insulted me some more and I decided at that point that I did not want to be involved any further with this individual. I told him I no longer wish to have any contact with him. He responded with a nasty email calling me a "piece of work" and again threatening me, insulting me etc. Because of the way that he has treated me I have no inclination to offer this man any more of my time or talents. Regarding the gross exaggeration of invoice amounts being nearly double the estimate it is completely false. after subtracting the hours that were no part of the original estimate(time consulting and time with wife at wholesaler)I looked at the written contract of the first job and it was over by $391 of the high end of estimate. This was because his wife had fallen in love with some beautiful high end 7foot spiral junipers when she came with me to the wholesaler so I included them in the new landscape. They were the cause of the invoice going over. The difference of $391 represents 7% off from the estimate to the final invoice. Industry standard for landscaping is that if you are within 10 to 15 % of your original estimate it is acceptable. The second job I did for them actually came in $83 under the high estimate amount despite the fact that that area was all ledge and rock no soil and very very difficult to dig in and we managed to do it under budget. Requesting a $2,000 refund makes absolutely no sense. Again, I went above and beyond the scope of my contract and yet this customer still argued with me, insulted me and threatened me and I do not intend to have any contact with him whatsoever.Consumer Response For the record, the response is not satisfactory and I would like your system to reflect that. That said, I don't believe that anything will come of this so it is likely not worth my effort to pursue.