H A M Landscaping Inc.

In response to Mr *** letterI find the first part totally uncalled for. Over the last years we have installed well over projectsWhen a client asks for an minor adjustment or tweak to the project and we take care of it like we did for him in less then hours , we would
normally get praised, and sometimes receive a nice gratuityNever has a client ever complained about us tweaking or finessing work to their satisfactionThat pretty much is not how the rest of the world actsMr *** did not like our original foreman on the job although he was VERY experienced and had supervised two similar projects, driveways , for Mr*** neighborsWe let Mr*** visit and interview another foreman that was working a job nearby and Mr*** asked that he replace the current foremanAlthough this foreman had not put in a driveway, it is pretty darn easy to install a paver driveway that is just a BIG RECTANGLEThis foreman has completed many installs in the figure range that were far more complex and detailed
This is where we are with this projectWe have completed it months ago, however since the end of May, Mr *** has made many alterations,additions , deletions and revisionsWe have tried in vain to meet with him to discuss fees and cost on separate occasions, and have always been put off or ignoredAs of this date The changes, alterations , additions and revisions have added up to over $19,as per our signed contracts for the original work, for stopped started projects because of material changes and returns and for authorized extrasWe even have had our materials taken from us and used by other contractors at his house without our permission, that seems criminal.There is also another approximately $30,of extra time in this project we would like to negotiate that we have incurred due to his micro managing our crews, in regards to work he has little experience in, which made our costs skyrocketIn addition, he repeatedly redirected us and other contractors who were working on his premises at the same time so that we each had to constantly relocate our equipment so the other could proceed with their projectsWe have me with him timesThe last time was with my wife, attorney present, where we thought he was going to have his attorney present too so that we could work out some of our differencesHis attorney did not come.We have asked that his attorney contact us and that has not happened eitherWe would love to resolve this, and think that we canAs per our contract we are to be paid upon completion to qualify for warranty workWe would love to take care of any warranty work if neededHe would have a 1-year warranty depending on his landscape maintenance status with us and lifetime warranty on the materialWe would need him to pay the balance and authorized extras for this to happenI would even be willing for the Revdex.com to hold the monies in escrow until we take care of any warranty work if neededWe need Mr*** to agree on a final payment amount for this to happen and we have been trying to do that since the end of MayAnything you can do to help with this matter would be appreciated. Very truly yours,*** ***

Revdex.com:
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.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Please
see our responses below Mr. [redacted]’s letter to this complaint  - Mr. [redacted]'s letter is first and our response is indented and italicized afterwards.
"In
response to Mr [redacted]s letter. I find the first part totally uncalled
for.  Over the last 45 years we have installed well over 3000 projects.
When a client asks for an minor adjustment or tweak to the project and we take
care of it like we did for him in less then 24 hours , we would normally get
praised,  and sometimes receive a nice gratuity. Never has a client ever
complained about us tweaking or finessing work to their satisfaction. That
pretty much is not how the rest of the world acts."
There is
nothing uncalled for in the beginning of our letter, it’s simply a statement of
the facts.  In the first 3 jobs that were
completed, 2 of the 3 were not “tweaked”, they were completely ripped out and
redone.  If it was a simply a tweak, we
wouldn’t be in the position we are now. 
We have dozens of photos and over 7 witnesses proving it.
"Mr
[redacted] did not like our original foreman on the job although he was VERY
experienced and had supervised two similar projects, driveways , for Mr.
[redacted]s neighbors."
It’s not
that we didn’t “like” the original foreman – he was a very nice person and we
did like him and treated him and his team with the utmost respect. However, after
1 ½ weeks on the job, he checked himself into a hospital for psychiatric
treatment (his words, not ours).  In fact
he spent the first week telling everyone he met on our project that he was “looking
for his biological parents”.  He clearly
was not focused on our project which was evident based on the number of “redo’s”
mentioned above - that’s why he was asked to be removed.   It doesn’t matter whether he was experienced
or not, the quality of work from that team did not show that to be the case at
all.
"We
let Mr. [redacted] visit and interview another foreman that was working a job
nearby and Mr. [redacted] asked that he replace the current foreman. Although this
foreman had not put in a driveway, it is pretty darn easy to install a paver
driveway that is just a BIG RECTANGLE. This foreman has completed many installs
in the 6 figure range that were far more complex and detailed."
If a driveway
is just a BIG RECTANGLE, then it should have been no problem to install it STRAIGHT.  As mentioned in all of our documentation and
as admitted to by Mr. [redacted], the driveway was “leading into” our neighbor’s yard
(among other issues).  Moreover,
installing a driveway that has to support 6,000 pounds of pressure from cars
every day is very different than installing a patio.   This is clearly evident by the fact that
there were valleys from tires in our driveway after only 2 weeks of being
installed.
"This
is where we are with this project. We have completed it months ago, however
since the end of May, Mr. [redacted] has made many alterations, additions ,
deletions and revisions."
I have no idea what idea what alterations, additions, deletions and
revisions Mr. [redacted] is suggesting??  We haven’t
touched a thing with any of the work that was done by H.A.M in the hopes that we
could resolve these issues.  He is
welcome to state specifically what he thinks has been altered.
"We
have tried in vain to meet with him to discuss fees and cost on 3 separate
occasions, and have always been put off or ignored."
Incredible statement since we met with Mr. [redacted] twice in person –
once in his offices as well as a neutral meeting place ([redacted] at his
request again). We never refused to discuss the issue  - we just could not logistically accommodate his
demand to meet at his offices during the weekdays (my wife is a teacher) but did offer to meet with
him at our house before / after the workday to discuss any / all issues or concerns he had (as did every
other contractor that was doing work for us at the time.  He declined to meet with us.
"As
of this date The changes, alterations , additions and revisions have added up
to over $19,000.00 as per our signed contracts for the original work, for
stopped started projects because of material changes and returns and for
authorized  extras."
There is no contract, verbal or written, that gave H.A.M permission
to do work over the contracted price.  Any suggested “changes, alterations, etc.” were
activities that were done incorrectly and either had to be fixed or
redone.  As stated earlier, the 2nd
team told us numerous times that they would spend a lot of time “fixing” the
problems of the first team we had at our house on other projects.  Again, these are their words not ours and
under oath they would have to begrudgingly admit that. 
If desired, I’m happy to provide the list of items that had to be
fixed (not “tweaked”) to the Revdex.com along with photos and written statements from over a dozen witnesses.  Mr. [redacted] is upset because this fixed project
cost a lot more than anticipated but his costs / profit are not our
concern.   There was a formal process for
any / all changes orders or changes to scope or cost that we agreed to for other H.A.M. projects - yet it wasn’t until we received a “time and materials”
invoice (#[redacted]) for double the price of the original project that there was was any suggestion that these projects would cost more money.     If Mr. [redacted] was so concerned that the costs were more than anticipated based on changes in scope, he had 2 months to present a written Change Order, send an email with an estimate of the additional work, verbally ask for money over the phone, etc. This was NEVER done!  
"We
even have had our materials taken from us and used by other contractors at his
house without our permission that seems criminal."
I have no idea what you are talking about as this is the first I’ve
ever heard of this nor is it true.  I’d appreciate
knowing exactly what materials were taken from you without your
permission so that I can bring it up with our other contractors.  (I guess I should claim the same thing when
the H.A.M. team used my personal items such as our wet-dry vac to vacuum up the
water from the heavy rains.)  
"There
is also another approximately $30,000.00 of extra time in this project we would
like to negotiate that we have incurred due to his micro managing  our
crews, in regards to work he has little experience in, which made  our
costs skyrocket. In addition, he repeatedly redirected us and other contractors
who were working on his premises at the same time so that we each had to
constantly relocate our equipment so the other could proceed with their
projects."
This is completely false.  There
was ONE day in which the team had to accommodate another contractor on the side
of our house and they were done in less than 6 hours.  The H.A.M team worked alongside the other
contractors which no problem otherwise. Again, I can secure all of these
contractors to say the same.  In fact, the opposite is true, we held off having other contractors complete their work to accommodate H.A.M. which I can also prove.  (BTW, I do have plenty of experience doing the same / similar work as H.A.M. because it's what I used to do at Sea World of Ohio for 4 years.)
"We
have me with him 2 times. The last time was with my wife, attorney present,
where we thought he was going to have his attorney present too so that we could
work out some of our differences. His attorney did not come."
We never said that our attorney would come.  I thought we’d come to a reasonable solution at the time so we didn’t feel that our attorney was needed. 
"We
have asked that his attorney contact us and that has not happened either."
I have multiples emails from Mr. [redacted]’s wife, their attorney,
while he was out of town and there were several suggestions to have our
attorney contact her if and only if we could come to a resolution that needed
to be drawn up into an agreement. 
Clearly we don’t have a resolution so there’s no need to spend the money
for an attorney to contact Mrs. [redacted].
"We
would love to resolve this, and think that we can. As per our contract we are
to be paid upon completion to  qualify for warranty work. We would love to
take care of any warranty work if needed. He would have a 1-5 year warranty
depending on his landscape maintenance status with us and lifetime warranty on
the material. We would need him to pay the balance and authorized extras for
this to happen. I  would even be willing for the Revdex.com to hold the monies in
escrow until we take care of any warranty work if needed. We need Mr.
[redacted] to  agree on a final payment amount for this to happen and we have
been trying to do that since the end of May. Anything you can do to help with
this matter would be appreciated." We are still very far apart. 
As stated in the original complaint, we had a CONTRACT for a certain
price.  Once and if the remaining
contractually-related items are complete, then we will pay the final amount of
money owed to H.A.M. per the terms in their contract. 
Then we would expect the warranty work to be done.  If Mr. [redacted] can produce ANY document authorizing
any additional charges over and above our original contracts and allowing what
he claims is “extra”, we’d be happy to pay it.  
But we know he can’t.  
Regards,
[redacted]

This company installed a colorsfalls waterfall, with a stonework landscape designed around it, a year ago. We were told they would service this product if we had any problems. We tried to re-start the waterfall this spring,and found the basen would not keep the water level up for use. We have been calling for three months to have them provide service, and have had several promises for service made, but no one has shown up to keep those promises. Now we cannot even get a return phone call for the representative we have been talking to, nor anyone else from the company, they were very accomodating when we hired them, but they have failed to provide the promised services for this unit. Buyer beware!