Lewis Landscape Services Inc

Unfortunately there was miscommunication with which date this client requested service to be cancelled so a final service was missed but the problem has been resolved The owner, Jim L***, has given approval for the refund and the check is processed and will go out in the mail
3/22/

I spent some time looking over this project with our client after two different crews had been thereShe was able to show me and describe to me what was done the first time and how it looked now, after the second crew came and repaired some of the items that had been missed or done incorrectly the
first timeI did get the sense that the first crew we sent over had left a few things that could have been done betterAfter I left, I discussed the project with our crews, with the original project manager and with the project manager who came the second timeSo in the end I had a pretty good sense of what happened at this projectI concluded that the project was one that required a crew with a little more construction expertise and the first crew we sent over probably wasn't the right fit for that jobHowever, the project managers did what I would expect them to do and that is: we came back, with a crew that had skill in that particular kind of landscape construction, and we fixed the problemOur client verified with me at our meeting a few weeks ago that she was satisfied with the repairs that were done and with the overall job at this point and did not require any further workWhile I was discussing this project with our client, she indicated to me that there were some main objectives she had for meeting with meFirst, she felt slighted and felt like nobody from our company had bothered to apologize for what happened the first timeSecond, she wanted me to physically see what we had doneThird, she wanted to make sure we did some coaching with our crews so something like this wouldn't happen againFourth, she wanted to get an assurance we would stand behind our work if something failed going forwardAnd finally, she was asking for some sort of a refund, to compensate her for the time she spent calling us and getting these items fixedI was able to take care of of those objectives for herI did apologize there in person for what happened and for her frustrationsI also apologized for the fact that our other project manager didn't handle it in a way that she was satisfied withI told her in a follletter that I did do some coaching with the crew that was there to help make sure they know how to do those things better in the futureAnd I did assure her we would stand behind the work we did for the duration of the warranty periodThe only objective I was not able to meet, as I explained to our client in my letter to her, was the the compensation for her timeI don't feel that is a reasonable expectation of a company or contractorIt's not a way of doing businessFor instance, I've had to take items back to a store because of poor craftsmanship on the item I purchased, but Costco or Nordstrom's doesn't pay me for the time I spent in doing soTheir only obligation to me is to just replace my itemSimilarly, I've had contractors do work where we had to call them back to fix something that was missed as wellBut the contractor did not pay me for my time in bringing it to their attention or in having to deal with making time for them to come back to my house for a few hours and make the repairNo, their only obligation to me was just to fix the item once I brought it to their attentionThat's a standard understanding between consumers and businesses, I believeI don't think most consumers expect or would even ask to be compensated for their timeThe standard expectation is that the company just make it rightIn this case, we have done that and met all requirements we were contracted to me and obligated to meetFurthermore, I don't think that concept of a company having to pay a customer money every time the customer has to call about a warranty item is one that would be conducive to businessCan you imagine how much money companies would lose if they had to reimburse customers for their time and frustration every time something had to be returned or repaired? Companies would go out of business, having to bear costs like thatSo for those reasons, I declined to provide the compensation this client was looking forWe did do what we were contracted to doAnd we did follow up on our obligation to fix the work in the case that something wasn't done properlyTo that end, I believe, that's all that should ever be expected of a businessAt this point, our client and I just disagreeBut we will not be issuing a payment for compensationJim L***, Owner of Lewis Landscape Services

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Sincerely, [redacted]

I met with the homeowner and took notes of her complaints. It took me a few weeks to get together with the project manager for this job so I could better understand what happened with this job and get a full understanding of what he thought they wanted and what was done to achieve that. I reviewed...

the emails that the client sent, our contract for the work and the statements from both the homeowner and the project manager. My conclusion is that with the lawn area we did about as much as we could have done to make the yard more level, short of installing a retaining wall to help create an even more level area. (See first photo attached) I also concluded that it would not be advisable to make the lower part of the lawn any more level than it is currently, for drainage reasons. Perfectly flat lawns end up being a place for water to sit in the winter and often suffer major damage from standing water and flooding. For the area above the lawn (the play area - see second photo attached), I concluded  that we could have done a little more to make the area ABOVE the tree a little more level. This area, too, is never going to be level, without a retaining wall. And the large tree in the corner almost totally precludes a retaining wall being build anyway. Furthermore, even if a retaining wall was built to make that area perfectly level, you would be burying the root zone of the tree and that would likely kill that tree. However, I do feel a little more could have been done to make that upper area a little more level than it is. To help reach this conclusion, one of my main key findings was an email that the client sent to our project manager, near the beginning, explaining their wishes for the back yard. In that email, they indicated they wanted to "make the lawn more level". The key phrase there being "more level" and I believe that is what we did. We did make that lower lawn about as level as you could make it, without creating drainage issues and without a retaining wall. It still does have a very mild slope to it on the bottom half of the lawn. But it is slight. Not a steep slope at all. Well within what is normal for a playable lawn. The client indicated that when they put a swimming pool on the lawn, the water in the pool wasn't level. I don't doubt that. But I don't believe were were told before the job started that the clients wanted it to be perfectly level, for a swimming pool. We were simple told they wanted it "more level", which I believe is what we did.
In addition to this, I also had to consider the fact that our project manager actually DID provide an initial estimate with an option to haul away a lot of soil, which would have made it possible for us to push the "hillside" of the lawn back much further, and the more level part of the lawn would have been even less steep and they would have had even more area that was fairly level. But this quote was turned down and we were asked to revise the quote and provide one that did not include hauling away any soil. Due to the fact that we provided a quote for work that would have made this job turn out much closer to what the client was wanting, in terms of a more level and playable lawn, then this also helped lead to my conclusion that we made this lawn area about as level as we could have, given the budget constraints and the wishes of the client to bring costs down. As I said above, I do feel we could probably add a little soil to the lower part of the upper area and make that area a LITTLE more level. I'd be happy to have a crew come over to their house, rake the the cedar chips aside, install and compact up to 7 yards of fill dirt and then return the cedar chips, which would raise the bottom part of this area and make it a little closer to level. But I am not willing to give the refund that the customer has requested.

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Sincerely, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because the response is misstating several facts: 
"In addition to this, I also had to consider the fact that our project manager actually DID provide an initial estimate with an option to haul away a lot of soil, which would have made it possible for us to push the "hillside" of the lawn back much further, and the more level part of the lawn would have been even less steep and they would have had even more area that was fairly level. But this quote was turned down and we were asked to revise the quote and provide one that did not include hauling away any soil. Due to the fact that we provided a quote for work that would have made this job turn out much closer to what the client was wanting, in terms of a more level and playable lawn, then this also helped lead to my conclusion that we made this lawn area about as level as we could have, given the budget constraints and the wishes of the client to bring costs down. "
This is completely untrue.  The first bid for the project was LOWER.  When we asked them to revise the quote to provide MORE level areas, the labor costs were greatly increased to meet our request.  The contract was based on the second quote, which was higher than the first because our primary goal was to have level areas.
The contract language says in two different places that they would "CREATE FLAT AREAS" which there are none.  We would still like the partial refund.
Sincerely,[redacted]