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Stark Sprinkler & Landscape Reviews (3)

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.RE: Complaint ID #[redacted]/Stark Sprinkler and LandscapeDear Revdex.com:We are writing this letter in response to the letter sent to you by Stark Sprinkler and Landscape onJuly 28, 2015. We will try to address the comments made by Mike S[redacted] in the same order as his letter.Regarding the well and it's potential gpm output, it seems pretty remarkable that a company in the business of installingirrigation systems doesn't have a five gallon bucket and a watch. All that is necessary to determine the operatingcapacity of a well is to determine the length of time required to fill a five gallon bucket then calculate the gallons perminute as performed by Burgess Pump. Instead of making this determination, Stark Sprinkler and Landscape ran acouple systems but never checked to see what was happening with the water elsewhere on the property. They neverran all the systems in succession to see if there could be an issue. As to Mike S[redacted]'s statement that the 4 gpm nozzleswere operating just fine, I am curious as to why he stated that he thought that 3 gpm nozzles were installed, not 4 gpm.Either way, they never even tried to determine if the system they installed might be causing our issues with the circuitbreaker and lack of water in the house thus causing us to incur the expense of the electrician and pump company. Theysimply told us it was not their system causing the issue. As to Mike S[redacted]'s comment that "everyone's initial thought wasthat it could be the new shop was causing the problem," we do not recall either of us hearing this comment or thinkingthat the shop was a possibility. The shop was existent on the property when we bought it. The shop was enhanced byus but even so, it's on an entirely separate electrical system from the house/pump. We believe this matter has finallybeen solved, so enough said.Regarding the paragraph of Mike S[redacted]'s letter beginning, "We also explained that a field that size, next to other unmaintainedfields and the general desert-type location of their property on the north end of Eagle, that they cannot stoptreatments until the field is established ... " There was never any discussion of plans to care for the grass once they hadcompleted seeding. Regardless, the point is moot since there is so little actual fescue grass out there. As to the dates ofservice outlined in Mike S[redacted]'s letter, we are quite certain that our front acreage was treated by them several timesduring the summer of 2014. They stated that they were using weed killer and pre-emergent. We had agreed to followthe protocol they had outlined and told them to proceed with their plan.Regarding the grass seed, Mike S[redacted] apparently does not recall how our conversations about the seed went. We statedthat we wanted low grow, low water, low mow, low fertilize grass seed. We told Mike S[redacted] that we had found such aseed on line. He said he had better seed that he would get. No instructions as to care or mowing were ever provided....Regardless of how high or low the area was cut (and it was cut at the highest setting on our mower which is 4.5"}, itwasn't fescue out there anyway. The bulbous bluegrass had to be cut down to lessen the fire danger. One of our majorobjectives in the decision to have a large front green area was to lessen the danger of fire spreading up to the house.That has not been achieved.As to Mike S[redacted]'s visit in April 2015, he tried to tell us that the predominant grass growing out front was fescue. Weshowed him the stems of this grass and stated that fescue doesn't look like that, fescue grass has blades. We also statedthat fescue doesn't produce the abundant black seeds (or seeds of any kind in early spring) that the bulbous bluegrasswas exhibiting at the time of his visit. We told Mike S[redacted] during his visit that we had contacted the seed company(having found a label left behind by Stark Landscape after the seeding) and they stated that this specific grass blendshould not be going to seed at this time. Frankly, we were dismayed to discover that this landscape professional didn'tknow the difference between fescue and bulbous bluegrass. The other predominant vegetation out there was red stemfilaree which Mike S[redacted] identified as fern. If Mike S[redacted] takes such pride in his work, why hasn't he come out to take alook at the brown stubble that is our front "lawn?" Bulbous bluegrass (once mowed) turns into brown stubble, fescuedoes not.We have lived in the west for over twenty years ourselves and have planted several lawns successfully. We recognizethat no lawn is going to be weed-free without care. We expected to start out with fescue grass and some weeds. If theweeds were bothersome, we would have taken steps to eliminate them. We did not get a lawn as the result of the workthat Stark Landscape performed on our front acreage. We feel that we paid for a lawn that we did not get. We find itdifficult to believe that anyone could look at our front acreage and consider it a lawn. We do not feel that we shouldhave to continue to pay Stark Landscape to do work that we have already paid for. We are enclosing several photos ofour front acreage (taken this morning) where Stark Landscape planted the "lawn."We are more than willing to talk to Mike S[redacted] about a solution to this problem. We would love to have him come to seethe area that was drill seeded. It just doesn't seem possible to us that he could look at the brown stubble and say thathis job had been done successfully. As you can see in the enclosed photos, there are patches of fescue- almostexclusively around the sprinkler heads. We believe they are there because these areas were avoided during therototilling process in an effort to preserve the heads. We believe that planting the lawn just after rototilling without anyweed prevention measures in between simply stirred up the weed seed that had not been killed by the pre-emergentsresulting in the area becoming overwhelmed with weeds.
Sincerely,
[redacted] and [redacted]Regards,[redacted]

Revdex.comID #[redacted]Dear Mrs. [redacted] & Ms. [redacted],8/24/2015We responded to the complaint submitted to your office by [redacted] on 7/6/2015 and yourletter on 7/22/15. We hoped with the comprehensive letter that we supplied, with all theexplanations to this situation, that this matter was satisfactorily settled. We take pride instanding by our work, as well as standing by our customers to help them achieve the landscapethey envision. It is unfortunate that Mrs. [redacted] is still not satisfied.With that being said, I am going to respond in the simplest terms. Take, for example, anundeveloped back yard landscape. If an individual has an average backyard, full of weeds thathave been there for years, the first step is spray kill all of the existing weeds. The next step is totry and stop the germination of weed seeds in the soil by putting down pre-emergent. This is anagent that attracts itself to seeds that start germinating during that upcoming season.After that, the next step is to break up the undeveloped soil so the fescue seed can be plantedin the soil and take root.At this point, the seed is ready to grow. An important part of this step is the need for adequatewatering, which will be addressed later in this letter.As the seed is watered and starts taking root, weeds will also start growing. Despite the weedkilling agent and pre-emergent, there will always be some active weeds and some weed seedsthat exist in the soil. Different weeds germinate at different times of the year (just likepollination in different plants happen at different times and seasons during the year) andwhether you are treating active weeds or newly germinating seeds, you cannot eliminate orremove all of these types of seeds from the soil. Nor can you realistically stop weed seeds andspores from being blown into your yard, by the wind, from other fields and yards. Therefore,adding water to a newly seeded area also means that these weeds and seeds are receivingmoisture too.The last step is to weed and feed until the roots of the new turf have been established. Nowyou have a backyard that has nice grass. As anybody knows, even with nice grass weeds will stillgrow. Your lawn will still need to be treated and maintained for this. This maintenance is donewith fertilizer and broad leaf control.In the case of [redacted]'s field, we were not allowed to do these steps. At this point, it is thecustomer's responsibility. We made the attempts to get [redacted]'s field back on track with a freeapplication, and offered additional services at our cost, to meet and exceed her expectations.Per my conversation with [redacted], we were under the impression that this was the plan goingforward. We treated the first application, but when our applicator arrived for a second service,he was kicked off of the property, saying that we were incompetent. At this point there wasnothing more we could do for her.With regards to the irrigation system, we installed irrigation in two areas, and reconstructedsome of the existing system. The irrigation runs off a pump. [redacted] had no information on thispump. We started our irrigation system planning by looking at the number of sprinkler headson the zones of the existing system. We built a test zone based on those details. Everything ranwell and met our expectations.Now in the new letter, it talks about a bucket and filling it with water to calculate the gallonsper minute. This would be a convenient way to figure out the water output, but is not practicalwith large acreage. With water being pushed from its source through over 300 feet of irrigationpipe, you would not get the same water measurements from different points along the newmain irrigation line, or in each sprinkler "zone." It was also stated that we never ran throughthe irrigation system. This is a totally fabricated statement. Of course we did. We even turnedon the system this past Spring.[redacted] called out a pump company which said that pump was pushing out too much water, fortoo long. We did go back and renozzle the sprinkler heads, and it is reported working for rightnow.In our opinion this is only a temporary fix, as we believe that the pump is wearing out. As apump wears out, the irrigation system output will be effected.The system was operating properly at the time of the install. The on-going performance of theirrigation system depends on, among many things, the pump supplying the water. Thelandscape and grass establishment and growth depend on how much water is being applied tothe landscape.During the time of our installation, the irrigation system was putting out the water we hadanticipated, and providing head-to-head irrigation coverage. Any changes in the pump's quality,or output, are beyond our responsibility.From conversation and information given by [redacted], there were times when the pumpwas not working, which meant that the field was possibly not getting regular water. If this areawas not being compensated with water in some other way(s), grass seed will die quickly.The actual setting of the irrigation timer to provide water to the field is controlled by theowners. So any lack of water, or overwatering for that matter, is directly controlled by theperson setting the timer. This again, cannot be our responsibility.To use anther hypothetical example of an individual with an average home, ran on pressurizedirrigation, here is how the work would go. An irrigation system would be installed and tested torun properly at the time of installation. The pump serving the irrigation water continually runsbecause of the demands of more and more irrigation systems being installed. The pump slowlywears out. This creates less water flow. This is our opinion of what is partially happening.Our company is known for being one of the best in the area. Our managers all have at least 15years of experience. They are all highly trained and keep up on their continued education intheir fields {if there is any question about our company, or if there is any question about outquality or knowledge in this field.}We will stand behind our work, which includes a two-year warranty on irrigation parts, andlifetime warranty on our workmanship of the irrigation system. In this situation, our system wasdesigned from the point-of-connection of [redacted]'s existing irrigation pump. Therefore,any change in water output or change in how the water is supplied to the irrigation system isbeyond our control. Any effects these variances have on the landscape are also beyond ourcontrol or responsibility.We recently changed out the original sprinkler nozzles at the request of [redacted]. While wehope that head-to-head coverage is still maintained, ultimately the water pressure and theresulting sprinkler coverage is dictated by the irrigation pump.Unless an irrigation service call is requested (either to call us for a general inspection or if thereis anything noticeable or wrong}, we only assume that the owners are regularly reviewing thesystem. Whether there is a noticeable change in the sprinkler coverage or function, we are notaware of any problems unless they are reported to us, and our help is requested.As for the seeded areas, if [redacted] were to keep up on the maintenance of her turf, we wouldwarranty this also. Since she refused our maintenance services, we cannot be held responsible.As far as the watering of the grass goes, we cannot be responsible for any lack of water beingapplied to the turf {whether the pump is not working, or if the proper amount of water is notbeing applied} either. This responsibility also falls on the owner.In terms of maintenance and irrigation services, we do not sell "service contracts." [redacted] didnot pre-purchase any on-going services.We have a licensed chemical applicator who can treat landscapes with fertilizer, weed controland pre-emergent applications. Beyond our irrigation installations and any warranty worknecessary, we also employ irrigation technicians that can check and service locations on aregular basis, or on an as-needed basis.It is ultimately the choice of the homeowner to decide if they want these services, and whenthey want them. We have our specialized recommendations for what services we offer.However, we only perform work (and only bill for work) that is requested and approved.We sincerely dislike that our customer, [redacted], is unhappy.We would be happy to re-seed [redacted]'s field and schedule regular treatments of fertilizerand other applications that we know are necessary for establishing the new grass seed and helpit thrive. We have offered, and will again offer to do such services at a reduced cost to [redacted].Besides the irrigation installation, there needs to be regularly scheduled watering and regularlawn maintenance. The watering schedule is set by the owner and is not our responsibility.If we are requested to have our irrigation technician come and perform a system audit, runthroughor repairs (like in an emergency when part of the irrigation system is stuck on, or a lineor spray head is broken) then we can help check to see that everything is in working order. Tohelp establish new grass, and keep weed growth in check, regular maintenance is available,through our licensed chemical applicator.We cannot, however, be held responsible when our services are rejected or are not requested.We sincerely hope that this clarifies things even more so than our previous letter, as well asresolves the matter.Sincerely,Mike S[redacted]

7/28/2015This letter is in response to the letter that [redacted] has written to both us and the BetterBusiness Bureau, (ID #[redacted].)We take pride in the work that we do, and always strive to provide the best communicationwith our customers. Over the last couple years with [redacted], and her...

husband, we havestrived to go over the work that we were proposing to do, always explaining the options anddetails that come with the work that we recommend.With regards to the 'Desired Settlement' on the Revdex.com letter, we will addresseach of their concerns.First, it is stated that "The sprinkler stations out front should be modified so that no more than25 gpm are drawn at one time."We installed a new irrigation system in the front, undeveloped field at [redacted]'s propertythe last two weeks of October, 2013.There was no existing irrigation system, but there was an existing pump that drew well waterfor their home.[redacted], nor her husband, did not have any details or specs on their well pump, as the pump wasinstalled by a previous owner. Without knowing the specs on their pump, we did our best todetermine how much water the pump could draw. Based on the 1-1/2" pipe that was attachedto the pump with a backflow device, we built {1) one "test" irrigation zone to test and see thatthe pump could handle the number of sprinkler heads and nozzles that we were planning onusing.We successfully tested nozzles that sprayed 4 gallons-per-minute {GPM). Without having anydetails on the existing pump, the 4 GPM nozzles performed just fine, showing no issues with thepump (as far as the constant water pressure dictated to us), nor was any electrical circuittripped the entire time we were installing and testing the system.That "test" zone functioned well, so we designed the rest of the irrigation system based on howmuch water the first zone was able to successfully put out during our testing.As far as we knew, the system was running well. During the time that we were installing andtesting the entire, new irrigation system, the pump appeared to be functioning well, as we weregetting the water output that we expected from the sprinkler heads we were using. The circuitbreaker, also, was never tripped as we ran each of the new zones that we installed during thedays that we were on-site.[redacted] and her husband informed us later the following Spring {2015) that the pump wastripping the circuit breaker.As the customer had noted that we said to them in an earlier conversation (also stated in one oftheir recent letters to us) we mentioned that we had no reason to think that it was theirrigation system that was causing the tripped circuit.The first "tester" zone we installed functioned correctly, with no pump or electrical problems.When the rest of the irrigation zones were installed, each one of them were run numeroustimes and never tripped the circuit.At the same time as we were installing the irrigation system, the customer was building a newshop. When we were made aware of the tripped circuits in early 2015, it was discussed and itseemed like everyone's initial thought was that it could be the new shop was causing theproblem, as that had been added during the same time. It also had water and powerrequirements, thus adding both power & water usage.While it was a possibility that the irrigation system could be the cause of the tripped circuit, thelack of knowledge of both the pump and the quality of the electrical work, in our experience, tobe more likely areas of concern.After informing us of this fact earlier this Spring, we were not contacted us again regarding thismatter until this month (July 2015.)[redacted] emailed us on 7/7/15 informing us that the pump was still tripping the circuit breaker.They stated that Burgess Pump came out and inspected the pump, and it was functioningproperly. They also had Snake River Electric come out to check the electrical panel. According tothese two companies, it most likely was the sprinkler system causing the tripped circuits.After receiving this email, we responded in 3 days and were out at their house, on Friday7/10/15, replacing the nozzles in the sprinkler heads to put out less water {3.0, 2.5 & 2.0 GPMnozzles), therefore putting less stress on their pump. As requested by the owners, each zoneproduces no more than 21 GPM.While we are not licensed electricians, we hope that the drop in the water output for each zonehas stopped the electrical problems. The nozzles were not having any problems producing 4GPM with the original sprinkler heads during the week that we were there originally. Weacknowledge that the water demands for the well pump are not specific to the sprinklersystem. We sincerely hope that these changes help with the electrical issues that had beengoing on.We warranty our irrigation systems, and were happy to go out and adjust their sprinklersystem, and we did so at NO additional cost to them.We have always told [redacted] & her husband that we would take care of them.The second statement on the Revdex.com's 'Desired Settlement' statement says,"The front acreage should have a green, low-grow, low-mow lawn on it."We originally met with [redacted] in the Fall of 2013.The large front field at [redacted]'s home was undeveloped and had many noxious weeds. Weadvised them that prior to seeding the ground with new grass seed, we needed to kill off asmuch of the weeds as possible. Also, at the appropriate time (typically in Spring and Fall),applications of pre-emergent would benefit in helping stunt some of the weeds that germinatein the Winter and Summer.Prior to the seeding of the field, we discussed performing weed control & pre-emergentchemical applications. We recommended a course of one (1) year of regular weed control andpre-emergent treatments from Fall2013 until the Fall2014, in the attempt to kill off theexisting weeds and to slow the growth of future, non-germinated seeds. The seed planting wasdiscussed for the Fall 2014 (as seed is normally planted in the Spring or the Fall seasons.)We also explained that a field that size, next to other un-maintained fields and the generaldesert-type location of their property on the north end of Eagle, that they cannot stoptreatments until the field is established. This is typically 18 months for total establishment.Applications of fertilizer are highly effective and necessary during this time.Dates ofthe services we provided:We performed an initial application of Pre-emergent in October/November 2013.No weed control or pre-emergent applications were approved or performed in Spring orSummer, 2014.The next application we performed was a weed control (Round up) application on 9/8/14{which was just prior to seeding.)With the irrigation system installed earlier in 2014, we were ready to drill seed the special blendof grass that they approved. The land was rototilled, graded and drill seeded between 9/18/14and 9/25/14.The following Spring, 4/27/15, we installed another application of weed killer and preemergent.They requested a special blend of seed (see attached information on the "Survivor" seedblend.) We reviewed the blend they wanted for the Survivor Turf-Type Tall Fescue andpurchased a matching seed. They approved it. The specs on the seed blend state what fescueseed types are in the blend, and the attached sheets state some ofthe major aspects of thesedifferent seeds.We also advised that it would take time for the seed to grow & that normal maintenance (bothchemically & mowing}_would be required.While grass seeds are genetically created and have an "expected" appearance and growth rate,the conditions ofthe environment (temperature, soil content, and water, both in rain andsprinkler-system aided) ultimately dictate how the grass will grow.There are also common grass mowing recommendations that dictate how much grass should becut without cutting the grass too much and causing the grass to stress. Anytime grass is cut, youare removing active, health blades of grass and exposing the less green, still growing parts ofthe grass blades to be exposed and stressed. Any mowing essentially causes grass to stress, butproper lawn cutting (not cutting too much grass off the top at a time) will cause the newly cutgrass to become healthy and "green up" faster.We also advised them that they should be setup on a fertilizer & weed control plan for propergrowth. No lawn is ever going to be weed free. Applications of weed control and pre-emergentare highly effective deterrents.However, no weed control or pre-emergent, especially in one or two applications, will givelong-term, weed prevention. Different weeds have different growing seasons and environmentsthat "wake" them up and start the gestation processes. This occurrence in nature isunpredictable, so repeated treatments are essential for any control.As of earlier this year in the (April 2015), Mike S[redacted] visited with [redacted] and noted that the seedwas getting a good "stand" of fescue grass.Among other things that were discussed, the current weed growth was discussed. Since the lastapplication of weed control was in September 2014, just prior to the seed being installed, theyard was ready for another treatment. Mike S[redacted] offered to perform the next application ofpre-emergent and weed control at NO cost to [redacted].We sent out our applicator on 4/27/15, and he applied a pre-emergent and weed control. Bythis time, like was previously stated, the fescue had started growing. At the same time, some ofthe weeds, mainly the Redstem Filaree weed, had come up.As [redacted] had found out from the Extension office when and where she took in a weed sample,Redstem Filaree had germinated and begun to grow. This is a weed that begins to germinate inthe Winter time (see attached information sheet.)To briefly note the difference between a weed control and a pre-emergent application, weedcontrol (Round up) is effective at killing "actively growing" weeds. It does not have ANY effecton dormant seeds. Pre-emergent, on the other hand, is a chemical that when applied at theappropriate season, leaves chemicals in the soil for a short period of time that attach to newseeds when they start to grow (germinate) and come out of their dormant state.In the case of our applications at [redacted]'s field, the weed control treatment in September 2014targeted existing, actively growing weeds in the field just prior to our seeding.After the Winter and into the early Spring, the new grass seed had started growing, but so didweeds (like the Redstem Filaree) that were dormant in the Fall, and are stated germinatingduring the Winter.The application of pre-emergent and weed control in April 2015 was intended to stop thegermination of all new weeds, while the weed control (applied during the same visit) was thefirst application to kill the weeds that had actively started growing over the early Spring.As mentioned before, one single application provides some help, but a repeated treatment planis the only way to keep existing weeds from thriving and future, un-germinating seeds fromstarting.We were contacted by [redacted] in May 2015, at which point our licensed chemical applicatorwent out again and consulted with [redacted] and her husband. Together, they reviewed the weedgrowth and the potential causes for it, as well as the conditions of the grass.He explained the reason for various weed growths, and once again stressed the important ofregular weed control and pre-emergent treatments.After this meeting, [redacted] and her husband had phone conversations with Mike S[redacted] regardingthe weeds and grass.It was again noted that the grass was establishing itself after its good start in the Spring. Also, asfar as the weeds go, Mike offered to do the appropriate fertilizations and weed controltreatments at our cost, as the weeds got under control.[redacted] refused our offer for these services. They mentioned that they wanted to try organicfertilizer. Unfortunately, that is something that our company does not offer.We were able to get in (2) chemical treatments for October 2013 and September 2014, beforethe seed was planted. Additional treatments were recommended, but not approved. As for theconditions in early 201S and currently, regular weed control treatments are the best way tocontrol existing and future weed growth.We have over 20 years of experience in this valley. And while there companies in the valley thatoffer organic and other lawn solutions that we do not offer, when it comes to seeding andchemically treating lawns, we know what are doing and how to do it.We take pride in taking care of our customers, and have continually offered our help, as weknow in our profession, how we can help them achieve a beautiful field. In many cases, we haveoffered our services at a discount or free.We also have a near spot-free record with the Revdex.com.In conclusion, we hope that the re-nozzling of the irrigation system has stopped the electricalbreaker from tripping. Having not heard anything to the contrary, we assume that the irrigationsystem is no longer a problem or at least no longer a potential cause of the electrical problems.As for the field, we installed the grass seed that was requested and approved. Growth started inthe season that we expected.The grass seed blend info sheets detail what could be expected of the seed under typicalconditions. Soil, temperature, water conditions will always be a variable in how well the grassestablishes itself and how quickly it grows. Proper mowing maintenance are also essentialduring the establishment period and beyond.Lastly, in terms of weed control, the field was never going to completely weed andmaintenance free. One or two weed control or pre-emergent treatments will not eradicateevery type of weed from ever coming back.A regular weed control maintenance plan is required for the best results.We sent our licensed chemical specialist to their home for both the accepted treatments andconsultations. He reviewed the conditions and options that we can provide to them.We maintain many residential and commercial properties throughout the valley, always withsuccessful results. While we might not offer all of the treatment options available through othercompanies in the valley, we have always been very clear as to the services that we can offerand what results can be expected when those services are applied at the correct intervals.At this point, we have explained the treatments and options that we have available to [redacted]and her husband.We have temporarily offered our chemical services to them at our cost. We are not sure whatelse we can offer them.S[redacted] Sprinkler & landscape strives for every customer to know what services we offer,understand the expectations of those services and to know what we can offer them goingforward for any on-going work that might be necessary.We truly aim for every customer to be happy and satisfied.

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Address: 69 Route 394, Kennedy, New York, United States, 14747

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