Tuckahoe Landscaping and lawn Care Inc.

I respectfully disagree with the statements made in this complaint

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to
complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not
resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed
appear below.
The issues as described in Tuckahoe's reply of March 17, 2017 are not correct
and are smoking mirrors of the true facts of our original complaint.
 First of all, Tuckahoe is in clear violation of the Regulations as set
forth by the Board of Contractors.; Section [redacted] in that Tuckahoe
provided a proposal that was, according to our attorney, non-compliant.  
They offered to install irrigation for a fixed amount of $[redacted].00 without
breaking down the scope of work as described by this Regulation.  In
addition, their proposal is in violation of other specifications to the
Regulation including but not limited to:    9a. statement of when
work is to begin and estimated completion date; 9d. statement of exculpatory
clause; 9e. statement of assurance that the contractor will comply with all
local requirements; 9h. contractor’s license number, class of license, and
classifications or specialty services; and 9i. statement providing that any
modifications to the Contract, which changes the cost, materials, work to be performed,
or estimated completion date, must be in writing and signed by all parties.
 
Also, Tuckahoe did not
provide warranty work to correct design inefficiencies.  Yes, they had a
technician 4 times at the house to 1) replace a valve box lid that was not attached
property and was damaged when a mower drove over it: 2) clean out a backflow
per the County of Hanover; 3) adjust a few heads; 4) raise a few heads as the
original were not high enough to sufficiently water the grass.  If they
call this warranty work, they missed out on the true meaning of warranty as it
applies to design issues.  They refused to relocate heads; move
heads; cut off water to the side of the house; keep from water hitting the mail
box; keep water from hitting a wooden deck; keep water from being wasted in the
yard.  They failed to appreciate the system was designed in a manner that
created problems and issues and thus a we were forced to use another company to
correct the problems created by Tuckahoe.
In Todd's reply, he never
addressed that the mulch issue was so thin that we needed to bring in 13 yards
a few months later following Tuckahoe’s installation.  He also never addressed that the warranty of
the irrigation system.  His faulty design
caused us a significant amount of money in addition to an expense for the grass
that died.     
Also, Todd talks about
flags and that we walked the job.  Why would he believe that we know where
the heads should be?  We never walked the job for head counts as we always
felt this was in the contract and they understood head placement.  The bottom line is that there were not flags
along the side of the drive or in the beds and we were told that they were not
needed.  One has to ask why we wouldn't want irrigation to water the grass
that abuts our neighbor's property and why Tuckahoe found it convenient to ask
for an additional $[redacted].00.  When we approved the extra we felt that the
sod was being planted within a few hours and it needed water. My wife's
comment regarding doing yard work was only after the installation of the system
and the metal edging was installed.  Furthermore, how can he be so bold to
say we didn't need irrigation when it was our request and shown on the bid by
the competitor?  The competitor's bid included irrigation in the beds
and along the side of the house.
Also, an email was provided
to Tuckahoe addressing design and warranty issues as they relate to the
irrigation as explained on our email of September 11th.   We
were told by Todd’s representative, a few days later, that they would not do
anything further than adjust the existing system and that they were not going
to relocate or move heads.  We ultimately
paid another company to do this work.  Tuckahoe, in our opinion, was in
clear violation of providing a warranty to cover the design of their irrigation
system.  Even their technician agreed with us in that the system was not
designed properly and needed to be reworked.  
Todd talks about the budget
number.  We provided a starting budget number of $[redacted] to do the yard.
 This was the only number that was talked about until we received their
"non-conforming" contract.  They identified other items that
were broken down such as plants and sizes; lighting to include 18 fixtures a
transformer, and wire but failed to provide a scope of irrigation and when it
came time to install they failed to install as discussed on two occasions;
first with Todd and then with Debra on the same day of my fax letter to her on
February 8th.  In that letter, we walked through the scope on every item
and were told that Todd would install the irrigation as we discussed.  The
only item that would be measured after the job was completed was in reference
to the metal edging.  Metal edging was to
be measured and priced at $[redacted] per lineal foot.  Please see my fax letter dated February 8th.  If Todd was correct that the irrigation
budget of $[redacted] was given when we provided the scope when we first met, then
why didn’t Tuckahoe’s representative bring it to our attention so that it could
have been included in this fax letter? 
We talked about the metal edging being an estimate. 
Todd talks about meeting
with the clients regarding the flags.  It was late morning when we drove
out to the house and a lot of the irrigation had already been installed.  We never received a phone call asking us to
meet with Todd at a specific time and for all he knew we may not have been
there on that specific day.  Also, a lot
of the work had been completed as the sod, that was soon to be delivered, was
going to be laid within a short time of our arrival.  We saw flags but we never walked the yard with
Todd or his representative.  That wasn't our
job to identify, oversee, or comment on the specifics of the system.  That was the job of the landscaper as there
are issues of water pressure, water flow, heads on the line, etc. that need to
be considered.  
 Also, regarding the
easement in the front yard.  We never agreed not to place heads in this
location; we have them now.  Todd's representative told us that if he
installed the system he would have installed irrigation in this location.
 Furthermore, it is acceptable to put irrigation in the easement.  
Todd often told us that
"they often don't" and refused to do things according to the
customer's requests.  He failed to add metal edging around the two front
trees that we requested.  He failed to bury electrical lines for the
exterior lighting in the back hard.  They failed to provide a
warranty on the design of the irrigation system.  They failed to install
sprinklers in the beds as requested to Todd and to the other company.
 They failed to provide ample mulch. 
We needed to add another 13 yards within a few months of their
installation.  They failed to provide a proposal in compliance with the
standards of the Board of Contractors.  Furthermore,
they failed to understand that this dispute is not as a result of a
misunderstanding between the two of us it is a performance issue.   
Regards,
[redacted]

I am writing in response to a complaint filed by [redacted].
It is very disheartening to this that one of our clients felt as though they
didn’t receive a quality product form our company. We strive to be an industry
leader in landscaping and landscaping service and have been...

provided
professional services for over 20 years.I believe the dispute is a result of a misunderstanding
between the client and me. I first met the client(s) at their home while it was
under construction. At that time, they were looking for ideas and suggestions and
trying to develop a budget for the work outside the house. I gave them a budge number
of $[redacted] to install irrigation for the lawn areas. The budgeted irrigation
system includes a tie-in to their water line, county inspections, controller,
wire, valves and heads. The precise layout was to be determined once the
grading was completed and plant beds were defined. There was a small section to
the right of their driveway that they elected not to include in the irrigation
project. I remember discussing the irrigation for plant beds, and I told the
clients that we normally di not install irrigation in the beds unless it is
specifically requested. I told them that once the plaint material is
established (usually about one year) that irrigation is rarely, if ever needed.
[redacted] mentioned that she enjoyed gardening and would be able to water
periodically that first summer if it was needed. We offer a one-year warranty
on the plants that we installed, so told him that if something didn’t make it,
we would replace it for them. Once the grading was completed, we met with the clients and
put flags around the year to mark the location of the sprinkler heads. There were
some questions about installing sprinkler heads along the road and since it is
an easement, we are agreed that it was better to install the heads in the lawn
and have them spray out toward the road to alleviate any future issues with the
easement or snow plowing. It was clear at this point (by the location of the irrigation
flags) where we intended to install the irrigation, and the client was there
with is the whole time. It there was a misunderstanding about where the
sprinklers were going, it should have been addressed at this time and we could
have resolved the issues.After we had completed the installation, the client asked us
if he should include the area to the right of the driveway. He asked me and
other members of my staff that were on site and we told him he could add it if
he wanted to be we didn’t think it was necessary. He asked for an estimate to
add the zone of irrigation, and we quoted him $[redacted]. He agreed to the price, and
we installed another zone.Once the work was completed and the sod and seed was
installed, the client called back with some service issues. I sent irrigation
technicians back to the house at least 4 times to adjust heads, change nozzles,
clean out the back flow to eliminate dripping and move heads in an effort to
satisfy him. I told my technicians to do anything they could to improve the
system and make it work as efficiently as possible. There are always small
adjustments and modifications with a new system, and I was happy to send my
guys out there to help him with the programming of the controller and to make
small changes. My technicians felt like the systems adjust the run times on
different zones to insure there was adequate water without applying too much to
certain areas and creating problems with the lawn.Unfortunately, the client seemed unhappy with the product we
installed. He hired another complaint to add a sprinkler head in the front year
and then to install irrigation in the plaint beds. If he wasn’t satisfied with
the layout of location of the sprinklers, I wish we could have resolved that
issues when we put flags around the yard to mark the heads before we installed
them.I gave the client a budget number during the construction of
his home, and it wasn’t clear at that time how many zones or heads would be
needed. I did mark the entire yard with my staff while he was present, so he
should have had an idea of what we were installing and where we were installing
it. The rest of the project went as planned and we provided an excellent plant
and lighting package to the client. Once everything was completed, the client
paid us in full for the work we provided. It there was an obvious issues with
the quality or quantity of the work, I doubt he would have paid us the quoted
amount. I am truly sorry that he is upset with the irrigation installation, and
I will make every effort to provide a more detailed estimate in the future, but
I do not feel that is my responsibility to pay for additional work that the
homeowner requested from another contractor.