LEWIS WATANABE

They did all the work over a couple of weeks. They were ready to go before I was, because I was also having some work done on the patio that tok longer than expected. Mr. Watanabe graciously waited until a more appropriate time to do the work

We took bids from 4 people. All were professional and the bids were close. We went with Lew Watanabe because of one simple, but very important and essential reason: they offered to install sample lights throughout our entire yard - 1/3 acre - BEFORE we even agreed to work with them. Other people said they would put sample lights in so that we could see if our plan would work, but they would only do it AFTER we contracted with them. Lew, on the other hand, without any certainty that we would go with him, had his crew spend about 2 hours in the evening to set up lights according to our plan. This was good because we discovered some flaws in our ideas and were able to make adjustments. We're sure the other contractors would have done a good job, but the fact that Lew had his crew work hard BEFORE they were hired impressed us. We admired the effort that Arturo, his lighting specialist, made to make sure we we knew what things would look like. So, our recommendation to anyone looking for landscape lighting installers is to not go with anyone who can't or won't install sample lights BEFORE they are hired. Be leery of anyone who won't install sample lights until you go with them. You can tell a lot about a service by how much work they are willing to do for you when they are not getting paid. Lew's crew worked hard for our business. Was it a risk for them? Sure. We could have used what we learned from them and gone with someone else. But, we appreciated what they had done and rewarded them with the hire.

My wife and I originally contacted Mr. Watanabe to do install a small Japanese-style rock garden in my backyard. After sending an e-mail, he did get back in touch with us, we scheduled an appointment for him to come by my home and provide an estimate. About a week or so later he provided an estimate and suggested that we come by his business to look at some plants and other material that would go in the garden. This all went smoothly. After discussing additional details, he provided us with an updated estimated--but he never actually gave us anything in writing, and never provided a sketch or visual representation of his plans. For various reasons, we did not immediately commit to the project. However, in August 2008, we gave Mr. Watanabe a call telling him that we would like to move forward. He said he was quick busy at that time, but would call be back once time on his schedule opened up. We waited. August ended, then September went by and we still had not heard back. By the mid-November we had still not heard anything from him. Admittedly, we did not call back to see what was happening, but that was largely because we had already surmised that our small project was not a priority for Mr. Watanabe. So, we decided to find another landscaper, in part, to get a competing estimate. The estimate ended up being much better, so we decided to forget about working with Mr. Watanabe. The work is now done and we still have never heard back. Just to be clear: this review has nothing to do with the quality of work done by Mr. Watanabe--based on what we know, he does excellent work. Rather, our negative comments are all based on his lack of responsiveness, which is a reflection of his professionalism as well. We should also admit that we might be partially to blame, since we not originally in a hurry to get things done; nor did we follow up after he did not get back to us.

Whenever we have any problems, he comes back right away. He is a little expensive, but it is worth it because of the great service. The whole thing looks great. There was a lot of detail put into everything and I really got what I paid for. I would recommend him to other people any time.

Whenever we have any problems, he comes back right away. He is a little expensive, but it is worth it because of the great service. The whole thing looks great. There was a lot of detail put into everything and I really got what I paid for. I would recommend him to other people any time.