BROTHERS OUTDOOR SVC

We originally contacted them to try and reduce costs over the local mega-service in the area... overall the quality of work was decent -- not 5 star but reasonable enough for the price paid. However, there was one major issue -- timeliness... multiple times over the entire time they worked for us, the owner would schedule things and just not show up, change, dates, etc. (the only exception to this would be lawn mowing which was done weekly). This started with a weekend meeting early on when they were suppose to show up on a Sunday to go over a project and never showed nor called. I let it go as I decided to give them a chance. The culmination of this was bundle project that we contracted in mid-2011 where we had multiple small projects at once (patio maintenance, gutters, etc. and one particular job, building a roughly 15' belgian block edging around our air conditioning units to match an existing one put up by another company. The reason we needed it was that it was on the side of our property and water was eroding under the unit -- this was discussed in detail at that time and we mentioned how we needed the edging to be high enough to level the ground on the lower side so it would not wash out under the AC unit. Full Job contracted in July 2011. The complete job, including the Belgian block, was paid for at that time. The labor was included in our package and we had to pay for some supplies for completing the job (which we did, at that time). The following is the full detail of events over an entire year (for which I have detailed records). Communication #1:7/25/11 -- Brothers Owner wrote "All other work we discussed such as gutter cleaning, drain, stair rail replacement, Belgium block ac units and seeding lawn will be done next week. " Communication #2:8/10/11 - wrote inquiring about AC work... Brothers replied "I was so tired by 4pm I decided not to start the a/c unit. I will try to do that on Friday and Monday if I can't be there on Friday." Communication #3:9/22/11 -- wrote again requesting the work be completed -- no reply Communication #4:10/12/11 -- wrote again requesting ETA on completing drainwork, again stating concern over erosion Communication #5:April 2012 stating it would be done "that week" Communication #6:June 4th, 2012, again requested the work be completed -- no answer Communication #7:June 26th, 2012 -- again requested the work be completed, replied "I have it scheduled for Monday the 2nd" (of July) Communication #8:July 2nd, 2012 came and passed, no work completed Communication #9:July 18th, 2012 -- finally wrote that the work had been done. -- ONE YEAR after job was contracted. Upon returning home I reviewed the work -- The actual stonework itself was OK however A) it did not match the style of the other work we had (the corners were installed as squared off instead of in a curve style) and B) the main reason for installing it was avoided -- the lower side was not raised as discussed to avoid the water from eroding under the AC units.I wrote yet again, asking him to come by and review so we can resolve -- no answer for 3 weeks... at which time I was sent an email stating that it would be fine the way it was and stating "I was late" on paying him for lawn mowing services. Overall Review: The overall quality of work was reasonable for the price ... and if you only want your lawn mowed that would probably be done on time. However, you should strongly consider whether or not to have more extensive work done if you have any kind of timeline and also make sure any detail is clearly defined with penalty for incorrect implementation.