Martin Landscapes

We hired Martin Landscapes to redo the landscaping around the pool area of the home we just bought, as well as install pavers in a 26' by 17' area connected to the pool deck. Work began on 8/3/11 and was estimated to be completed within 10 days (barring any weather delays).

As the project neared completion, we noticed that the paver area wasn't level at all, had quite a significant "bump" across the middle, and the pavers weren't packed together very tightly, making for a very unstable surface. We also noticed that the step stones that were included as part of the landscaping design were extremely scratched up (it looked like something was dragged across them).

We voiced our concern to Jeremy Martin, who apologized and agreed to replace the step stones. He also informed us that he had just hired someone new (Winston) who specialized in pavers, and agreed to send him out to correct the situation.

A few days later, Winston came by and set to work. However, we noticed that instead of pulling up the pavers to level out the ground, he was simply packing them further into the ground by pounding them with a mallet. When I questioned him about this, he apologized and expressed frustration at the situation. He indicated that in the previous week he had repaired 3 other paver jobs on behalf of Martin Landscapes. He said that the entire set of pavers needed to be pulled up, the ground leveled, and the pavers laid back down - however he was instructed by Jeremy to just pack them down as much as possible. To make matters worse, he informed me that due to some sort of "management change" within the company, he wasn't allowed to work past 3pm.

Winston offered to inform Jeremy of how unhappy we were with the progress and left for the day - leaving the pavers incomplete, the "bump" still there.

2 days passed with no word, and no one returning to our home to complete the paver job. I called Jeremy and left a message indicating that we were extremely unhappy with the situation. A day later, we hadn't received a return call, so my wife texted him and received a return text indicating that he was overwhelmed with work but would call soon to resolve things. Another day passed and we still hadn't heard back, so I called again and finally managed to reach him. He said he wanted to come over and assess the situation himself before sending someone else out. I informed him that it wasn't necessary for him to come by - his own people said that the job was incomplete. I also asked about our replacement stepping stones (which we still hadn't received) and he said it was simply a matter of him having time to pick them up at Pebble Junction.

At this point it was now 8/30, a full two weeks after our job was expected to be completed. Labor Day was right around the corner and we were scheduled to have people over. I flat out demanded to Jeremy that he have a someone at our place by the end of the week to properly pull up the pavers and repair the situation, otherwise we'd hire someone else come in to do it and send him the bill. On Friday, 9/2, Winston and 2 others showed up and proceeded to pull up the pavers and level the ground. They worked from 7am-7pm (despite being instructed by Jeremy to leave at 3pm), and didn't leave until all the pavers were laid down and things were level. The end result was a VAST improvement, however Winston informed me at the end of the day that he needed to come back with sand to fill the joints between the pavers, as well as pack them a bit tighter. He suggested I call Jeremy on Tuesday 9/6 to find out when he would send him back to finish the job.

Between 9/6 and 9/16, I've called Jeremy Martin a total of 4 times (left voicemails) and have yet to receive a response, even when I indicated I'd be forced to contact the Better Business Bureau if we didn't get the situation resolved. We've since had to hire someone else to come in and complete the paver job, and we still don't have our replacement stepping stones for the yard. The ironic part of this whole situation is that Martin Landscapes' slogan is "Doing it Right the First Time"! I'm shocked and disappointed at how things have turned out, and can't imagine how someone can run a business this way.  Avoid Martin Landscapes at all costs!