JOSE M MANCERA LANDSCAPING

He won't give you a price over the phone - he wants to see how big your house is & then decides how much you can afford & that is how he comes to his pricing. Not one, not one of the plants he transplanted, lived.

So far very well, two cuts. Company is prompt, efficient, easy to reach by phone, reasonable and doesn't cut the grass really short like others do.

Not so well....EVERY PLANT he replanted, DIED.

The good things; * He was responsive * He followed up on my calls * He showed up on time * He did a good job of clean up of the area that needed to be mulched before it was mulched The not-so-good things: * Jose wanted to give an overall cost for the job - wanted to come out & look at it, said he didn't like to work hourly. This lead to things not getting done that I would've GLADLY paid someone to do. (eg: clean up of outdoor items under my back porch.) * Jose told me things would get done - trim the bushes on the side of the house (never done), pull the weed in the back (sort of done - only because I pushed), edge the landscaping (which I originally said I didn't want done, he kept insisting he'd do, I agreed to & then when the time came...he said he didn't do because I didn't want it - but then he did do it when I pushed). * I wanted someone to come in & just get accomplished what I wanted to be done. But, he didn't write anything down; I felt like I kept having to go out & manage the process, which was frustrating. This lead to having to repeat what I'd told him only the day before when he came out to give me the estimate. * I was having plants dug up from our yard & planted on our neighborhood nature trail. Once Jose got back to the nature trail - I kept hearing complaining that the ground was "not good" for planting. Now, granted, the Homeowners Assn nature trail we have does not have fabulous dirt for planting - but over the years, we've planted trees there, flowers and so on - and they've definitely survived! All he & his brother did were dig SHALLOW holes, barely, skimming the top of the ground and then laid the plants on the holes! (Which, sadly, I didn't realize until the next day.) Some of the other plants he just cut, stuck straight up in a hole & covered with dirt - as you can imagine, they will NOT survive. As well, I showed him where I wanted the lilies transplanted back there, in a straight line - they were all over the place. NOW - I'm going to have to pay someone else to go in and clean up all the dead plants back there. * He plants plants - but doesn't then water them after placing them in the ground. I don't know much about gardening, but I DO know you need to water plants right after planting them - especially on hot days! * When he gave me the estimate - he told me he would be here "for however long it took" - yet, the next day, around noon, he started telling me he needed to get going as he had a lot of other things to do that day. (Which really frustrated me - as that was not the message he'd been giving the day before.) I'd made the comment to Jose (when he was giving the estimate) that I wasn't going to pay $50/hr per person (Jose & his brother) to do the work - which is when he told me he'd be there however long it took to get done what I needed. * Edging was never done in the back yard. * I asked him to trim a large bush next to our garage which has started to show some dead branches. He responded "of course, no problem." But, when I went back & looked at that - I had to point out the still dead remaining branches on the bush, which he'd missed. He then cut a couple of more off. When he was in a different part of the yard, I actually ended up cutting off more of the branches myself, so it would be done correctly, removing all the dead branches. In regard to this bush, I also pointed out how the one "viney" plant was probably strangling this bush & I wanted the "viney" part cut out so it wouldn't continue to wreak havoc on this bush. It was never done. * I told him I wanted a "cusp" removed from a young tree in our yard. He said he thought it (the cusp) needed to be there one more year & I should remove it in the Spring. I wasn't very happy about this - as I'd had an arbolist out in the Spring & he told me to remove the cusp holding up the tree, as it wasn't necessary & wasn't actually good for the tree any longer. As I write this, the cusp is still there, just DANGLING around the tree. (I need to go out & do this myself now - which makes me none too happy.) * He brought his tween-age son with him, which he'd not mentioned the day before. He did do some work, but it seemed that most of the time I saw him, he was standing there, watching or running around to the neighbor's homes, dropping off their business cards. * I had to point out (obvious) weeds for him to pull before he put down the mulch. There were other weeds I'd liked to have pulled - but, you could just tell, he felt he was done with my yard & he was ready to go. Overall, Jose is a nice guy. But...if he doesn't want to do something, he is going to somehow push back to not do it. And - if it something strenuous, such as digging a hole in a touch patch of ground - it won't be done correctly. I didn't mind paying him the amount that I did - what I have a problem with is there were still things which I wanted to have completed in my yard - and they are not. I would've GLADLY paid him more to have it all done & done correctly. Would I hire Jose again? Sadly, no.

unknown

Been Working with Jose for a couple of months now and so far so good.

unknown

My husband and I own an apartment building in Chicago, and needed spring clean up and other work for the yard.  My husband asked me to find landscapers on Angie's List, since it didn't seem like the landscaper we used last year was able to repeat the job.  I called several landscapers, including Jose.  I saw a negative review from an earlier caller, but that he also had 2 other positive reviews. 

Jose called back promptly and was very friendly.  We agreed he'd meet my husband at the building on Saturday to go over the job.  He also called the next day, because his office said I called.  There was some confusion, but he was very nice about it.

Turns out my husband was able to make an appointment with last year's landscaper, and forgot to mention it to me.  He was understanding about the mix up.  If I need a different landscaper in the future, I'll give Jose a call! 

Jose does quality work. He is well prepared with machines to do the job correctly. He took additional important steps that other landscapers weren't going to bother with. Just three weeks later, my yard is beautiful and the sod healthy. His prices are ver fair and competitive. I liked his attitude and professionalism so much that he cuts my grass ever week.

They started last month and I pay $100 a month. The price is good and they do a good job.

unknown

Very bad customer service...

Everything went very smooth, from the estimate the work being completed. Lawn looked and continues to look excellent. i highly recommend his company.

Arrived on time. SOd was very fresh. Finished work looks great!

Jose Mancera came over to discuss the project and he made additional suggestions that were helpful. His crew arrived on time. Unfortunately, Jose was the only one who spoke English, which was only a problem because we had some miscommunication about which trees were meant to stay and which were meant to go. In the end, we we more bare than we expected, but it ended up being a good thing for the later fence construction. The crew stopped immediately when I mentioned in broken Spanish that there was a problem and Jose came over from another site to quickly rectify the problem. The miscommunication was equally my fault and the price was fair, so I will have them bid on future projects.

I challed and explained the service I need done and asked for an estimate. Mancera said they could do the work and would provide a fee estimate and an appointment was scheduled for Monday of the following week. Mancera Brothers did not show up for our scheduled appointment.

I assumed I needed a tree specialist, so I called various tree services - and got estimates all the way to 1200 dollars. Nobody guaranteed it would survive. Mr. Mancera gave me a price of $350 - and he and two men delicately dug out the HUGE root ball with surrounding dirt, replanted it - and the tree did beautifully. I was in awe and very, very grateful. What more can I say?

I used this company for a couple of years, ending in the spring of 2007. Their prices were good (however I am unable to recall the exact monthly fee). The service was commensurate with the price; neither extraordinary nor poor. I ended up using a different company because, for a similar price, I received more services and more careful attention to the lawn.

Our experience with him has been very good. He’s a hard working, diligent guy and his prices are competitive. He’s reliable and he seems to know what he’s doing; we are pleased with his work. The best thing is that he’s flexible and he finds the time to do special projects for us when we have them.

He's very polite and responsive. He has very high quality labor working for him.

I am a Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker and I have a client that needed leaf removal prior to a Sunday open house we were having. I picked 2 referrals through Angie's List and here was their response to me for this company: "The leaf raker failed to show up yesterday. When I called (which was before the rain and snow) they said the weather was too cold and "iffy." They didn't sound as if they wanted to try to come this week if the weather cleared up and got warmer. We'll try to find someone else later this week - but wanted you to know what happened when you came for the open house today, from Owner". Needless to say I was very disappointed and would not use this company in the future and I do refer a lot of business.

Jose does beautiful work. He is responsive and makes helpful suggestions.

I called them for a quote and never heard back at all.

THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE EASY, AS THEIR ADDRESS (PER ANGIE'S LIST) IS ONLY A FEW BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE. CALLED AND MADE APPOINTMENT FOR SUNDAY TO GET ESTIMATE. GAVE NEAREST MAJOR INTERSECTION. GOT A MESSAGE THURSDAY NIGHT THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE I WAS LOCATED FOR MY FRIDAY APPOINTMENT. I CALLED BACK AND LEFT A MESSAGE STATING IT WAS A SUNDAY APPOINTMENT, AND GAVE DIRECTIONS FROM THE ADDRESS LISTED HERE. NEVER HEARD BACK. THEY NEVER SHOWED UP. TOO MUCH BOTHER - I'LL TRY SOMEONE ELSE.

OWNER CAME ON REAL STRONG BY CALLING ME BACK TWICE. SAID HE WOULD BE HERE AT 9 A.M. AND WOULD CALL AHEAD. HE NEITHER CALLED NOR SHOWED.