Kelty Lawn Care

All these guys do is whine & complain about being yelled at by customers for not communicating with you after they've taken your money. 32 days after receiving a $1945 deposit 50% we called them! They were suppose to call us a week after receiving the deposit but they did not. Instead when they finally called us, all we heard were excuses about vacations and summer heat. This from a landscaping outfit. That wouldn't have been so bad if they'd gotten our design request right but they didn't! They then blamed us for their mistake which was nonsensical to begin with. When I pointed out multiple items they didn't perform they said they were only doing the work they were contracted for and suggested "the fastest way" to remedy the problems, (half of which involved me & my wife performing) instead of the best way. I told them what we wanted they made excuses and cut the corners anyway! When the two owners returned (unannounced) to see the finished work they told me they "squeezed us in" because they had "another guy yelling at us too" and that one of them had to go on vacation. I told them my wife needed to be present but they said they had another appointment 30 minutes later, even though they didn't set one with us, I just happened to be home. These guys don't care about your landscaping at all I'm really sorry we used them!

The work itself was ok... cutting the grass and snow removal. Also an annual "clean up," which was costly. Mainly out of inertia we did not change companies. Anything beyond weekly service was hard to get done timely. The company was unresponsive and has poor customer service. Maybe because we were good, steady customers, our jobs would get pushed to the back burner, if we could get a quote at all. So if I called to get my gutters cleaned, for example, it could take a month or more to get work done. Additionally, they're quite pricey. I have a new company that is more detailed oriented and charges me 30% less!

While I appreciate that Mr. Kelty himself came by to give the estimate, I had asked him over to give us an estimate on spring/fall clean-up and seasonal upkeep of our yard (we have a newish house with nice gardens.)  They currently provide this service for our neighbors.  Practically the first words out of his mouth were, "You need to rip this all out."  Less maintenance, old-fashioned landscaping.
I let him go on a bit, then reiterated that while we might consider that down the road, and he was welcome to give us an estimate, we were PRIMARILY concerned with maintenance this season.
He returned a few days later and walked around the yard, but I did not speak with him.
The estimate we received in the mail was for removing beds and shrubs.  It does mention trimming back shrubbery on the side of the house, which was one thing I mentioned I was looking for.  Nothing about mowing or bed maintenance or clean-ups.  I am mystified, and feel like the goal was renovation from the outset, which was NOT what I asked for in the initial contact.

Mark Kelty, the company owner, came out to go over the details of the job.  Everything appeared to go well.  After leaving, Mark told me that he would work on the proposal.  Weeks went by an I did not hear from him.  At some point he did come back and request a plat of survey which I provided.  Another month went by and I did not hear from him.  I then sent him an email which he did not return.  Following that, I left 2 messages on his company answering machine which were not returned.  I then called somewhat anonymously and left a message requesting a quote to do some work in my yard.  Within minutes Mark Kelty, himself called me back asking how he can be of service to me.  When I told him who I was he became somewhat flustered and assured me that my project was on his desk and that he was working on it.  He told me that he would have something for me within 3 weeks.  As expected, I have not heard back from Mark Kelty.  He had mentioned that it was a hard job to bid.  I just wish he did not waste my time.  According to his website, the mission of Kelty Lawn care and pavers is to "help serve and beautify the Oak Park and River Forest area by providing the highest level of lawn care and landscaping service available.  Simply put, that means doing the best job possible each and every day to ensure 100% customer satisfaction on each and every job."  That was not my experience.  My advice would be that if you have a complex job, call someone else other than Kelty Lawn Care.  They are probably fine for cutting your grass.

We have been using Kelty for several years.
The actual work is always good in the sense that the lawn is cut and treated seasonally.  They clean up after themselves, work quickly and when I've seen the crew they are always working hard.  When they've finished with the yard it always looks like a professional job.
However whenever we ask them to do anything beyond this, there are a variety of problems.  Most of these boil down to a lack of timely response to requests (this can range from a few days to a few weeks, and varies by means of communication--email is generally faster than phone but there can still be weeks-long delays).  Also, on at least two occasions, we have asked them to weed only one section of the yard, and they have weeded the entire property.  The reason for the request is that we had planted wildflowers in part of the backyard and didn't want that area touched.  We made this request twice in writing (email) and despite this, it was ignored and they tore out all the wildflowers along with the weeds.  The only thing they left was bare ground and sunflowers.This is the second time this has happened in two or three years.
Mr. Kelty is very personable, and on those rare occasions when I do get to speak to him either by phone or in person,  he has answered questions and been responsive to what I've asked.  However it is rare that he personally returns a phone call.  Also, it is my impression, based on auto-replies to emails and at times a change in the voice mail greeting, that there are parts of the lawn-care work season when the people running the company are not in town and not accessible for questions or problems for weeks at a time.  

Update approx. 7/7/12:  I left Mr. Kelty a message telling him that his crew had again weeded an area I didn't want touched.

Update 7/17/12:  Mr. Kelty responded to my message (approximately 7-10 days later) with a voice mail, apologizing for his crew weeding where I had asked them not to.  After I had very explicitly told him exactly where I did want them to do this work ("only in front of the house, between the house and the street"), his response was that they would limit themselves to "the front AND SIDE of the house," showing that he either had not listened to my message or had not understood it.  The next time the crew was out after this doing weeding, they AGAIN weeded the backyard, pulling out an entire bed of seedling plants that I had recently planted.  When I called him about this, all Mr. Kelty had to say was that he was sorry, and, "I told them not to do that" as if he had no responsibility for their actions.  He made no offer to do anything to make it right beyond this.  I have terminated his services because of this repeated seeming inability to understand what work I've requested, even when I have been painstakingly clear--usually in writing via email--about what I want his crew to do.

.There dependable and they do a good job. Their workers are nice and pleasant to have around.

I  might hire in future.

Everything went fantastic.

I like that they are local and they always do what they are suppose to.

They were very knowledgeable and a friend had given them very high marks. They were very nice to work with. We went back and forth with them because we were undecided on what we wanted. We had to wait a little while to get in their queue because we had delayed on making a decision. When they did come out, they did the work very quickly. They did a fantastic job.

Mark Kelty called me back right away, and was very nice on the phone. He was sorry to tell me that he no longer did work in my town due to its distance outside of his range (he used to take some jobs here because his mom lived here and he was helping her on a regular basis with her own lawn work). After a great conversation, he wanted to refer me to another good company so that I could get my work done quickly--we had a tight timetable to work with--1 week! I asked if he would be willing to do one large job here if I called elsewhere for regular weekly maintenance, and he was happy to do so. The following day he was here assessing the work to be done, and by midweek following his 6 man crew knocked the job out in 5 hours (it was a ton of work!). They even agreed to come back in 2 days to finish some mulching that was held up because of exposed wire and I had forgotten to call my electrician to get him to put it in conduit. My only problem now is that Mark and his crew are all so nice and professional and easy to work with that I am going to miss them next year when I want weekly service to start up!! The only "issue" that may be of concern to some folks (it should have been a concern for me but I was crazy trying to get everything done) is that Mark actually forgot to give me an estimate the day he assessed our yard. Instead of gouging me, I realized once I got the bill that he was more than fair for all the work that was done!

Overall, not bad. It was a busy time of year for lawn services, so scheduling was difficult. We were able to get an estimate quickly, but then we were not given a date for performing the work--just a time frame, and I had to follow up a few times to make sure the work was completed by our deadline. Also, there was a minor issue with definitions. I'm not a lawn guy/gardener... and the contract said "peat moss" on the lawn. I thought that also meant "mulching" our flower beds. Turns out it does not. My mistake, but I thought that should have been more clear on the contract. Overall, though, we were happy with the work and we would use Kelty again.

They have great communication, great response and great professional results. They provide great services for the money. I would hire them again in a heartbeat.

I needed a quick mow/leaf pick up last minute to treat my husband for my birthday. Mark was great schedule his team to visit my house within 24 hours. When I asked if he needed a credit card, he told me not to worry about it that he would just drop me a bill. You don't get that kind of trust these days and it's really nice. The team that did the work impressed us by their attention to detail. The lawn and leaves were great. In addition, they edged all of our lawn for us and cut a portion of our property that was back by the garage that we wouldn't expect (but were glad to see) to be done. Great job, overall! We plan to use Kelty again.

Returned from vacation, all work had been performed as requested. In addition grass was cut, and walks were edged at no additional charge. Things look wonderful; we are very pleased with service provided.

The project went very well. Once Mark sent the quote I spent some time getting comparative quotes and while Mark was slightly higher I was incredibly happy with the work performed. Once I signed the contract and sent in the deposit his crew was here in just about 2 weeks to go the work. They went above and beyond what I expected. I just expected new sod to be installed, but Kelty's crew, weeded all around the plants, mulched the areas that I had asked to left as beds for plants and flowers and did a very good job. They cleaned up very well. Then when I thought they were leaving they even cut and edged my front lawn. I would not hesitate one minute in recommending then and if I have work in the future I will be using Kelty Lawn Care.

We had received numerous quotes for this job. Kelty's bid was one of the lower ones. Mark Ketly came out himself to do the estimate and give suggestions, which were all very good. After we agreed to have them do the work, it was several weeks until they could schedule us in. Mark had warned us about this saying that they were extremely busy, so that was not necessarily a problem - there were just a lot of phone calls. The work itself was completed in three days, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. The team was incredibly friendly, courteous, and clean. The patio and play yard look amazing. Since they also do lawn care, they were especially attentive to our existing lawn - preserving and moving sod and seeding. They also removed the materials from the old patio at no additional cost, something for which other companies charge. We are very pleased with the result.

We had received numerous quotes for this job. Kelty's bid was one of the lower ones. Mark Ketly came out himself to do the estimate and give suggestions, which were all very good. After we agreed to have them do the work, it was several weeks until they could schedule us in. Mark had warned us about this saying that they were extremely busy, so that was not necessarily a problem - there were just a lot of phone calls. The work itself was completed in three days, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. The team was incredibly friendly, courteous, and clean. The patio and play yard look amazing. Since they also do lawn care, they were especially attentive to our existing lawn - preserving and moving sod and seeding. They also removed the materials from the old patio at no additional cost, something for which other companies charge. We are very pleased with the result.

They arrived about 6 hours late for the appointment because they had it down for the wrong day. They were apologetic when they arrived & were very friendly. They also seemed to have some good ideas for the landscaping. However, they wouldn't talk any numbers with me, they said they would drop it in the mail. That was well over a week ago & I still haven't heard anything. I've had other people come out with estimates to remove a tree from my property & complete the job in the same amount of time. I guess we won't be using them.

I RECEIVED A GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR THIS COMPANY SO I DECIDED TO USE THEM (INSTEAD OF THE COMPANY I HAD USED PREVIOUSLY) FOR A SPRING CLEAN UP. THE OWNER CAME OUT IN THE FALL AND WE REVIEWED WHAT I WANTED DONE. HE SAID IT WOULD BE DONE AROUND APRIL FIRST AND I WOULDN'T HAVE TO CALL TO REMIND HIM. BY MID-APRIL I HAD MADE 3 UNRETURNED CALLS. WHEN HE CALLED BACK HE SAID HIS CREW WOULD BE THERE IN 2-3 DAYS. TWO WEEKS AND 2 CALLS (FROM ME) LATER THEY FINALLY SHOWED UP, BUT DID NOT DO THE WORK WE HAD DISCUSSED (NO MULCHING, UNIMPRESSIVE CLEAN UP). I RECEIVED A BILL FOR THE BALANCE THAT INCLUDED WORK THAT WAS NOT DONE (EDGING BEDS AND WALKS). SITUATION WAS TOO FRUSTRATING TO EVEN DEAL WITH, SO I PAID THE BILL AND INCLUDED A NOTE AS TO WHAT WORK WAS NOT DONE.