Burgess Landscape Design

On Monday,
April 15, 2013, Scott Burgess came by my home to give an estimate for a
project.  Following the Blizzard of
?13, we had a half dozen trees removed.   As a result there were several holes in the front yard
from where limbs fell and 4 piles of wood chippings from where stumps were
ground.   The lower half of the side yard now ?joined? the upper half
of the side yard since three large double pines had been removed.  Mr. Burgess inspected the yard and
reported that he would take care of the holes, remove the wood chippings, REGRADE
and take out all the ruts on our side yard using loam, and, finally, seed.  He said he could do the project that
week mentioning that my three children would want to enjoy the benefits of a
newly leveled yard for upcoming summer.   Mr. Burgess estimated that the project would cost
between $1500 and $1800, depending on how much loam he needed to level the
yard.  This area of the yard is
approximately 2,000 square feet and has a slope of approximately 3 feet.   I shared with Mr. Burgess that I
would check in with my husband and get back to him the next day.  My husband, who works in law
enforcement, would soon be working 15 hour days for the next two weeks because
of the Boston Marathon bombings. 
Needless to say, we were unable to communicate regularly.   I called Mr. Burgess the next day
and he said he would begin the project first thing Thursday morning, April 18th. 
Mr. Burgess arrived shortly after 2
pm on Thursday.  A fellow worker
used a mini Bob-cat to remove the wood chippings while Scott used a wheel
barrow to dump loam in the several holes in the front yard.  At 3:45pm, I left my home for an
appointment.  When I returned at
4:40pm, Mr. Burgess was setting up sprinklers from my garage on the front and
side yards.  The side yard had not
been re-graded or tapered down as we had agreed.  There was loam and seed scattered where the tree stumps had
been (along with some remaining wood chippings).   As I approached Mr. Burgess and asked him about
leveling the side yard as we discussed, he said the tree service did such a
poor job grinding the stumps that he was unable to do it.    He handed me the contract
in a sealed envelope at that point (see attached) and said he would only charge
me $1500.  Aghast and caught off
guard, my younger son needing to get to soccer practice and unable to confer
with my husband, I wrote him a check for $1500.  Mr. Burgess said if the grass didn?t come in well and I
wasn?t pleased he would return and add more loam and re-seed.
After he left, I opened the
envelope and read the work description: 
regeade (sic), take out all ruts on side yard, repair divits (sic) and
damage to the front yard, taper down side yard slope, loam, and seed, TOTAL
$1600.  There was no re-grading as
we discussed in the original interview and the side yard had not been tapered
down.  Within the week I called
back Mr. Burgess and shared with him my disappointment with his work and how
the contract was not fulfilled.  
He replied that he wanted to make me satisfied and so would have off
30-40 yards worth of loam dropped off. 
He would then stop by as soon as possible to begin the re-grading.  Several weeks passed and Mr. Burgess
did not drop off any loam.  I
called him back on May 23, 2013. 
He apologized, saying he had been very busy and was behind with all the
rain.  He reported that he would
drop off the loam in the next day or two. 
On June 3, 2103 I left him a message wondering where the loam was.  On June 9, 2013 I spoke with Mr.
Burgess.  He apologized again and
said that if he couldn?t get the work done that he would pay someone else to do
it or pay me.  On June 26, 2013,
Mr. Burgess agreed to write me a check for between $600 and $750.  He said it would be in the mail by
week?s end and that I should have it by July 2, 2103.  On July 9, 2013 I called Mr. Burgess.  He did not pick up and I left a message
that I had not received the check. 
On July 11, 2013, my husband left a similar message.  As of July 15, 2013, we have not
received a check from Mr. Burgess and he has not returned our phone calls.