The Guy-Lawn, Landscape, Home Improvement

Very well. Good price for the amount of work

unknown

There was a lot of work to be done. It took four days for three guys to complete. They cleaned up everything when they were done. There was left over compost and they would have spread it out, but I told them I'd rather keep it for use in my planting in other parts of my yard. The only delay was in starting the project because it was raining and very cold. The guys were very friendly and they didn't make any mistakes that had to be corrected. The whole project was perfect.

The problem was we asked for dead trees to be removed and replaced. We specified and pointed out the trees in advance. The worker came in and removed two full grown privacy bushes, which were perfectly healthy! They agreed it was their mistake, but the bushes were replaced with ones less than half their size. Big bummer and they did not offer a discount.

Maggie was great with putting together quotes and communication - we have dealt with a lot of contractors and she was on time and communicated with us when she was running behind due to other jobs. She came out to our house 3 times to talk thru the project before we even committed and worked with us to squeeze us in to have the project complete before our son's gradation party.
The crew that showed up was lead by Tim and he was fantastic, super friendly and totally tolerated my picky nature. At one point I changed the size of the area they were digging up near the end of the job and he just smiled and rolled with it. He also came out on a Saturday morning on the day of the party to finish one thing up for me that I asked to be changed. This, to me, was extremely appreciated as they do not work Saturdays and I knew he was helping finish the job for our party. 
They worked at the min 9-4pm each day and kept us in the loop. The quality of work was great, and they even came back out recently(in Sept) to fix an area that had sunk due to all the rain. I emailed Maggie and they came out within a week or so to fix it no questions asked.
I highly recommend them for brick paver and landscaping work and definitely plan to use them again.

General feedback = not very prompt with email/phone replies. Sometimes 2-3 days with basic questions. And when the crew was out the first day they just left at Noon. I thought they were going to lunch but never came back and no one ever called or knocked on the door before leaving to say why. The next day I learned that the crew had  been called off due to anticipated rain in the area, yet it actually only sprinkled for 30 minutes...and that was BEFORE they left! I took a day off work to be there for the first day of work so I was definitely frustrated.
Feedback on work itself:
-- weed/fern overgrowth - the work itself, once completed, was good. no complaints.
-- seeding that area - due to weather and amount of weeds, a second application of weed killer was used and then seeded a couple weeks later; this was no problem but I had to follow up to check on status, etc. when a phone call notifying me would have been nice.
-- power wash of patio - good. no complaints.
-- crushed limestone installation to create more visual w/ plants - again, no complaints as this was a good add. My only frustration is that no weed killer was used under the limestone so two weeks later it was overrun with weeds sprouting through the stone. I wish that I would have been given a choice in whether or not to use killer or how to prevent regrowth.
-- lay mulch in front yard beds - see above re: weeds
-- install a covering between garage & fence to hide garbage cans (vendors suggestion). - this was a good idea and while I'm happy with it, the completed project was a piece of wood w/ two screws & a piece of plastic lattice. After a week the wood bar had rotated down so that the screws were so low you couldn't hang it. The solution was a nail in the fence to prop it. I also had to follow up when it wasn't painted white to match the lattice as promised. 
At the end of the day, I'm able to enjoy my backyard free of weeds/overgrowth. I just wish that for the amount of money paid, the quality of some products, communication, direct follow-up (without my taking the lead) would have been greater. The work performed was good but definitely a "mom & pop" type shop and the overall professionalism/communication reflected as such.

unknown

I am selling my house in Royal Oak. I have already moved out, and needed somebody to take care of the place while the
house was being listed.
Called TheGuy, had always seen his flyers and trucks around. I wanted a spring cleanup as well, asking for removal of the large saplings and hedges squared in the back yard that needed trimming as well. They explained they would do anything outdoors I needed at a flat hourly rate of $78.00. A bit steep for lawn work, I thought, but she claimed it was actually for 2 individuals not 1, and the job would finish that much quicker. I suggested they drive by and take a look at the hedge because the
hedges were not overly tall, but they might want to consider use an extension or step stool should the equipment to trim be short. She said it should not be an issue. I also wanted the saplings cut, weed whipped, and everything edged. She explained that edging was done every other $29 visit. But would make note of the request. Later in the week received an invoice, for $234, 3 hours work. Then a second invoice, because the first one was wrong they forgot to put some $25 extra fee in there for wood chips used. Ok, fine, whatever. I gladly paid the bill. Happy to know it was cleaned up. I wish I hadn?t. I should have just told them I?d find somebody else after the outcome.
A few days later I went to the house and found that the saplings were still growing around the trees, the edging had not been done, and the hedges were only ½ done, and not half done like ½ of the total hedges done, but only the half they could cut with trimmer from the ground, I would guess they did not bring a step stool like I suggested originally. But rather found it acceptable to just cut the top half way and leave. They looked horrible on top, the closest side was cut down about 1 ft from the back half which stood all overgrown and out of control. Yet they billed me for this job.
I took pictures of it all, sent an email with the pictures and explained that I was very disappointed. A woman named Sarah wrote me back and said she was sorry for the issues, and will send out a work crew to return and address the bushes. (But she left out a key piece of information; they will be back out, at the same per hour charge)
I later returned, the bushes got a bit more trimmed off and were at least square. Edging still had not been done, and
saplings were still there, but as she explained to me originally, the edging might actually get done every other trip. Maybe they will get this next week. The grass looked like they came in with a industrial tractor and did 2 sweeps though the yard and were gone in 5 minutes.
The first thing they realtor said to me when she showed up for final pictures were, ?you need to fire whoever it is doing the lawn work around here? She?ll send over her handy man to clean up this mess quickly so we can get pictures.
That was until this morning. When I was contacted by phone. Asking if I received the invoices via email, or the ?collection? calls. Because I had not paid my bill since the first invoice. Who exactly did you call? Not this number that I just answered your phone call on. Or that email address. I work in IT, I know if emails are sent or not sent, I checked the inbox and the spam filters, and our gateways, and there were no emails ever sent. I asked her to send me them again while we were on the phone, and magically here they all come, just like the magic of me just now picking up the phone they never called before.
What?s in the invoice??? Well how about another $78 an hour for FIXING the hedges. 3 more cuts, at $29 and the edging
is still not done? weeds are now coming out of the cracks between driveway slabs, saplings I gave up on and did myself.
The kid down the street with a push mower who did it all cockeyed and uneven did a better job than this. I
seriously expected a profession service and just never saw a glint of professionalism out of any of this. I told the woman on the phone, ?just send me the invoices, and stop doing the work, I?m really not happy with any of this service, it?s something I can?t be bothered with right now.? She then informs me of the cancelation fee? WHAT? Oh, yeah, another thing you forgot to inform
me of, Oh, there?s that pattern again.
Whatever, I pay somebody to do the lawn for me because I have bigger things I need to deal with. I was able to at least
talk her out of that fee. Like many in the area, my whole house was flooded this week; I have so many other issues to worry about right now then this racket here.
I paid all of it, just to make it go away, I don?t want to argue about it. Have my extra money for the work you want to claim done right the first time. All the glossy cards left on area doors, and mail flyers with the cute little stick guy on it is great marketing, but I?m
better off with the kid that walks up and down the street with the push mower and takes a few minutes to put some pride in the job. I went and did the edging myself as well.

He came out on an evening.  They didn't give us the drawings and we had to ask for them.  When they gave us the drawings they were not professional.  We are in the process of working with another company for landscaping.

He came in and did a good job.

Prompt and friendly

Came promptly and explained the procedure. Two men took the time to measure and find the wall studs.
Hand rails were installed and tested. Minimum of mess which was cleaned up after project by the men.
Finished grab rails look great and feel secure. Grab rails were purchased by owner before the job started.
I liked the fact that they took their time and communicated with us what they were doing.

Nice and knowledgeable about plants but so unreasonable with an appropriate plan for our property.
Their plan seemed to be based on a cookie cutter approach, using the same designs, types of stone and water features for all jobs. We felt like it was overpriced and did not take into consideration our home, neighborhood or budget.

We live in a nice working class neighborhood where people don't spend $8,000 on landscaping. Unfortunately this company did not offer to create a plan within our budget or to meet our individual needs.

Represented by a nice young woman who seemed knowledgeable about plants.  Perhaps our expectations were too high, but we hoped to receive a landscape plan that could transform the yard and landscaping of the neglected 60's colonial we purchased and updated.  I think the heart of their business is construction - decks, pergolas, patios and water features. We wanted ideas, not a contractor.

I called several companies and had a hard time getting anyone to come out and give me an estimate for this work.  The Guy Company came out within just a few days, provided a quote and then scheduled the job within one week once we were ready.  They completed the job quickly and were easy to work with.  They repaired the porch and repainted it and replaced our porch railing which was loose and also not up to code in terms of proper height. 

I chose them because of their ratings on Angie’s List and their proximity to my home. They were very great on following up when they were on their way or if they were ever running late. The work turned out very nicely.

Great experience from the quick response to quote to finishing in the time frame required. The price was not the lowest but was fair to them and us.

The Guy was the lowest estimate.  2 of the 5 companies I contacted never called back, and the other 2 had high estimates with a vague scope of work.
The Guy was on site quickly, and completed the job in 3 days.  The  It looks great.  I will definitely be using The Guy for future renovations.

I called a couple of times. The first time they didn't call me back. The second time, they did call me and let me know they don't service my area.  I was not able to use the deal.

Our brick pavers were in pretty bad shape. 
Maggie came out to give me an estimate. She was great to work with.  She was very responsive, and she scheduled the work promptly.
Kevin did a great job. 
I found Maggie and Kevin to be prompt, courteous and professional.
I will  definitely use" The Guy"  again for other projects.

Very pleasant father-and-daughter team.

Gave a lot of good ideas but quickly pointed us to something for our house that matched perfectly. Cost was fair and just need to decide when I will do the project. Did identify other work on my rental property. Was completed on time and excellent quality. Will use them again for sure

Very good.  Went very well.  It was a big job they had to remove and put new concrete.  They were here most of the day.

She was not a landscape architect, and she said she had been to some school. I think I insulted her when I asked if she was a landscape architect. I assumed that if you are in the landscape business, you are a landscape architect. I had my yard landscaped once in Milford, Michigan and once in Phoenix, Arizona, and both jobs were fantastic. The drawings were professional. They were colored. They were huge drawings and very specific. This just looked like a five-minute sketch. It is what it looks like. In fact, I could not even read the first one at all. She had marks what the plants where, but I could not read them. It was blurred. It was just very unprofessional. If you want to get somebody’s business, that was not the way to do it. She only came out once. She called within a week after I purchased the big deal, and she came out a week later that. I am not positive about that. I talked to her and told her what I was interested. I have a circle at one end of my house out in the yard. It was built as round before it had a tree and some bushes around the edge of it. My daughter and I removed all that and I wanted put in, a small blooming tree such as a Dogwood, and then around it low things in a lot. I already have some low flowering plants and some Hydrangeas in the backyard. So, she sent the drawing and it had Hostice in it. I said that I did not even discuss Hostice and I said that I really have plenty of Hostice in the yard. I do not need it anymore and I do not want them. I had shown her a picture that I had. I have big plantings along the front of the house and it is all encased in a boarder. I said that I would like these things around the edge of the boarder. It was a Hosta, a Hydrangea, and then in between that she would put Annuals and skip. Then, she would continue that for about three plantings. I got it back and it was nothing like that in the drawing. She had Hostas in the circle with other things and had hostas along the sides with Evergreen. I only have the second drawing, and I cannot find the first one. I was kind of rueful, and I called her and told her I was not happy, and she had not followed one thing that I had said. She had to have the Dogwood tree. She came back and this is the drawing I got the second time. Again, I reinforced that I did not want any Hostice. I talked again about the picture that I had shown her and gave her the list of the things in the way they were arranged. So, I get back another drawing. She puts four Hostice with a dwarf Hydrangea in the middle and then around the edge of the place, she puts six Hostice, and S is equal something Ball. Bay lilies are put in the circle. I do not know what the S stands for. There is one dwarf Hydrangea and the rest is Hostice. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. I have been so upset that I have not called her back. I was trying to think what to say and to say that I do not think that she wants my business because she obviously did not follow what I wanted. I would tell her to cancel the whole thing. I did not what to expect. I was not upset for the price. I thought it was a little overpriced. I thought the pricing would have been probably alright if the drawing had been correct. She was on-time though. I would absolutely not use her nor would I use the company in the future.

Poorly - they visited and promised a landscape plan, quote for landscaping, irrigation and a deck. All we received was an illegible landscape sketch which did not match what we asked for. We were told 'the deal' was in the price of the landscaping. Actually I got a landscape deal more than $1500 less elsewhere. Sadly a waste of our $50 and time.