Amax Maintenance

I had much better luck the other times I've called this provider since my first encounter Apr 2013 (not that there's anything wrong with a B review).
I used Amax twice for basement flooding...they came in and pulled up the carpets and provided me with industrial blowers to dry the carpets and underlay, even leaving me one "just to make sure in case it rains again" after they were dry. This was both times.
They also offered to use an Ozonator to remove the mold/mildew but I told them there wasn't much point until I solved the water seepage problem. The basement seepage "treatment" was around $75 for the carpet stuff and extended blower rental. The Ozonator would have cost extra, of course, but I didn't price it.
I had a large purposeless mound in my front yard overgrown with some ornamental ivy (including Poison Ivy) and weeds and finally had Amax come and redistribute the earth around the front yard (to make it flat) and one side of the house that needed some more dirt for drainage purposes. He did a very thorough job and frankly probably under-charged me for $100, because I got a good 1-2 hour's labor out of them, as well as a tractor rental.
While they were here, they also gave me extensive advice on seeding and weeding the lawn. They could have done that work for money, but instead used their time to explain to me how to do it myself cheaply. Moments like this are fantastic for building trust and demonstrating integrity. I can't fault a salesman for upselling, but I'm always impressed when they downsell or pass on an opportunity for charging more.
My biggest issue the first time [prior review] I used Amax was punctuality, but the two times I desperately needed help with water in my basement, they came very quickly--I want to say within like 2-3 hours. The lawn work was scheduled loosely (as in, "We'll be here in the next 10 days") which was fine: I didn't need to be present, and the work was not time-sensitive. He came within that window to do the work, which merits an A.

I have an average-sized suburban lot, maybe 1/6 acre, and needed someone to take care of the leaves. I have two 50-year-old oaks, as well as other trees, and far too many leaves for me to do myself with less than 2 weekends of work and 30-40 leaf bags. I got a referral from someone I highly trust and have used for other referrals (they are a local Realtor and know lots of service people).
When Max showed up, he was very thorough, taking a lot of pictures and presenting them to me along with some suggested services in a little packet for his estimate. He offered 4 services and when I told him I only wanted the leaves done, he made no objection, nor did he try to upsell me on the other 3 services...at all. I was very pleased by this; I hate a hard-sell and it generally makes me walk away from a deal. To me, a service (as opposed to goods) is relationship-based. I can get most services from almost anybody; basically you can either choose your provider based on price or based on trust. Personally, I go with trust over price, especially when it is a service that I will probably need again in the future. That's not to say that I am willing to overpay, but given two estimates within 10-20% of each other, I'll take the one from the person I don't have any hesitation about working with or letting into my home or handing over my money to.
Unfortunately, Max is a little difficult to pin down on dates (let alone times). He was pleasant to deal with on the phone and promptly returned all of my calls, but we unfortunately had a major snowstorm a few days after I called him. I believe I called on a Monday and it snowed--very heavily--on Thursday, so my yard never got done. That's not his fault, as such, but a month later it finally began to thaw and I called again, around a Tuesday. He told me he'd come on Friday or Saturday, but on Saturday at 3 pm he still hadn't come, and hadn't called. I called him, but it snowed again and overall I ended up waiting about 7 weeks to get the work done. Eliminating the weather (even including waiting for the ground to dry), it was still probably 2 weeks of waiting and calling.
I think he felt bad about the delays, and didn't charge me extra for the limbs I needed to remove (they had fallen during the snowstorm we'd had since he gave me his estimate). This is the kind of situation where going with the trusted provider pays off, in my experience. The hard-sell and/or dirt-cheap salesman wouldn't have done anything to make up for this, and definitely not without prompting. Max elected not to charge me extra and I never said a word to him about the bill.
My wife and I are very happy with the work we received--undoubtedly so are my neighbors. I will use him again, and I will recommend him to my friends, but only the ones who are prepared to be patient, if necessary.