TLC-The Landscape Company

I'm from Long Island and i didnt think I'd ever need a snow shovel again once I moved to North Carolina. Turns out I did when we were hit with a snow storm that brought NY levels of snow, but I didnt have a snow shovel and couldnt get off my property to get one. So I hired this company to come in and remove the snow from my walkway and driveway so that my daycare customers and their children could get up my driveway and safely to my door. By the time they came most of the snow and ice had melted away (Good ole' southern weather right!), I know they were probably very backed up so they came as soon as they could. I probably didnt need their services by the time they arrived, but I had already paid so I let them do their job. They were very professional and did a thorough job, and worked quickly. I would hire them again, hopefully it will be during a time they are not so backed up.

I purchased a new home and hired John over a year ago to initially do some planting and grading totally over $2000. I then hired his to do routine monthly maintenance for $170/month and the bills per drafted monthly by auto bill pay. The work was initially generally good. However, over the past few months there have been several significant issues. First, I received two months of invoices for $210/month instead of $170. However, he corrected that error when I pointed out he was invoicing me more than our contracted rate which I had in writing. Then, I asked for an estimate on removal of a tree stump. I asked twice. I never got an estimate but arrived home one day to find it removed. I thanked him, but reminded him I had only asked for an estimate. I paid the bill assuming it was an honest mistake. I then asked for an estimate to mulch my yard. He quoted 65/yard installed plus $75 delivery. I only had the budget for 22 sq yards, which was installed 5 months ago and I paid the full invoice of $1505. The mulch was spread properly and there were no issues. Last month I asked for an estimate to finish the remaining few yards of mulch. I anticipated it would be around $280-300 for the additional installed 3 yards plus delivery. I asked twice over the phone for an estimate that I never received. I arrived home to find a full new yard of mulch- 25 sq yard and I received an e-mail indicating he expected payment for 25 sq yards at $70 per sq yard plus delivery for a total of $1820. He also mulched over and completely buried 24 ground cover plants, 2 small hostas and a few herbs and there was mulch dropped throughout the grass. I spent almost 2 hours trying to dig out the plants, and found only some of them as well as another hour raking mulch out of my yard. I resent him the original email from a month prior reminding him that I only asked for only the remaining mulch and specified in that e-mail it only needed spread around my garage. I also pointed out that several plants were buried. He never acknowledged his responsibility for the installation of so much extra mulch (only that it was a 'miscommunication') or for the damage done to the plants in my yard. I certainly didn?t have another $1820 to pay for mulch I didn?t order. I offered him $952 which covered the full cost for him to purchase for all 25 sq yards of mulch and the delivery. Basically, he would not be out any money, just his time since it was his mistake. I thought this was pretty fair considering I was still paying $600 for product I didn?t order or need. After all, I had just paid him to mulch it a few months ago. He offered me a final 'discount' to $1425. If I did not pay the $1425, he e-mailed that he would come dig out and take back the mulch. This seemed to bit like blackmail since the mulch could not really be dug out from around all of the new flowers and plants I?ve planted without damaging them. I very reluctantly paid for fear of the damage he would do to my yard if he returned to remove the mulch, and I did not trust he would leave the $1505 of mulch underneath that I had previously purchased. Since I had offered full price to cover his costs for the mulch and delivery there is no sense for him to double his labor time to come dig out a product for which I had offered to pay full price. Clearly it was a threat to force me to pay his full asking price. In summary, I should have learned my lesson after the first 2 problems. However, I trusted they were honest mistakes. I'm now out over $1100 just in extra mulch not to mention the lost plants. An honest businessman would have admitted his mistake and offered a reasonable solution or absorbed the costs for his error. However, I now believe these were likely not honest mistakes but probably intentional schemes to generate revenue. I do not find it acceptable to do unapproved work and then expect it to be paid after the fact at whatever price he chooses. Between the 2 invoices with the wrong charges, and 2 instances of work billed that was not ordered it has become fairly clear he is not very ethical in his business practices or just not good at managing his business. Either way, it makes it tough to trust him. This is the first bad experience I've had on Angie's List and my first negative review but I feel obligated to warn others. I would be very careful hiring this individual. I have everything well documented in e-mails and plan on contacting the BBB.

I bought the $25 Landscaping/Hardscaping Evaluation and Plans deal on 2/6/14, but called to use the deal on 4/16/14. I called and then was asked to send an email to get on his schedule for a weekend. I sent the email requesting to be put on the schedule, but never received anything back. I believe that the weather caused delays in their service and it just caught up with them, but I feel like I wasted $25

The pruning work was done well as was most of the clean up. We had a few leaf remnants that were not removed, but very minor. All of that would have been fine and I would still have recommended TLC to others except for the fact that while they were pruning our back yard bed, they cut through our sprinkler hoses multiple times (about 20'-30' of damage). When we brought this to their attention, we received several emails saying that we could probably purchase a new one from Lowes or Home Depot, with no offer to contribute to the cost of replacement, given that their guys were the sole cause of the damage. We only received a response before we paid the full bill, but after that, we were left on our own to deal with the damage they caused.

After I purchased an Angie's List deal on a landscape evaluation, John came out to my property right away in order to discuss the rough ideas I had in mind to manage water around my home and to level an area of the backyard for a new playset for my children. Our backyard has a steep drop off and water flows not only from my own downspouts, but also from the yards of both side neighbors. After John listened to me explain my problems, he immediately began to identify solutions for each aspect of the job. Before he even left, I had a verbal description of the plan, and he had a written estimate and plan to me in just a few days. I appreciate this service being offered as it gave me the chance to better understand the scope of the project I had in mind. The price for this evaluation was a very good deal.

We decided not to use his services

He was very patient and flexible. He was also professional and accommodating.

It took us two weeks to schedule a meeting. The representative arrived 30 minutes early on a Saturday morning. Instead of providing what I purchased, a visual of suggested improvements, he just made suggestions, but not before he asked our budget. When we finally got the quote, it was for exactly the amount we said we had. It was very suspicious. Also, he bummed a cigarette off my husband and smoked it in front us even after he knew I was pregnant.

Everything was fine. Courteous and knowledgeable.

I felt he was very professional and thorough when he came out to give me an estimate, but when I received the estimate and saw that he was charging $1,000 for 14 yards of mulch to put around the house I decided I do not want to spend that much on my yard. I guess I feel for the $299 clean up I can do it myself. Thank you

Very friendly and professional - came out and did a great job cleaning up the front and backyards for a reasonable price.

They were perfectly adequate. They were fine. There was nothing wrong with what they have done and they did a good job.

John returned the call promptly and scheduled a visit out to see my yard, we discussed the drainage issue I was having and within a few days, John provided me with an estimate. We haven't gone any further with the work because of decisions I was taking my time in making. I have contacted John and asked him to consider doing more that we had originally discussed. We are still a work in progress and I will follow up when the work is completed.

Three days later I received a very professional estimate but decided I did not want to spend my money on my yard afterall. In the future if I change my mind I would call John. Thank you for the opportunity but I am canceling my order.

TLC did a good job on the trimming and yard clean up that was necessary. They were quick to respond and thorough in the work. The TLC company is now working on a landscape design for my bare front yard. I am looking forward to what they come up with!

It did not go well. After our handshake and introductions, I asked what his understanding of what his obligation to me was. He could not answer what my $25 Big Deal included. He suggested that we walked the property which we did. I needed just about everything done and more: the front of the house, the side, the backyard, the patio, the fountain area, on and on. I provided him my thoughts, and might have expected him to have visions of $1000 dollar bills dancing in his head, but I guess not. I thought he would have suggested he draw up 3D plans and estimate some costs, and get those to me as fast as humanly possible free of charge, but instead I got an email with the names of some plants we discussed, and a suggestion that if I wanted to have him come by again he could do that. So, it was a disappointing interaction. Hence the rating. And I will keep looking for a landscaper who wants work. And oh, by the way...Angie's list also gets a rating hammering for having recommended him in a Big Deal. Waste of money.

They were great. They were very polite and hardworking. They came on time and left on time. They actually did a little more than I expected. The work turned out great.

He never showed. I should have learned from the first appoing he missed. Never called, text, or emailed me. I decided to cut him a break and reschedule. This means taking more time off work. Again, he missed the 4pm appointment. John, the owner, texts me after 8pm and asks me if I was still interested in arranging an appointment (but he couldnt do it until the following week). Uhhhh, NO THANKS!

The TLC guys were prompt every day of the three days it took to install the new system. They were polite and provided a thorough explanation at the beginning and end of each day. They made sure not to impose harm to our lawn in the process of carting the materials and rock back and forth. My husband and I are very happy with the end result!

John came over after I called and looked at our garage drainage problem. He made suggestions and came by another time to look at the area and take more measurements. He researched a drainage pipe that he felt would be the best one to use. He emailed me a contract and began the work Nov. 22, 2013 and was finished in three days. We are very pleased with the work. John is reliable, knowledgeable and dependable. We are using him again to replace a drain along the driveway.

Even though the street's not cleared yet and few are willing to venture out, our sidewalk and driveway are clean and dry. We'd attempted to clear our porch, but the heavy snow and the layer of ice were too much for our single shovel. Shortly after the snow ended and the melting began, TLC arrived and took care of it all. Thanks for a timely Big Deal!

They properly pruned all trees and bushes, added new mulch and created a flower bed around the mailbox. While relocating a sprinkler head the line was cut and John, the owner, worked diligently to repair it even in the worst of weather. We did have an issue with the drip line around the pond. When moving one of the bushes the line plug came out and the water sprayed under the new mulch which ended up turning the pond water brown due to the dye in the mulch. It eventually cleared up but John offered to remove the dyed mulch and replace it with a natural hardwood. It was not necessary in the end. I believe it was one of the workers that did that part of the job and not John himself. They were all very professional and I will use them again this spring for further pruning, etc.

They were very professional, on time, had great ideas and offered suggestions we had not thought of. I really liked how attentive to detail they were and how they even helped us scale down our plans. They realized some of our ideas were a little grandiose and instead of trying to upsell us, they offered great suggestions that definitely will save us money.

The provider handled the construction perfectly and completed the patio in a reasonable time period. The price was very good compared to other bids. This was the second time I used TLC (first was for front steps) and I would d use them again and recommend them to others. The owner John is highly professional and is committed to getting things done correctly. When issues came up, he solved or fixed them.

Everything went very well. Loved the way the stacked stone edging looks in the front yard - much cleaner and neater. From the front, the house looks cleaner, not so cluttered with overgrown bushes & trees. Moved shrubs in the front so they don't look so close together and over crowed. The back yard is a wonderful transformation. New sod, gardens for vegetable & perennial flowers to be planted next spring. It all looks wonderful and I cannot be more pleased. I will hire TLC, John & crew for more work next year. Thank you