CAROLINA OUTDOOR CARE INC

Excellent best price and completed in 1 day. Really transformed our system and added new controls and redesigned to conform to landscape. Really a big fan

After repeated calls over a couple of weeks, I got the sprinkler system service I wanted. They were also supposed to get back to me with quotes for landscaping and landscape lighting service. I called and emailed several times. The irrigation system work was fine. The lack of follow up and failure to reconnect despite multiple efforts was a disappointment. I'm not going to chase someone who has demonstrated average proficiency to perform work we need done and are willing to pay. I'll find someone much more responsive.

The crew was prompt, attentive and professional. I have used them twice and will again.

I obtained several quotes from companies related to landscaping work that was necessary to precede some waterproofing that we needed to have done on our new home. The waterproofing had already been quoted and they were waiting on us to have the landscaping work completed prior to beginning. The required work was the removal of 3 stumps (2 small and 1 large) and some regrading to ensure proper drainage. I received my quote on 5/25/16. I elected to go with Carolina Outdoor since they were frequently used by my waterproofing company for this type of related/required work. The quote from Carolina Outdoor was not the highest, nor the lowest, and our decision was largely because of the waterproofing company's relationship with them and what I assumed would be a smoother process as a result of that. I could not have been more wrong. On 5/26/16, I responded by email to Chris Lambert and asked to kindly call me at his convenience, as I had some questions about the quote that was emailed on 5/25/16. When I did not hear back from him after almost a week, I finally called him myself on 5/31/16. He told me that calling or texting was my best option to reach him, as he did not check his email. I should have heeded this red flag. First, who can run a business and not use their email, particularly when it’s directly linked for questions, quotes, etc. on their website? Further, this essentially means that there is no written correspondence about anything, so no paper trail that can be followed. Convenient, eh? At any rate, my primary question at this time was further detail about what "light regrading" would mean. He explained the stumps would be removed, the grindings extracted, and then the surface area would be lightly regraded. After the waterproofing, they would come back and assess further soil and regrading needs. Since “light regrading” was still somewhat ambiguous to me as a lay person, I made sure to assert that we wanted to ensure the grading was providing proper drainage, as we had been told by other companies that our grading could be improved. Following this phone conversation, I texted Chris on June 1 to ask if we needed a survey or anything else for them to begin their work. He responded right away that no, they would just call and have the utilities marked. We were waiting for one final quote to be performed, so our ultimate decision was not made until about a week later on June 9, at which time I emailed Chris to schedule the work. I recalled his “preference” of calling/texting, so I called on June 10 and left a voicemail. No response. I called again on June 13 and left a voicemail again, followed by a text that we wanted to get on the schedule. He responded fairly quickly and asked me to call him, which I did shortly thereafter. He apologized for the delay, explaining he was short-staffed and very busy, and that he would come out and walk the property with me one final time and then we’d schedule. At this point he mentioned a few things that did not relate to the work he quoted, and it was at this point he realized that he had mistaken me for an entirely different client. He then apologized again and said he would get back to me by the end of the week to schedule the work. Four days later, on June 17, the waterproofer emailed to get me on their schedule for July. I told them that was fine for me but the landscaping work had not been done, and any assistance they could provide in getting Chris to respond/schedule that would be helpful. Within a few days, I noticed that our utility lines had been marked. I was hopeful for progress, but still waiting to hear back from Chris, as he had never called back (as he indicated he would back on June 13) to actually *schedule* the work. A few days after that, I arrived home to a yard that appeared to have been mortared. Not only were the 3 stumps removed, every bit of foundational landscaping was also removed, and massive holes were left. Naturally, I began trying to contact Chris to understand why this had been done. Over the course of several days (6/21-6/23) we communicated and he stated that there must have been a miscommunication with the grinder. While he apologized, he went on to say that these plants weren’t considered foundational shrubs anyway. WOW. Ok…well, not that I know very much about plants, but I do know they cost money, they can be replanted, AND they do contribute to the curb appeal of our new home. I am not sure how anyone could justify their error in this fashion. It’s completely beyond me. He assured us that the removal of grindings/regrading would shortly follow. He also didn’t seem to think it was a big deal that he never formally scheduled the work, and that the last thing I had heard from him was that he would call me back. Then, when I inquired about invoicing for the work, he said that he wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that until he had a chance to come out after the project had been finished, walk the yard with me, and ensure I was satisfied. I also inquired at this time whether or not they offered any discounts for military. He said they did not, but that he would take $200 off my quote for the landscaping they ruined. I don’t know if $200 would have replaced all the plants, but I do know it was not sufficient to make up for the time and energy needed to replant EVERYTHING and for the complete mishandling of the entire job. Within the next few days his crew returned to “finish” the job. They simply filled the holes with the grindings (not removed as quoted) and threw down some straw. They did NO regrading, they did not put in topsoil, and we couldn’t do anything with planting. At this point my husband began communicating with Chris, as I was at the end of my rope with complete lack of professionalism and communication skills, oversights, and errors. My husband requested Chris himself come out and inspect the work, which he eventually did and told my husband it “wasn’t that bad” and that we “couldn’t plant anything in the summer anyway, so filling the holes with their own grindings wasn’t a big deal.” At this point (June 30) he stated it would be best to let the waterproofers do their work, as sometimes they have to remove soil and then he could finish the regrading. On July 5 we were invoiced for the job, which was still NOT complete and totally botched (due date of July 15). The waterproofers completed their work on July 18. My husband then began trying to reach Chris to finish the job. While we determined to not pay until the work was finished, we did not want to have our credit affected, so we went ahead and paid him. He cashed our check and we have never heard from him. He has ignored all texts and calls, and the work was never completed. I gave him until now to do the right thing and since it’s clear he has no plans to do so, I am finally leaving this review. I wanted to pursue legal action but at this point my husband is so disgusted that he said he would rather pay more money to have someone else fix the work than to deal with Chris Lambert and this company in any way, ever again. I am posting this review far and wide so no one else has their landscaping ruined and pays for work that is never completed. Do not use this company for any reason.

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I saw the company working within the neighborhood and asked for a business card.  Shortly thereafter engaged for my project.  They had just the right tracked equipment for thew job.  Had to traverse established grassed yard with no problems.

This was a very difficult task to complete from start to finish. We got 2 quotes one from another company ( written quote) and one from them- verbal.  Carolina Outdoor Care came in way lower than the other quote, so we went with them. It was very difficult getting a hold of Chris and getting them to come out, it took about 2 months, we were not in any hurry so it wasn't a huge deal just annoying. The removal of 12 trees at least half of them rather large, took 2 days. The work was completed for the most part (100% to their knowledge, 90%  to ours). The work was good, my husband asked and tried to get a hold of Chris to get the final bill, it took 2 additional weeks to get the final bill and it was almost double the verbal quote. I called Chris to discuss, bottom line, there was a major misunderstanding, and nothing was written down so we thought one thing and they thought another. The problem was resolved and we ended up paying the additional amount, which was probably the correct amount to pay, however the process was painful and not handled well. At no point did anyone mention that the bill was going up by almost double, so we were shocked, and the stump grinding, which was always on our list, was not included, in the end they did that for no additional charge but we paid the higher amount overall.
Lesson's learned, get things in writing, so this doesn't happen to you and have patience with them because responsiveness is not high on their list.
The job was done, problem solved but we just don't care for how the business owner operates .

Chris's team showed up on time and ready to work. It look them 4 days to complete the project which included taking down some Pines that were over 100' tall. They did a great job, were professional and cleaned up all the debris. When they stump ground a few of the stumps we didn't dig out they accidentally missed two. Chris came back himself and looked at the project and point out to me they had missed two stumps and back out and fixed the issue.
 
Very responsive and professional I would recommend. They were not the lowest cost options -- but the service was top notch and worth every penny.

They are very thorough, clean and responsive.

We contracted with Carolina Outdoor Care, Inc for the annual irrigation maintenance service.  The spring startup was performed without much ado.  Then in the fall, I contacted them to perform the winterization and contracted with them to aerate, fertilize and seed the lawn. The sales rep quoted me a price on a Friday.  I specifically asked him to call me on the following Tuesday to set up an appointment.

On Tuesday, workers showed up to with equipment to aerate the lawn.  At this point, my mother did not know they were showing up so she sent them away. I was prepared to set up an appointment and have the company complete the work.  However the sales rep insisted that he can no longer perform the job as quoted earlier and insisted I pay additional for the mix up.  I reminded him that the mix up was on his end, not mine.  He still insisted that the company cannot perform the work unless I pay more.  Frustrated, I spoke with the owner Chris Lambert.  He apologized and the work was canceled.  This is where the problems start.

Because of the timing issue, I gave up on aerating the lawn and called Carolina to winterize the system.  I called and left a message.  The company did not call back.  After 3 days, I spent half a day trying to reach a person, not the answering machine.  I spoke with Chris Lambert and scheduled the winterization.  He said that he will be out that week.  I waited all week and the company did not perform the winterization.

I called the following week and left a message that the work still had not been performed.  I get a call from the company stating that the work has been done. The backflow is still attached but the company insists that the winterization has been done.  Chris Lambert, the owner, insists he winterized the system himself and removed the backflow.  After going back and forth, I sent them a picture of the attached backflow.
 
After the picture, the company promised to contact me and schedule the backflow.  I waited 3 days and still nothing!

They do a fantastic job.  They work very well with us, and find ways to make things look nice without being expensive.  In the spring and before winter they come out to maintain our sprinkler system.  This is an incredible company to work with.  I call them every year to have them do things in my yard.

Half the trees died or struggled. We suspect they transported them in open truck. I expected to have them in to landscape in phases, but at the time we weren't really happy with the quality of trees provided. So we went with someone else for the next phases. Since then, we have discovered that other landscapers were no better or worse. So, I am ambivalent about having them again, if something should come up.

I can trust this company to provide the service I need to keep this system going. I have three acres of property and 1 acre of it is irrigated. There always seems to be something that needs their attention and they are very prompt in responding.

HE IS NOT VERY RESPONSIVE SOMETIMES. HE DOES GOOD WORK, BUT HE NEEDS TO COME ON TIME ALL OF THE TIME. HE GIVES US GOOD IDEAS FOR OUR LANDSCAPING. HE IS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND VERY RELIABLE.

HE IS NOT VERY RESPONSIVE SOMETIMES. HE DOES GOOD WORK, BUT HE NEEDS TO COME ON TIME ALL OF THE TIME. HE GIVES US GOOD IDEAS FOR OUR LANDSCAPING. HE IS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND VERY RELIABLE.

THIS IS AN HONEST BUSINESS. THEY DO WHAT THEY SAY THEY WILL DO. THEY DID A GREAT JOB AND LEFT OUR YARD SPOTLESS. THEY WERE VERY CAREFUL WHEN CUTTING THE TREE DOWN, TOO.