Finishing Touch Landscape

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Frank Davis can talk the talk, but he'll take your deposit and never start the job.
After giving him our $1700 deposit, we were waiting to see drawn up plans, he sent a message out of the blue on a holiday weekend, telling us that he could start the job on Monday.  WHAT>> He just breached his own contract and wanted to start the job knowing FULL WELL that zoning approval of plans and permits were needed.  (If we were idiots and allowed him to start without permits, then we would've had to give him another 40% at the start of the job).  I guess he needed more of someone else's money.  He and his fellow colleauges have failed to return my calls and emails regarding our deposit.  Maybe his family will read these horrible reviews and realize that he earns his money by ripping people off.  Nice, really nice.  PS- we never saw final plans, nor has he or his company attempted to submit plans to Parsippany zoning. 
You took our money Frank, so obviously you're a criminal at heart.
I will gladly remove this review when I see our $1700 deposit returned.  MAN UP, FRANK DAVIS, and give us our hard earned money back.
Toni & James Young  (yea... you know who we are...)
Parsippany NJ

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The design was poor from a functionality standpoint.  I still have water in my basement and although they came and installed French drains because Plan A failed, they left about 10 feet undone.  This is where the water still comes in.  The stairs they built in 2 locations are now falling apart and unsafe in a very short time frame from completion. I've had a mason tell me he can't guarantee repairs due to the flawed design.  They guarantee their plantings for one year from installation, but getting them to actually swap out the plants that didn't make it took forever.  I was made to feel like I was being unreasonable for asking them to keep their promises and deliver what I paid for.  Great salesman he is, not great on delivery.

we called and left a message on 5/13. it's been a week and we've never received a single phone calling back. we're looking at quite a sizable project to be executed this summer... i can understand this may be a busy season for them but they should have at least returned phone call to show their work ethic and professionalism.

Based upon positive reviews and upbeat personality of the principal, we were going to hire FT even though their estimate was substantially higher than the other quotes.
 
When we sought some clarifications before signing the contract and sending in deposit--
The Company said we were asking a lot of questions and they would need to return to make sure everything was clear.  They returned 2x -- once with Mr. Davis and another with their tree subcontrator.  Each time the estimate went up several thousands of dollars -- $1625 for one large tree not included in the original estimate, $1100 for 2 trees that they now allege are on my neighbor's property, $5000 more for an additional 12 cubic yards of fill  due to their original estimate of amount needed being off. 
From beginning, we asked for a total clearing of the property in order a) protect the house, b) to have a large open lawn for playing sports, and c) to deal with tree blight in our area.

I am very unhappy with them. I signed a contract with them for the year, but I am just very displeased with them this year. They just aren’t as good as they were last year. You have to call them constantly and find out. The mowing guy come every week, and do a great job mowing. He is just wonderful. My lawn looks like a golf course. But I am still waiting for my bushes to be cut. They’re supposed to do the bush trimming, and they haven’t come yet. You leave messages for them, and you call them, and they are not returning calls.

Overall we couldn't have asked for more. The job was started on time and took the 10days estimated. The crew started on the rear wall and placed the forms for the saftey barrier that was going in fromt of the rear wall to prevent any cars going over the edge.  As worked progressed they removed the remains of the front walkway and compacted/laid the new base. Work began on the the other wall once the rear wall was 80% complete and 2 small ornimental trees were relocated in line with future projects. Finally the last few days comprised of laying the new paver walkway from the front steps down to the steps in the new wall.

Everything couldn't really have gone better, even with some rainy days work progressed as expected and we are extremely happy with the outcome.

If you use Frank for any of your lanscaping projects you will not be dissapointed.

Very well. Both companies replied within just a few days.

I received an estimate promptly, was sent a contract and the work began.  After one of their visits, I found a pot hole in my driveway.  I e-mailed the owner and he said that his machines were lighter than a car. I asked him to come look at the hole, but he never got back to me. When all is going well there are no issues, but when there is a problem, I can't seem to get any response.

Going very well, as was described. 

Frank will be doing additonal work this Spring, 2011. I have referred Frank to my in-laws, sister and Uncle. There are other outfits out there of course and I am sure that some of them do great work as well. I told Frank that any one of his perspective clients are welcome to come over and see the work his team did, sometimes seeing is believing.

All jobs were completed on time and to the original estimates. I would rate them an A+ and would use them again in the future Both times they were the most professional and the best price.

His crew and he arrived the morning they said they would. His men proceeded to form the large pavers into a beautiful walkway and refit the bricks of our porch. Support materials were laid down before the pavers were put into place so it is as level as individual pavers could be. And they have stayed that way all through the winter. The porch bricks are also settled and smooth and stable under our feet. Took maybe 2 days, maybe 2 and 1/2. They were all very polite and friendly and cleaned up all of the construction mess when they were done. What more could I ask for. And the owner, Frank Davis, was always available by phone or email. I highly recommend this company!

Frank (the owner) was fantastic to work with in the concept and proposal stage. The goal of my project was simple. To transform a large unusable back yard that was un-level into a usable yard and to tie it in to the rest of my hardscape. I had gotten several other quotes from other local landscaping companies and none of them could envision the finished project and specifically communicate to me what the final project was going to look like. When Frank initially came to my property he had a few ideas and then backed them up with some hand drawings on my survey as well as some pictures of previous projects from his portfolio. To make it more visual he painted lines on the ground where retaining walls were going to be installed and marked which trees he felt needed to be removed to achieve our goals. This made my wife an I feel very comfortable as we couldn't completely picture the entire concept of the project until we walked through the yard and he explained the process. This also allowed us to make changes to the plan and for him to get really detailed on the proposal. Frank did a great job in understanding that I had a budget and I needed to be as accurate as possible to manage costs. He recommended that I get a topical survey which would then lay out the grade of the property, the property lines, the trees, etc. and he could then estimate with greater detail the exact amount of work, time and materials that would need to go into this project. Therefore leaving less guesswork and making me feel much more comfortable around my budget. Another positive trait that made it easy to work with Finishing Touch Landscaping was Frank continued to keep me informed of the progress his team was making on the project and next steps. He even called me to tell me that on one specific day they weren't going to make it due to an issue they needed to attend to. This may not seem like a big deal to others however at the same time I was having renovations done to my home and the contractors would disappear for a week at a time without any communication. The end result was fantastic! I have a beautiful, fully functioning back yard where my children can play and be safe and secure. Frank was fantastic to work with throughout the entire project. There were no surprises and the project came out better than I had imagined. Frank did an amazing job at exceeding my expectations and delivering the project on budget and on time. I would highly recommend Frank and his team of professionals and will definitely use them again.