About us
We are a full service landscape design and installation company in addition to our retail storefront that hosts a garden center, summer farmer's market, and holiday live greens and tree store in the winter.
Business highlights
Services we offer
At Graf's Landscape & Design, and firewood services., and holiday lighting. We also have a retail storefront, bed creation, farm, fire pits, foundation plantings, garden walls, outdoor kitchens, outdoor lighting, privacy plantings, seasonal plantings, summer farmer's market, walkways, water features, we are happy to help. Services we offer include landscape installation projects such as patios, we welcome projects of all sizes. No matter if your needs are big or small
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 81% | ||
| 10% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 2% |
"[Member name removed], I appreciate your candid evaluation and I'm embarrassed by the poor customer service and communication that you received. I wish i could offer an excuse but there really isn't one. As a result of this I've taken measures within our organization to improve our communication with clients as well as with the crews in the field to be sure that they have clear and accurate work orders. It's most imperative that we begin by listening carefully to the client. Unfortunately this is where the problems started. I see that we also failed to clearly communicate any constraints regarding plant choices, time frames etc. In this case the crew was sent into the field with incomplete instructions. The problems that occurred on this job are embarrassing and not the way that we want to run our business. While I can't change what happened i am working hard to prevent this type of poor service from reoccurring. Please accept my sincerest apologies."
Graf Pluses: Everyone at Graf was very polite. They worked quickly and were not in the way. Did the job on the days they said they would. Estimate was very detailed. Some major work was needed in our yard that was done well.
Problems on my job:
1. WEEDS everywhere! Every single planting bed (that we paid to have weeded) and all of the grass they planted was covered in giant weeds within a couple of weeks. It was as if weeds were planted along with the mulch and grass seed.
2. PUSHED TO BUY HIDEOUS BUSHES. I was sold some crappy looking bushes that look like giant weeds or straw that I specifically said I did not like. I was given two choices -- ugly and uglier. I did not like either and was talked into the ugly one with the promise that it would fill out and look better once it grew a little -- OK. Still waiting on that. We watered it, fed it, looked it up on google to read about it -- we hate it and I feel like we were just ripped off because we were told "this is what I have in stock" Probably what they were trying get rid of. I thought we had killed it during the first week because we didn't water it but lucky us -- it lives. We tried feeding and watering it and it looks just like it did when we thought it died. Maybe next year?
3. Customer Service - polite, efforts to rectify but possibly somewhat dishonest and no follow through to the end. I am open to the idea that there is some miscommunication and not just flat out lying but some of it feels like - well .... lying?
- I wrote, in detail, my concern on their customer survey. I expected that someone might contact me -- nope .
- When I called Graf I got a little run around but they did offer to come and pull weeds and put the weed killer down for no charge which was great. A team of workers were in my yard hand pulling weeds from the planting beds but they forgot or were not instructed to use the weed killer that was agreed to on the phone AND -- no weeds were pulled from the grass they planted (I think this could be a miscommunication-- stuff happens when you have a lot of people involved).
- The WORST PART - the guy that managed the job (yes I know his name) tried to tell me that he responded with a phone call to my survey complaints. He never called. Never left a message. He's not in the call log Nothing. He tried to convince me that maybe he dialed the wrong number and left the message on the wrong answering service. Guess what? Graf never contacted me in any way shape or form after they came back the second time. I was also never talked to about the ugly bushes they pushed on us that look like, well, WEEDS. After submitting two complaints, one written and one verbal, it would be great if someone would call at the very end and say "how does it look now?" "Is there anything else we can do?" -- Regardless of whether there was going to be an additional charge or not -- just tell me what I need to fix this. If they had offered to replace these bush/weeds for a fee -- I would have gladly paid it. I should never have let that guy push me into saying yes to these (I own that). Did I mention they look like dead weeds?
Resolution: We just hired someone else to fix the few issues we had left from Graf. I would not recommend Graf. For me the absolute worst part was the lack of follow through, possibly lying, and the weeds were just crazy. Its only going to cost us a few hundred bucks for weed killing and a possible save/replace on the bushes -- after spending $3,600 this is a drop in the bucket.
Graf was very quick to respond after I talked to an owner. Just no follow-through on some things that I think could have easily been resolved. I was really hoping to be one of the customers with an A+ review. I was so looking forward to a great job and willing to work through a couple of rough spots.
"[Member name removed], I appreciate your evaluation. It's important that i get this type of feedback, even when it's difficult to read. This is disappointing to me on many levels. At the core of it all instead of enhancing our clients life we have evoked anger and frustration. We clearly failed you in many ways. I cant offer excuses but i would like to briefly address a few of your concerns. After speaking with the designer i learned that the Physocarpus 'Little devil' were chosen because they offer contrasting color and texture as well as a summer flower. We by no means would want you to have any plant selections that you didn't like and I'm extremely disappointed to know that you felt pressured into buying them. Weed control is a multi-faceted problem. In short we either spray weeds or pull them. A post emergent herbicide will have no effect if sprayed on bare ground. We can apply a pre-emergent herbicide which will prevent seeds from germinating, however, late in the season seeds are typically done germinating and the ones that we see are growing back from the root. I believe that in the long run it would be best to apply a pre-emergent herbicide early in the spring. (This is what i was expecting to do at no charge.) The biggest and most troubling problem is the lack of follow up communication. There really is no excuse for your concerns not to be addressed. In the end this is my responsibility and I have failed you. I have discussed this among our salespeople as an example of the damage we cause by not following through. Most importantly we are taking steps to prevent this type of problem in the future. Beginning in 2016 all installation clients will receive a follow up call or walk through after their job is complete. Again, thank you for your candid feedback and please accept my sincere apologies. -Craig Graf"
"(removed member name), Thank you for your time and honest review. I appreciate your business and apologize that you didn't receive a response to your repeated requests. I'm not sure why you didn't receive a response, but i am investigating what happened. This is not how we want to conduct business and we are very sorry for this experience. Sincerely, -Craig Graf"
"[Member Name], I am very sorry for the lack of attention to your request. This is certainly not the way that we want to do business. To be honest I was unaware of your request until we got this negative review. In short i was unaware of the Angie's list message function and was not in the habit of checking those messages. I am ashamed to say that the only time i would check the website was when i was notified of a review. I'm sure this is very frustrating for you. I will have one of our associates contact you in the event that you still need the work done. If not I certainly understand and apologize for not following up on your request. Sincerely, -Craig Graf"
Licensing
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FAQ
Contact Information
1015 WHITE POND DR., Akron, OH 44320
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