SHAKER LANDSCAPING & SNOW PLOWING

Both driveways were cleared as promised; in addition, ownter emailed with details when ASAP driveway would be cleared. Will use company again next winter.

Snowplow service was irregular and undependable all throughout the winter season. Sometimes they came late, sometimes not at all. We ended up shoveling our driveway ourselves most of the time.

In fact, it took them an average of 20 hours to get to us, and often by the time they got here we'd done it ourselves. When we called to complain we usually only got the answering machine, and their explanation was their vehicle was broken. We finally gave up complaining. It seems they take care of their wealthier clients, with those like us relegated to an additional source of income not connected to additional work.

They plow my driveway if the snow is 2 inches thick or more, and I have an additional contract with them where they shovel the front steps and the sidewalk. They also do the lawn and the back. I am very satisfied with their work.

The first week of December, on a Sunday with temperatures in the low 20's, four guys showed up and for five minutes began to fiddle with my now frozen hose and to set up one ladder to push leaves down one downspout. I came outside right away, perhaps three minutes after they arrived and I said I had expected them to be there well before that cold day. One man agreed because he said my hose was frozen and that they would not be able to flush the downspouts with water. He said they would just push the leaves down the downspouts and come back some other time when it was warmer. I responded that I thought the gutters should be number one on their list of things to do, not the downspouts and that I believed pushing leaves and debris down the downspouts without flushing them would clog the downspout lines. Coming back on a warm day would mean sometime in late April, which would leave my home with clogged downspouts for months, probably leading to a hefty sewer line bill from someone else who would have to come and fix the lines. I told the men to leave and forget the whole job, as I did not like the way they proposed to go about the work. This was all of ten minutes at the very most since their truck had pulled up. Within a couple of hours, the boss, Joe, called and screamed at me for asking his men to leave. He was yelling into the phone and said he didn't want customers like me and that I should never call his company again and ask them to do any work. I responded that I had no problem with not calling him again and that had I known in September, when I sent in my work order and check, that no work would be done until December, I would not have hired them. I told him not to cash my check because they did not do any work. The following Monday I discovered that Joe had cashed my check the previous week. I called Shaker Landscaping and asked for a refund, reminding Joe of the promise not to cash my check prior to completion of the work. Joe again started yelling at me over the phone and refused to give me a refund, because, he said, his workmen had set up all their equipment and were there for a long time. I told Joe that there was one ladder and two guys fiddling with my hose and that they were not on my property for more than five minutes when I came to speak with them. We spoke for another five minutes and then they were gone. Joe has been rude and unprofessional in our telephone conversations and furthermore, he cashed my check three days before his crew came to do the job, which is not what he promised on the work order. His workmen came too late in the season to perform the jobs I had hired them to do and on the day they did show up, they proposed to do substandard work and cause potentially harmful problems to my home's downspout lines. Joe continues to refuse to refund my $511.82. I consider Shaker Landscaping to be a company which is fundamentally dishonest. The only work it performs adequately is highway robbery. Approx. cost: $511.82.

Estimated cost $590.00.

Everything went fine, it was just too expensive in my opinion. I was in a hurry for the wood or I would have kept looking for another vendor.

Previous experiences in past years were good/adequate. But last season 2007-8 was a noticeable decline: 1) Last year (2007-8 season) they sent invoice, which I paid. Later, I saw a general advertising flyer describing their new conditions for everybody (including the higher-paying 2-inch service), which was not previously disclosed on their first invoice mailing to me: In previous years, contract was for entire season from first to last snowfall. New terms more limited: Nov 1 to March 31. Unprofessional for them not to disclose this change upfront. 2) Previous years they would plow within 24 hrs. This past year, it took 2-3 days before my driveway was plowed. I understand I may be low on their priority list and don t expect to be plowed early in AM. But I do expect to be plowed later in the day, certainly before I get home from work in the early evening, rather than days later. Hence an 'F' for punctuality. 3) During the record snowstorm of March 7-9, 2008, they came to plow ONLY ONCE the entire weekend, on Sat AM around 11 AM. Remember, it started snowing continuously and heavily from Friday until Sunday. When we called the service on Sun AM to ask them if they were going to plow again, there was a recorded message stating that NO more plowing would be done for anybody, whether they were on the 2-inch or 4-inch service (!!!). This particular message itself shows the company s lack of respect for customers. I would have been satisfied if they came 1-2 days later, since the snow was so heavy and the circumstances unusual. But for the company to refuse completely to plow anyone any further that was completely unprofessional, and the company does not deserve any more good business. Hence a triple fat FFF for professionalism. I will admit that when they did plow, the job was good: driveway completely clear with no/minimal damage to lawn. And on 1-2 occasions in past years, I think they did plow even though barely/not quite 4 inches. However, I gave the quality a 'B' because of poor punctuality and poor frequency of plowing, especially this past year 2007-8. In previous years, they would plow again if it snowed another 4 inches or more after their first plow.

They do not show up to remove snow when there is a large amount of snowfall. This is the second time I have had to pay another contractor to plow out my drive. The weekend of March 8,2008 I spent a total of fifty dollars to get the drive done.

The initial time I talked to them and arranged their services, I sent a check right away. The first couple of snow storms they were there early in the morning to plow the driveway before I went to work. Since then, they have come sporadically and not until the evening, even when the snow had fallen overnight. Last week they didn't come at all for one of the snow falls we had. This most recent big snowfall, they plowed the drive early in the day, but left a 7-8 ft. area in front of the garage door with 6" of snow. I called them and when I finally got a call back, I was told that that was how it was, they couldn't do anymore except to come shovel it for a fee. The person told me that "since I haven't spent over $100,000, I wouldn't be first on the list". He said the longer I was with the company, I would move up on the list. I said I wouldn't use their services next year and he said "then we definitely won't come to shovel" and he hung up on me.

Last year I thought that perhaps there was a mix up in the contract because they were late and sometimes didn't show up. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and tried to explain the problem over the phone. We had purchased their top of the line contract. This year they haven't showed up again and my husband and I (along with the help of 2 neighborhood boys and our next door neighbor) spent an hour and a half shoveling the driveway. I've tried to contact them but they aren't answering their phones and their mailbox is full so you can't leave a message. I would not recommend them to anybody because they are so unreliable.

Throughout the season, we noticed that Shaker was often delayed in getting out to plow the driveway. Other services we had tried in the past seemed to make an effort to get out early before we had to leave for work. Shaker, however, routinely took several hours after the snow fell to get out to plow. Most frustrating, however, was what happened this weekend (March 7-9). We had a major snowstorm. We got one plow on Friday night, but then NO PLOW on Saturday. When I called the service, I got a voice mail asking me NOT to leave a voice mail and advising that regular contract customers would receive at least one plow on Saturday. Well, we didn't get one, and now we are snowed in. Meanwhile, my neighbors who use different services all got at least one plow on Saturday and are not snowed in. This is the worst snow plow service I have ever used.

Placed a call for wood, received and invoice, paid it, wood delivered and stacked next day.

unknown

Last winter was the second time I used this service, and it was definitely the worst. He consistently left snow in front of the garage, which is about 5 inches wide and up to 2 feet tall. I had to shovel this snow in order to get out of my garage and to avoid a slippery accumulation of ice in front of my garage. When I asked him to remove that snow, too, he was very nasty and told me he couldn't get any closer. He did correct this problem with the last plows. During the biggest snow, he didn't come out for 2 1/2 days. I tried to call but couldn't. When he finally did come, he plowed the drive and took a few (inadequate) swipes in front of the garage. I did get through to call, and they sent the driver back to me. He again was very nasty, said he had just plowed. But then he corrected it. He also would carry the snow on his plow and dump it in front of my next-door neighbors's house. She asked him to stop, but he continued, even while she was watching.

Judging from the odd springs we have had lately, I wish the contract for snow plowing would go until April 30th!

They seldom arrived before I had to leave at work at 7 A.M, and often didn't have it done when arrived home at 7 P.M. Very nasty about getting paid---they used to call as a reminder, now they just add a ridiculous fee if you don't pay the day you receive the monthly bill. For those who travel, this is unacceptable behavior. It was always unclear when they plowed---did they really plow 6 times this month? Who knows! And what a mess they made to the tree lawns, the garage doors, and the grass on either side of the drive.

They did not show up many times and during the worst storms in February they came only once. I had to hire other providers to get in and out of my driveway. They also sent a notice in April indicating that the contract goes through March even though the one I had indicated went through April 30th. They said they notified us about the 'misprint' but they had not, we got notified only after requesting a plow. When requesting a plow, the wanted $50 for the one time. They only returned calls in December when they did not show up. All other times, I never heard from them.

This was the worst contractor I have ever worked with. He never came in the morning, only came once per storm, and seemed more concerned about avoiding doing the work than he was about customer service. He backdated the second half bill by two weeks, then refused to come plow after the largest storm of the season because he hadn't received the check one week later. Our driveway was always the last plowed in the neighborhood and I think he only plowed four times all season, although his price was the most I have ever paid in 25 years, even adjusted for inflation.

He was very arrogant. The entire 28 hours I kept calling nobody called me back and the voicemail box was full. I ended up having to pay a teenager to get the driveway clean. I never got to work because I could not get out of my home.

We were skipped entirely on Jan. 16th. The next plowing was done on a Wed. and we had to call on Friday for sidewalks. The driveway plowing is extremely disappointing as only 65-70% is plowed. Snow is always left in front of one of the garage doors (13 inches in a long hard block yesterday) resulting in the need for shoveling. We received no plowing Tuesday 2/13 so it took many tries to get up the driveway that evening. Wed. morning plowing was the poor job described above. Despite 6 more hours of snow, no further plowing was done. Shoveling consisted of a narrow winding path up some of the sidewalks. Medical reasons dictate the need for shoveling. I called yesterday and described the mound in front of the garage door. We had no response. When we tried to call today the mailbox was full. We are very frustrated as we paid our money in good faith and are getting very poor service.

They didn't plow my driveway for 2 DAYS after a major snowstorm. I couldn't get in or out of my driveway and had to park in the nearby Wendy's parking lot and walk home because you can't park on Shaker Hts streets at night. The worst of it, they never picked up the phone ALL DAY and you couldn't even leave a message for them to call back because the mailbox was full. On the WORST snow day of the year they decide to not have ANYBODY manning the phone? Absolutely unprofessional and ridiculous and I will never ever work with the company again. I ended up shoveling the driveway myself for hours, my $360 went down the drain!

Very good service. Prompt; plowed by 7:30 - 8AM. I even felt that they plowed 1-2x when total snowfall was not 4 inches. Also they plowed some snow off our driveway onto the grassy median in the middle of the street, so that the snow would not pile up on our property. Only minor criticism: did not recollect/recycle wooden stakes at end of season.

Very positive. People were friendly and professional. Wood was stacked neatly where I asked. Price was very similar to other companies who deliver but do not stack the wood.

Our experience with this company was not positive. We had damage to our fence which the company claimed there was no way they had done. We called immediately when we noticed the damaged. The owner and my husband proceeded to have a heated conversation for the next 20 minutes where my husband was accused of making up the damage. It was finally agreed upon that Shaker Landscaping would come and look at the damage. No one ever came to survey the damage. We will never hire this company again.