Outside Insight

Service Provider Response

The [Member Name Removed]'s were great to work for and we enjoyed working for them. They are correct that the electric line that was feeding the lamppost was hit. Unfortunately, the electric line was only in the ground 5 inches deep, which is not to code. We test dug the line to test the depth and it was deep at the house. The tiller caught the line with the tines, so it had to be replaced. The client was charged at COST to replace the electric line, as we couldn't hold responsibility for something that they knew wasn't covered, as stated in the contract obligation of which they signed. Someone else removed trees and ground stumps. The stump grinding tore up the control wires for the irrigation system. We spent time locating the wires. We also ran new wire and buried the wire. We left an area open for the wire tap at the sidewalk where the irrigation company came to repair it. We didn't want an irrigation technician and an electrician to come in and mess up the grade and mulch of the beds after we finished, so we found it important to do the repairs while on site before finishing. This was not our obligation to do this, but felt we needed to take care of our customer. So it was easier to give them the labor and cost of the irrigation wire. The electric line was due to an electrician stopping by to install the connection. It's unfortunate that this customer did not see that we went above and beyond our initial obligation to not repair but to ensure this was done to code and only charged the customer for materials.

Service Provider Response

Mr. [Member Name Removed], in fact, did purchase a Big Deal coupon for $920.00 for 16 hours of labor. This breaks down to two men for 8 hours, of which includes drive time. Our client needed the entire yard reworked and maintained. I made three visits to discuss with the client his work and his distrust in our ability showed in his constant request for more meetings. I have been in this business for over 22 years and do not need to do this, but felt he needed reassurance. It was my job to evaluate the most important tasks needed to accomplish and associate hours to the tasks at hand. In this field, there are many variables that come into play. The client knew the job was going to be a spontaneous project, and would be used as a 'filler' work in our schedule. Once an agreement was made, we showed up on a morning to find that the driveway was seal coated and roped off. Because the residence is on a hillside, we could not get access to the main yard. This caused a second trip, of which we took the loss. It doesn't make sense why someone would have the driveway work done before the yard work commenced and we were not informed that the driveway sealing work was going to be done. Trucks and trailers are hard enough on driveways. So, upon return, after an agreement beyond the original contract, the client requested new plants, soil and mulch. We corrected the garden beds' grade with soil before mulching. Two larger, overgrown evergreens at the front entry were replaced with 3 'Graham Blandy' shrubs which were expensive to purchase. Basically, the client expected the world, we were already over in hours and installed pine straw in the back all at no additional cost. We rate this client a "D" for not considering the timing schedule of work to be completed, did not inform us that the driveway was scheduled to be sealed, and the inability of our crew to therefore have access to the yard. He received above and beyond the agreed upon price by our company.

Service Provider Response

The customer hired us primarily to replace Retaining Walls that were failing, and to improve drainage issues due to the terrain of her property, with the hillside in back feeding all water toward the house and front yard. The retaining walls obviously represented the majority of the job. These walls hold the driveway for the culvert pipe. We experienced a "100 year" rain event, and during this aberration there is no way to completely predict / prevent a drainage problem when the foundational culvert pipes are simply over-run. Further complicating this is the property is on a steep hill that feeds directly onto the residence from the back yard to the front. We installed numerous swales, corrugated pipe, catch basins, and French drains throughout (which all did their jobs). One of which was a free upgrade. A 6' pipe was converted to a French drain to collect the front yard rains. It was topped with creek gravel. In this process, we also discovered a natural spring or "undertow" beneath her driveway and without charge we piped that into the drainage solution as well. This upgrade is valued at $850.00. As per her request, we also ran downspouts into the drainage system, we downsized the very large landscape bed, re-shaped, and mulched at no additional cost. Myself, as well as my crew, have made several visits during heavy downpours, to try to re-evaluate the issue. I have been there several times in heavy rains, one of which was 5 a.m., when it was pouring. I hopped right out of bed, and headed down. In short, I feel the customer received more than a fair value for the work that was completed. In one of the areas she was complaining about, during the downpour a small valley of rain washed down the area that is supposed to be turf. If the turf was established there would not be any mud issues to begin with. We also installed rain barrels for her at no cost. I was very punctual, and responsive. We became close enough that most of our communication was via text message, to which I always responded.. If she was frustrated because something was not done to correct an issue, it was due to the the difficulty in being able to "time" my on-site follow-up visits during heavy rain to evaluate the issue so we knew what to correct. Intermittent problems are always the hardest to diagnose. In such a challenging environment, it took some time to figure this out. The client called and said that water was still traveling down the hill below our creek gravel swale. We found that after our installation her lawn company had crushed the pipe while driving heavy equipment over the swale! At no charge, we dug out the swale, created a deeper and larger swale, and replaced the pipe... AGAIN, at no additional cost. All in all, we did much more work than contracted. The project was installed correctly. You cannot pass judgement on drainage solutions in the face of a "100 year" rain event because the existing culvert (although it had reasonable capacity) will be over-run in these rare events. Catching and directing even more water flow (downspouts, swales, French drains, etc.) was done successfully but in rains like that will only test the capacity of that culvert even more. A 4' rain in 1.5 hours will exceed the capacity of any well-designed drainage solution, however, our drainage prevented any damage to the house, basement, and grounds. The only minor exception is after her original culvert capacity was exceeded, dirty water did run onto the driveway.