Cutting Edge Lawn Care & Landscaping

This is my first time doing any kind of business review, but I felt I had to.   

This is an amended review form my first.

I did not have a good experience with Cutting Edge Landscaping.  In general, it seems no lawn care service in the Tarentum/Leechburg/Vandergrift/Apollo area return phone calls soliciting their business. 

  Finally, Cutting Edge returned my phone call and we scheduled a visit to our home for an estimate.  Jason the owner came over- he was very nice and helpful- all was going well.  I told him our budget and he said he would work within it.  Then as we started ticking things off the list, it was getting too expensive about $400 more than we could spend.  He told me he would call back with a solid estimate.  All of our subsequent correspondence was through voicemail- which was the first part of the business that was unacceptable.   I had asked him to itemize the details so my husband and I knew what would cost what- then we could budget and choose to do the things that were a priority and BUDGET for what we needed.  I called about getting a few guys out- he had told me he would do the job and could get started in as soon as a day or two.  I waited, and he never called me back.  I called him and left a couple messages wanting to know when the work would start.  No return phone call.  Finally, he called me back and thanked me for "my patience," and said to just hang tight, he'd have a day scheduled for me.  Then, 2 days later, he called me at 8:24 in the morning telling me the guys were coming over that day.  20 minutes later, my doorbell rang.  What if I wasn't home?  That is the notice we got- 20 minutes.  I told the guy who was the head of the job, Jeff (very nice and helpful)  I was a little surprised and wasn't expecting them.  But I was so desperate to get the work done, I let them start.  In the mean time, I called Jason and told him I never got any kind of real estimate- I was afraid the work we discussed (again, nothing in writing or on voicemail) might be more than our $850 budget.  We have a very small yard. 
So I had the guys cut putting in the sod on the side yard.  All the work that was done was weeding in the front, spraying the ground, laying fabric, and putting down mulch.   The work on the side was the same.  Lava rocks were removed from the back from about a 4 x 8 plot of dirt.  The back yard was to be weeded and the back lawn mowed.   Jeff told me he didn't have mowing as part of the work order.  What?  Why would I have my lawn manicured and not mowed- it's insane.  My grass was very long and needed to be cut.   It was not Jeff's fault- the men who came to do the work were great; let me be clear on that.

By the end of the day, not all the work was able to get done.  The back lawn needed to be mowed, and the back parking pad had to be treated for weeds (they ran out of treatment).  Jeff told my husband they would be back once they had the go from their boss and it would get taken care of.  That was four days ago.  My lawn is still out of control in the back.  I have no idea if they are ever coming back, and I also have NO IDEA how much we were charged for weeding and mulching- I know it can't possibly cost the $800- 850 we had budgeted.  I left SEVERAL messages for Jason the owner- asking when the men would come to finish the work and got no answer.  I even left a final "Hail Mary" message that was a bit angry in tone, practically begging him to just communicate with me and help resolve the issue.  I can forgive a lot if you just cop to the problems and talk to me.  I later found out he was out of town- he left me a message on my voice mail- but it was too late- the guys were already working on my house and I still had no contract and no price list.  Regardless, your place of business should have a manager, or a voicemail message updated as to how someone can get in contact with you after hours, etc.  

To Update: I recently received a call from the owner and had asked him (all through voicemails) to send me our invoice.  We had been charged over $1000.  We were shocked and feel totally taken advantage of.  I had clearly told him our budget to which (on our only in-person meeting) that "that wouldn't be a problem."  

I would not recommend this business to anyone.   That's the sad thing- I really want to support local people and small business.  I'm sure the owner is a nice person.  But maybe you shouldn't own a business if you cannot handle simple communication with people who hire you.  Or hire someone in charge who can handle what you cannot.  Learn how to deal with people and communicate with them before things get to a place where everyone is upset and dissatisfied.  The lack of transparency and communication was terrible.  I am offended that I never got any kind of breakdown for the cost before I was able to give the go-ahead, then felt like I couldn't send them away the day they showed up- it felt like an ambush.  

We were too trusting, and we were over-charged the agreed-upon budget.  And the work we discussed wasn't even completed.

 I am trying to work out and amicable solution.

Never again will I allow work done in my home without a written contract in advance and clear in-writing pricing.  That's the lesson learned here.  
 
This kind of business model would be like going to the grocery store and not knowing how much any of your items cost- then when you check out, they give you an arbitrary number that you owe.  It's insulting and preys upon a homeowner's lack of knowledge for a skill they do not have.  

I have since called another company to do our lawn- and they actually called me back- and will have the regular lawn work done from them from now on.

I requested that they provide mowing. Instead, their guys showed up with no mowing equipment and proceeded to fertilize and spray (which I did not request). They sprayed/killed most of my growing fruits and vegetables, including vegetables (peas, beans) growing up a trellis and strawberries (growing in containers on my porch). I contacted the owner, Jason, who apologized and told me that he had sub-contracted the work to others -- he offered me no concessions or compensation for the damage.
A month later, he sent some of his guys out with tractors to mow (which they were supposed to do in the beginning). They mowed down all my perennials (which were 3 foot tall and obviously enclosed by about 20 foot of aluminum edging sticking up 8 inches from the ground).
I'm looking elsewhere for a lawn care company.

Jason reviewed the property and gave us a quote that was significantly below what we had paid in 2012 to another provider.
He also offers a senior discount and they only cut the grass when it needs to be done. They started mowing in late April, which was exactly when the lawn began to need to be cut. They mowed regularly through late September. They only mowed when needed, and never let it get too long. They did a good job of trimming around trees and fixtures. We were very pleased with the service and plan to use them again next summer.

They are timely. They are efficient. They clean up after themselves. They've done a very nice job as well. I set in all the options that are available and then they give feedback to us and said that they were gonna do it. They were very clear.

Extremely professional. Fantastic to work with. During the hot spell of the 90's-100's these men worked continuously on our yard. We are thinking of selling the house so we did not want to invest a lot of money. Saying this, our landscaping had been neglected for 15 years, other than the pulling of weeds, mowing , and basic lawn work. Jason gave me ideas of how to make the yard more appealing and not break my bank account. Extremely satisfied with the work and would highly recommend these men. Give Jason a call.

.We have not received the bill but, we were very satisfied with the work that was done. They trimmed bushes that we asked them to and did the weeding and spring cleanup to our satisfaction. They were very professional but, friendly. They will be back when mowing season starts.

The work was started on time and was quite a lenghty job with excavation and removal of old materials and then building new walls with Versa-lok-type blocks. Pavers were used to complete sidewalks and stairs. Stairs from patio to the driveway are a curved staircase, and contractor took great pains to insure they were the proper height and curvature. Finished with lighted columns at top of driveway (bottom of stairs) and in the front of the house. Design was provided by Contractor, and the new sidewalk and stairs in front turned out beautifully.