Olympic Landscape & Irrigation Co.

I have been a client of Olympic since they installed my entire landscape project (irrigation, lighting, pond & waterfall) over 16 years ago. I have only had Olympic service the irrigation system in that time annually for both the spring start-up & the fall blow-out. I must have missed their regular email about scheduling the spring start-up (they always have been good about sending out a reminder to what I assume are their "regular" sprinkler system clients) so I called to schedule the start-up. Jessica, the Service Assistant scheduled the appointment and a service technician (Sammy I think was his name) arrived & I showed him the controller & I pointed out sprinkler heads that I knew were damaged & needed replacing. After an hour he said that he couldn't finish replacing all the the heads and that the start-up would have to be finished on another appointment. I understood as I knew the one area required some digging, so I said have the office call to let me know when I can be fit into the schedule to finish the start-up. My yard has 6 different zones and he ensured that the 2 zones I really wanted working were complete (the ones with all lawn). An appointment was made for the following Wednesday afternoon between 1-3pm. That Wednesday I waited until 3:55pm to call and see what was up since no one came. I left a message & Jessica called me back to tell me that they tried to leave me a message that the technician got held-up at the previous job & they wouldn't be able to make it out that day (they had my old home phone number, not my cell so I'm not complaining about that just to be clear.) I took the first availability that was offered to finish the job which was on Friday afternoon 5/26/2020...I was happy they were able to fit me in the schedule so quickly. I asked Jessica what timeframe to expect them & she said 1-4pm. I asked her to also please email me the quote for how much to expect the sprinkler start-up was going to cost since this was 2 appointments and obviously more labor time was used than in any previous years (I've never had them need to come back as second day in all the years they have serviced my sprinkler system). I was a little surprised when I received a knock on my door Friday morning & a technician (I think his name was Mike) was there to start, no phone call (they assured me they updated my contact info on Wednesday). Not a real big deal, I was home so I showed this technician the controller & the work area. He asked me what was included in the quote; i.e. Rainbird or Toro heads & what sizes. I showed him the simple quote that only said 3 hours & $50 in materials...we both laughed because there were at least 7-8 different sprinkler heads marked with flags from the first technician. I then thought about it & I got upset & called Olympic & left a message asking to speak to a manager & also on the message I invited the manager to come out to my property while their technician was there. To be clear, I was very happy with the technician, he worked quickly. I was upset with the poor scheduling "stories" and elementary, unrealistic quote. Service Supervisor, Robin returned my call within 1/2 an hour & I explained that I was upset with the fact that the quote was too generic & that her employee wants to know what materials they are supposed to be using for this job. I don't think she researched my job or history before she called me back because she referenced having to look at an old system to see what I had. I expressed my disappointment in being a regular client for over a decade and that I was losing confidence in the pricing. She said she wanted to call Mike & do some more research and she would call me back in 1/2 an hour. I don;t think she ever talked to Mike because he was working the entire time and he had finished & left before Robin called me back. I know this is a long review & if you've read this far, I hope this helps you manage your communication with Olympic if you use their services. I asked Robin why they were so inconsistent in the client communications & why one technician couldn't stay to finish the job & another couldn't come to finish the job because he stayed 3 hours over (that's a direct quote from Robin, that's why my job wasn't finished on Wednesday). Then why they didn't call to tell me they were coming early on Friday because they had a cancellation in the morning? I felt this was a real let-down in customer service, especially for a customer who has been with them for 16+ years. Robin mentioned their computer system was having problems & that their apps weren't working. Sorry, that's not the customer's problem, what if I hadn't been at home 3 hours earlier than when I was told to expect them, would they have charged me? That's not a way to run a business in the community. I had also asked for an estimate for my lighting system at the same time as my original request for the spring irrigation start-up. Long story short, a guy came out (I had no idea he was coming & I had checked my email including junk mail) and over a week went by & I had heard nothing. When I was speaking with Jessica about rescheduling the irrigation she told me that her manager, Robin, does those quotes & she would get back to me on it. The funny thing is, when I was upset & talking to Robin on the phone about the irrigation quote being to simple, she said that "I'll have to tell Jessica to include more detail in those quotes." I replied to her that Jessica told me that her manager does the quotes. Bottom line is I have been a very happy client of Olympic in the past. They obviously have had some turnover in-house and their customer service is not where it used to be. In the end Robin offered to do the irrigation no-charge after I mentioned that the owner should probably know about all of these issues in scheduling & quoting jobs/work. Later that day Robin emailed me the quote for the lighting service & while there was a little more detail on the parts/materials, it was not what I would have expected. Be sure to ask for very DETAILED quotes until they retrain their office personnel.

Excellent service, very friendly, knowledgeable staff, and they do a great job.

This company has been doing the back flow testing at our home for several years so i contacted them to get the system running as it had been off for three years.
The first day two people, a technician and his brother turned up it took them 2 hours to turn on the system.It had taken the company about 5 minutes to do the back flow testing. Had they  been doing a real back flow test for the previous three years test if the system couldn't be turned on?
They changed some valves and disappeared inspite of not having completed the job that they had committed themselves too.
The scheduler called and apologised and arranged for 4 people and 2 trucks to come back another day.
This time there was one technician and 3 helpers who proceeded to turn large drip zones into truncated zones by cutting off and caping heads and by ripping out sections of poly pipe. They managed to get some sections of drip going but they are now so high pressured that they produce a high pressure rising mist that is useless.They sent me a bill for 23 hours of labor at $ 75/hr plus parts which I have paid.
The whole job could have been done properly by one technician over a period of 8-10 hours.
The use of minimum wage helpers increases billable hours without increasing productivity. The more helpers they send out the more they can bill and the more expensive their service becomes.
I am now left with a destroyed system and one of the valves that had been changed is spewing water and the company has stopped responding.

The man here was fine but he did not service all of my popups and others were not operating properly.  The two men who came out the second time were better but my water controller still is not operating properly.  I can start it up manually but it does not come on at the preset times.  This is maddening.  The controller was replaced by them last year so it should still be operating correctly.
In the past I was satisfied with their service but it seems to have gotten worse.  I guess they are understaffed or so I was told.

They are here when they say they are going to be here. They have been very upfront and they do an awesome job. Their price is competitive and we have been very pleased with their service.

unknown

The design process seems to be the slow part of working with a landscaper. We had tried someone else, but got absolutely nothing out of her, so we were happy to have John come to us with some great ideas.
Darren directed a small crew to do the actual work. He had some terriffic ideas for steps and grade changes. He and his crew worked quickly, efficiently and professionally. 
We had initially planned to procure and install the plants ourselves to save money. I am SO glad we bit the bullet and had them do it. 
One of the advantages of working with Olympic Landscape was that the designer broke the job into parts so that we could have the option of doing any of it ourselves. He would have been happy to just provide us with detailed plans and let us take it from there or do anything we wanted up to a completely finished job.  The only things we left for ourselves is to do the irrigation and to reinstall a brick patio. 
I would recommend Olympic to anyone. Everyone we had any contact with was professional, friendly and capable and we are excited by the finished project.

unknown

They were great.  The were prompt and very knowledgeable.

7 years ago, my husband and I created (dug and dug) our 1st pond and had fish....fast forward to 2013, the fish grew, but the pond didn't. We were unwilling to spend the energy and time to expand and improve their habitat. After reviewing the reviews on Angie's List, Olympics' website and Facebook and the information card we received in the mail, we asked for a consultation.
Kip (designer extraordinaire and visionary) came out to our home and was very easy to communicate his ideas for the area...he listened to my concerns and answered each question thoroughly.
Kip and his crew, Brian and Fransico, arrived on time and set to work immediately. Every detail - from protecting the lawn, concrete curbing and fence (removing a section to all for access) was performed meticulously; no one would guess that a Bobcat had trekked across the yard and was parked in the back for 4 days!
Our current resident fish, were carefully netted out and placed in a tank for the duration while their environment was improved. Kip was very gentle with the fish and discovered 3 fingerlings amongst the school!
The installation, landscaping and electrical (subcontracted) work went smoothly. The team put in a hard days work each day! It was a pleasure to observe a crew who worked well together for a common goal - my backyard! :-).
Worksite was kept tidy - and fence section was replaced at the end of the day.
Kip placed the large boulders and used his design and engineering skills to fit and place each properly. This is definitely a mix of art and engineering. He was meticulous with this project - and often asked for my input and confirmation as the pond progressed.
Both Francisco and Brian worked together well and kept the project on time; they worked very hard and long hours. The weather was quite warm, too.
I would definitely recommend Olympic Landscaping for any landscaping project - especially water features.
 
This project took 5 days to complete - and it is a beautiful oasis in unincorporated King County. 

We have 9-station system and 3 weren’t working. The technician discovered that they were disconnected. I’ve actually contracted them for more work. They will be coming out to shut down the system in the fall and open us back up in the spring. I was very pleased with their work. They did a great job! I felt the price was very reasonable. The only downfall was that it took them about a week to set up an appointment and contact me after my original call.

Underbid project. Charged extra after work completed. $$$! Work detail was less than professional quality. Did not pay attention to detail. Failed to complete Project to our satisfaction. Would not recommend or ever hire again.

They are very good with their ideas and were pretty reasonably priced. They told us where we could to pick up items ourselves and save money.  The work turned out beautifully. They also winterize sprinkler systems for you and it is not expensive at all.

Having the work done during the winter months was a little challenging with some unusual cold weather however I was impressed that the work crews kept at it in spite of the weather.  I am very pleased with the outcome that converted my original "home owner" landscape into a delightful user friendly professional appearing outdoor living space that transformed a rather drab yard into a very artistic, colorful and diverse environment that says to me "come and relax here."  I live on a golf course border and have received many compliments since by passers by.  I remain very pleased with the outcome and enjoyed the easy, honest and professional relationship I had with the owner, designer, foreman and work crews during the entire process.  Thank you Olympic Landscape and Irrigation for enriching my little space on earth.

We started with a nearly blank city lot with terrible drainage  and very few decent plants and a very poor design. We asked for a complete design including parking, patio, walkways, plants and trees (to provide some privacy) and an irrigation system. We opted not to have the lighting system installed to save money (we should have opted to include it.) Our designer John worked with us on the choices of plants including the few we wanted to save, and prepared what we consider an excellent design. We then went on a trip to Europe and left it the hands of the professionals. They did an excellent job including making some decisions for us because we were not available. They had to replace much of the soil to provide for drainage and were able to make a drainage nightmare into a dry stream bed that looks like a river when it rain too hard for too long but keeps the water where it belongs. We were very satisfied with the job they did in every area. Our only problems after installation was a little concrete error that they quickly sent the installer out to fix and a tree that after 2 years grew slower than it's 2 identical neighbors which they actually came out and replaced with a matching tree. The owner was extremely helpful in making sure we were satisfied and now after 10 years we are still pleased with their creation. We are still using them to do backflow testing and spring start-up of irrigation system as well a fall shut down. They always come when they say they will and we are still very pleased. I gave the price a B only because I never want to pay full price but I believe the value of our home went up at least the amount it cost.

Unfortunately, they haven’t worked out for us as I would have liked. I'm not happy with the irrigation design, lighting, and plant selection.

We use their service all of the time, and I’ve always been pleased with them. I’ve found Olympic to be professional and well run.

We like their service quite a bit, and we’ll continue using them.

I think they are the best irrigation company I’ve had out in terms of knowledge, capability, and professionalism. The only drawback was the price. I felt that was a little high.

They are incredibly competent, and very fast.

From the start of the project, we were surprised at the very expensive estimate we were given and had to scale down the project to be able to have any project done at all.  The overriding theme for us during the entire project from design phase to implementation was one of constant vigilance.  We constantly had to monitor each day's work because things were being done that were not in the agreed upon plan.  It was very difficult to contact anyone from the company to discuss our concerns daily and we became very familiar with Olympic Landscape's voicemail system.  To be fair, they did a great job with the landscape and irrigation part, but of course there were hidden "extra" costs that seemed to pop up quite frequently.  Our biggest dissapointment was the new stamped concrete patio they installed.  The patio had to be re-done because the first attempt came out horribly wrong and we were forced to settle with the finished product of the second attempt.  The patio color still came out wrong, with different parts of the patio ending up different colors and blotchy in some spots.  After less than a year, one area of the new concrete is already cracking up in pieces!  We have dealt with flooding issues also after the design was done and the company had to come back out to fix the problem, and charged us for the additional materials (but not the labor).  I am still trying to get the patio issues resolved but as of this writing I have given up talking to Olympic Landscape's voice mail system and will have to go out and pay another concrete company to come in and fix the problem.  Bottom line,  Olympic Landscape should stick to landscape and irrigation design and stay out of the concrete business, and they should tell their customers they are one of the most expensive companies out there.....

We chose Olympic because of their salesperson at the time, a guy name Shawn Rogness. I really felt like he understood our needs and he really had me believing that their company would be able to meet our expectations. Let me say here, that I believe the company is full of kind people who have good values. But, if you're really wanting a custom job that is quality quality quality, this is not the place. Our designer, Nancy, was a very nice person, but limited in what she could deliver. I felt we got a sort of "cookie cutter" selection of plants, many of them seen in most parking lots and along streets. That's not what I was looking for. I thought I had communicated our desires verbally and with pictures, but she just didn't get it right for us. She also was not on-hand when the installers laid pavers, did the patio, laid the hardscape, etc. She provided the plan then just came out and sort of "set" the plants around and left everything else to the installers. So, we ended up with things in places they shouldn't have been and things installed in ways that were poorly done and so I am still "re-doing" just about everything that they put in. We actually were given about $5,000 of our money back because I created such a stink. And, they tried to make some changes to our sprinkler system, but those changes only helped a little. About the pavers...They put in a bunch of smaller sized pavers that were very difficult to work with and just made everything look like a very "slack" and "cheaply" done job. No care was taken to the selection of the paver pieces. Just a load was picked up so we ended up with a bunch of pieces that were super thick with not a lot of surface area and a bunch that were thinner. So, when you're paying per ton, we really wasted a lot of money on too much thickness than was necessary and therefore lost surface area. About the installation...The salesman, Shawn, assured us the installers would provide us with excellent dirt for our garden beds so that when we wanted to add to our landscaping, digging in our new dirt would be a lot better than digging in our old rocky stuff. What a joke, They only put a little top soil on the garden beds and left the yucky stuff right underneath. Plus, when they planted the new plants, they just dug holes to fit the plants, but not even very big holes to give the new plants room to have a good start. About the sprinkler system...Terrible (although I still have them come out for sprinkler maintenance and they do fine with that. I know call me crazy.). They put in a system that pretty much acts like the regular rain. What do I mean by this? Well, we have a small yard that is very very different from one section to another. In some areas, we are surrounded by large neighboring trees that give off a lot of shade and deep shade. So, if it rains in the summer, the areas underneath don't get rained on. So, we need a system that really gets to those areas because they can really dry out severely. The system they put in pretty much waters everything the same. So, for example, the sprinklers that water the grassy areas, also water the garden beds. We needed things to be more "micro" vs. "macro" so that we could water the garden beds more often than the grassy areas. What we need is an overhall of the sprinkler system and that's going to take a bunch more money which we just don't have right now. So, I'm just watering things the old-fashioned way, with a couple of sprinklers from Lowe's. Oh, about the grass, they didn't even amend the old rocky clay soil underneath the topsoil that they laid for the new sod. So, what happens when we water? The water just sits and doesn't filter down into the soil. Therefore, when we want to water our garden beds, we create a swamp in our grassy areas. (If only we could water the garden beds separately from the grassy areas...) I have also tried every year to amend this by adding mulch, etc. and aerating, but this has cost me a lot of time and money. Anyway, my story is long enough. Like I said, they are nice people and mean well, they just didn't do a good job for us.

It went very well. We continue to have them come back each year to test the irrigation system in the spring and winterize it in the fall.

They are very good.

I'm very happy with this company. They were responsive to changes and easy to work with. They were on time and there when they said they would be. I'm very pleased with this company.