Goldman Garden Designs

Poorly. Plan did not reflect even the basics of what I wanted. I did not want grass, especially close to the house or near the septic system inspection ports (I have 8), yet there was a big grass area that went all the way to the house and over 3 inspection ports. I asked for some basic plants that I felt would do well over a septic system and loved, but all were absent from his plan. I asked for a walk path through the front yard to the street, but it was nowhere in sight. I asked him during our first meeting about what plants should stay or go as I was hiring a landscape maintenance company to clean things up (for plants that were still existing in front... and the back and side were very overgrown). He said to remove this whole group of juniper bushes, and new lower junipers were put right back in the same spot. The side yard did not at all reflect what we had talked about and the backyard was ok, but was missing elements that we discussed. When I voiced my unhappiness, he just blew me off and said he took "copious notes" and gave me what I asked for (never saw him once take a note himself, although I have photos of the preliminaries which I wrote notes on... and the finals looked nothing like them). Probably, of all of this, the worst part, as if that wasn't bad enough, was that it took him 6 months to get the finished design back to me. I tried to be understanding, but the plan arrived after most plants from his design were gone from nurseries, which limited my options of who to buy from. He was supposed to come to one specific nursery, get me a discount, and then come to the house to place the plants on the property. That didn't happen. I was so angry at him for the lack of listening to me, that I asked Angie's List to intervene to get my money back. He refuses to return money. I am not using his plans. I'm just making it up as I go (which is the opposite of what I wanted to have happen). I would absolutely recommend that NO ONE use this company. EVER. Costly mistake!

He emailed me stating he wanted to meet, but I did not want to meet again (and told him so) because 1) I was so angry I didn't think I could be civil, 2) my emails all bounced back so I couldn't communicate timely with him [his inbox was full or something], 3) the plans were so bad and came so late as to make it very difficult to implement the plan timely for my needs as it was, so, should he be able to suddenly produce a plan that reflected my wishes it would be even later, 4) ultimately my girlfriend was able to very quickly research the issues that were the initial cause for my seeking a landscape designer and with the stated need to implement a plan by October (new septic system went in which required removal of virtually every plant in my front yard and there were requirements for not planting plants/hardscape that could interfere with the system, and leaving a giant mud and rock yard), 5) his final plan was sparse, was almost the opposite of what we discussed in many instances (tons of ornamental grass where I wanted veggies, a dogwood where I had explicitly said I wanted a short japanese maple, , lots of lawn where I wanted none), 6) his behavior toward me was dismissive. I understood that he had had a lot of health challenges, and told him that if his performance on my design plans (listed above, in emails, phone calls, etc) was an anomaly due to his health challenges that I would not give a review, stating I hadn't used his services IF he gave me a full refund and took his plans back. He wrote a letter to me that took a week to arrive (he lives approx 30 miles away). In the letter, he argued that he did not state that he knew I wanted a lot of lawn and reflected it in the plan (yeah, he really did say that in our final visit), and gave me a dry river bed in the plan as I requested (yes, it was on the plan... not as we had discussed, but it was there). He finished this letter by saying that because I didn't meet with him when he offered we were at an impasse and he had no intention of refunding my money. Just to say, had this plan arrived in June, I would have absolutely met with him and asked for a quick turn around on a new plan. But, since this took so long, it was very late in the season for nurseries to have a decent plant selection, especially for his particular plant list. If he doesn't give me a full refund, I fully intend to use every social media format available, every forum for complaint available to me, including the landscape design associations, and the BBB to be clear of my intense level of dissatisfaction. I am that unhappy.