ComplaintsforSignature Landscape Ltd.

• Initial Complaint

  16/11/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On May 10, 2021, we contacted *** *******, VP and General Manager at Signature Landscape Ltd. in Moncton, N.B.to install a barrier around the bottom of our deck and sunroom to prevent animals from going underneath. Mr. ******* confirmed that his company could do the work at a cost of $2,632.85. In the end, we consider the work done by Signature Landscape Ltd. to be redundant and unnecessary. They simply replaced the perfectly good wood around the base of the deck and sunroom with basically the same thing. This does not address the reason we paid for this service (i.e. fix the problem of animals going under the deck and sunroom). With the colder weather of the last few weeks, animals are easily able to dig holes under the deck to take refuge. Mr. ******* has indicated the following in an email dated on November 16, 2021: ''it was never mentioned that you required something to prevent animals from “digging" underneath your deck''. I should also mention that Mr. ******* agreed to do the work based on a email. He did not take the time to properly assess the problem and did not come over and physically look at the issue. In addition, Mr. ******* indicated in his lastest email that rodents digging tunnels is out of their expertise and would likely require PCO services. For this reason, a billing adjustment appears to be the best option. Please see uploaded documents. Thank you.

  Business response

  22/11/2021

  Hello,

  As you can see on the attached email item 4 says:

  
  We also wanted to know if you are able to install something around the bottom of our deck and sunroom to prevent animals from going underneath them. We forgot to ask about that when you were here.
  

  To which the reply was;
  

  Yes I could give a price on skirting the deck, I will have to go back and take measurements but we can definitely do the work.

  
  Our employees went to the property and installed skirting around the deck following industry standards but because of the fluctuating grades of the ground some of the boards did not have contact with the ground.  We spoke to the clients and agreed to adding more trim boards to ensure that animals could not walk freely under the deck.  The invoice was sent out to the customer, once work was completed, on September 24th, 2021 and payment was received with no issue on September 30th, 2021.

  
  On November 9th, 2021 an email was received stating that “a hole dug by some type of animal looking for shelter under the sunroom for winter” as mentioned in my email response we were not asked to place skirting to prevent animals from “digging” under the deck just to prevent them from going under.  We are not a licensed pest control company and are unable to deter animals from doing what they naturally do to find shelter.

  
  We completed the agreement to stop the animals from getting under the deck to the best of our ability and believe that digging holes to get under would fall under a different type of service that we do not provide.

   

  Thank you,

  *** *******

  Business response

  26/11/2021

  The item list from our agreement with Mr. ******* states the following;
  
  Supply and install pressure treated skirting to existing deck & screen room                      $2,632.85
  
  Price includes installation of 1”x 6” vertical boards to close bottom of porch and screen room.  Price also includes removing existing boards on screen room skirt
  
  Deck skirting is defined as follows;
  
  A beautifully built deck can be enhanced by a single feature that will add appeal and function by enclosing the underside of a deck with decking material or custom screening.  This particular detail is called skirting.
  https://www.woodlanddeck.com › blog › skirting-a-deck
  

  The main purpose of deck skirting is to have a coordinated structure to cover the empty space between the ground and the deck trim. It can also be an extra storage space or a protective layer for unwanted animals. https://www.decks-docks.com
  
  We believe as contractors that we supplied and installed skirting as quoted to industry standards. In the beginning the skirting was not satisfactory due to changing grade of the ground, some pieces of skirting did not touch the ground fully.  An email was sent to **** ******, Estimator, after the invoice was sent.  Please find email attached.
  
  The email stated that there must have been a misunderstand as the skirting was not preventing animals from going underneath.  **** went to the site and met with the customer and discussed the concerns and took photos, it was determined that we could add a trim board and extend the pieces of skirting to ensure ground contact.  This was suggested to the customer and accepted as a reasonable resolution, the work was completed the following week and then payment was received shortly after with no mention of dissatisfaction.
  
  In our eyes we completed the work as quoted and at the time satisfactory to the customer.  Again, the issue of animals digging underneath the skirting is beyond the scope of work quoted and our expertise as Landscapers and not a pest control company.

  Customer response

  30/11/2021

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  There was never any information provided by Mr. *******'s company about the definition of deck skirting until now. Nor was there any mention that the work would only prevent animals from freely walking under the deck as stated in Mr. *******'s previous message to BBB.  As mentioned previously, we thought that the ''skirting'' would include a barrier preventing animals from digging under the deck. As discussed earlier, we hired Signature Landscape Ltd. for their expertise in the prevention of animals from going under the deck. In no way did we ask for skirting for the embellishment of our deck as mentioned in Mr. *******'s definition of deck skirting. We believe Signature Landscape Ltd. had a responsibility in making sure there was no misunderstanding prior to the work to be done. This is especially relevant given that they are in a positin to benefit financially from accepting to do the work. Signature Landscape Ltd. did not take the time to properly assess our needs and charged us for work we did not need. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩