Business ProfileforS & J Tree Farm and Nursery Inc.

Well, after 6+ months of researching the proper way to install a retaining wall (thank you internet) I realized that retaining walls had to account for drainage among other things and I wanted a professional to do more than stand up 6x6 posts and nail 2x10's to them. Among the four or five people I spoke to for a quote, I spoke to John D****** with S&J Tree Farm and Nursery. As I said to each person I spoke to, retaining wall drainage was what convinced me to hire a professional rather than do it myself. I even tried to get a quote for just the drainage portion. John seemed like a nice enough person; explained how he works for his father-in-law who is a former Army Core of Engineer with a degree from Florida! I got one more quote after that and at $6700 ($65? pretty sure it was 6700-it's not in front of me) Chose S&J. After the first rain about 15 feet of the dirt against the retaining wall over about 15 feet appeared to erode creating holes full of water. An additional 50 - 60 feet along the wall was under a pool of water indicating there was an issue. At the bottom of the retaining wall, there should be a 4" corrugated pipe (preferably with a sock) with weeping holes put in the wall for 4" pipes that T into the long pipe so the water has somewhere to go. I asked Charles a couple of times about the pipe while the work was being done.  I didn’t fully understand his answer but let it go having full trust in his knowledge.  After the issue, I asked again in a text wanting his answer in writing.  This was what was said: (*I'm sure some of this is a typo on his part but it wouldn't make sense anyway):
Me "What is the function of the four-inch perforated pipe?"
Charles (typos and all): "It does it allows water to dissipate in areas where the soil is not allowing it it would can move water from one location in the wall to the other location in the wall where there is slow seepage without moving the material".
There is a hump between the middle of my backyard, about five feet from the retaining wall. Only rainwater on the backside of the hump makes it to the retaining wall. It doesn't matter how many times I tell him that and offer to have him look again, he says I am to blame. When I initially called and sent pictures of my issue, (if only I could upload them here) The first thing he asked was if I took care of my gutters the way "I told you to". Huh? He’s blaming me for this problem? The first words that came out of his mouth when I said there was an issue and asked when he could come to take a look is to imply I did something wrong. This company is taking my separate issue and somehow thinks it is relevant to their error. I assure you, it is not. This complaint has a much longer version but I will end it with this. I called a third party who also asked about the pipe. "Where is the water going to go?" said the third party. Good question. The cost to resolve the issue: $2400. As I let it set in that I was going to have an additional charge for the exact reason I didn't build the wall myself, I finally told the third party to put me on the schedule. That day I sent a text to John simply stating "I'm sure it won't matter much to you but it's going to cost me another $2400 for someone to dig up the dirt and install the proper drainage for my retaining wall." and I sent a picture of the pooling water. He texted,[RR1] we spoke, He asked if I had done anything with my gutters.  I explained, again, the water from the gutters does not make it to the wall.  He asked what I wanted, I told him and we seemed to be on the right track. I sent him the work that needed to be done (the drawings and description of the third party) essentially what we’d agreed upon with more specifics.  I didn’t want there to be any confusion as to what was expected. He called to tell me that was not going to happen. That SOME retaining walls are built like that but not all. As his volume increased and he continued to accuse me of trying to get his company to fix my issue and retaining walls have nothing to do with drainage and that if I would put grass there the water would run over the retaining wall I finally hung up. I was tired of being treated like a liar. Every time I spoke to either John or Charles they would talk over me, yell and accuse me of, essentially, trying to scam them. Additional note:  I work in the College of Engineering of a state university and have described the construction of my retaining wall with an Engineer.  His first question was: “Where does the pipe go?” Go figure. My suggestion: 1) Get details written of the work that is going to be done no matter how trustworthy you find the person bidding the job. 2) Trust your gut. I knew it was wrong and let it slide when the Army Core of Engineers guy told me otherwise. I know those The Army Core of Engineers are generally awesome but, they are not all created equal. Good luck.