ComplaintsforPro Landscapes

• Initial Complaint

  10/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We signed a contract with Dave ******, owner and salesperson of Pro Landscapes on May 16, 2022. His company was delayed in starting and we knew that was possible. We were out of town when the company wanted to start our job. We notified the company that we were not home, and Dave ****** reassured us that it was okay and to pay by credit card to get our job started. He always asks customers to make the deposit by credit card. After the fact, we realized that he does it so he can store credit card information in case there is a dispute. We trusted his company in good faith and it was a disaster. He does not follow industry standards for repointing patios. Our patio looks worse than it did prior to the renovations. When we told him that we were not paying the final payment due to dissatisfaction, he asked us to send pictures and gave us what he considered to be an adequate solution. Before we could respond, Mr. ****** decided to charge our credit card for the remaining balance. After witnessing the messy job, we were not confident that his company had the ability to do a professional job. We have disputed the charges with our credit card company and received 2 credits and are waiting on a third dispute claim to be decided. Mr. ****** charges interest on credit card payments so we paid most of our money through our checking account and are out that money. We have filed a complaint with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission because our patio is more damaged now than prior to the work. We have called numerous contractors about fixing the patio and most contractors do not want to do the job. We have been told that our entire patio needs all stones to be reset and then repointed and the job was done incorrectly and will cost more. ProLandscape's work is already cracking, and the job is messy and unprofessional. Dave ****** has been rude, threatening and untrustworthy. Therefore, we just want a refund of our money because we cannot deal with a company such as his business.

  Business response

  01/03/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/25) */ Attached is a google drive link which includes all pertinent details with regards to this matter, including but not limited to: Contract copies, communications between contractor & customer, invoices, etc. etc. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-OH9vlQq7FnYoSon8NbOgTurlslceT9P Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/10/31) */ Response to ProLandscaping External Inbox Allison ***** Fri, Oct 28, 3:45 PM (3 days ago) to me, Kevin In response to David ******, we do not agree with with his narrative. We completely understand how a time and materials contract works and that is not our issue. The issue is that Mr. ****** and his crew are incompetent and incapable of completing this job or remediating the damage they have caused. His crew made a mess of our patio and also our seat walls which were not to be touched and not in the contract. There was a phone call between Allison and Mr. Nutter which was related to problems with finishing up the contracted job but there was no change in contract scope. Mr. ****** was explaining reasons for not completing the job within 4 days or less. He had promised that time frame both verbally and by text. It's why Allison asked him to speak to her husband, Kevin. If the work was done well, there would be no issue about payment. We were promised one thing verbally and then told his contract/estimate never promised anything and it's the nature of the industry. We now have serious doubts that Mr. ****** has the ability to assess our patio repairs and do proper renovation of it. The quality of his company's work is poor. We have been told by several contractors that Mr.******'s solution to our patio repair is incorrect and we wasted money. We have been told that he used the wrong material to repair the joints and that all stones have de-bonded from the patio and need to be reset and then repointed. Thus his company has not satisfied the contract because the workmanship of our job is under dispute so he should have never charged our credit card for final payment. Our credit card company advised us to cancel the fraud claim and make a dispute claim for workmanship. We have filed disputes for the three charges that were made. Two of the three were concluded in our favor with the third still pending. The terms of the Prolandscaping contract are to protect the company from being held accountable. It is not consumer friendly. Prolandscaping requires credit card information for initial payment. Our credit card company informed us that once you give your credit card information, the company can charge your card regardless if you gave permission per the contract. We learned the hard way. It's important to pay attention to all details of the contract and not just the specific job details. Therefore, we could not report the charge as fraud but had to dispute the charge based on workmanship. The fraud claim was closed by us and reopened as a dispute claim. Furthermore, Mr. ******'s questionable billing practices are not in the contract but are sent in the invoice where the company requests that you pay by Zelle to David ****** or Pay Pal to "friends or family" and not to his business. It has nothing to do with the interest fees although we believe consumers need to read his contract carefully because there are many interest fees and loopholes associated with payment collection. There is limited consumer protection if you follow his invoice instructions. Additionally, we are not willing to deal with unprofessional, condescending and rude behavior from a contractor. When we contacted David ****** about the quality of the work, he was not apologetic or cooperative. We asked for a meeting to look at the work and he requested that we send him pictures. He did offer a solution which we felt was inadequate. Mr. ****** has acted like payment is the problem and that is only a small part. We do not have any issue with paying for quality work when communication is truthful and accurate about a job which incurs extra costs. However, we thought that we hired a professional company and expected that customer satisfaction would be important. We would also expect our patio to look better and not worse upon renovation completion. Our patio is a complete mess. We have lost all confidence in ProLandscaping's ability to do a professional job. Mr.******'s suggested resolution is not acceptable based on the sloppy workmanship that happened over a four day period. We do not want to incur any further damage to our patio, especially since we have been told his repairs are not sustainable and are substandard quality by other masonry professionals. In conclusion, we are in agreement on one thing with Mr. ****** which is we did not want to pay him. However, we are in disagreement about the reason. It's not because we are stupid, can't read, lie, are impossible to deal with or do not want to understand/abide by a contract which is what Mr. ****** claims. We do not want to pay for poor work and a damaged patio that is going to cost more to repair now than prior to his company's work. The current condition of our patio speaks for itself. Respectfully, Kevin and Allison ***** Sent from my iPhone

• Initial Complaint

  10/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing today to report very concerning issues that have occurred since I contracted with this company. I was sent a final invoice for contracted work on 10/8/22. All of the work was not completed on a contract and the company returned on 10/11/22 to complete a list of six outstanding problems that I discussed with the owner, David ******, on 10/9/22. David sent an email on 10/9/22 with six outstanding items and dates that the company would return to complete the work. After all the work was completed on 10/11/22, I paid the final installment of the contract in full (total of contract was $15,728.70) and confirmed that the final payment was ok on 10/12/22. Five days after paying out the contract in full, and with no notice nor explanation, I received a bill for additional charges ($1,334.54) on 10/17/22. Prior to the final work, the owner did not notify me in writing of any anticipated extra charges nor the possible costs that I would incur prior to having the crew visit my home and complete the last items that were discussed. I did not agree to extra charges beyond the contracted amount which he received in full. I was only trying to tie up the problems from the existing work that were outstanding. I was not afforded an opportunity to review/dispute any anticipated charges that the owner felt he should charge prior to the company returning to our home on 10/11/22. I contacted David on 10/17/22 when I received the extra charges. He then notified me on 10/17/22 that I had to pay for 3 of the 6 work items completed on 10/11/22 (6 days after the work was completed). He admitted to double charging me in part, but still sent another bill for extra charges ($1,193.35) as a final finding. Given the limited number of characters that are allowed here, I have uploaded as supporting documentation a full explanation of the problem. This full explanation provides critical details including dates, costs, payments, correspondence and other documentation of the issue.

  Business response

  12/01/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/25) */ The long story short is that the contract my company had with Miss. Ervin is a time + materials contract for the majority of the contract labor, meaning there is one set price for the materials listed in the contract, and a daily labor rate for labor, which is only provided as an estimate, as outlined in the Terms & Conditions of the contract as follows: Page 4 of the contract cites the fee structure of time + materials: "The charge for the "Retaining Wall - preparation & construction" portions of the project will be the various amounts listed below for materials and delivery, as well as $2,392/day at an estimated 2 days with 4 men for the "preparation", and an additional estimated 2.5 days with a crew of 5-6 men and a sub compact loader for the "construction" phase. Daily labor rate listed is for 5-6 men, and will be pro-rated accordingly if less men are on site such as for the "preparation" phase." Terms & Conditions #18 of the signed contract reads as follows: "If any portion or phase of the job lists an hourly or daily charge for one or more line items of work, there will be a daily or hourly charge listed within or under the line item/s of work. There should also be an amount of men listed next to that part or phase. If there is not, then please note most jobs are done with 5-6 men on site per day. If we happen to bring less or more men out than is listed in the estimate, the daily or hourly rate listed will be prorated accordingly. In these cases, the total listed above is only an estimated total, and can sometimes change. Cleanup activities are always part of the daily/hourly rate. 1 day is based on 7.5 - 8.5 hours, which includes setup/breakdown time for the crew, as well as dump runs, material pickup & delivery, etc." Miss. Ervin fails to recognize, and blatantly ignores these facts, and does not want to pay her bill. There are too many details to list/directly attach to the BBB's response platform, so I've attached is a google drive link which contains all relevant documents with regards to this matter, including but not limited to: Contract copies, invoices, customer texts/emails, communications with the on site Foreman, and much more: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-KopkykSNoMGzI0MOWhfBbtawdgWFWjy Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/31) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I disagree with the comments from David ****** regarding the additional charges and given what I am experiencing right now with very aggressive email and text messages from him, it is probably advisable that I keep additional detailed comments at minimum. The experience with this company has been concerning to say the least.

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