ComplaintsforHeartland Landscape Group,Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Signed a contract dated 12/102021 that included putting in groundcover on our Lake Property at the Lake of the Ozarks Asst. *********** Pints (English Ivy), Units 300; $10.60 each for total of $3,180 Total invoice price was $54,410.12 The full amount has been paid ..., at least a year ago ..., yet after repeated promises to complete the work the ground remains bare over two years later!!There were many other issues that I/we are not even addressing in this complaint!!One of which, to correct, required days of work on my part followed by about $4,000.00 in expense to have a company redo work already paid for.

  Business response

  01/22/2024

  The work referenced (ground cover installation) was first completed in 2022 with the installation of the ivy ground cover. Topsoil was installed and ivy was planted on assigned slopes. Customer refused the application of organic mulch for planted area to protect plants and slope. Customer failed to maintain the area and allowed excessive invasive grasses to grow in the area which prevented proper growth of ivy and its spread for ground cover. Later in the summer season we were notified by homeowner that the ivy to the left side of their stairs had died. We sent a member of our team to look a the growth and discuss with the homeowner and discovered that homeowner had applied an complete kill herbicide to the the area to kill the grass and had killed the ivy plants as well. While this voids any warranty that we would of had we agreed to replant the ivy on the left side. At the time we were in an area wide drought and it was late in the season and it was decided to hold off to the following planting season and try and secure new plants and replant the area. 

  The summer of 2023 was another drought summer with excessive heat and little rain and low availability of plant goods. In late summer owners become insistent that we replant,  so the new ivy was installed for the left side. We cleared the foliage again and installed over 120 new plants to that area (see attached photo). again customer refused any mulch or ground protection to help protect soil and moisture retention. Plants were initially watered and turned over to homeowner in September to maintain. Homeowners made no provisions to water, maintain, or protect plants and plants died or were destroyed by wildlife by October. Home owner refused to have irrigation installed nor did they want to install temporary sprinklers because they didn't want water stains on the railing that had been installed. Despite the destruction of the first round of ivy ground cover and the owners failure to provide adequate protection and maintenance I agreed to plant the ivy for the third time but told them we would have to wait until spring and agreed that we would put the new plants in no later then the month of March 2024. We have met every obligation set forth in our contract and have went above and beyond the scope of our work and warranty to provide the ground cover as outlined despite the lack of followup of the owners. As I previously had stated to ***************** on the phone we would provide a replanting again in the month of March of the 2024 season       

  Customer response

  01/25/2024

  Complaint: 21055996
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  Payment was made in February, 2022, to start the project so that the ivy, trees, etc. could be planted in the spring. In June of 2022, some ivy was planted. We were never asked if we wanted organic mulch...the topic was never brought up. On July 3, 2022, our daughter took a lot of pictures of the slopes and all of the dead ivy. There was never anywhere near 300 ivy plants. There were some to the left of the stairs and barely any on the right side. Much of the ivy that was there was just laying on top of the ground, not actually planted. We notified our contact person at Heartland in early July of the problem, so not "later in the summer" as stated above. We also never applied any herbicide of any kind and have no idea why that was said. Before having concrete steps poured and heavy equipment on the slope, the slope was covered in English Ivy, so the prior owner never sprayed "complete kill herbicide" either! To put it nicely, the claim is ludicrous and has no basis in fact!! Why would we pay over $3k to have English Ivy ground cover planted and spray "complete kill herbicide" on it? That makes 100% no sense!! For the landscaper to repeatedly make that claim, without any evidence, creates significant distrust on our part! In addition, I spent many hours pulling the weeds manually!! The weeds/grass that did grow did not cover the whole slope, but tended to be thicker near the piers. Most of the slope was not significantly covered and would not have presented a problem for a ground cover plant like English Ivy! So if a lab were to test the soil and prove that there was "complete kill herbicide" on the slope, the only way that could possibly be true is if the landscaper put it on the slope himself, either through an application or when they brought in the top soil!
  
  
  In the summer of 2023, a year after the first ivy did not make it after being planted in the summer, as opposed to recommended spring or fall, we still were without ivy. Finally,on 8/2/2023, a plan was made with our contact person to finish things up in the fall. In October of 2023, we were sent pictures of the work that was done. There were no pictures of the slope or ivy. So if they sent a picture of 300 ivy planted, it was not on our property and was not sent to us. It seems odd that they would send the Heartland owner a photo of the slope showing 300 plants this last fall, but not us, the homeowners! We texted our contact person at Heartland telling him there were no pictures showing us the ivy planted on the slope. On November 11, 2023, I went to the lake to check things out. The slope was pretty much bare...just dirt.  I walked the slope repeatedly with a leaf blower and there were no plants and no root ***** on the slope, so nothing had been planted, let alone 300 plants!!  We have pictures. Ground cover is pretty hardy and if 300 plants had been planted on the slope in the recommended planting season multiple times, I'm fairly confident that even under adverse conditions, I'd have a fair number of English Ivy plants growing on the slope. The slope in question has large trees and pretty significant shade, and so not exposed to full sun ever! In summary, the landscaper never planted 300 plants multiple times, not even once! Some plants were planted one summer (not at recommended time), but no where near 300 plants.
  
  In addition, yes, I incurred over $5k in costs to have almost brand new railings removed, then cleaned and re-coated, and reinstalled. This was result of residue from sprinklers installed by Heartland to support large trees planted within days of extremely hot temperatures. If the trees had been planted at recommended times (not a few days before 100+ temperatures), they would not have needed sprinklers and we would not have had the damage and costs due to deposits/residue! Is it odd that I wouldn't want the problem repeated on a much larger section of railing where the slopes are? Why not just plant during spring or fall following all recommendations? You schedule your projects and hire your employees. If you don't have the people to get projects planted during recommended times, you should not schedule the projects and bill customers. That is on **********************. We were pushed aside over and over during these projects.
  
  The company owner did say they would plant 120 English Ivy plants in March 2024. This is not the 300 plants contracted and paid for (believe over $10 per plant)!! At this same time the owner also, voluntarily, told me he would send in writing what he planned to do. He volunteered to do this, I did not request or demand it. I never received any written statement of intent, despite making repeated calls to the company about it.
  As a result, I began to view the company owners promise as unreliable ..., just another delaying tactic. At this point I called and told the company I planned to file a complaint!!  
  
  If ********************************** March (recommended time) I'd consider the issue resolved.
  Despite it being years later, the property not enjoying the aesthetics and growth, and having suffered a lot of aggravation during that time.
  
  Note that I had more attachments but your 8MG limit prevented attaching them.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Customer response

  05/14/2024

  TR 05/14/2024 [C]  ************ did come out and do some more work, and we are not going to pursue any further action, however we are still very disappointed in our over all experience with this business.

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