I hate leaving negative reviews, and I rarely do that. This is one of those exceptions, and I write and post this review very reluctantly.
I contacted Pasquale (Pat) Monteleone due to a referral from Mike over at Buyansky Brothers last summer. Mike said that they were too busy, but that they highly recommended P Monteleone Landscaping for a swale job and for landscaping services. I originally wanted nothing more than a swale to move standing rain water that was "pooling" in my back yard, and to move the water completely out of my yard and out to the street, via a swale. Like so many yards in my neighborhood, the swale that was originally graded with my home in the 1960's had filled in and the ground had settled, leaving standing water in my yard after a rain. Mike assured me that Pasquale could do the work.
In my mind, it was a simple grading project. However, Pasquale convinced me to go with a dry well and a couple of 20-foot+ drain tiles. I expressed my reservations, but Pasquale insisted that this was the best solution. I told him that the most common mistake that I was hearing about with dry wells is that they are dug too small. He reiterated that the dry well would not be a problem, and that everything would work great with the two drain tiles.
Needless to say, the dry well was dug entirely too small. In fact, after the first minor thunderstorm of the season, one of the drain tiles started bubbling rain water up to the surface, similar to the opening scene in "The Beverly Hillbillies" (the scene with oil bubbling up to the surface). Pasquale's solution was to extend the gravel pit 10 feet further, but without installing any additional perforated plastic pipe. This solution compounded the problem even further, by creating a huge mud pit in my front yard where the gravel pit terminated.
His next solution was to have the drain tile tap into one of my home's downspouts. The crew member he brought out did that with a Y-fitting, but he failed to cap the other end of the drain tile, and rain water is still leaving a huge mud pit in my front yard, with rain water coming from the open end of the drain tile as well as from the gravel pit that supports the drain tile, and the extended gravel pit that is now an "overflow" of sorts. What a mess!
Pasquale sent out a couple of guys, after months of me pleading with him for a solution to the mud pit in my front yard, and (unbelievably) these guys dug up the wrong area. I directed them to the correct area, at which point they said that they did not have the materials or supplies and they left (after I bought them coffee and donuts--which they unapologetically consumed). Over the past 6+ weeks, I have left numerous voice mails, emails, and text messages with Pasquale, to no avail. He never even showed up or contacted me after the two guys left, even though they assured me that Pasquale would call me in an hour with a "next step." He is MIA, but he had no problem taking my hard-earned money for a botched drainage job that he proposed (and claimed would be effective solution).
I have also tried contacting Mike at Buyansky Brothers, and I have left three voice mail messages there over the past month, to no avail (it's interesting that some of the crew members that Pasquale has working for him wear green Buyansky Brothers t-shirts on the job--so this may be one and the same company, or a "family operation"). I can't believe that no one, especially Mike, at Buyansky Brothers is even bothering to return my calls.
In addition to the muddy area in my front yard, the area of the drain tiles is not able to support the growth of grass. The gravel pit with the drain tiles was laid too high to the surface, and there is not enough topsoil to support healthy grass growth. So, I now have two 20-foot+ (and, about 3-feet wide) areas of my yard that are always brown, and I have a tell-tale sign of a drainage job gone bad. Even though Pasquale assured me that the grass would grow great over the drain tiles, and that there would be no evidence of any drain tiles, nothing could be further from the truth. My yard is worse. I never even heard of P Monteleone Landscaping, until Mike at Buyansky Brothers enthusiastically recommended the company.
In addition to the lack of experienced crew members, and a shortage of materials and supplies, Pasquale took on a job that he was not qualified to complete. He misrepresented his skill level, and I paid the price. Literally.
And, I have no idea why Buyansky Brothers recommends P Monteleone Landscaping as a qualified landscaping company. Unless they are indeed related companies, given that their t-shirts are worn on the job being completed by the company they referred business to. If Buyansky Brothers recommends a company, one would think that they would stand with that company and help take of problems. I am stunned that they are just ignoring this situation...
