ComplaintsforThe Turf Tailor Grounds Maintenance, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  06/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of service was Monday, May 20,2024. The Turf Tailor, Damon M*****/ owner and his team, did landscaping at my house. Damon had previously supplied a proposal on March 25,2024, with a detailed list of things I wanted done plus pricing for each itemized task. I signed the proposal estimated at $1310.89 then had to pay a deposit of $788.88 by April 14,2024. All done. He and his team were at my house on Monday May 20, 2024. When I got home from work I saw a mess. Remnants of mulch still on my driveway; tree/shrub debris strewn across my yard; dead shrubs, that were supposed to be removed, still in the ground;woody branches poking out of shrubs plants and trees; dead leaves still hanging on plants/shrubs/trees; daffodil stems not cut down; yard debris on my patio and furniture; mulch dumped over downspout. I took pictures of everything and will supply them. When I called Damon to talk about these issues, he admitted to not removing 3 dead shrubs( because they were still good)- I have pictures showing they are clearly dead- He said he only left a few daffodil stems and that I could just mow over the debris left strewn across my yard and sweep up the dirt on my driveway. I said this was not a professional mindset or work. Damon became angry with that particular statement and said that he could drive back and dump the debris that he picked up back onto my driveway if I didn’t believe that he actually cleaned up. I asked if he was threatening me. He declined an answer. He also said that since I don’t think he is a professional then he would not be back to fix anything and waste his time trying to please me- that I wouldn’t be happy anyway. I said I wanted things fixed as we agreed and I paid half already for. He declined and said that when he sends the final invoice, I could decide what was fair to pay for and call it done. I paid $436/$762 from final invoice. He’s harassing me for another $326-threatening a lien on my house. He got $1224 total from $1310 proposal!

  Business response

  06/13/2024

  The Turf Tailor and their our crews work very hard day in and day out. It's very sad to see them come across an negative customer. This customer in particular was very rude/disrespectful and nasty. I personally made the call to never do anymore work for this customer after already discounting her work. All I was asking is for her to respectfully pay for all the work that was properly completed. I should have known from the start it was going to be a price issue as this customer kept requesting lower pricing and better pricing. Which I did from the start keep dropping cost off to help the customer out and get to a price that was comfortable for them. I understand she is upset with shrub removal but we never charged a penny to remove them along with hoping to save them to save this customer cost of new ones!! My crew members will never perform work when they do not feel comfortable around customers. I have a two saved voicemails from this customer and they show the major disrespect to our hard working members of our team. Lastly, I never once threatened the customer as they keep saying. I only explained the process to them with late fees and lien process if they do not pay us what is properly owed. 

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 8/3/22, ***** M, co-owner of The Turf Tailor, LLC provided me with a quote (Estimate #*****) for a project. This was the second quote provided as the first provided on 5/18/22 expired when I took too long getting others quotes. The quote was for $1,794.53 for product and labor. I initially reached out to Mr. ****** on 7/14/22 to get a second quote and did not hear back until 7/29/22. Mr. ****** informed me that he recently had a baby and apologized for the delay. At this time Mr. ****** offered to get me an updated quote and said the project could not be scheduled until a 50% deposit was paid. On 8/4/22, $900 was paid to Mr. ******'s ***** (in order to avoid a 3% fee on credit cards). On 8/5/22 Mr. ****** confirmed receipt (Receipt #******************), at which point I asked about getting the project scheduled. On 8/6/22, Mr. ****** stated "I will see next week how far out we are. Rain this week killed our schedule." From that point, we heard nothing else from Mr. ******. More than one week after the deposit was paid, the project still had not been scheduled and there had been no communication from Mr. ******. On 8/12/22, I asked for a refund of the deposit. At that point, Mr. ****** informed me for the first time that the deposit was non-refundable (also not written in any documents) and stated that materials had been ordered for the job, which struck me as odd as the job hadn't been scheduled. When questioned further, Mr. ****** quickly offered to drop the materials off on site for someone else to finish the job. Mr. ****** then told me to let him know which day I would like the material dropped off in the driveway and "we will part ways." I agreed to move forward and asked Mr. ****** which products had already been purchased for our project and what the total cost of the products was, as the quoted amount of materials was less than the $900 deposit, to at least get a partial refund. I have had no further communication from Mr. ****** since then.

  Business response

  08/16/2022

  I Mr. M*****((***** M*****)) am in full shock and disrespect from this customer. After clearly taking over 2 months to even get back to us about the job he expects us at a blink of an eye and over night get to his job right after he get us his deposit. I made it very clear of two very important facts before he submitted his deposit. 

  1) We are 4 weeks minimum out on our schedules weather permitting from date of deposit (( todays date is 8/15 not even 10 days after deposit when I made it clear we are 4 weeks out

  2) I am currently celebrating the birth of my new BABY girl and taking time OFF!!! I can not respond to emails and calls daily like I normally do which I informed the customer. 

  **I get it that the customer is upset that it takes me a little longer to respond to emails and calls but the Birth of my child and taking time off is currently a higher priority.

   

  I know everyone is in a hurry and wants communication which you can ask all our customers. I communicate very very well (OUTSIDE HAVING TIME OFF WITH MY NEWBORN) We take pride in having a great communication skill set along with attending to jobs in a reasonable manor. This customer will still get their material we ordered from their deposit and I am sorry we DO NOT WISH to perform the work. I feel very disrespected and mistreated from this customer so I do not wish to be on site and around this Negativity. We work way way way too hard and so many hours away from our Family and Friends to be treated this way. 

   

   

  Business response

  08/16/2022

  I Mr. ******((***** ******)) am in full shock and disrespect from this customer. After clearly taking over 2 months to even get back to us about the job he expects us at a blink of an eye and over night get to his job right after he get us his deposit. I made it very clear of two very important facts before he submitted his deposit. 

  1) We are 4 weeks minimum out on our schedules weather permitting from date of deposit (( todays date is 8/15 not even 10 days after deposit when I made it clear we are 4 weeks out

  2) I am currently celebrating the birth of my new BABY girl and taking time OFF!!! I can not respond to emails and calls daily like I normally do which I informed the customer. 

  **I get it that the customer is upset that it takes me a little longer to respond to emails and calls but the Birth of my child and taking time off is currently a higher priority.

   

  I know everyone is in a hurry and wants communication which you can ask all our customers. I communicate very very well (OUTSIDE HAVING TIME OFF WITH MY NEWBORN) We take pride in having a great communication skill set along with attending to jobs in a reasonable manor. This customer will still get their material we ordered from their deposit and I am sorry we DO NOT WISH to perform the work. I feel very disrespected and mistreated from this customer so I do not wish to be on site and around this Negativity. We work way way way too hard and so many hours away from our Family and Friends to be treated this way. 

   

   

  Customer response

  08/18/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  Mr. M***** has made several false statements in his response and has taken additional actions to worsen the situation:

  1. In his response to the complaint, Mr. M***** stated that "he expects us at the blink of an eye to over night get to his job right after he get us his deposit." As you can see from the attachment ******-M***** #2, on 8/6/22 my communication with Mr. M***** was "When do we want to get this scheduled for?" Mr. M***** replied that he "would see next week how far out we are" and then never scheduled the job with me. This was restated on 8/12/22 (******-M***** #5) in which I tried to explain to Mr. M***** my concerns were not that the job wasn't completed quickly, but more so that the job was never scheduled. In my phone conversation with Mr. M***** 7/29/22, Mr. M***** informed me that jobs were being scheduled approximately four weeks out, but that the job would not be scheduled until I made the deposit.

  2. In his response to the complaint, Mr. M***** states that he is celebrating the birth of his baby girl and taking time off. In our conversation on 7/29/22, Mr. M***** informed me of the recent birth of his child, which is why it took him two weeks to get back to me. I congratulated Mr. M***** on the birth and told him I completely understood. At that time, Mr. M***** said that unfortunately the business had to be attended to, which is why he wanted to get back to me, get me the updated quote, and get the job scheduled. Knowing about the birth of his child, this is why I gave Mr. M***** over a week to schedule the job. While I respect that the birth of his child is a priority for him, at no point did I try to hurry the situation. However, I would content that the agreement was once the deposit was paid, the job would be scheduled. As the job was not scheduled more than a week after payment, the deposit should be returned.

  3. In his response to the complaint, Mr. M***** states that he feels very disrespected and mistreated by the customer and do not wish to be on site around this negativity. I can understand why Mr. M***** may be upset that I requested my deposit to be returned, throughout all our interactions I have attempted to communicate with Mr. M***** clearly and politely, and in response have been accused of poor treatment and disrespect, though at no point have I been anything but direct and fair without feeling the need to resort to utilizing all caps and accusing Mr. M***** of being unprofessional.
  

  4. One thing Mr. M***** failed to address in his response is that at no point was it communicated to me that the deposit was non-refundable. This was only told to me after I requested the deposit back.

  5. After submitting my initial complaint to the BBB, Mr. M***** sent me an updated quote. In the updated quote, several changes were made to justify keeping the full deposit. In the original quote, I was to be charged $390 for two mini accent walls which included installation and labor. In the updated quote (attached), the material for these walls is still listed at $390, but no longer includes labor. In addition, a $125 dollar deliver fee was added. This shows that Mr. M***** is arbitrarily adjusting the prices in an attempt to justify keeping the deposit, demonstrating that this business is not acting in good faith.

  While I was initially receptive to the idea of working with Mr. M***** to accept a partial refund in exchange for the materials and even asked Mr. M***** how we could move forward, it is clear to me now that Mr. M***** and The Turf Tailor has no intentions of working with me to come to a resolution, and instead are simply trying to justify taking my money and not doing any of the work discussed. For the reasons listed above, I will state that I do not believe this matter will be resolved until Mr. M***** agrees to a full refund.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******
  

  Business response

  08/18/2022

  The Turf Tailor has reached out many times to this customer and have heard nothing back. It doesn't seem fair to us because we are trying everything we can do to help this customer and offered many solutions and options but they only choose to respond only through the BBB. That is perfectly fine but we have attempted many many times. Here as the HR team at The Turf Tailor. It doesn't seem fair to choose the importance of a non-emergency landscape job, over the time off with the Birth of a child. ***** clearly explained to this customer multiple times he was busy with the Birth of his new child which would very quickly explain why he might not respond right away. Once again this project is still within the time window promised but the customer is no longer responding. The stone line item is a simple oversight(once again this is the first time we are notified about this as the customer chooses not to respond to our team) and the account team has been notified to make the adjustment and credit the customer the difference. We collect 50% deposits for this exact reason. It wouldn't be fair to us as a small business to have to sit on the cost and all the material only this customer needed and never be able to use it. This customer has been offered many times to get their material dropped off and if they wish to pick it up to save the delivery fee they are more than welcome to do that. The Turf Tailor HR team supports ***** decision to not want to move forward with this customers labor as its in the best interest for the safety/conflict of all Turf Tailor Team members to stay away from this customer. 

   

  Business response

  08/18/2022

  The Turf Tailor has reached out many times to this customer and have heard nothing back. It doesn't seem fair to us because we are trying everything we can do to help this customer and offered many solutions and options but they only choose to respond only through the BBB. That is perfectly fine but we have attempted many many times. Here as the HR team at The Turf Tailor. It doesn't seem fair to choose the importance of a non-emergency landscape job, over the time off with the Birth of a child. ***** clearly explained to this customer multiple times he was busy with the Birth of his new child which would very quickly explain why he might not respond right away. Once again this project is still within the time window promised but the customer is no longer responding. The stone line item is a simple oversight(once again this is the first time we are notified about this as the customer chooses not to respond to our team) and the account team has been notified to make the adjustment and credit the customer the difference. We collect 50% deposits for this exact reason. It wouldn't be fair to us as a small business to have to sit on the cost and all the material only this customer needed and never be able to use it. This customer has been offered many times to get their material dropped off and if they wish to pick it up to save the delivery fee they are more than welcome to do that. The Turf Tailor HR team supports ***** decision to not want to move forward with this customers labor as its in the best interest for the safety/conflict of all Turf Tailor Team members to stay away from this customer. 

   

  Customer response

  08/26/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  Unfortunately, The Turf Tailor is not being truthful again. I would like to take a moment to refute their latest response:
  
  ~~ “The Turf Tailor has reached out many times to this customer and have heard nothing back.”
  
  As can be seen in ******-****** #7, before going to the BBB, I attempted to work things out directly with Mr. ******, who stopped responding after I said “let’s move forward” and asked some questions about the products.
  
  Only after submitting a claim through the BBB was there any further communication, which was an email that contained nothing other than an updated estimate attempting to justify keeping my full deposit. There have been no phone calls, no text messages, no emails. The Turf Tailor has provided no evidence of any attempts to reach me, other than to state they have tried “many many times.”
  
  ~~ “It doesn't seem fair to us because we are trying everything we can do to help this customer and offered many solutions and options but they only choose to respond only through the BBB.”
  
  The only solution that has been offered by The Turf Tailor is “We will keep your full deposit and drop the materials off in your driveway.” In the two responses received through the BBB however, they have accused me of being too negative to work around, and now, being concerned about the safety of their employees. There have been no attempts to compromise or negotiate, there has been no meeting me halfway, and no admittance or any wrongdoing. One option has been provided: “We don’t want to work with you. We are keeping your full deposit and will drop the materials off in your driveway.”
  
  ~~ “It doesn't seem fair to choose the importance of a non-emergency landscape job, over the time off with the Birth of a child. ***** clearly explained to this customer multiple times he was busy with the Birth of his new child which would very quickly explain why he might not respond right away.”
  
  As evidenced by the fact that the HR Team is now responding, Mr. ****** is not the only person working for The Turf Tailor. Why is it that no one else at the business has been in communication with me up to this point? Why is it that no one else at the business was able to schedule my job? There was no expectation that Mr. ****** “respond right away” as the business contends, but after taking my money, not scheduling my job, and having no communication from the business for more than a week, I was justifiably concerned and wanted to part ways with the business.
  
  ~~ “Once again this project is still within the time window promised but the customer is no longer responding.”
  
  The business has made it clear they have no intention of completing the job, so not sure why this statement was made about us still being within the time window promised. And as stated above, there is nothing to respond to as The Turf Tailor has not reached out in any way, other than to send me an updated estimate.
  
  ~~ “It wouldn't be fair to us as a small business to have to sit on the cost and all the material only this customer needed and never be able to use it.”
  
  As stated previously, I’m not sure why the materials were purchased for a job that hadn’t been scheduled, but the business has yet to answer that question. Further, the business is now saying that they would be at a financial loss as the products purchased would never be able to be used for other jobs. The products in question? Non-corrugated slotted pipe, #4 river rock, and calico stones. Standard landscaping products. None of these materials were selected by me for the job, these were the items The Turf Tailor said would be needed and I just accepted their knowledge. To now say they will lose money because they’ll “never be able to use it” should demonstrate that The Turf Tailor is not addressing this situation realistically.
  
  ~~ “The Turf Tailor HR team supports ***** decision to not want to move forward with this customers labor as its in the best interest for the safety/conflict of all Turf Tailor Team members to stay away from this customer.”
  
  Fortunately, we agree here and I also don’t want to move forward with The Turf Tailor either. However, at no point have I ever done or said anything to make this a safety issue.
  
  The Turf Tailor has provided no evidence to support the claims made above. Despite my efforts to communicate with the business, only after going through the BBB did I get any further communication as can be seen in the attached screen shots and estimate.
  
  My initial claim that at no point did the business inform me that the deposit was non-refundable has still not been addressed. The only response that the business has had to my argument that there was no communication from the company is that Mr. ****** had a newborn, and my non-emergency landscaping job was not more important than Mr. ******’s family, despite the fact that I have now learned that there are other people (a whole team in fact) working for the company. At no point has the company attempted to compromise, negotiate, or work with me to resolve the issue, simply stating that they are keeping my full deposit and will drop of materials at heavily inflated prices and with additional charges added.
  
  What should have been a simple request to return a deposit for a job not yet scheduled has now been blown entirely out of proportion by this business. While I would have initially accepted a partial refund and have made every effort to work with the company, it is clear that this company is not practicing in good faith and I am again requesting a full refund.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

  Customer response

  08/26/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  Unfortunately, The Turf Tailor is not being truthful again. I would like to take a moment to refute their latest response:
  
  ~~ “The Turf Tailor has reached out many times to this customer and have heard nothing back.”
  
  As can be seen in ******-M***** #7, before going to the BBB, I attempted to work things out directly with Mr. M*****, who stopped responding after I said “let’s move forward” and asked some questions about the products.
  
  Only after submitting a claim through the BBB was there any further communication, which was an email that contained nothing other than an updated estimate attempting to justify keeping my full deposit. There have been no phone calls, no text messages, no emails. The Turf Tailor has provided no evidence of any attempts to reach me, other than to state they have tried “many many times.”
  
  ~~ “It doesn't seem fair to us because we are trying everything we can do to help this customer and offered many solutions and options but they only choose to respond only through the BBB.”
  
  The only solution that has been offered by The Turf Tailor is “We will keep your full deposit and drop the materials off in your driveway.” In the two responses received through the BBB however, they have accused me of being too negative to work around, and now, being concerned about the safety of their employees. There have been no attempts to compromise or negotiate, there has been no meeting me halfway, and no admittance or any wrongdoing. One option has been provided: “We don’t want to work with you. We are keeping your full deposit and will drop the materials off in your driveway.”
  
  ~~ “It doesn't seem fair to choose the importance of a non-emergency landscape job, over the time off with the Birth of a child. ***** clearly explained to this customer multiple times he was busy with the Birth of his new child which would very quickly explain why he might not respond right away.”
  
  As evidenced by the fact that the HR Team is now responding, Mr. M***** is not the only person working for The Turf Tailor. Why is it that no one else at the business has been in communication with me up to this point? Why is it that no one else at the business was able to schedule my job? There was no expectation that Mr. M***** “respond right away” as the business contends, but after taking my money, not scheduling my job, and having no communication from the business for more than a week, I was justifiably concerned and wanted to part ways with the business.
  
  ~~ “Once again this project is still within the time window promised but the customer is no longer responding.”
  
  The business has made it clear they have no intention of completing the job, so not sure why this statement was made about us still being within the time window promised. And as stated above, there is nothing to respond to as The Turf Tailor has not reached out in any way, other than to send me an updated estimate.
  
  ~~ “It wouldn't be fair to us as a small business to have to sit on the cost and all the material only this customer needed and never be able to use it.”
  
  As stated previously, I’m not sure why the materials were purchased for a job that hadn’t been scheduled, but the business has yet to answer that question. Further, the business is now saying that they would be at a financial loss as the products purchased would never be able to be used for other jobs. The products in question? Non-corrugated slotted pipe, #4 river rock, and calico stones. Standard landscaping products. None of these materials were selected by me for the job, these were the items The Turf Tailor said would be needed and I just accepted their knowledge. To now say they will lose money because they’ll “never be able to use it” should demonstrate that The Turf Tailor is not addressing this situation realistically.
  
  ~~ “The Turf Tailor HR team supports ***** decision to not want to move forward with this customers labor as its in the best interest for the safety/conflict of all Turf Tailor Team members to stay away from this customer.”
  
  Fortunately, we agree here and I also don’t want to move forward with The Turf Tailor either. However, at no point have I ever done or said anything to make this a safety issue.
  
  The Turf Tailor has provided no evidence to support the claims made above. Despite my efforts to communicate with the business, only after going through the BBB did I get any further communication as can be seen in the attached screen shots and estimate.
  
  My initial claim that at no point did the business inform me that the deposit was non-refundable has still not been addressed. The only response that the business has had to my argument that there was no communication from the company is that Mr. M***** had a newborn, and my non-emergency landscaping job was not more important than Mr. M*****’s family, despite the fact that I have now learned that there are other people (a whole team in fact) working for the company. At no point has the company attempted to compromise, negotiate, or work with me to resolve the issue, simply stating that they are keeping my full deposit and will drop of materials at heavily inflated prices and with additional charges added.
  
  What should have been a simple request to return a deposit for a job not yet scheduled has now been blown entirely out of proportion by this business. While I would have initially accepted a partial refund and have made every effort to work with the company, it is clear that this company is not practicing in good faith and I am again requesting a full refund.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

  Customer response

  09/16/2022

  Following my initial complaint, The Turf Tailor reached out to me and we came to an agreeable resolution. In the end, the owners of The Turf Tailor acted in a professional manner and I now consider the issue as resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In January 2020 I hired The Turf Tailor Ground Maintenance team put in a 4 foot retaining wall in my back yard to provide me more flat area in my back yard. The cost was just short of $13,000. During the work I had taken some photos at the beginning of the work and end of the work. Everything seemed correct at the time. Within about 1 week, I asked them to come back to fix 1 small step that they had put in and look at the wall. The wall seemed to be leaning downhill in the middle of the wall. They agreed and attempted to pound the wall back with a rubber mallet. This was to no avail. I contact them a month or two later to come out again to look at the wall because it was leaning more and there was now a 1"-2" gap forming in the ground about 2' away from the wall. The wall was clearly shifting. I spoke with Turf Tailor a few times and had them visit the site again. They told me that they could put in a French Drain to help with the erosion and quoted another $3000 to install a French Drain. At that point, i asked if they had put any drain in the original build. He said, yes they did. As the gentleman walked away he stated that "he couldn't afford to have his people work for free to replace it or do any work." I then looked at the photos i had taken earlier in the build and no drain was shown. I didn't believe him and then got a second opinion. The second opinion stated that the wall was clearly built incorrectly. The second opinion offered a quote to tear down and rebuild the entire wall using the existing material for only $2500. I couldn't believe that The Turf Tailor was asking more to just put a drain in than rebuild the entire wall. I hired the second opinion to rebuild the wall. During the rebuild, they went all the way down to the base of the wall that was built. THERE WAS NOT A DRAIN TO BE FOUND! I would never recommend The Turf Tailor Grounds and Maintenance, LLC. They do not back their work and will lie to your face about their work.

  Business response

  11/30/2021

  We here at the Turf Tailor install walls/patios/ hardscapes weekly and do them to perfection and try our best to explain to customers the process and details of the jobs. Each job is different and has many factors to them. In this case the customer needed back fill soil which they didn't explain in their complaint. We quoted at first 60 yards of top soil which turned into about 85 and the extra 25 yards was never charged to the customers. From the start of the placement of the wall(which we recommended doing differently) to bringing in this much soil. We notified them the soil would take time to settle which it did and offered to fix the lawn repair at no cost which would most likely be settled for good. We had record setting rain falls this season so it wasn't a surprise to see the soil shift at all. When we met with the customer he personally told me no other company could explain what we did wrong he just insisted it was wrong and said he was personally going to do the work himself to make it how we wanted it to be. The photos from the angles taken are from the break in the wall since the customer wouldn't let us clear out more trees and land. (which we highly recommended before installing the wall but the customer didn't want to spend any more money) This not allowing the wall to run perfectly straight. The customer also didn't mention they or someone mounted a fence the the wall after we completed the process which isn't recommended(unless performed by our team at time of install) and could have caused damage and shifting outside the work from The Turf Tailor. We attempted our best to help out this customer and offered many solutions and got back to all their calls/emails/text within 24 hrs. Just seemed they didn't like our ideas or help moving forward and just wanted money in return. 

   

   

  Customer response

  12/03/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *******

   

  There are many untruths spoken in the response which I am not happy with. I hope that I am able to provide more words than originally allowed in the initial dispute.

  I only agree to the following 3 points:

      1. Yes, I do agree that we had more rainy days than normal earlier this year.  I do not have exact measurements from my yard.

      2. I was told that they had to bring in more soil to backfill than what was originally proposed.

      3. I agree that soil would take time to settle. They did offer to fix the lawn repair after settling occurred.

   

  I will provide counter responses to each statement supplied by The Turf Tailor Team.

      1. "Placement of the Wall"

           A different placement was never recommended to me.  I explained what I was looking to do and was told it would be fairly straight forward and easy to do.  I was never once provided with an option of how to do the wall.  I told them that I know nothing               about building a retaining wall and left the details to them since they were the "experts".  I would love to see their proposal for doing it differently since it was never provided to me in the first place.

       2. "Bringing in this much soil"

           If bringing in that much soil was going to be an issue, why wasn't stone for drainage placed behind the wall instead of backfilling with all soil.  This was one of the issues the Rebuilding Company explained to me as why the original build failed.  I could not               explain this to the Turf Tailor Crew on their last visit because I was unsure what was below the ground. I was told that there was proper drainage behind the wall but there was only dirt with a 1-2" layer of stone on the north east half extreme bottom of the          wall.  I have checked with a few retaining wall companies since this and they have explained that there should be stone behind the wall and not just dirt backfill.

       3. "offer to fix lawn repair"

           Fixing lawn repair would only have put a Bandaid on the major issue of the wall shifting.  Just a week after the "completion" of the job, I notified Turf Tailor that I did not like how a step just west of the wall was installed.  They graciously came out a few               weeks later to look.  At that point I also showed them that the wall had begun to move.  When they came out to fix the step (which I was very happy with the fix) the gentleman agreed that the wall should not have shifted like it did and tried to pound the wall          back into place with a rubber mallet.  This did nothing and it was not addressed any further. 

       4. "personally do the work"

           Previous to us meeting together to go over the "fix" to the wall I was provided a quote for a French Drain.  It would cost about another $2500 or so for Turf Tailor to install a French Drain.  I asked if they originally installed any type of drain and I was told that          they did. He told me that they tapped into a downspout drain that was previously running under the wall.  I was also told that they had photos of the progress of the work.  I asked for those photos but none could be found.  He told me that since then                    he switched phones and no longer had the photos.  He would check with the crew who should have taken the photos.  No photos of a drain were ever provided.  My response to him was that I didn't want to pay another $2500 for something that, in my               opinion, should have been installed already.  I stated that "I may do the French Drain myself" to save the additional $2500.  After that conversation I received a quote from company to tear down the wall and completely rebuild it for about $2900.                          (receipt is attached of the work done).  Because I was not happy with the wall, I decided to pay to get the entire wall rebuilt using the stone originally provided by Turf Tailor.  During the repair work it was found that there was not drainage stone used behind          the wall and no drain was placed at the bottom of the wall.  I was told that this would definitely cause excess pressure behind the wall causing it to push out the way that it did.  This is another reason why I couldn't explain to Turf Tailor what other companies          thought of why the wall was not built correctly. No one was sure of how it was built until it was taken apart.

       5. "Customer didn't want to spend any more money" (removing trees)

             I did express to them that I would like to keep the trees in the back yard and that we liked the shade and privacy they provided.  To this account, the location of the wall only put it near 2 small trees.  One that was dying was taken out and the other was                 a 3-1/2" diameter tree which I clearly stated "it might be in the way and I expect them to move it.  The next closest tree is 30" away from the placement of the base of the wall. This should in no way have been prohibitive to building this wall.  All                           other larger plant life were Honeysuckles that could easily have been removed.  I was NEVER told that it would be beneficial to remove any trees.  Either before, during or after the build of the wall.  Also, according to the photos, this did not hinder them from            installing the wall in a straight line.  Early photos clearly establish the wall as being in a straight line.  I would welcome the opportunity for them to tell me what other trees should have been removed to improve the positioning of the wall.

       6. "Customer did not mention they or someone mounted a fence to the wall after we completed the process which isn't recommended"

             Putting a fence on top of the wall was discussed before building began.  I even told them what I planned to do.  I told them that I was going to do it and he stated that either I could do it myself or they could do it afterward. I was told it was a simple                      process.  I asked if it would be an issue screwing the posts into the stone and was told it wouldn't be an issue.  He even told me about a trade show he went to that showed the posts being applied with adhesive only.  In fact, he sent me the name of                     material that was recommended to do so.  He recommended Latapoxy 310 Stone Adhesive to attach the posts to the stone.  I have the text messages to prove this.  In a text he even offers to purchase the product since he wasn't sure if you have to a                  vendor to purchase it or not.  His statement is a complete untruth.

       7.  Fence Installation - "could have caused damage and shifting outside the work from Turf Tailor

             I installed the fence, yes.  The fence is Aluminum and could not weigh more than 150 lb in total across the entire length of the retaining wall.  I was assured by Turf Tailor that this would not cause any issues.  Otherwise, I would not have done it.

   

  I agree, they did attempt to help me out.  I was open to solutions to the problem, but didn't feel that I should have to pay any more to fix an issue that should not have been there within 4-6 months of completing the project.  Turf Tailor did try to pound the wall back into place and quoted additional work to install a French Drain to a wall that they knew did not have any drain originally installed. Never once was it offered to actually fix the problem, the leaning wall.

  During the repair work, if a drain had been found to be originally placed at the bottom of the wall or drainage stone behind the wall I wouldn't have an issue.  I would, in fact, blame it on the excessive water.  But, proper drainage was never installed.  Only a small layer of stone 4 feet down that was then compacted by tons of backfill.

  I didn't write this complaint until the rebuild work was completed to ensure that I knew what I was talking about.  I wanted to have proof to my issues and complaints.  I now have them.  I can now explain what other wall builders said was wrong with the wall.

       1. No drain was installed anywhere along the retaining wall. Requested photos of the drain being installed could not be produced.  I was told that photos were taken, but a phone was switched out and other crew members may have them.  No photos                         were provided.

       2. No drainage stone was used behind the wall to allow water to flow easier down the hill.

       3. Wall was not "stepped" back up the hill to help strengthen the wall against shifting. (this was not explained above because it may not be necessary for a 4 foot wall). But with as much backfill that was being used, all other companies would have                            recommended it. (I would have thought that any expert would have taken this into account)

  It also sticks in my head that as Turf Tailor left my yard we were talking about how difficult his industry is and how it is hard to keep costs down and employees since you can now work at a restaurant for similar pay.  I completely understand that situation.  He also stated "I can't have my guys working for free right now".   I am a business man myself and I understand the comment but don't agree with it.  You should stand by your product if your customer is not happy with it.  He stated the work could be done in a day.  In my opinion a days worth of work to fix a problem and keep a customer happy who may then spread the word for more business is worth it.

  Until the above reasons were found to be true, I was not looking for any compensation.  But, since I have been provided the 3 very qualified reasons as to why the wall was not built correctly I would like to be refunded.  I would like to be refunded the amount it cost to rebuild the wall. ($2918.87)  A receipt is attached.  I acknowledge that Turf Tailor did work and provided materials for the initial build.  I appreciate that.  Had it been done properly, we would not be in this situation.  Had they been able to provide photos of a drain being installed we would not have this situation.  I was lied to in order to cover up work that was done improperly.  I would like to be reimbursed the amount it took to correct poor workmanship.

  I regret being in this situation.  I don't like it.  I just want it to be made right.

   

  Sincerely,

  **** *******

   

  Business response

  12/06/2021

  We here at The Turf Tailor are a family owned and operated company. We truly understand the customers frustration and not being 100% happy with the work. We wish they would reach out to us directly to go over all this information and issues which have never been discussed directly with us before they went through BBB a full year later. This project has been completed for over 11 months now. We only met with this customer once after the work was completed and hoped they would have allowed us more time to explain which we didn't get the chance before they started this review. This customer gladly paid in full upon completing the job, knowing a little bend/bow in the wall and and thanked us very much for our worked and said they loved it. On top of referring us to neighbors to perform more work so we are now very confused on the situation. We stand behind all the work we perform and if the customer would like they can gladly reach out via phone or email to us and a team member will go over all the details as needed and help out as best as possible. Price included. We never once ignore a customers thoughts/question and always try our best to make situation correct. 

• Initial Complaint

  10/26/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My yard was aerated unknown to me because I was traveling and they cut my invisible fence and may have damaged sprinkler system. They were aware of the these two items because I mentioned it before as well as they performed the same type of aeration last year. They claimed to have called but came out even though they received no response back from me. Therefore, no approval. I called to have the fence repaired and sprinkler company comes out on 10/28. Once I have those repairs completed I will pay they remaining balance but they are threatening me with a lean on my house.

  Business response

  10/27/2021

  We fully understand this customers frustration and why they are upset. We never once threatened the customer. We only informed them of our process if they do not pay their invoice.  Per the customers requested "to be notified 48 hours before performing the service"" which I personally called myself and left a voicemail in this time window. We went along with the service as we never recieved a call/email/ text back letting us know NOT to perform the services. We notified the customer about the week it would be performed along with a 48 hour call in advance which was performed. There was nothing else we could do. Along with before even agree to the work which was completed last season and this season. We informed this customer and all our customer that no private underground items hit are our responsibility. We can not and will not be responsible for unseen items hit from a service the customer wants. Once again we are truly sorry about any wires possible hit but there was absolutely nothing we could have done different in this situation to make the outcome different. 

  Customer response

  10/27/2021

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******
  

  Customer response

  11/01/2021

  They were advised that I had a sprinkler system and an invisible fence and that no work could be performed without me marking those systems and that I would need at least 48 hours notice to do so. They acknowledged that they remembered that from the previous year and assured me they would reach out at least 48 hours prior. They left me a voicemail me on 10/20/21 @ 3:48PM and came out on 10/22/21 @ 12:27PM. I was traveling on vacation those days and didn't have my cell. so I never got the message. I have a phone record and video of them on my property to support.  

   

  Customer response

  11/04/2021

  I signed no contract nor did they present one to me. The invoice in the amount of $250 was sent through *****. I have no way of copying and submitting it to you.

*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. ↩