ComplaintsforApple Landscape Management, Inc

• Initial Complaint

  09/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Contracted Matt @ Apple Landscape to do repairs on an existing small pond in my back yard. I selected Apple to do the job because Matt was the only one willing to spend time on the phone talking through current problems and offering solutions. They came out and did the repairs April 13 and overnight the pond lost about 150 gallons of water. Called back let them know of the issues and they had every excuse why it wasn't their fault and it was normal for the pond to lose that much water ( its windy, the evaporation rate was high, maybe splashing too much) but agreed to come back and check it out. 4 weeks goes by without any communication from Apple. I had reached out multiple times via email, call and text without any response. Finally they show up May 9th to look at the pond. More Excuses on why there was not a problem and that the rate of water loss was normal. Some suggestions were made that maybe the Garter snakes that live around my pond were chewing holes in the liner. Now mind you I had no issues with water level before Apple repaired the pond and the garter snakes have always been here. After another 8 hours pond level dropped again. Bert returned, agreed there was a problem and located a small tear in the waterfall area of the pond. After the repair the pond was good for the next 2 months, loosing only what I would consider to be a normal amount of water due to evaporation. I decided at that point even though I was not satisfied I would not write a bad review. We would just go our separate ways. Fast forward to July. Water level started dropping again. Thought it might be evaporation, so I shut the waterfall off and pond level stabilized for 2 weeks indicating to me that the problem was again above the water line. I gave Apple the benefit of the doubt and reached out letting them know there was an issue with the pond asking if their was any interest in taking a look at it. There was no response

  Business response

  10/04/2022

  Apple Landscape Mgt Inc was contacted through the phone by *** ****** in Late December of 202L for spring 2022 renovation of his pond. We asked *** ****** if he could provide pictures of the pond and all existing components that needed replacement at his request for proposal. *** ****** emailed a drop box on multiple photo's instead the travel time and a charge for site evaluation with t hr 45min drive one way. A proposal was sent to him January 4,2022 for two options to renovate his pond based what he asked to have quoted. The first option was to use existing liner; replace the skimmer box, filter falls, plumbing line, and pump. The second option was to replace the liner with addition of an upgraded filtration system along with skimmer, filter falls, pump, and plumbing. *** ****** emailed back January 5,2022 waiting on two other companies quotes to make a decision. We reached back out to him January 1.L,2022 if he had any questions with his return response with a phone call discussing the options, confirming he wanted to proceed. I asked him a series of questions prior to his acceptance of the proposal. I asked questions such as (have you ever experience any leaks of the pond liner over the years?, any plumbing leaks?, has anyone else ever made changes to the pond? since he bought the house as the second owner, how old was the pond liner? , did he shut down the pond during the winter?). I notified *** ******, by phone if he wanted to replace the liner during the renovation it would be an additionalcostto bring in machinery, laborto remove stone off lineron hillside, disposalof old liner, with replacement with new linerwith reassembly of naturalstone. *** ****** confirmed with me that the pond never leaked, and liner was still in good shape. *** ****** asked me my opinion if we could attach the new skimmer to the existing liner without having an issue. I confirmed with him we have done plenty of pond renovations using existing liner and wouldn't have an issue with reassembly of new skimmer box. After the discussion the project was to proceed and be put on the schedule. 
  On March IO,2O22 a deposit invoice was sent to *** ******'s emailfor him to return signed proposalwith deposit to be put on the schedule. The deposit check was received on March 19,2022to order materials for the renovation. *** ****** was contacted by email on April L1,2022 we would start on Wednesday April 13,2022. He confirmed that he would be at home that day while we worked on the pond, he was not there. We preformed the work as described in proposal. The pond water was stored in holding tank with the goldfish in the pond. The stone was cleaned with a power washer, mulch and leaves that had washed into the pond over the years were removed. The existing Easy Pro skimmer was unbolted from liner and replaced with new ******** ***** ******* skimmer box with new magnetic drive pump. The 2" flexible pvc plumbing line from the skimmer to the filter falls (waterfall) was completely replaced with new 2" flexible pvc. The existing Easy Pro filter falls that were never attached to the liner, as it should have been (referenced picture), was replaced with a new ******** Water Gardens filter falls. The natural stone along the edges of the liner were adjusted where needed to control mulch flowing into pond when it rains due to hillside. We completed the waterfall with the stone that was available from previous pond construction. The holding tank water was added back to pond with the fish for completed operation. We created by hand shoveling a swale to collect and divert rainwater washing down hillside above the filter falls from each edge of plant bed. The swale created had installed filter fabric for the river stone to be done by their landscaper. *** ******'s wife stated they were going to have more stone added around the property. We provided this as a courtesy installation which was not charged to the client. During the day of renovation, we dealt with seven Garter snakes that were in the water, the plants above the pond, and eating the fish in the pond. We asked **** ****** if they have had an issue with snakes on the property, she confirmed that *** ****** had killed multiple snakes in the past. We explained to her the only reason there are that many snakes in one place is due to a food source for them. 
  The next day April 1.4,2022 we received an email from *** ****** stating the water level dropped in the pond, he didn't find the stonework for waterfall symmetrical. ********* thought the job was incomplete because we did not cover the fabric in swale with stone as it was not part of the proposal. The email states that he added water for ten minutes which would be at most 50 gallons based upon what an outdoor water spigot can discharge up to 5 gal/minute. We asked him if he could send pictures of the water level and refillthe pond but not run to determine where a leak could be. We also are very busy with previously scheduled work as if was Spring and have scheduled jobs. *** ****** reached out by email on April 28th about what we could do to solve the issue; we responded back May 6th explaining how busy would schedule to visit the property. We returned out to the property May 9th to meet with *** ****** to evaluate the pond to determine where the water could be leaking. After evaluating the pond, we determined there were no leaks on the new components installed with pond holding water with waterfall not running. The situation on the property became very argumentative by *** ****** expecting faster response to his pond issue. He believed we should have checked the complete liner before finishing the project which is unrealistic due to not priced in the job to do so. He also expected that more stone be added to the top of the waterfallwhich was not in the proposal. *** ****** wanted us to install river stone in the swale where we installed fabric, also not part of the proposal. On May L0th we returned to the property to remove the stone below what we previously did during renovation on April L3,2022 to find a leak. We found two holes in liner below originally distributed stones when installing new filter fall. The holes were cause by mice. The pictures were sent to *** ****** via text by Bert V** ***** Presdent of Apple Landscape Mgt Inc with his response "Good find". We cleaned the liner, patched the found mouse holes, and reassembled the waterfall back together with the addition of more stone added by us to make *** ****** satisfied to have each side symmetrical. The work was completed on May 10,2022, with a response text by *** ****** on May 1.1.,2022 "Pond level looks good overnight. lt looks to not have lost anything. Thanks for making it right." 
  The open balance of 52,620.56from the original renovation on April 13,2022 and responded repair which were not a part of original proposal. On Jun 21,2022 an email was sent to *** ****** asking if the payment would be made. There was no response to this email regarding payment. The open invoice payment was finally made by *** ****** signed check on July 8, 2022, of 52,620.00 short the .56 was credited. There was no contact from *** ****** after May 11, until August 17,2022 with a text message that the pond started losing water again. He quoted "About a month ago the pond started needing a lot of water again. I unplugged the waterfall for a month and the water level stayed the same. Thought hopefully it was just really hot and it was water loss due to humidity." Then he started the pump back up and the water level was low. 
  When the waterfall is turned off, the filter falls will drain back to the pond and pond level will increase flowing out of overflow. The summer was hot with limited rainfall deficit of normal rainfall for this year. When a pond or waterfall is running it will lose water daily based upon humidity level, splashing of the water, heat of the rocks during a hot day. Typical operation of a pond will loose 1" to 2" of water per day which will require addition of new water. There was no evident issue of excessive water loss between May L1,2022 and August 17 ,2022.
  
  

  Customer response

  10/04/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
      There are multiple statements in Apple Landscape's response that are not factual. First how is it that Apple Landscape can properly evaluate and propose repairs to my pond without looking at it in person. I asked Apple to come in person but they were the ones who stated the 1 hr 3 min drive was further then they wanted to travel for a quote. See attached photo of maps to see confirmation of the first lie in Apples response. The next lie is that if you look at the proposal, option one and 2 are the exact same with the exception of the addition wetland filter or bog filter. There is no mention of the supposed replacement of the entire liner as suggested in apples BBB response. The questions Matt asked me about the pond were all answered correctly and still to this day were facts before Apple touched the pond. The pond never leaked, with or without waterfall use. The garter snakes had been here well before I moved here and had been here for the 3 years before Apple touched the pond and we never had any issues. I had contacted Matt about the replacement of the full pond liner because I was worried about its age, and he assured me that as long as I didnt have any leaks, which I did not, that they would be able to use what was there and it didnt make financial sense to replace the liner if it was not leaking. 

  As for the next section of Apples response letter, I never told Apple I would be present for the repairs because they gave me 2 days notice that they were starting and I work Monday - Friday so I would not be home on a random Wednesday. He has all these screen shots of conversations when they benefit him but where is the one of me claiming I would be home? When I came home from work the first thing I noticed was that the pond stone was not laid symmetrically. The left side of the waterfall was about 1 ft lower then the right. You can see this in the pictures provided by apple. Upon further inspection I noticed the swell dug by apple looked to be incomplete. You can also see this in their pictures provided. The day following the "upgrade" to the pond. I woke in the morning to find the new pond pump sucking air as it had lost roughly 3 inches of water overnight. Well in excess of the "normal" 1-2 inch of water per day claimed by apple. See attached email to apple. When they called me back every excuse was made on why this was not their fault but not 1 mention of the snakes. As for the asymmetrical laying of the stone, Matts response was that he does not lay the stone to look symmetric, he laid it to look natural. The phone call ended with **** agreeing to come back and take a look at the problems. Then a month passes with no communication from apple. no response to phone calls, texts or e-mails until they arrived on May 9th. My wife was home and made contact with them where they said nothing was wrong and left the property before noon. By 5pm the pond was 2 inches low of water. Again far in excess of the claimed 1-2 inches of water loss per day. Which mind you before apple touched this pond I would only need to add 5 mins of water once every 5 days. 25 gallons according to apples calculations and I was loosing double that in 8 hours. 

  As for the next section of Apples response letter, I never told Apple I would be present for the repairs because they gave me 2 days notice that they were starting and I work Monday - Friday so I would not be home on a random Wednesday. He has all these screen shots of conversations when they benefit him but where is the one of me claiming I would be home? When I came home from work the first thing I noticed was that the pond stone was not laid symmetrically. The left side of the waterfall was about 1 ft lower then the right. You can see this in the pictures provided by apple. Upon further inspection I noticed the swell dug by apple looked to be incomplete. You can also see this in their pictures provided. The day following the "upgrade" to the pond. I woke in the morning to find the new pond pump sucking air as it had lost roughly 3 inches of water overnight. Well in excess of the "normal" 1-2 inch of water per day claimed by apple. See attached email to apple. When they called me back every excuse was made on why this was not their fault but not 1 mention of the snakes. As for the asymmetrical laying of the stone, Matts response was that he does not lay the stone to look symmetric, he laid it to look natural. The phone call ended with Matt agreeing to come back and take a look at the problems. Then a month passes with no communication from apple. no response to phone calls, texts or e-mails until they arrived on May 9th. My wife was home and made contact with them where they said nothing was wrong and left the property before noon. By 5pm the pond was 2 inches low of water. Again far in excess of the claimed 1-2 inches of water loss per day. Which mind you before apple touched this pond I would only need to add 5 mins of water once every 5 days. 25 gallons according to apples calculations and I was loosing double that in 8 hours. 
  After the second time (May 9) they told me nothing was wrong and made excuses for the excessive water loss. I came home from work early where Matt started getting loud with me about how there was nothing wrong. Bert stepped in and we had discussed running the pond for a few hours and monitoring the level. After about 8 hours the pond had lost 3.5 inches of water. Thats when Bert stepped up and returned the following day to find the holes in the liner.  Which I find suspicious that the pond waterfall had no leaks until they started moving rocks. Their contract stated they would remove all stone off the liner on the hillside. If they performed that shouldn't they have found the holes liner the first time?
  
  Regardless of where we are at now, I would like to be refunded for the second payment of $2620. I will gladly pay for the materials that were provided, but i have a non functional pond at this point and need to find a company to repair it. 
  

  Regards,
  
  ***************************

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