Mixed bag, disappointed with the finishing
I have used Doug twice before but on jobs that were limited in scope - collaborated on design and completed the hard scape - rock positioning and loam supply and grading. Very very happy with the results although aware that Doug is passionate but a little disorganized. The latest job was a big one - full landscaping for a new build. Overall the results are good but the areas that were very special to me, enough that I would sacrifice other things for them to meet our budget, were poorly handled. Doug starts off well and then gets pulled in many different directions on other jobs leaving inexperienced staff to handle some things that are beyond their skill sets. Really disappointed with how Doug handled some small items at the end that needed a rework. It tarnished all the good work he did. I would recommend Natural Landscapes but only with a cautionary addendum.
Since writing this review we have had more disappointments. And I would like to respond to Doug's response below. The initial problems we said we would handle ourselves because Doug told us we would have to wait until he had free time to do it which could have been weeks. More problems arose since then, erosion, more sinking of lawn, edging...we had to do a ton of remediation work. When we tried to contact Doug he refused to answer so all in all a very unprofessional manner of handling a job that went bad at the end.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $31,000.00
- Company Response
Thanks for the feedback.you are 100% correct that the final details were not handled the way I would like. This was definetly a challenging project from start to finish. With the weather being horrible in April most contractors were behind right fromk the start. The concrete guys were finished a month later than we wanted to start so we had to take another project in the mean time. When you expressed your frustration with not having a finished yard I dropped everything, brought the whole crew over,working late several nights just to give you some
finished portions of your yard so you could feel like things were wrapping up. Towards the end of the project we had four thunderstorms in 4 days which made finishing the final grading in the front difficult because it wouldn't
dry out. When I said "if you could wait a week to let things dry out I will be happy to finish the final details..."your comment in frustration was' don't worry about it, we will finish the details ourselves.There are a lot of challenges in contracting including,meeting people schedules, budget constraints, weather etc.I feel like we went over and above to deliver a quality product in a timely fashion under difficult circumstances. I acknowledge your frustrations during the project ,and now that it is complete I hope you can enjoy your garden for many years to come.
Thanks Doug