I hired Harmony Gardens to spruce up my mother in law’s property before putting it on the market. The work involved aerating and fertilizing the lawn, killing weeds, laying sod over a patch of earth where a deck had been removed, and weeding & reorganizing flower beds. The owners were very friendly during the process of securing the estimate & initiating the work, and while working on the property. They were particularly conscientious about keeping us advised about the timing of the work. We were there when they were wrapping up the work, as we were in the middle of a move. The flowerbeds looked much better, and you could see many dandelions had been zapped by the weed killer. Things went down hill quickly after I had a chance to take a closer look at the work:
1. Many broad leaf weeds were missed on the lawn
2. Their invoice indicated they had applied non broad leaf weed killer on the walk. The estimate included applying this type of weed killer to the lawn as well. They assured me they did, but there were (and still are) many weeds thriving on the lawn
3. They charged $330 + GST more than estimated for sprucing up the flower beds, despite the fact that they did not reorganize the beds as they suggested during the estimation process and they didn’t cut crisp edges. In addition, I was disappointed by the density and maturity of the weeds that came up a few weeks after they did the work. I had to spend several hours pulling the weeds in the front of the house, and cutting crisper edges
4. The sod did very poorly in the first few weeks, despite following the watering and care instructions they provided. The ground underneath the sod was very uneven, which may have made it difficult for the roller to make a good bond between the soil and the underside of the sod. Also, many of the pieces of sod were not snug with the other pieces or the existing grass, and it was not cut around pipes near the foundation - very sloppy work. The sod recovered somewhat, after I applied pressure on the uneven sections to establish a bond between the top soil and the underside of the sod
I pointed out the shortcomings and asked them to come fix the work. In EVERY case, they claimed the work was done to the highest standards or blamed us for not watering properly. The emails we received were condescending, rude and threatening. In one email, I was accused of complaining just to avoid paying the bill. At no time did they call us to discuss or offer to come out to see the work. Their customer service strategy seems to have a two pronged approach: refuse to take any responsibility and blame the customer. I definitely do not recommend this company. The worst customer service I have ever experienced.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,400.00
- Company Response
Having installed sod in the Ottawa region for more than 15+ years, the Harmony Gardens Landscaping team is committed to helping our clients develop amazing green spaces.
In this case, the Harmony Gardens team immediately called in the sod supplier for an assessment of their product and our installation method. The sod supplier confirmed the sod had been laid in accordance with Landscape Ontario guidelines and that a lack of watering by the homeowner was to blame. Our client was informed of the concerns and was advised to continue with the watering regime.
We do apologize for what the client deems as a poor customer service experience, but the HGL team did everything within our power to resolve the concerns and to ensure client satisfaction.