Tucson Turf LLC

I met with Tucson Turf’s salesperson (Jimmie) to discuss a domestic project turning a grassed area of my yard into artificial turf – measuring about 500 sq ft. The area encompassed 4 established fruit trees and the tree wells surrounding them. In my discussions with Jimmie I indicated my desire to have the tree wells “finished” with some kind of visually pleasing border. In addition I wanted the existing water lines used for irrigation of the grass buried under the turf and capped off above ground in the backyard for future water use (misting, waterfall etc.). I indicated I would be prepared to pay extra for these requirements. Throughout the conversation Jimmie assured me that they accommodated requests like this all the time and they would “look after me”. I signed a contract for just under $5000 and put 50% down, and was given a date for about 2 months in the future. A week ahead of the planned installation I still hadn’t heard anything about the tree wells or water lines, so I contacted the office (Wendy) by email, and was directed to call Jimmie. So I did. He assured me everything would be taken care of and promised to have his “tree guy” call me. Indeed Randy did call me to schedule a visit, but could only free up time on the evening before the installation. I went over my thoughts on the tree wells with Randy Thursday evening. He seemed a bit incredulous that he was expected to do anything in less than 24 hours, but told me he’d be in touch with Jimmie. The next day the turf was installed. I met the workers. They were amicable and helpful. Their end-product was a respectable job. Nice levelling and water run-off. Good base excavation and preparation. No visible seam-lines. Good-looking grass. However, I couldn’t find the capped off water lines. They weren’t done. The tree wells weren’t done either. The turf had been cut in a circular pattern around the wells, but only in a 3-foot radius, not the 6-foot radius Randy and I had talked about. In addition the sand had not been removed from inside the tree wells, but instead lay 3 inches deep right up to each tree trunk. Of course I called Jimmie who assured me they would look after it. He even volunteered to come over and look after the tree wells himself – which I politely declined. We signed off the call with him promising me he would get back to me. I didn’t hear anything so called him a few days later and left a voice-mail message. He never returned my call. Over the next three weeks, my fruit trees began to wilt despite aggressive watering because of the thick layer of sand suffocating their root systems. So I paid my own landscaper to cut the turf around the tree wells back to a 6 foot diameter. I then hauled out four or five 5-gallon pails of sand per tree ( half a cubic yard of sand) dumping it in my front yard, which I then paid to have taken away. I bought my own paving stones and lined the tree wells to finish them. The project took me 2 ½ weekends to complete. Seven months later, without any explanation of the delay or offer of reconciliation Tucson Turf sent me an email invoicing me for the remaining $2420. I’m going to pay it because I signed the contract, which of course only spelled out the turf installation – not the “project” Jimmie assured me would be completed to my satisfaction. I had a conference call with Jimmie and the owner (Toby). Jimmie denied pretty much everything. Toby offered to give me a discount on a maintenance contract for the turf. I thought splitting the difference in the outstanding balance would have been a nice gesture to avoid ending this all on a bad note. But the best Toby could offer was $200 reduction in the final amount (a 4% discount). I hope that through this complaint other consumers can shop elsewhere and avoid the disappointment I’ve experienced, not in the product – but in the service. I have some nice looking expensive turf. And I like my tree wells – I did them myself! But I will never be able to run the water lines to my backyard without ripping out the turf. Buyer beware. Apparently Tucson Turd knows how to lay expensive turf, but that’s about all they’re interested in. And they know nothing about customer satisfaction.

unknown

Tucson Turf provides horrible service after they've received their payment. We have lumps of weeds under the turf and during rainy seasons the weed grow through the turf and it looks terrible. It requires more upkeep than natural grass. A competing company gave us a second opinion and said Tucson Turf most likely failed to place a weed barrier under the turf. Every time we call Tucson Turf they promise to come and solve the problem, and they never show up. Do not do business with this company. We've had this ongoing problem for well over a year.

The installation of the turf I would give him an "A". For the pavers work and that was done by the subcontractor and I would give him "A" for the work that they did. But, the subcontractor was terrible on punctuality and Tucson Turf was not good at controlling and scheduling their subcontractor. I had to call the subcontractors and get him to bring the samples out and make sure that they were going to have the work done because I had to have the pavers put in before they could put down the turf. Their price was competitive and quality was excellent. I would like to see them stay on top of their subcontractor better. I would use Tucson Turf again, but I would not use that subcontractor again.

unknown

Exceptional work done by a great team! Jimmie provided the estimate and made sure we could have our project completed before our out of town guests arrived. What a great look and it's perfect for our dogs. The men who did the installation were real pros. They were on time, installed our lawn beautifully and cleaned up the entire yard. The process took only 5 hours. We would recommend Tucson Turf without hesitation. It's a great investment and looks amazing!

It wasn't very helpful for what I needed.

The crew was punctual and very responsive to all my questions. The work was done quickly and I'm very happy with the result. My only issue is that I have some weeds growing between the seams 3 months later.

I was not happy with it. I called them twice. A guy came out and gave me an estimate. He hasn’t called back even after two months. He gave a price that was three times as much as what the other guys had quoted. They just gave me an estimate for the $69. It was supposed to be a landscape design.

they let me know when I called for an appointment that they did not do the yard cleaning and pick-up I needed, that they were just an artificial turf service.

Crew called to confirm work day before installation was scheduled to be done. Crew arrived on time and began work promptly. All of my questions were answered during the installation process. Workers were polite and some paid extra attention to details and clean-up. Total job was completed by noon. Time between down payment and receiving confirmation of work to be done seemed long. I would have preferred to have heard from the company sooner. Workers did a good job cleaning up as the installation progressed. However, toward the end of the installation some dirt/grass roots were flung aside versus being bagged and hauled off as was done earlier in the day. The river rock closely matches the rock that was already down in the yard. The quality of the new rock could have been better. There is a lot of small, angular rock among the tumbled river rock. The dogs love to play and lay on the turf. It looks very nice and requires very little in the way of upkeep.

I was interested in a comprehensive landscape design and believed that this offer would provide this. I scheduled an appointment with the designer which had to be cancelled at the lat minute because the company did not have my address and could not reach me in time. Upon calling to reschedule, I was asked what I expected from this service and learned from the designer that the service was limited to hardscape and artificial turf design. He indicated others who purchased this package had the same misunderstanding of a more comprehensive landscape design. He stated his company used another contractor for such consultations and that such service would be several hundred dollars more but that they did excellent work. He offered to keep the appointment if that was what I wanted or to ask for a refund and I told him that I really did want a more comprehensive design consultation and would pursue the refund.

The landscape design drawings were promised by March 26 and have not been delivered. Subsequent emails and phone calls were not returned. I got through today (4/23) and was notified all of the Angie's List coupons/projects have been referred to the owner. The company seems to feel their services were misrepresented on Angie's List, and any refunds due should come from Angie's List. The employee I spoke to believes their company did not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the coupons on Angie's List. Whatever the case may be - I'd like my money back from whoever DID collect it & didn't deliver the promised services.

Appreciated the honesty provided by the owner.

I purchased a Big Deal for this company. They came out to take a look at the job, but said that it was a bit out of their scope and they would not be able to do it. They were very honest and upfront, and I would consider using them for other projects in the future.

They were great! They listened to me & the plans were designed around what I wanted to see in my yard.

We expected a landscaping evaluation of our yard with a proposal and a conceptual plan/drawing of our yard. Paul came out on March 5th we explained we were looking for a tropical feel in the backyard. We were looking for advice on plants and placement, rock for garden areas, pool decking ideas and placement of putting green. Paul told us it would take him a week and he would email us proposal and conceptual plan/drawing of our yard. After 2 weeks I sent a email to Wendy requesting Paul to call us. Also left Paul a voice mail. No response. The 3rd week I made 2 calls to James Meyer requesting call back from Paul, he returned first call stated he was out of office but had our plans and he would call me later that day to get my email address. He never call back. The next day call James again to get to Paul, this time when he called back he stated that because our yard was 90% complete and because he could not recommend any trees for the location we were looking for that it would be best for us to request a refund. I told him I was unhappy with the service and that the ad was misleading if all his company does is turf it should have never stated "landscaping and hardscaping". He stated his company does not place the ad that Angie's List does. In the end he said since no service was provided to request a refund.

.The price was $69.95. No offense to the provider, he basically did what he advertised. However, i could have walked out in the backyard and done the same on piece of paper. If you want a professional plan.....This was not it. Thanks.

My experience with them was not very good. On their website, it said that they did backyard design, and when they came out here, they only do soft landscaping which are plants. We wanted a mixture of plants and structure, and they could not do anything for us. They said that they would contact us, but they have not yet. I need to call them and get a refund of our money because they could not do anything for us. First of all, it took them awhile to get back to us and keep appointments. The guy was really nice. He just said that they just do soft landscaping.

The man came out on a Monday and said the next day he would send a list of plants via email we could choose from. We received nothing on Tuesday so called the office on Wednesday. The woman who answered the phone told us that she would send him a reminder email. Thursday we received an email from the same woman saying she had assumed we had received the list of plants. I let her know we had not and that we were concerned about the lack of response. On Sunday we received the list of plants (7-8 with no description of them) and we followed up with him letting him know that due to his lack of responsiveness we no longer wished to do business with him.

It went very well. They arrived on time and they had very good suggestions for us. The price was good.

Wanted to have some ideas for backyard make over. They brought samples of Turf only. No pictures of prior work done, like before and after , and did not have alot of knowledge of plants. Also, i would need to go to different places to pick out rocks and other materials to be used on the job. I just thought they would bring sample materials to me so I could pick materials to compare at the site. Did not feel confident about plans.

They were good. They gave me an estimate and evaluation. They were prompt, courteous, and professional.

8) All he remembered was "river rock." On that part, I came home to find about $4,000 worth of the wrong rock. It was all huge white chucks with sharp edges. They were using me as filler work so I never knew for sure when they would be there or exactly what the schedule was for doing some things. 9) The company did not owe one cent of that mistake. They didn't even offer to split the associated expense with me. It was horrible watching the crew take up all of that rock. They had to do it with hand shovels around the turf so as not to damage it. 10) I told the company I would arrange for the rock and pay for it. They were to instruct the company when to deliver it but if they didn't show up and the company had to dump 30 TONS of rock in my alley and leave it, they would see me in court. 11) That installation went smoothly because I had arranged it. 12) I had put about 40 hours of research into the plants and foliage I wanted. I took photos of the bare yard and in Photoshop, I drew in where I wanted things and showed the proportional size of all. I wanted large plantings to anchor the corners and smaller shrubs and bushes to be arranged in front of the large growths. I wanted a certain cut of privet by the block wall(trimmed tall and narrow to look like Greek columns on either side of a gazebo) and my #1 rule was TO NOT plant little things straight along the length of the block wall like little soldiers. 13) They ignored most of my instructions. I don't think they ever looked at my research, long list of plants that were acceptable to me, diagrams of placement and notes on those drawings. I don't know what half of the stuff in my yard is (they didn't know what some of it was either), I got privet with balls on top instead of columns, and there are a lot of little soldiers in straight rows. 14) In terms of coming out to do work, I was lucky to get a call the night before by 7 or 8 pm and, several times, they called on their way in the morning and I had to leave work to go let them in or forfeit their visit. 15) The work went on for months and I ended up paying $3-4,000 over the estimate and half of the stuff in my yard I hadn't asked for and didn't like. 16) The crew people were very good people and very hard workers. Their last day, I carried in lunch for all of them form Church's and thanked them for trying so hard despite circumstances beyond their control. 17) I had complained to higher ups and was continually ignored. Afterward, they were insane enough to ask me for a reference and I said "You have to be kidding me." RECOMMENDATION: The artificial turf is beautiful, well done and holding up beautifully. It worked out well once we got straight on where it went. The two "C" reviews have to do with the split between the crew and the management, and the split between the artificial turf and the landscaping. BOTTOM LINE: - I would recommend them to put in artificial turf. A good job and well worth the money which is plenty because I chose a higher quality. Just make sure you communicate very clearly WITH THE CREW PEOPLE where you want it. I WOULD NOT recommendthem for any landscaping beyond the turf. Nothing. Don't risk the grief. I feel badly about giving them a bad review. If I could review just the crew, the review would be better. As I work in a privately-owned service business myself with thousands of regular customers serviced in Tucson every month, I really do not understand how the service people could be so earnest and hardworking and the management such incompetent, careless rip-offs. It doesn't make any sense!

The whole crew was very professional, from the estimator to the installation team. The estimator helped me choose a turf that would be best for my dog. The installation crew showed up on time and completed the entire job in less than 7 hours. They had to remove some dying grass and respread gravel to other parts of the yard, all included in the quoted price. They asked for my input on many small details throughout the whole process and offered suggestions to make the job turn out even better than I expected.