SAGE ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES

HORRIBLE! Todd Davidson gauged the h*** out of me for $1000.00 and the project plan was not finalized. DON"T GIVE THIS MAN MONEY. He claims that you get 20 years experience at $125/hr, yet you get a new grad-1 year experience. I spoke to a lot of people who had the same experience. He is even known at local nurseries for gouging people. I should have researched more. He was rude, and very unprofessional. He doesn't even understand the true work involved- Todd is a scamming salesman and pays these new workers minimal while he skims the $100/hr off the top. Another Landscaper I found-many years of hands on design experience,highly recommended- charged me nothing for a 2 hour consult, told me what I could or couldn't do and some serious flaws in Sage's design ideas that would cause eventual erosion if done as Sage suggested. He would not even let me pay him for his time. RUN AWAY from Sage

This did not go well and we parted 8 months after we began the process. We heard a variety of reasons why things were not progressing - short staffed, people sick, holidays, weather etc. We were originally quoted 1-2k for design work. We have an extremely small backyard and were thus surprised to get a bill for 2500k with implementation costs of 42k. We then received another design bill of $600 and had had enough. They stated that we had asked for a number of changes that required more work. We did ask for a few changes but also pointed out a number of mistakes they made (they had a Cal Poly student doing the CAD work) which required rework and wasted out time. Would not recommend them. This is the problem in this area when times are good they have more work than they can handle.

I contracted San Luisito Inc. DBA Sage Ecological Landscaping located in Los Osos, California (License #87817) for the recent contract work completed on my home in the summer of 2016. My personal experience with the company, and owner Todd Davidson was terrible. I paid over $42,000 for our landscaping contract. The concrete constructed in our back yard is uneven and protruding upward. The concrete appears old as if a tree root is pushing it upwards. When looking down the length of the yard, the concrete appears angling upwards and not level to the eye. My wife and I voiced our displeasure with the construction. They refused to back up their work and provided justifications for why it was not completed properly. I must now contract another landscape company to fix their poor craftsmanship at a cost of several thousand dollars. Owner, Todd Davidson offered us a free pot to try and cover up the uneven concrete and their poor workmanship. We declined the offer. We communicated we wanted a dual purpose seating/bench area and provided photos of exactly what we wanted in the design phase of the contract. Our design ideas were not followed and the company built what they referred to as a “seating wall” instead. We had never discussed a wall to sit on, nor had we ever heard of people sitting on a wall as a gathering place. We again voiced our displeasure with the wall. They refused to fix the error and told us we could have it completed as we desired if we paid thousands of dollars extra to fix their error. We declined. We were billed for the final invoice for the contract. We reluctantly paid the bill. Two weeks later we received a notice that we owed an additional $10,000. We requested the bill be explained and the additional 10K substantiated. We received a intimidating letter from Todd Davidson threatening to put a lean on our property and sue us if we did not pay the bill. We again, reluctantly paid the bill. In addition to the above stated issues, we experienced numerous other problems with Sage Ecological Landscapes too lengthy to illustrate in this limited forum. We plan to file a formal complaint letter with the Better Business Bureau and the California Contractors State License Board. My personal opinion of Sage Ecological Landscapes is very negative. My personal experience is that the company has deceptive billing practices, overcharges for change orders - refusing to substantiate their invoices, has poor communication, unprofessional business practices, and their overall craftsmanship and workmanship is very poor. I would not recommend the company to anyone in San Luis Obispo or the Central Valley.

unknown

unknown

They were very professional and we are pleased with the result. The plan was one professionally, allowing easy approval, and it showed pictures of all the plants and objects. They also provided a cost estimate to perform the work. However, this cost estimate was 50% higher than what we received from our regular landscape contractor.

We found three identical large ceramic plant pots which we wanted to buy. One pot had a sticker with a price. The other two had no stickers. Upon checkout, the nursery salesman charged twenty dollars more per pot than the sticker indicated. When we questioned this, he said there was a crayon price mark inside. We had not seen this when we selected them, but he said there had been a price change. The nursery salesman refused to honor the sticker price on the two pots, and instead charged all three pots with the same higher price. If we had not needed three identical pots, we would not have purchased,and it was therefore our own choice. However, when we arrived home, we found a sticker underneath the other two pots exactly like the sticker we saw earlier, and no crayon mark on the other two pots. The entire purchase left a bad taste, especially so since the nursery had a prominent sign offering a discount to local purchasers. We live approximately 15 miles away, and were therefore ineligible for the discount. In addition, we would not be complaining now except the bamboo plants we purchased to place in the pots started a die-off almost immediately after transplanting. We now have a sprig of greenery struggling atop a huge stack of dead branches in each large pot. We will not be purchasing anything again from Sage ,and I've made sure our garden club knows the story.

We have had good luck with them. One of our neighbors was not happy. But we would probably use them again if we needed help.

We chose them because of their professionalism and their communication is excellent. The manager is at the site daily and reviews the work. Make sure everything is clear and works well with the owner of the house.

We really wanted to go with them but their price was just outrageous. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them because I thought they were very high. I've seen projects they've done and I think they do a good job, it was just so much money.

From concept to completion Sage worked closely with us to accomodate our requirements and asheduling needs which in cluded bfeaking the project into phases to coordinate with other construction. The end result is beautiful and we are very satisfied.

Sage Landscape has a beautiful landscaped yard and that's why I called for a landscape and paver estimate. They missed their first scheduled appointment and arrived late for their second scheduled appointment. The young man who came to my home took measurement and said I would receive a quote by the end of the week. Over a period of and quot;weeksand quot; I called and left several messages, with no response. Finally I received their and quot;quoteand quot; which was 5 times higher than other quotes. It was obvious by their quote, that they were not interested in doing the job. Why waste my time and theirs? Why not be honest and just say my job was too small for their business. I will never call them again.

I would tell them do not go to that company. Their charges are simply too much.

Sage has great marketing. You see their logo all over the place. I think they want the installing landscape business but fall short on the maintainance business.

unknown

I hired Sage to follow the plans and instructions I had made for electrical/ water hookups, filter and pump locations, and the type of pump I wanted. After paying a 10% deposit, Sage came in and did not follow ANY of my plans. The planned location of filters and pump were hidden from sight, Sage put them in the open, an eyesore for everyone. Instead of an external pump, Sage put in a submersible pump. I gave direct instruction to the CEO at Sage not to use a submersible pump. The pump is so strong it sucked in my fish and killed them. They did make a nice 3.5 foot waterfall - the pump pushes water to 28 feet high. I asked Sage "WHY" they did not do what I wanted. Their answer, stop complaining, stop writing "slanderous" reviews, and like what you have.

extended design phase, lots of details i thought were understood. demolition and removal of old material went quickly - then it rained in DEC 2010 and activity halted for 3 weeks. deck construction, flagstone path, concrete installation proceded BUT the concrete was sealed with something that made it extremely slippery, wet or dry. could never get the concrete folks to understand that. surface was roughed up, but not until i slipped and sprained my ankle was the sealer chemically removed. concrete is NOT the color i wanted. installation of plantings and drip system were nicely done, but the overall landscape design is lousy. i've spent many weekend days replacing plants one at a time.