California Smartscape

Description of Work: SmartScapes installed pavers in our back yard and I was extremely happy with the results. The crew they brought to the house were very courteous and professional. They spoke very little English, but with a few hand gestures and some broken communication we dii just fine. After all, this is what these gentlemen do for a living. The crew did mention that they also work for other contractors from time to time, so its a bit like a co-op for the workers. So I can only speak to the quality of the workers that I dealt with. What did give me piece of mind, were the conversations and communications I had with Richard and Eliel. I could tell that "if" there was a problem, or I was unhappy with something they would have taken care of it. I could tell they understood the value of a good reputation. |Thanks again for all your hard work guys, Al & Kelly

Description of Work: Smart Scape completely

Description of Work: I'm one of those people who hates leaving negative reviews, so this is rare for me. I'm doing this because I would have appreciated reading this review in advance of having them come on my vacation day. This company has great reviews on Angie's List and I was very impressed by their website. We own a small cottage, and we've had contractors Google our address before and decide we aren't worth their time. So, it's to this company's credit that they showed up for the appointment. If you're middle class and not rich, maybe you've experienced this, as well. My partner and I are educated professionals, and are serious about any project we commit to, but we aren't foolish with our money. Anyway, these people arrived for the appointment punctually, and I started to explain our needs. Nearly immediately, the man who'd introduced himself as the company owner said "my eye balls are floating from all the coffee I've had today and I'm wondering if I can use your bathroom." Well, we had only planned to have them look at our yard, not the interior of our house. Only once have I ever had a contractor ask to use our bathroom - in that case it was a sketchy situation in which the contractor had brought obvious day laborer from the Home Depot parking lot - but I felt rude declining. I had my husband show him inside, but it was clear to me that this man intended to a**** our net worth while inside our home. I would be happy to say I was wrong, but sadly as soon as this man, who claimed to be the owner of this company, emerged from our bathroom, he more or less demanded to know our price range for the work. When I told him, he basically scoffed and notified me that his average project is a "$60,000" venture and our project was not worth his time. However, he wanted to refer me to a "friend" who was trying to get a foothold in the business. Who knows if his "friend" is licensed or not. Certainly I'll never bother to find out, but I sincerely wish I'd been warned that this guy was only looking for "high end" projects. He told me his assistant was an "architect" and therefore above our price range. I wish I'd asked what university this "architect" had attended since I've never known a legitimate architect to work in landscaping, but honestly I was more interested in their leaving my property than calling their bluff. Even so, as we were showing them out, they stopped and tried to sell us on buying "plans" from them to use with whichever landscaper we eventually chose. i.e. Our money wasn't good enough for them to do the work, but they wanted to sell us "landscaping plans." Again, I did not ascertain which fine university this "architect" had graduated from. I merely wanted to show them out and end this street theater charade. If you're looking to spend more than 50K, this might truly be a fine company. Anyone looking to spend less than that should spare themselves 30 minutes of insult by not bothering with these people.

Description of Work: Swimming pool, spa, hardscape all around the house, new fence all around the house, new plants all the way around the house, new entrance with wall around the court yard, new walkway in front, new drainage and sprinkler system, new led lighting system.

Description of Work: This Company is just FANTASTIC! Due to illness we were unable to continue with the process beyond the initial stages. Right from the beginning you could tell that this was going to be a great experience all the way around.

Description of Work: Had a nice visit with California Smartscape, but did not use them for our project.