WATER BOY SPRINKLER SPECIALISTS INC

This company who is owned by a man named Richard, has done two repairs for me and both were done satisfactory. Richard is a no nonsense guy who does what he says and does it right.

Richard Levine and Water Boy Sprinkler Service are two names you hope never come into your life. My biggest mistake was to start down the road with this disaster at a time when I couldn't supervise each thing they did, but that's (supposedly) why you hire (supposed) professionals. He was lightning fast coming to my house and giving me an estimate and insisting on a deposit. He literally came the same day I called him. However, when he started writing his proposal, he told me he would rather send it electronically. First mistake: I trusted his word. A week later, after cashing my deposit check, I hadn't heard from him. I called, and he made pitiful noise about being busy with something personal. I should have asked for my deposit back immediately. Another mistake. When his crew finally came, they proceeded to adjust on the fly from the plans he had described to me. For example, instead of going under my driveway, they went around the house with pipe. You wouldn't think that was a big deal, unless you saw the way they trashed my landscaping. The beautiful side yard I invested in was turned into a rubble heap. The mulch was strewn around the yard and not replaced. Dozens of plants were killed and carefully laid brick borders were randomly strewn about on my lawn. For good measure, they broke the gas pipe feeding my water heater and stove. I came back from a business trip with no hot water and a trashed landscape that was previously gorgeous. Richard brought in a "repairman" who got the gas running again, but the gas company came in 2 days later and the technician showed me - by putting soapy water how gas was leaking from the pipe at the point Richard's guy had "repaired" it. They assured me no gas company employee had been there. So, then I went to my guest bathroom and turned on the water. Brown trickle. I stopped Richard as he was hastily leaving and he (and his "repair guy") told me - and I'm not making this up - that the brown trickle inside my house was because the higher water pressure had unsettled scale from inside the copper pipes. He swore they had installed completely clean PVC and flushed the system twice before connecting to the house. He then informed me that this is a common occurrence and the aerators had to be unscrewed and cleaned. One problem: copper pipe scale is white or gray, and no amount could possibly EVER cause a system to be reduced to putting out a slow brown trickle. Not in this or any other world. The passion with which Richard and his partner argued this was hilarious. And insulting and infuriating. I was forced to get this resolved - on Saturday - to fix the issue, for which I was given a discount from Water Boy. When I was informed the crew had "finished" I was dumbfounded. Yes, they installed a system that worked, but they also destroyed landscaping, left large amounts of dug-up concrete all over my yard, and broke clay pots. They trampled my pineapple plants, left a gap under two fences, removed decorative brick and replaced it - only when I insisted - in sloppy, random fashion. Many of the pop-up sprinkler heads were substituted with ugly, long white pipes sticking up in my yard with cheap plastic heads on them. When I called Richard, he eventually came out with yet another partner, who indicated the crew sent to my home were people he "wouldn't ever work with". The partner started fixing SOME of the dislodged bricks, but not many. Richard told me he "doesn't like to do this kind of work" and he asked my permission to come back and make it right. That was two weeks ago, and I haven't heard from him. After getting an estimate from a reputable landscaper that it would take ~$1000 to return my landscaping to a condition resembling the pre-Water Boy fiasco, my attorney has advised me to take action. I will update this post with the result. UPDATE: Richard first offered to pay for my landscaping (after weeks had gone by without hearing from him or his crew, this offer came after I informed him I was planning to post this honest, accurate review), then when the final estimate came in at $2400, I informed him it would be fair for him to pay for 3/4 of the repair, as I was including crushed shell instead of mulch and that would be additional cost. He offered $500, claiming HE WAS BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. Predictable. Run, don't walk, away from this company. My experience = bad crew, you have to chase Richard for any concern EXCEPT to give him money, and he will tell you he's taking care of things, then disappear.

Not well. The principal did not honor his verbal quote. He replaced only half the sprinkler heads instead of all of them. He was sloppy about directing the water spray, so in some sections, we ended up watering the street or the pool instead of the lawn. In our view, he tried to get us into pay a lot more than he quoted. He was nasty and unpleasant until I mentioned the magic words "Small Claims Court".

Very poor. Promised job done in one weekend, but never showed up, never called. Finally showed up after I called several times, dug up the lawn, and left. Came again for a few hours a week later after I called again, and made more of a mess for a hour, and left again. Had to call many times, threatened a lawsuit, etc. He wouldn't return my $1000 deposit (he did cash my check immediately) and it took over a month for a job that was supposed to be done in one weekend. STAY AWAY.