To start:  Over the 3 months this phase has taken, I was never able to meet Ruben Crespo, the owner of ALC, because he resides, it seems, full time in Venezuela and does all of his communication through cell phone, email or through his local sales rep, Allen.  After reviewing all of the proposals, Allen and I agreed on the scope of work for the project and used Ruben's proposal as the basis for a document to sign, which included prices and a 3% Angie's list discount.  I explained to Allen that I did not want any 'surprise' expenses or requests for additional money given that I had read reviews that Ruben was prone to asking for more money and given the high cost and very inclusive nature of our detailed proposal relative to the other vendors (they were the most expensive overall).  We signed the document and started preparing for the project.

Within a day of having signed the agreement with Allen, and before a single bit of work had been done, Ruben wrote and said the 3% Angie's list discount his agent Allen (who was the signatory on the proposal with me) agreed to, was not applicable.  After telling him that I wouldn't have signed his already most expensive proposal without it, he backed off.  Within another day, Ruben relayed to me that the county would require 100 feet of fabric silt erosion fencing as part of Phase II's $15,000 grading project and that I had to pay for that on top of the $15,000 cost of that portion of the project.  I explained to him, again, that he needed to quit trying to squeeze extra money out of our agreed upon deal and that of course the county requires erosion control measures for 40 truckloads of fill and topsoil to be installed against a property line.  The silt fencing could not have cost more than $50-$100 and all costs of both labor and materials were supposed to be included in the overall price for all 3 phases.

Despite what I believe were likely good intentions on the part of his internal crew and Allen, on the first day of the project, the electrician they retained to take down the gate and electronics at the entrance cut the main gas line to the house despite it being marked by the utility, which required emergency county response that went late into the night with emergency lights flashing into the wee hours.  This electrician, who was obviously hired because he was the cheapest alternative, also failed to file the necessary permits with the county and was thus operating without the proper authorizations.  Filing county permits and complying with code were written requirements of our signed proposal, and I had been assured all the necessary permits were filed.  This electrician also cut the hard phone lines (or ALC did when moving the driveway) and both denied doing it.  Each of the electrician and ALC said the lines were cut when they got there - which was not possible. Finally, I ended up recommending an electrician who completed the job but who was stiffed by Ruben on a good part of his compensation.  All of the sub-vendors they subcontracted to that I spoke with ended up complaining to me that they were not told the scope of the project (which was readily available in our document) and were paid something less than they would have required had they been told the true extent of the work needed of them. 

I could have attributed these issues to the fact that some of the tasks of Phase 1 were not horticultural 'landscaping' in nature - but some aspects of even basic landscaping were not done well.  The irrigation system was not properly completed when I was told it was, forcing me to insist it be properly made functional again (which was part of the Phase I written proposal) and forcing their already under-compensated subcontractor to come out and work on it for another 10 hours.  Irrigation is fundamental to overall landscaping IMHO.  Additionally, they used clay fill dirt to cover sizable portions of the ground they disturbed and just threw grass seed on top of it, in many places without also covering with straw.  Understanding how to put seed on viable soil seems to me the most basic form of 'landscaping'. 

While the project has almost turned out as planned, many aspects had to be reviewed and overseen by me due to neither Ruben nor Allen (mostly) being on site.  This took an immense amount of my time which and, when combined with having to respond to extensive emails  from Ruben in Venezuela demanding some minute amount of additional money for something that was already either expressly or intuitively contemplated in the extensively detailed proposal we signed, was very stressful.  The last 'straw' for me (no pun intended) was when Allen told me they wanted to put grass seed down (a stated $1800 value component of Phase I) before they added 40 truckloads of dirt on top of it as part of the Phase II grading.  I told him that it made no sense to seed before grading and he agreed.  He correctly suggested that a small part of the area not being graded, however, needed seed as the spring was coming and he twice assured me I wouldn't be charged for this small and easy seeding component until after grading was complete (Phase 2). A few days later, Ruben reversed my agreement with Allen and insisted I pay for the seeding as if it were completed, countermanding his own representatives assurances to me.  Overruling from afar of ones own representatives agreements with the customer is not a good way to do business.

The final status ended such that Phase I of the project was, for the most part complete and acceptable, after a great amount fruitless energy and time were spent on it by me, the customer.  ALC had, however, left my gate operator arms lying in the mud for a number of weeks during the project and one was damaged and non-functional upon re-installation.  After being into the project for more than $27,000, with $3000 in post-grading work necessary to be done, Allen promised me that they would complete those tasks even if I did not elect to continue with them for Phase 2 and 3 and would pay the two to three hundred dollars it would take to have the gate repaired.  He also informed me, at the same time he was making those promises, that the cost of Phase 3 (installation of as many as 44 larges privacy trees) was going to go up because of price increases at the nursery (an unacceptable situation for me given that the installed trees were already marked up 2.5x cost to cover transport and installation).   I never heard back from Allen after he said they were ordering the parts for the gate, and he hasn't returned my calls for many days now.  While Allen and their crew seem like nice guys, I believe they are hamstrung by an owner that cuts corners for profit, underpays his subcontractors, demands extra money from the customer outside of the agreed upon price and countermands his own agents agreements from afar without ever having been on site.

I cannot say I would recommend this group for any project of size as a result of this experience and I am likely to have to spend extra money finishing their work with other vendors and repairing my gate.

They did an absolutely beautiful job on our waterfall!!!  They are very
professional and skilled.  Their main concern was that I was happy
with the end product.  I would recommend this crew and company
to anyone.  I really wanted a waterfall that curved and looked like the rocks fell down randomly.  The first time I saw it, I was a little
disappointed because it didn't curve as much as I would like and the rocks looked a little placed, so they tore the whole thing apart and redid it - no problem! They also built a travertine patio for us at the base of the waterfall
My husband and I are absolutely thrilled with the end result!!!

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Before starting the work I was visited by Allen a couple of times, one to be able to explain the problem I was having with some clogged drain pipes and the erosion caused by rain in my backyard and; two, to understand the proposed solution and quote.
Once I accepted the offer, we were able to promptly schedule the service for the following week, with completion estimated after 2 days of work.
I was not at home during that period so my wife received the crew for the service to get started. Early in the first day I received a call from my wife telling me that an additional  $400 would have to be charged because concrete would have to be broke and remade, since a tree root was found to be on the way of the work  - which was unforeseen. After calling the company and asking for alternative solutions, I was relieved to receive a call back informing that they would take a different approach without additional costs to me.
It was only on the following weekend that I could appreciate the work that was done. My impression is that the riverbed could have been made with a few more rocks (as I could see the plastic liner underneath it in some points) and that the bed course could have been done in a slight different form so not to stand on the way of people in the backyard. However, I was overall happy with the work.
A couple of days ago, with the rain that hit North Georgia, a great number of rocks rolled down, which was one my concerns (expressed to them) in the beginning. I sent an email to American Landscaping asking for their inputs on that and on the course of the riverbed, and am still waiting for a response.
I am overall happy with the work conducted and hope I will have the opportunity to show the work to their management and get their inputs about it.
As it stands now, I cannot provide a more conclusive review.

Everything was fine and they worked quickly. There was some misunderstanding when they left when I wasn't there and they didn't work the full amount of time I purchased with the deal. I called them and we worked out a time for them to come back out and finish the time left on the deal. Everything was done well and it looked great after they were done.

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The Estimate and work were both done in a timely manner and the price was a medium of the estimates received.  They did a beautiful job on the wall and the landscaping blocks. We will be having them come back and complete the outline on the landscaping for the rest of the house next spring.

*The crew was very professional and the quality of the work was excellent. *Definitely hiring again In a couple of months, planning to extend the patio 20 ft by 14.

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From the outset we were very impressed with Allen.  He understood what we wanted and he was a pleasure to work with from the beginning.
As we moved into project initiation, we were discouraged by the support from the back office team, we felt they were not as responsive or proactive as we would have hoped.
That said, once all was in order, we were incredibly impressed with the final delivery of the project, the workers professionalism and the quality of craftsmanship they applied.  
We would not hesitate to recommend American Landscaping Crew, based on the quality of work they deliver.
Be prepared for a slow admin process,  but if you can be patient you will be very satisfied with the results.

American Landscaping did an excellent job of helping us fix a troubling water problem we had on our property.  Because of how our house sits on our lot our existing drain system in the front of the house could not handle all the water that would accumulate during heavy rains.  The house sits below the main road that has no curb/gutter and our front yard has no natural outlet for water to drain around the sides of the house. 
Allen Cody came out and spent several hours over two days walking the lot with me and talking through potential solutions to the problem.  The most difficult part of this project is that there was not one solution that could fix the issue so Allen really spent time and thought through a plan with me that included 3 different sub-projects that were all designed to remove, or move, the water to a more appropriate drainage area.  Three other vendors either wouldn't speak with us at all without a downpayment, or spent all of 20 minutes doing a "flyby" and then developed generic quotes that could not have anticipated the real problem we were dealing with.  I can't say enough about Allen's focus on trying to solve our real problem and not just trying to force fit a solution!
The three mini-projects they did included: 
1) Install of an 8-inch storm drain (solid PVC, not the black corrugated stuff) from the front our house, beneath our flower beds, under our driveway and out to a natural drain area.  Note:  they jackhammered out 25 feet of driveway concrete and had to dig down 5 ft to get the drainage to flow correctly.  They "filled" the concrete gap with matching house brick and you would never know it wasn't part of the original driveway design!  Also, they somehow saved a huge vine my wife loved and we thought would die for sure when they dug up all of our flowerbeds...kudos for pulling that off. 
2) Created a nicely landscaped gravel parking zone along our road frontage that not only eliminated a perennially muddy parking area, but was intentionally graded to channel water down the street and past our house instead of pouring off of the road and directly into our "bowl" front yard.  Key here was to make this look like part of the landscaped yard design and not just a generic parking spot.  Allen and team worked with me to redesign this twice during the process, but we ultimately got it right - very happy.
3) Creatively came up with a way to re-design the top of my driveway and install another drain to further stop water from pouring down the driveway during heavy rains.  Since there was no gutter between the road and my driveway (just smooth transition), they jackhammered out the collar of the driveway and created a soft U-shaped run that tied in with the gravel parking area.  They installed an additional drain in the collar to further channel the water away. 
Not only did American Landscaping work to get the job done to our liking, they made sure they finished the last 5% that always makes me crazy....planted and replanted flowers, added decorative stone where needed, mulched and cleaned up every last piece of construction material, etc.  When my wife was not happy with some of the planting areas, they did not flinch and came back out to fix things to her liking.  Additionally Allen did not press us to make our final payment until we lived with the project for a week or so and we were sure we were happy.  Its now been a month and he followed up again unprompted to make sure we were still happy!  I can't remember the last time a vendor did that. 
During the entire project (which took about 10 days of elapsed time) there were a couple times where a communications breakdown occurred in the project and part of the project took a little bit of a wrong turn.  That can happen, especially since we could not be there all day while they were doing the work.  Their response to our concerns could not have been more professional and they immediately reworked things to get the project back on track and delivered it exactly as we had hoped for.  Very happy with American Landscaping and would use them again with no hesitation.

After obtaining multiple estimates and checking reviews, we chose this company, based mainly on reputation and reasonable prices.  They did an excellent job on our project, which included terraced retaining walls, a paver patio extending out to a retaining wall, paver steps and drainage.  We highly recommend American Landscaping, and have neighbors already considering using their services.

I hired American landscape to convert an ugly storm drain in my backyard into a dry creek bed and install sod by the lake. They gave me an estimate and were able to adjust things to fit my budget. It turned out beautifully! They were very professional and were totally focused on my satisfaction. I have never done a project like this and they were very patient with me as I made design changes along the way and they offered great advice when I wasn't sure of some decisions. It turned out great! Better than what I had expected. I plan on having them install a fire pit and stone steps next year. Great job!

There were no additional fees associated with the Big Deal.

Reuben called me after reading the reivew, and told me he had sent me the quote the same day he called me. I couldnt find it in my email or Junk mail, but when he resent it I received it. So I attribute this to an issue with the email system, and should of followed up with him again. 

After further reflection, Reuben said he sent the quote the same day, but that he did not follow up with me to see if I received it because he doesn't want to bother his customers.
 I suggest that in the future, if you are already late on providing a quote and that customer has had to call in to find out where its at, that you do need to follow up, just to make sure the customer got the quote. That is what good customer service is all about.

The service provider was nice but the cost to really get the project done was astronomical to that of all the quotes I received. I needed to have the paved patio raised to fit with he house and the proposal was $8,500 not to mention what they wanted to charge for a few other options. We ended up going with another company which offered better quality bricks and all the same alterations at less than half the cost. (all other estimates were at least half of theirs we selected that one based on their availability) Last they were not able to start the project for at least 5 weeks, which means between time to schedule, time to estimate just for them to start it's 8 weeks.