Celestial Landscaping

On one level, this is my own fault. I have a rule and I broke that rule. Here's my rule: Take the middle bid. Get three estimates. The most expensive guy is screwing you. The least expensive guy doesn't know what he's doing. Take the middle bid. But I felt bad. My husband was letting me do this and a whole bunch of other things that were really expensive. I felt the need to pinch pennies. I took the lowest bid. My own d*** fault. During the interview, I was clear about what I wanted. I wanted tall grass. But I said I didn't know anything about plant, so he was going to have to pick the plants. We also agreed to have thorny berry bushes. I wanted Shasta Daisies and Black-Eyed Susans on one side of a new path, that he was putting in and mixed wild flowers on the other side. I told him that was my basic concept but because I don't know anything about plants, he would have to take care of the details. We talked about the front walk way and the steps in front of the door. Now, 3 months after the landscaper (Caesar) said, "Week. Week and a half," he's done. I didn't say that the front was done. I said that he was done. They left without finishing everything. They left without finishing the front step, which are not the same height. He didn't put a barrier between the lawn and the mulch in some place. Some places he did. The connection between the walkway and driveway that was haphazard, at best. It is uneven and ugly. He insisted my husband and I accompany him to the nursery. There was a very limited selection of not the best looking plants. And they didn't have any berry bushes. I don't know why he didn't order them beforehand. I kept asking him which grasses would grow best and just kept return with the question of which ones I wanted. I want the ones that grow best. Which ones are those? Then he keeps asking me which wild flowers I want. And I asked about a wild flower seed mix. He thought that was a good idea. Instead, he plants some unknown plants in the wild flower area. And all of the daisies planted were either dying or dead. And the walkway has a bump in it. You can't see it, but you can feel it when you walk on it. And for some unknown reason, he refused to let me have black-eyed susans. During the interview, when I said I wanted them, he asked, "Why?" (I'm from Maryland) And then he would talk about the design, he just wouldn't mention them and I would remind him. Then he drags me to the nursery, he didn't want to show me the black-eyed susans. In the end, he just didn't buy any. And when he showed us the "finished" product, I asked where they were and he just mumbled and kinda stepped away and just started showing us something else. By this point, I just wanted this man out of my life, so I didn't say anything. But I can't help but wonder what he has against black-eyed susans. Aug. 5, 2013 - Update - I'm writing an update because of a bizarre turn of events. So, I'm taking a nap, because that is the sort of thing I do, when the phone rings. It is 6:24. I ignored it because I was taking a nap. Then the phone rings again at 6:31. I got up and looked at the caller ID and saw it was Celestial Landscaping. I decided not to answer it and tried to go back to bed. Only to be awoken again at 6:57. Again, it was Celestial Landscaping so I ignored it again. Per Celestial Landscaping standard operating procedure, he left no voice messages. And then at 7:03 the phone rang again, and this time I answered it. It was Caesar from Celestial Landscaping. I asked Caesar how I could help him. He started telling me how he bought me free mulch, and how he paid for my plants. OK, I said, but what do you want? Why are you calling me? He said that my review was a lie because I didn't tell all the details. So Caesar wants a full recounting of our business dealings, I am happy to provide it. Here we go! First, I mentioned that he called four times tonight and didn't leave a voicemail. That is the way Caesar operates. He never left voicemails. So when he would disappear for days or even weeks at a time, we got no explanation. I suppose it's possible he tried to call and explain why he wasn't there, but since he never left voicemails, I never got those explanations until I tracked him down and got hold of him. Then I would get responses like "Oh, I tried to call but I didn't get anyone." He kept talking about how he thought our dealing were fair. When he paused for breath, I again asked him what he wanted. He said my review was a lie. He was very insistent I include: apparently, the reason he disappeared for a month was because his tools got stolen. I found that out when my husband called him after he had disappeared for a few weeks. At that point, he explained that his tools got stolen, and that he couldn't return to work on my walkway until he got approved for credit cards so he could buy new tools. OK, I guess that story sounds vaguely plausible, so let's assume it's true. It still would have been nice if he had called me and told me instead of just vanishing until I tracked him down. I don't know much about the kind of tools that get used to cut brick, but I guess they can't be rented or borrowed, and I guess Celestial Landscaping doesn't have insurance on the tools or business or enough cash flow to buy replacements. Things I wish I had known before I hired them. Also, Caesar wants me to mention that he bought me mulch and plants. Now, keep in mind that he quoted me a price for the entire job including supplies, so that seems to me a little like saying "And I bought myself lunch every day so I had enough strength to do the work." You're doing me a favor by buying the stuff you need to buy in order to do the job you said you'd do? As for the plants, we asked him to plant wild grasses, wildflowers, daisies, and black-eyed susans. But he insisted he needed us to go with him. I told him in the interview I didn't know anything and I didn't really want to be involved in the day to day work. I asked him then, You're going to take care of everything, right? And he assured me he would. At the interview he did come up with a good idea about the shape of the walkway. Anyway, he just went on and on about how we had to come with him to pick the plants. We went to the nursery and picked out all of these plants. Then he tried to make me pay for them. The contract stated he would buy the plants. As well, he said he would buy the plants and the mulch to make up for disappearing for days at a time. When we insisted he pay for them, he relented, but only reluctantly. So we left while he paid for the plants, and surprise, surprise! He didn't actually buy the black eyed susans. And he planted the daisies very poorly - they are all dying or dead. When I pointed this out to him tonight, he claimed I wasn't watering them. Sorry, Caesar - we've been watering them consistently, so that's not why they are dying. So, to Caesar, I hope I have included all the details you wanted included, but if I didn't, TOO BAD AND DO NOT CALL ME AGAIN BECAUSE IT'S REALLY CREEPY!!!

I have employed Celestial for years, and after Celestino (the owner) passed away suddenly, his nephew Caesar took the helm and never skipped a beat. The team is punctual, efficient and hard working. They put extra effort in and it shows. Caesar provided a reasonable estimate in writing, squeezed my job into his busy schedule and had his team perform the work in one day. I would definitely hire them again!