LAWN BARBER INC

Note: We did business with Phaneuf Associates, which is a division of Lawn Barber. I had already contacted 5 companies for estimates on this job. Four never came back with any quotes and the other two came up with widely different amounts. Since my partner is a landscape designer, she told what the price should be, so I had an idea of what to expect. Steve Phaneuf came out do the estimate on time, talked with me about the job and even suggested ways to make the job a little cheaper without cutting quality. He came back with the written estimate a couple of days later as promised, and it was right in line with the cost my partner expected it to be. The work was done well and I am very pleased with results. The only reason I gave a B or C in some spots is that Steve and his crew failed to show the first day. I called and didn't get a response until the afternoon. Steve explained another job was taking longer due to bad weather. They showed the following day to start the work, but then didn't appear for another two days. Again I called and Steve called back, saying they would be there the next day. I told Steve I understood that outdoor jobs sometimes require juggling , but that I expected he could at least call to let me know that they were not going to arrive. Each time, I was the one having to call him. Despite the lack of communication, I find the quality of the work does merit a recommendation.

I liked their professionalism. Their workers were neat and professional. They exceeded my expectations about what they were going to do. They did an excellent job on my front walk and stairs.

The only good thing about hiring the Lawn Barber is that they do such crappy work that you can quite easily pay less than the estimate they give you. Half-assed job = half pay. I hired them once to de-thatch my lawn, and they did ride around on the little machine for an hour or so, but when they were gone the lawn was far from thatch-free. Years later I called them in June and hired them to weed my garden beds, enlarge the beds, and add 3" mulch to the whole thing. The point was to put a stop to the weeds before they overtook the gardens. The first scheduled date was a no-show. Second date was another no-show. Then it rained for three weeks. More no-shows,... By the time they showed up the gardens were over-run with weeds. The owner's brother showed up with a crew then they started working. I noticed them digging a bed in the wrong place and went out to find Steve, but he was gone. NOBODY ELSE SPOKE ENGLISH. Not a word of it, so I was unable to tell them what to do. After they left I noticed that they had dug up a lot of very expensive Lamium ground cover. Lamium has white, variegated leaves so I don't believe they couldn't distinguish it from the weeds... White lines I had painted on the grass to indicate where I wanted the beds cut were still clearly visible and surrounded by grass on either side of the line and there was a smathering of mulch on the beds, nothing near the 3" (not even 1") I had asked for.

I will not be hiring them.

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