HALLA NURSERY

Monday July 23rd purchased a 2.5" diameter sugar maple and a 8' river birch. I wrote a check so they wouldn't get dinged on my using a credit card - we'll come back to this. Mark said Gopher would be out that week and that he would personally stop over and help me decide where to plant the trees. The trees would be planted either July 30th or August 1st. I called and left a message on Thursday July 26th asking if Mark was coming out. No one ever called back. I called on Monday the following week and left a message that Gopher hadn't been out nor had Mark. No one ever called back. I called on Wednesday and actually spoke with someone. She promised she would call back by noon the following day. Noon came and went so I drove out there to talk to them. Mark said they would be delivered and planted the following Monday. I asked how that was going to be possible as Gopher had not been out to mark the lines. We were told that "the paperwork had been put in the wrong pile." They finally did call Gopher after which I employed a professional landscaper to help me pick the positions for the trees (thanks for nothing, Mark.) The trees were finally planted on August 8th. Daniel who was in charge of the crew did an excellent job of positioning the trees and minimizing damage to my lawn. I asked them to please not drive any equipment on my newly laid asphalt driveway and they didn't... until later when they dropped off some sod and drove their truck onto my driveway leaving oil stains. I took the tags off of the trees and realized that they had overcharged me $168. I drove out on August 9th and the woman at the counter said I could not get refunded the difference because I wrote a check and their accountant would have to look at it and make sure the check had cleared (it cleared on July 25th.) I called a week later on August 15th because I never heard back about my overcharge and some leaves on the birch were yellowing. The manager called back and told us how to water the trees and that the birch was under stress from the replanting and would be fine. This was the first time someone gave us instructions for caring for the trees. I asked about the overcharge and if I was going to get my money back. She had not heard anything about it. They called back on the 16th about the overcharge. I said someone had made a copy of my receipt and the tags from the trees when I stopped in on August 9th that clearly showed the overcharge. She said she was going to figure it out and call back. Called back 15 minutes later and said they had overcharged "about $160." She wanted to refund my credit card but I explained I paid with a check. She asked if I wanted in store credit for it. I'm not kidding. I said I wanted my money back. She said checks were a problem and I explained I was *trying* to do them a favor by paying that way so they wouldn't get the charge that credit cards put on all transactions. Thankfully she forgave me for trying to save them money. Again, not kidding. She said she was going to have to check with the manager and call me back the next day. The next day came and went, as did the following Monday. I called and left them another message on August 21st asking about my overcharge credit. On the 22nd they called back and decided to put the credit on my wife's credit card instead of mailing a check... one month after the initial purchase of the trees. The trees are great, however it was so frustrating dealing with their horrific disorganization that I'm not sure it was worth going through all of that.

We went in the fall to purchase a maple tree. The first red maple did not have helicopter leaves. We then decided to get two more red maples within a few years. These maples did have helicopter leaves and were not red as what I had thought when I first bought them. Helicopter leaves are incredibly messy and need to be raked, which is a pain. I contacted this nursery and they would not do anything about this problem. This nursery provides no service or responsibility whatsoever and they won't help you at all if an issue rises. We trusted the sales person when we purchased these trees; we had no idea what we were purchasing. Now, I'd like to cut these trees down.

Project manager was very poor comunicator; I was constantly having to follow up; at one point he took another job with another firm and then came back; told me we were fine for timing (i.e. not too late in the season) then sent an email indicating he thought it might be too late, after weeks of delay on their end. Did the work on a wet rainy day and left huge loader tracks up and down our front yard. That was the last I heard from him. Would NOT use them again.

I was very happy with the service that I got when I went in there. They were very helpful in explaining what would be the different choices that I could use in the area that I had brought to them. They gave me a quote on how much it was going to cost me. Right then, they had a 25% discount on their shrubs and there was no nursery around that was discounting shrubs to that extent. They told me that they?d call me in a couple of days. I don?t know for sure about that but I am presuming that they don?t fool around. They were really efficient and they gave me all the flags to mark where the plants were going. They said they would call to have the lines marked immediately. The plants that I looked at in the lot were of a very high quality. They are putting in 8 plants for me. It is going to cost me $541 and it would include delivery and planting - I feel that that is a great price. If the planting service is as good as their in-store service, I will definitely use them again.

I called for an estimate on creating a new garden space and help with design for flowerboxes. A "designer" came out and took notes, looked at the space and left, saying she would send me some ideas. I paid her $50. After 3 weeks I called her and she said she'd sent them and would do so again. I received nothing. Two months later I called to report this, my phone call was not returned. Two weeks later, I called again and was told the "designer" had my address wrong and was no longer working there. I asked for a refund of my money as I have received nothing. I was told they would send a store credit. I'm waiting.

Jim at Halla was our salesman. He went out of his way to help us choose the appropriate trees for our landscaping needs. He even came to the house to help figure out what would work. We wanted color but also needed fullness to provide a privacy screen for the front door and front windows. The trees look wonderful and are exactly what we wanted. He offered some suggestions on how to add color with some smaller shrubs around the existing landscaping. Their installers were courteous and neat.

I HAD TO DO ALL THE WORK OF COORDINATING WHAT WAS NEEDED FOR THE JOB. THE YOUNG MAN WHO HELPED ME WAS FRIENDLY AND CHARMING BUT TERRIBLY DISORGANIZED AND FORGETFUL. IT TOOK WEEKS BEFORE THE PROMISED WORK WAS COMPLETED, AND THE PROCESS WAS TEDIOUS AND REPETITIVE. EVERYTIME WE TALKED, THE LANDSCAPER HAD FORGOTTEN SOMETHING. HE SEEMED POWERLESS IN THE HANDS OF THE SUBCONTRACTORS. AT OUR VERY FIRST CONVERSATION, I ASKED HIM POINT BLANK WHETHER THIS WAS A JOB THEY WANTED (MUCH SMALLER THAN THEIR NORMAL JOB). I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED HIM TO TELL ME THE TRUTH, THAT I OUGHT TO HAVE LOOKED ELSEWHERE. I FELT THAT THE TREATMENT I RECEIVED INDICATED THAT THEY BLOW OFF SMALL CUSTOMERS. THEY KEPT ME WAITING, GAVE ME SEED THAT DID NOT GROW, BADLY INSTALLED THE STEPPING STONES, AND LEFT ME WITH A YARD FULL OF WEEDS THAT WAS WORSE THAN WHAT I STARTED WITH. I ENDED UP HIRING A LOCAL LAWN SERVICE TO COME FIX THE ENTIRE BACK YARD AT AN ADDITIONAL COST OF $500.

I HAD TO DO ALL THE WORK OF COORDINATING WHAT WAS NEEDED FOR THE JOB. THE YOUNG MAN WHO HELPED ME WAS FRIENDLY AND CHARMING BUT TERRIBLY DISORGANIZED AND FORGETFUL. IT TOOK WEEKS BEFORE THE PROMISED WORK WAS COMPLETED, AND THE PROCESS WAS TEDIOUS AND REPETITIVE. EVERYTIME WE TALKED, THE LANDSCAPER HAD FORGOTTEN SOMETHING. HE SEEMED POWERLESS IN THE HANDS OF THE SUBCONTRACTORS. AT OUR VERY FIRST CONVERSATION, I ASKED HIM POINT BLANK WHETHER THIS WAS A JOB THEY WANTED (MUCH SMALLER THAN THEIR NORMAL JOB). I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED HIM TO TELL ME THE TRUTH, THAT I OUGHT TO HAVE LOOKED ELSEWHERE. I FELT THAT THE TREATMENT I RECEIVED INDICATED THAT THEY BLOW OFF SMALL CUSTOMERS. THEY KEPT ME WAITING, GAVE ME SEED THAT DID NOT GROW, BADLY INSTALLED THE STEPPING STONES, AND LEFT ME WITH A YARD FULL OF WEEDS THAT WAS WORSE THAN WHAT I STARTED WITH. I ENDED UP HIRING A LOCAL LAWN SERVICE TO COME FIX THE ENTIRE BACK YARD AT AN ADDITIONAL COST OF $500.

HALLA TREATS THEIR WORKERS POORLY AND THEY DO NOT REPLACE PERENNIALS THAT DIE.