Poteat Landscape

They came on time, and did the work very well. The work men are always friendly and polite and very welling to talk to me about what they are doing. Mark explains what is going to be done and doesn't push me to spend more than I want to do. Poteat Landscaping has done three sets of plantings for me (buttterfly bushes a couple of years ago, crepe myrtle trees last spring and ferns and general clean up and landscaping last winter). I am very happy with their work and with the prices.

I think they did more than we had discussed, I think they did an excellent job.

His team did not arrive on the day that they said and this was a concern for me because my dog gets growly around strange men, which I had told Mark. When they did come a day later, and without any notice, I saw the men blowing the leaves into my neighbor's yard. I ran out and told them to stop and told them that the leaves had to be taken to the curb. An hour later, they were still blowing the leaves into the yard! I insisted that they take the pile to the curb. When Mark showed up, he said that they didn't understand, etc. etc. He told me that he would be back in two weeks to finish the job and never came back. I left him several phone messages and email messages to which he never responded. I would never use this company or recommend them.

Horribly!

The initial phase of the project went very smoothly. Mark was available whenever I called him and he was able to do the work quickly. As soon as I paid him though, he became less responsive. His landscape proposal/drawing was what sold me to him. What I asked for in the design was that the new plants be easy to maintain, be drought resistant and deer resistant. I thought that it was a pretty simple and common request. His proposed drawing showed a variety of plants of different heights and colors all filling in the front of our house. The plants that were installed were much smaller than what appeared on the drawing, and there were huge gaps between the plants. He said they would grow in to be the size shown on the drawings and I believed him. Unfortunately, the deer started eating and gnawing at all our new plants immediately. I called to tell him that the deer were eating our plants and that is when Mark became unresponsive. He said that we have aggressive deer. After many calls and emails, he finally sent his new job supervisor to talk to me. I reviewed my concerns with him and he tried to get me to pay them more money to replace the plants to a larger size. I was furious as I?d already spent more than I wanted to and the plants he installed did not meet my simple requirements. I told him I would not be paying any more money and then he also disappeared. As a last resort, I emailed Mark and told him I would be submitting a bad review on Angie?s List and that, that would do more damage than writing a ?Company response? online which I see he has done quite a bit. He finally came by to talk to me and promised to make things right and replace all the plants. This was yet another promise he failed to fulfill. I would have much preferred if he told me the truth and saved me the aggravation of calling him and emailing him for 2 entire weeks. His office phone just goes to voicemail and no one ever calls you back. His cell phone?s mailbox often gets full and you can?t leave a message. There was one response from him saying that he was out of town and that he would take care of things. That was the last I heard from him. Like in other reports from other Angie's List members, he has a way of making you believe that he will follow through. Those reports about his unresponsiveness are dead on. He would set up meetings with me and not show up and make promises he did not keep. He admitted that he was a poor communicator and that he wanted to do the right thing but that is also one of his gimmicks. The excuses about traffic, not writing down his appointment, etc. all sound a little too familiar. It is definitely his pattern. His management/communication skills are sorely lacking. I would never use him again as I cannot take the aggravation. In summary, I am extremely disappointed in him. If he didn?t want to come and replace the plants, then he shouldn?t have strung me along and have me thinking that he just needed a reminder to come. I understand that he could be busy but I literally called and emailed him for two entire weeks straight after finding out that he doesn't respond to emails sent once in a while. After an entire year of trying to resolve my issues with Mark Poteat, I finally give up.

After the inital work was done, we began to see problems. Mark's workers did not properly install the drip irrigation line, failing to install the emitters on the lines and positioning the lines in the wrong positions causing many plants to die. In addition, there were numerous other problems with the irrigation. We had water running down our driveway for over a month due to his workers failing to shut off a valve properly. It took numerous calls to convince him that this was a problem, not the result of rainfall. Finally that problem was fixed. Another day when they worked on the irrigation system, the system ran all day long. We were alerted to this problem when our neighbor called us at work to tell us there was a flood in our yard. There were also problems with the plantings. It took numerous calls just to get all of the plants placed in the landscape. Even after all of our calls, incorrect, less expensive plants were put into the landscape. In addition when we did talk to Mark, he was always making promises about additional things he could easily do for us. Mark is a very pleasant and charming man so we always wanted to take him at his word. He was a bit scattered so some of the missed follow-ups we attributed to disorganization, however there were many times when it seemed to go far beyond being disorganized. Mark would regularly not return phone calls. It got so that the only way that we could get in touch with him was to call his secretary. She would apologetically promise to make sure that he returned our calls and only then would we eventually hear from him. On the rare occasions when we did see Mark, often by happenstance in the grocery store, he was always apologetic but his follow through did not really improve. Mark always had a litany of problems that prevented him from completing the job. The bottom line from our point of view was that after over a year from the start of the project this job was not completed. In addition, sitting in our expensively redone backyard was a source of irritation not joy because the dead plants served as a constant reminder of the aggravation that we had experienced trying to get this job done. The mistakes that were made could have been easily been forgiven if we had a sense that Mark was genuinely sorry about these errors and was going to correct them in a timely manner. Instead all that we sensed was excuses and avoidance. It would have been so easy to fix these things and show off a wonderfully done job by Mark. It should not be the customer?s job to force a business to follow through on their obligations, track down the owner of a business, and go through extraordinary time consuming and stressful procedures to just get someone to keep their word. It is very disappointing to have what could have been a beautiful backyard looking unfinished at this point in time. I would not recommend Mark to anyone due to his lack of responsiveness and professionalism.

We were trying to solve a water runoff problem from properties uphill from my own. Mr. Poteat was very professional over the phone, but he missed the first consultation appointment due to being stuck in traffic. At the second consultation appointment he was in a hurry and spent very little time investigating the part of the yard in question. Because he was in a rush to leave he did not have time to speak with our next-door neighbor who lives downhill from us and was also interested in hiring a landscaper. We were told that we would receive a quote in the next few days, but never received one, even after sending an email inquiry. It is possible that our job wasn't the right fit for his business but we were left waiting several days before contacting another landscaper (who took the job right away).

Our entire property was landscaped and the results are good, but it was a nightmare getting there. Mark estimated the project at $13,000. We made changes along the way that doubled the estimate - most of those changes were our choice and we agreed to the overage. But, in some cases the company's design didn't take into account some work or materials that would be necessary, or underestimated quantities or actual prices. So a portion of the overage was due to original estimates being off the mark . Poteat was the low bidder but ended up costing more than our high bidder. The biggest issue, however, was performance. Rain was an issue but many sunny days, even weeks, went by with no progress. An estimated two month project took twice that long. I found myself begging him to come out to finish. Many days he just didn't show up then pleaded that he had run into problems, or traffic, or couldn't find plants. He would make another appointment, promise to come and then not show up. This was a persistent pattern. I had to turn over all dealings with him to my husband because I just could no longer talk to him without yelling. Mark is a likable guy and he relies on this. You hate to get angry with him. But, eventually, the constant excuses wear thin and the relationship dissolves. He probably hated me at the end as much as I hated working with him. It just isn't worth the hassle and the begging.

They were very professional on the phone. On the day of the estimate, I waited for someone to stop by at the appointed time, but no one showed up. Mark Poteat left s voice message and upon callback, he asked to re-schedule because he was stuck in traffic. We re-scheduled for the next day at the same time, however after leaving work early again, no one showed up and no phone call that time. I called his and left him a message. He called back and stated that he forgot about the appointment and he can come in 20 minutes. He did show up and looked around the yard. It took literally less than 5 minutes and basically did not need me at all, although on the phone, they wanted the owner to be present. He asked me to email him so he can get my correct email address (although they took all contact information when I set up the appt.). He said he would email the estimate that day or the day after. It has been 4 days now with no estimate. Very unprofessional and definitely not punctual or responsible.

Overall, it went horribly. He cost me two weeks, with absolutely nothing to show for it. This experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and I am extremely disappointed.

I called Poteat Landscape company by reviewing the recommendations of those that reviewed the company on Angie's list. I feel that it would be in Angie's List best interest to completely remove this company from their listings. I called the company and THEY scheduled the appointment that worked best in their schedule. I then received a call approximately 3 hours prior to the appointment time (which I had taken off work) to state that they could not meet at that time. They then asked if they could come to the house to look at the work we wanted done at 7 pm. I agreed as they had received positive reviews on Angie's List. I had prior plans but changed them to ensure I was home at 7 pm. The representative NEVER showed and I did not even receive a courtesy call with an explanation. This company has proven themselves to be completely unreliable and I will be posting notes to this effect anywhere I can on the internet. Do NOT waste your valuable time on this company!!!

I've been having problems with water pooling up in a corner on my lawn as well as water getting into my crawlspace. Mark identified the problems and worked with me in finding the best solutions for the problems. It took some time to get the quotes and I occasionally had to remind him to get them to me, but once the quotes were received, the work was done quickly and professionally. I am very satisfied with the job Mark did. My drainage problem is MUCH better and my crawlspace is dry. Mark was a pleasure to work with and I would definitely recommend him to anyone who was interested.

They came out when they said they would. They called about 30 minutes before the appointment to say that they were running about 15 to 20 minutes late. They showed up after that. I haven?t decided if I will be hiring them; it depends on how the designs look.

As above--excellent, timely, thorough, reasonably priced.

Mark Poteat came by within a day of contacting him via email. He looked at the article that I had sent, offered what would work and what he thought may not due to the climate. Within a couple of days, he presented a landscape design similar to what we asked, and a detailed estimate of costs. The landscape crew arrived when they stated and finished in a day with the exception of a few plants that were on backorder. Within a week, the other plants were planted and the design was more than we expected. Mark came by personally several times to ensure that we were satisfied with the design and implementation. We will definitely use Poteat services again.

We leave the original statement for the initial design and construction: My experience with them was very good. They were right on time, they did everything they said they would do, they cleaned up very well, and they were easy to work with. However, we recommend that you consider also their very poor customer relations pattern after the job was installed.

Mark was a pleasure to work with and the end result is awesome. Mark and his team delivered exactly what he said they would, and did so under budget. Mark is definitely customer service focused. Shortly after the plants were installed we received 3 inches of rain in 12 hours. The rain caused a small section of the mulch to wash and a few plants to come loose. I called Mark and he immediately sent someone out to restore the area to its original splendor. The best part was that he did all of this for no additional fees/cost.

see above

Excellent. We had several changes during the process and Mark accommodated all of them with superb professionalism and flexibility. Some of the hollies that we had planted did not survive the first year. Mark replaced all of them under warranty. Mark was always asking "Are you happy?" I've worked with several landscapers over time. The experience that we had with Poteat Landscape was the best, and by a lot.