SIEBENTHALERS

unknown

The Siebenthalers representative was courteous when he came out to see the beds and discuss what we wanted. He provided an estimate approximately 10 days later. At that point we had to put the project on hold for a few weeks because of a health issue in the family. We let the rep know this and that we would contact him when we could restart the process. We contacted him approximately a month later with a few questions on the quote and a detailed list of exactly what we wanted. At that time we told him that we wanted to move forward with the work and to check the list of what we wanted to make sure the estimate included all items. He said that he would get back to us in a few days. Three weeks later, we still had not heard from the rep so we followed up. We received a curt and somewhat ambiguous answer that we would get back to us when he had more that "10 seconds" to look at the quote. Again, about 3 weeks later, we had not heard from him and followed up. This time we asked whether Siebenthalers was even interested in the work and if they were to respond within the week. By this time it was July. We gave the representative 2 weeks to respond and received none. We notified him that we were going with another company, which was able to get the work done in September.

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Very fine. They are very reputable, they stand behind their services and products and they are very good.

We had a few issues at the start. First, no one showed up for the initial consultation to develop either a proposal or the plan. When I called them I learned that they 'forgot to tell the designer' and would send someone out within the hour. When a different designer showed up they were focused and were able to work with me to outline the overall concept as well as the specific clean-up proposal. The second challenge was in delivering the design. We again had an issue on showing up on time and so were rushed in the review of the proposal. Also some of the elements of the proposal (sample pictures of the plants) were not available and so a bit of the agreement to move forward was on faith. This was a mistake. The general layout was as I had outlined, and many of the plant selections fit the idea, but once the work was completed I was a bit disappointed in the final overall effect. I was expecting a bit more chaos in the plantings and a better mix of heights and colors. In addition to the issues around the planing phase and overall result, there were also some challenges on execution. Again, there was a disconnect in actually scheduling the work and the so the project started almost a month later than originally planned. This was both the other projects they had running longer as well as vacation timing for the designer. Once work started, I was very pleased by the execution from the clean-up team. they covered all of the areas as planned and the final results were well above what I expected. They did a great job of also taking care of the materials and fixed a few damaged plants from a roofing job earlier in the year. The new installation team also did a mostly good job in executing the plan from the designer. There were a few points on the design they missed but were quick to correct when I walked them through some of the overall design elements. Examples include the placement of a french drain and a few stepping stones to access some porch storage. Both execution teams were working under extreme conditions as they started during one of the hottest weeks of the year. In order to avoid the worst of the heat they split the work time (starting with first light) and so ended up taking longer than planned. Still, they were responsive to the issues I raised and kept me in the loop on the key parts of the progress. Overall I liked working with the team and the job ended up as designed. I understand the schedule issues and would have preferred 'the office' took a more active role in keeping me informed of schedule changes. I will be asking them to repeat and expand the cleanup work but don't think I will be going back to them for future design work.

They were very friendly and helpful. They had a big selection to choose from. They were very personable. I would definitely use them again. The price was a tad pricey, but they had good plants to choose from.