The Greenery

• DO NOT HIRE THIS GUY

Discussed what we wanted done with Mike Rivett from the
Greenery. Stated we had all the paver 
materials bought for a 30 X 16 paver stone patio and we would need him
to put down a 4” base of screenings, a 1” base of sand and then lay the stones.
We also advised that we would need a small retaining wall installed along the
house side as it was deeper than the rest. 
He advised that he could do everything we wanted for $1500, half down
now and the other half upon completion of the discussed job. We agreed to all
the terms and we signed contract on 10/14/12 and was told that he would get
started on 10/17/12 and would be completely done in four days.
Mike didn’t show up till late afternoon on 10/19/12 and
worked for about an hour. He left and we didn’t hear from him again.
Mike called us on 10/24/12 and said his truck was broke down
but he would be here 10/25/12. We never heard from him again.
Hubby called him on 10/29/12 and expressed how upset we were
that the project was dragging out so long. He was very rude but assured us he
would finish in a couple days.
Mike came back on 10/30/12 at 9:15 and left at 10:45. Rang
the bell and said he promised he would be half done that day and left and never
came back.
Hubby called on 10/31/12 and expressed his concern about the
project getting finished and how long it was taking and all the empty promises
being made. At that time Mike told us he had other higher priorities than ours
and it would be an additional two weeks before he could finish. Hubby let him
know this was not acceptable.
Mike called 11/1/12 and said he would be here within that
week to finish.
Mike arrived at 7:15 on 11/7/12, laid about 50 pavers and
left at 8:00.
On 11/10/12 Mike came and laid about ¾ of the pavers and
then had the nerve to demand payment even though he was not done yet. When I
told him he wasn’t getting paid until the job was complete due to the problems
we had already encountered, he rudely said he was putting other people ahead of
me if I wouldn’t pay him that day. I reminded him my contract said half down
and remainder at completion. He mumbled something under his breath I wont repeat here and walked away.
Hubby called 11/11/12 to discuss the issues and he would not
take our call nor return it.
On 11/14/12 Mike arrived at 8:00 and worked until noon
laying all but the last quarter of the pavers. He left and did not return that day.
Mike returned on 11/16/12 at 9:30 after calling my hubby and
telling him that the patio was going to require cuts be made and he was going
to have to be paid extra for that.  He also used a small hand tamper to tamp down the pavers rather than use a
commercial one as “he would have to rent one and that would cost him extra
money”. He was gone by 10:30, still not complete. He called hubby and said he
would meet him at the house at 9:00 in the morning to finish and settle up.
Mike arrived at 8:45 on 11/17/12 and finished laying the pavers. He then told hubby that as far as the retaining wall
was concerned, he was going to lay a line of bricks ON TOP of the pavers and GLUE THEM DOWN with liquid nails
to secure them to the other pavers. This was his idea of a quick, cheap fix, so that he didn't have to make any cuts. He just made sure that the line of bricks was scooted in far enough that he could glue them in a straight line and not have to "cut" any of the pavers off. He just backfilled the area with screenings and sand to "hide" that fact. The sand that he used to sweep between the pavers was so large that it didn't sink in between the pavers to lock them in and when you walk on it, they move and rock back and forth. He did not run the commercial tamper over them to make sure the sand sunk between the crevices. Not only that but we had several different colors and sizes of pavers so that a random pattern could be laid. Mike laid a small 3X3 square area in a random pattern for us to approve. We agreed to that pattern but that was the only section he laid in a random pattern. He laid the rest of the pavers in clumps. We have all the small pavers on one end and all the big pavers on the other end and all the colors are in clumps. When he ran out of one color he'd just move on to the next and lay them all side by side same size and color until he'd run out. The patio looks terrible, the workmanship is shoddy, the man himself was extremely rude and pushy and the job took 4 weeks instead of the 4 days he promised.
We asked for a discount and he said no. So we told him thats fine, we will pay you the full amount but we will do so in 30 days. He said he had to have his money NOW. We told him we wanted our patio in 4 days like he promised and we didn't get it so we were even. If he couldn't provide us with some sort of a discount for the shoddy workmanship and time, he would wait the 30 days for his money. He very reluctantly gave us a $150 discount off the $1500 originally quoted leaving us to pay $1350 for an awful patio. DO NOT HIRE THIS GUY.

The Greenery got right on my job and communicated with me throughout. I would recommend them to do my clients and friends.