J ALLEN LANDSCAPES

The landscaping was nice, irrigation system was ok but the lighting never met expectations. It wasn't very bright and the expensive bulbs kept burning out. The lawn maintenance was ok. They did replace a couple shrubs that died. I would say the first two- three years were just "ok". Then it went downhill fast. By far the biggest problem was communication. This home was a second home/vacation getaway. Because we aren't there full time we need to be able to trust the contractor and to be able to get someone on the phone. A couple of times neighbors emailed us our lawn needed to be cut, but we were being billed. They were supposed to adjust the irrigation system because we were getting monthly water bills in the hundreds of dollars when we weren't even there and with no leak per the water company. It didn't matter if we called the office or the landscape manager's cell phone, we rarely got a call back. We had also asked for additional work and kept getting assured we would receive an estimate. After months of asking we gave up. The last straw was the billing issue. They had been emailing invoices for routine maintenance which worked fine. Suddenly they started mailing paper bills again. I called, no callback. So I figured they changed billing procedures and I would deal with it. Then they started mailing bills every other month with 2 or more invoices in the envelope. Ok, I could work with that and paid them all whenever they came. Then I started receiving bills every few months stamped "past due" . I was incredulous. I called, no response. How could a bill be past due when we never received it? I included a written letter with my payment expressing my dissatisfaction with billing and responsiveness. We received several more bills like this- every couple months- and I kept attaching a note to my payment. No one ever contacted us. Finally in the Fall of 2012, we were done. I wrote another long letter explaining all the issues and canceling the service. Several weeks later we were at the house, had hired a new contractor, and here was J Allen staff cutting the lawn again. We asked them to leave- we had fired them. And the icing on the cake- they sent us a Christmas card. We're they kidding?? What a disappointment. Stay away from this contractor!!

Never have I been so disappointed and frustrated with a contractor! This is a nightmare that just will not end! On 31 January 2012, we obtained an estimate for the construction of a new patio, grill platform, and new matching porch step We were new to this area and didn't know who to contact. We noticed a sign in a neighbor's yard so we called that contractor for an estimate. We had obtained several estimates but decided on this particular contractor simply because a neighbor had used him. We approved the design and the price. The materials were delivered in mid-February 2012 but the work did not start immediately. Several weeks passed before work began. The provider contacted us numerous times to tell us when work would begin but the start date kept getting pushed off or they were "no shows." Approximately three weeks after we had expected work to begin, the service provider finally arrived to do the work. We had previously told the provider that we would not be available on a particular date (2/24/12). The night prior to that date, I rec'd a phone call from the worker stating he would be at our home to install the patio -- the day we weren't going to be home. I provided the worker my cell phone number and told him to call if he had questions or ran into problems. I did not receive a call that day. We arrived home to discover the patio had been installed but it was not the designed we had approved. We also noticed that the patio step had been removed, thrown into the lawn. There was no step from our porch to our patio, a very dangerous drop off. The original patio step had been removed, thrown into our lawn with dozens of cements chips strewn all over. When I contacted the worker to discuss what we saw, he indicated that he thought (1) this new patio design would give us more room so he decided to change the design without our approval "artistic license" as he called it, (2) not to worry, he would clean up the yard when he finished his work. Again, we were away when the worker returned to complete the work. When we returned home, we discovered that the worker simply installed the old cement step, which was now severely damaged from the removal process. We begrudgingly accepted the new patio design since the patio was in place but I wasn't happy about it and to this day I do not like it. As for the step, I insisted he fix it since we had paid to have a matching step. Several weeks passed before the worker returned to remove the old beat up step and build the new matching step as contracted, however, the worker requested an additional $125 to finish the step. We were not happy but agreed to pay the fee. The worker built the new step but did not finish it. He stated he would be back tomorrow. Well, tomorrow never came. He took the old solid cement step and threw it in the woods across the street, telling us he would return in a few days with a truck to haul it away. He stated that he had received approval from the developer's representative to leave the cement step in the woods until he could return with his truck to remove it. It has been over five months and the step is still in the woods. I reported this to the owner and nothing has been done about the debris. It is now the end of June - June 18, 2012, and our patio and step is not finished. We waited patiently through the spring for the worker to return. He never did. In June, I contacted the worker. He stated, he guaranteed me, he would arrive on June 29, 2012, "first thing" to finish the work. He was a no show, no phone call. We were gone on/off for the summer so the patio and step were left unattended. In September, I resumed my calling to the worker. On September 17, I contacted the worker to inquire about finishing the work. He guaranteed me he would arrive Saturday, 22 September, "first thing." He was a no show, no phone call. I contacted the worker again that following week. He again guaranteed me he would arrive on Saturday, 29 Sept, "first thing." He was a no show; no phone call. I contacted the owner that following Monday. The owner stated that he was unaware that the work had not been completed and was unaware that the worker had charged us an additional $125; he was unaware that the worker had dumped the cement step in the vacant lot across the street. The owner came by on Monday October 1, with the worker stating the worker would be there the next day to finish the work to our liking. The worker was a no show, no phone call. We had some rain making it a bit difficult to finish the work but a phone call telling us he wouldn't be arriving would have been professional. This promise continued through the week. No show every day. Again, I began with the phone calls. More promises to be there the next day - more no shows - no courtesy call. The worker has promised to be here nearly every day since October 1 -- it is now October 12 and the step is still not done. I called the owner tonight and still have not received a call back. We contracted this vendor with the expectation he would do the job in a professional manner. We expected he had professional people working for him. A neighbor had used the provider so we also decided to give him a try. We paid the contractor in full, we trusted him to do the work. Our issues with this provider: His work is very expensive for the quality. Workers are not punctual. Workers are not professional. Then you must ask, who should make the phone call??? There has been no communication. If I didn't keep calling there would be no communication. We have a serious safety issue now - the step is loose. I nearly feel off it the other night. We deserved phone calls to inform us when workers would be at the house. The worker changed the design without our consent. The yard was never returned to "near original" condition as promised but that was included in the estimate. We paid in full for the work even when we knew the work was completed because we trusted this provider to complete the work in a timely manner. The work was contracted on 31 January, 2012 and it is not completed today, 12 October 2012. We are constantly told about other jobs they are doing for other customers - we are also a customer, we deserve the same respect as those other jobs. We're quite tired of the run around. We will not use the contractor again, nor will we recommend him. I've submitted a complaint to the BBB as well. We have requested a refund of $500 to cover the cost of repairing the yard. We should also request a refund of $125 for the additional charge for the step - a charge already included in the contractor's original quote.