LAWNS BY DESIGN

Lawns By Design was to start the work mid-April. It was to take no longer than 3 days. I told the owner, Kenzie Cook, this was important because I was going out of the country at the end of April for 2 weeks. He said no problem. I paid 1/2 the cost of the job. The day before he was to start, he called to ask if he could start the next week because there was another job that had to be done right away. I said I was unsure because I would be leaving just 2 days after the new date and wouldn't be there to monitor the new lawn. He assured me the lawn would be complete before I left and he would personally care for the lawn in my absence. I agreed. The lawn was not finished when stated, but I had to leave anyway. I left final payment with my adult son. Unfortunately, he suffered a bout of kidney stones and left the check with someone else to deliver when the job was done. Upon my return, I found my side yard to be browned out, the back yard is sunken in the middle and collects water, never fully drying out and the lawn is so uneven, it is difficult to walk on and impossible to mow evenly. Also, the sod delivery truck backed into my mailbox post completely breaking it in several places. I called Mr. Cook and he promised to return and fix all problems. He didn't. I called him many times over the next 10 weeks. After the second week he would see my number on caller ID and stopped answering. When I would call from another phone, he answered right away. One morning I was testing my sprinkler system and found two sprinkler lines had been cut in the process of Mr. Cooks men moving them. The man I paid to repair the lines showed me the shovel marks in the hoses. I didn't realize the damage sooner because Mr. Cook had set the sprinklers to go off at 3am. I contacted the BBB and the SC Dept. of Consumer Complaints. They each contacted Mr. Cook and he has never responded. I have since filed a complaint with the Magistrates Court. So, far he has not responded to their notice.

Lawns By Design was to start the work mid-April. It was to take no longer than 3 days. I told the owner, Kenzie Cook, this was important because I was going out of the country at the end of April for 2 weeks. He said no problem. I paid 1/2 the cost of the job.The day before he was to start, he called to ask if he could start the next week because there was another job that had to be done right away. I said I was unsure because I would be leaving just 2 days after the new date and wouldn't be there to monitor the new lawn. He assured me the lawn would be complete before I left and he would personally care for the lawn in my absence. I agreed. The lawn was not finished when stated, but I had to leave anyway. I left final payment with my adult son. Unfortunately, he suffered a bout of kidney stones and left the check with someone else to deliver when the job was done. Upon my return, I found my side yard to be browned out, the back yard is sunken in the middle and collects water, never fully drying out and the lawn is so uneven, it is difficult to walk on and impossible to mow evenly. Also, the sod delivery truck backed into my mailbox post completely breaking it in several places. I called Mr. Cook and he promised to return and fix all problems. He didn't. I called him many times over the next 10 weeks. After the second week he would see my number on caller ID and stopped answering. When I would call from another phone, he answered right away. One morning I was testing my sprinkler system and found two sprinkler lines had been cut in the process of Mr. Cooks men moving them. The man I paid to repair the lines showed me the shovel marks in the hoses. I didn't realize the damage sooner because Mr. Cook had set the sprinklers to go off at 3am. I contacted the BBB and the SC Dept. of Consumer Complaints. They each contacted Mr. Cook and he has never responded. I have since filed a complaint with the Magistrates Court. So, far he has not responded to their notice.

The water pump was replaced but no well water came in so we had to hook it up to our city water. That cost us approx. $600.00. I wonder how come we were dry as all the surrounding neighbors also have wells and have water with no problem. The sprinkler system was installed, but there was a part that was broken (from the factory) before we even turned on the sprinkler system for the first time. After many, many calls to Kenzie Cook and finally threatening to take him to court, he finally came out and repaired the broken part about three weeks later. He acted annoyed and said that "he was very busy with other customers, who had not paid him yet." The drainage pipe has never worked and our driveway continues to flood during every rainstorm. Now, along with the drainage pipe not working and no well water, some of the sprinkler heads are not working properly and even though we have a year's parts and labor, Kenzie Cook ignores our calls. On occasion, we have talked to him on the phone and he very politely says he will be out the next day, but he never shows up and never calls back to explain himself. Since then, we have found out through looking him up on the county court website that he has been taken to court by several people and companies (I am sure for the same reason) with lawsuits concerning his company and work. He has several businesses, not just this irrigation systems. He has a children's play place and he sells Christmas trees. So be careful because no matter what his business is, he only cares about one thing, getting your money. We are getting ready to take him to court and hope that we can get some of our money back. Meanwhile, still need to hire another company to come out and fix the mess he has left us with.

Work was to begin Apr. 11, 2008. Mr. Cook called the day before and said he had a big emergency job to do. He could lay my sod the following Friday. Told him I was going to Italy the Monday after that and was concerned I wouldn't be here to monitor the new grass. He said he would monitor it for me, he set the sprinkler system, and had access to the system in case of a problem. I returned on May 11, 2008 and my side yard was completely browned out, there was a low area in the middle of my back yard that now gathered water had become a mud pit, and the entire lawn was a series of lumps and bumps because the new sod had not been rolled. In addition, the sod squares on the side yard had been laid incorrectly up to 2 inches apart in some areas. This also resulted in a very uneven surface. Also, when the truck backed up to deliver the last of the sod, it ran into my mail box post breaking it in several places. I called Mr. Cook the next day and he said he would be over the next day to take care of all the problems. That was almost three weeks ago. I've called him repeatedly leaving messages on his voicemail and with his answering service. He has not returned any calls. I contacted another landscaper to get an estimate for repair of the work Mr. Cook did and the estimate was $3600.00. The new landscaper showed me where there was Bermuda grass mixed in with the new St. Augustine and where there are weeds and crabgrass already in my new lawn. That is a result of improper preparation of the tilled soil. Too late, I contacted BBB in my area and learned Lawns By Design has an Unsatisfactory rating. I also recently discovered this company is on the Buyer Beware List of the SC Department of Consumer Affairs.