MIDSOUTH LANDSCAPE & IRRIGATN

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We agreed to terms on June 6th 2013, and I paid half of the agreed upon $6500.00 on June 7th 2013. Agreement stated 3-5 days for materials and a 15 day completion time frame. After initiation contact several times, a 3rd party grader came out on June 26th 2013 and graded the lot. While grading the lot, he broke several irrigation pipes and an irrigation head. That was the last time work was performed on my lot. Numerous phone calls, emails, texts and yes even facebook messages later I still have nothing to show for my $6500.00. I finally fired Wayne Mcculley on August 2nd and am awaiting my $6500.00 deposit.

Midsouth Landscape and Irrigation" is not so much a business but a single person, Wayne McCulley, who is better at making commitments than honoring them, and taking money from customers without any intention of completing the job he's being paid for. In October of 2012 I requested an estimate from Midsouth to construct a paver patio and fire pit at my home. Wayne seemed very nice, and pointed me to his Facebook page where he had many examples of work he had done. He came up with a design proposal that met all my needs, and even exceeded my expectations as he added in a number of features that really got me excited for my project. On November 1 I wrote a 50% deposit payment check to Midsouth, at which time Wayne asked me to make it to him personally instead, which should have triggered a red flag but didn't. I was given a promise date of 3 weeks for completion of the patio, fire pit, various seat walls, and an outdoor kitchen area. It took about 2 weeks for the project to get started, as Wayne didn't show up during that time, but explained that he was finishing another job that took longer than expected. I was very accommodating and reasonable about this delay. At first Wayne had a crew of several folks helping him. They were there every day, starting around 9am and finishing up around 5pm each day. Wayne would only show up sporadically, usually later than 10am and he would be off the site by 2pm most days. I assumed he was just managing the job as a "foreman" type of role and this was typical. As progress was made on the project, Wayne began asking for draws from me. Now, this was not part of our original agreement of 50% up front and 50% on completion, but I was trusting and naive and didn't think anything about it, I was happy that my project was moving along. After a few weeks, early December time frame, this extra help stopped showing to the site. Wayne began working by himself, keeping the same few hours per day, and sometimes bringing his teenage son along to work. When I expressed disappointment that the project was now over the original time frame, Wayne explained that weather had delayed him, and additionally his hired help were slower and less effective than he had hoped so he had fired them. Work slowed down considerably, but progress was being made, so I was once again accommodating and reasonable. Draws were continually requested and paid, due to my own misplaced trust. Around Christmas time I was contacted by one of Wayne's former hired hands, who was inquiring as to Wayne's whereabouts because he had never been paid for his work. In further discussions I found out he was hired from Craigslist the day my job started. After New Year's Eve, worked stopped completely. Wayne claimed illness for one entire week, and then we had 10 days of sporadic rain that kept him off the job site. Mid to late January, Wayne asked for more money. I refused at that point, since we had not achieved progress commensurate with the amount he had already received. Refusing to pay him more money caused him to get very hostile and adversarial, and claimed he was in a "cash flow crisis" and he wouldn't be able to return to work until it was resolved. He told me the only way he would be able to keep working on my project is if I would give him more money. 2 weeks of good weather go by, with no work done, and inconsistent, cryptic communication from Wayne. During this time a rental company a rental company showed up at my house demanding to recover their rented equipment that Wayne had rented and left sitting in the rain for a month unused, as he had not paid them. I gave him one last chance to redeem himself in a face to face meeting, and expressed that this "3 week" project had now gone on for 3 months, without end in sight, and I expected significant improvement in our current progress trend. He recommitted to the project and started working again with some renewed intensity, albeit still 4 hours a day by himself, a few days a week, it was still far better than it had been. After 3 more weeks or so, Wayne once again approached me for more money. I refused once again, and work stopped completely once again. I finally gave up hope in remedying the situation, and fired him and barred him from my jobsite, a full 5 months from the date I wrote the first check. In doing further research to determine Wayne's whereabouts during his repeated disappearances, I've found that this has happened to others as well, based on other review sites. I've noticed that he posts the same handful of pictures of his own work on Facebook (including my site), and the rest of them are just stolen from other websites. I tried to post criticism on his facebook page so others might not fall into the same trap, but he deleted my comments and blocked me from posting. With regards to the quality of the work, It seems that most of the work done by the hired hands was actually of a higher quality than Wayne's own work. For the first month, many things were done quickly and at a high level of workmanship. Much of the work done since will have to be undone, since Wayne did many things that were inappropriate or just plain wrong. The beginnings of a pergola that Wayne started was more than 3 inches out of square, and the posts were simply buried in the ground, and not set in concrete. The pavers are sloping and collect water in many areas. He failed to put down any sand before running a plate compactor over all the pavers, scarring all the pavers. He ran a drain pipe from a downspout under the pavers, where it must go uphill to discharge. He got lazy towards the end and started laying down pavers without any sort of cohesive pattern, presumably so he would not have to make as many cuts. There was lighting and electrical work incorporated into the project, for which he didn't use the proper equipment and material, and was lazy there as well, leaving wires exposed and creating a hazard. Also, not related to his business in any way, which needs no further criticism, but his twitter account (@paverlayer) contains many derogatory remarks towards gays, Muslims, and women, which I find offensive, to say nothing about his politics. He is unprofessional when it comes to communication and general behavior, as soon as the money stops flowing. I've found other reputable contractors to undo his shoddy work and do it properly and professionally, and although this lesson cost me a lot of money by trusting someone dishonest like Wayne, maybe this review will save some other person from this same mistake.

Here was our very first mistake: We kept asking Wayne for our contract which he didn't produce until after the unacceptable job was "finished"!! Even after we paid him $16,000, THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, SIXTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS, did Mr McCulley send over what he claimed to be a correct contract. I told him the contract was Unacceptable because instead of 30 10 gallon junipers, he only installed 20 FIVE gallon junipers. When I questioned this, Wayne stated that he couldn't find anymore of the larger ones. I then said I would be satisfied with 40 5 gallon junipers to make up the price difference. RESULT: He haphazardly planted between 10-15 additional 5 gallon plants. He DID NOT replace any of my plants that were dug up in July and died because they were unplanted for about 2 weeks. We NEVER agreed that WE would "dispose" of the wooden landscape ties that he removed. In the interim, he allowed one of his "Craig's List" workers to bring the ties home so he would save money on disposal. Every time his workers made an error, he expected us to give him more money because "Time is Money"!! Lastly, the closing sentence on his so-called "contract" is, "Customer agrees to allow Midsouth Landscaping to schedule a time to come and seal the existing paver patio with a protective sealer and to film the process. A tentative time period of October 2012. I would not sign the agreement because it was NOT what we agreed to verbally. Not even close!! We eventually paid the balance that we owed him minus funds that he owed my husband for going out and buying supplies from Lowes for Waynes "workers" when he left them here with no work to do and no supplies to do it with. HE BLEW A GASKET!!!!! Unprofessionally, he had several screaming match's with my husband. Unprofessionally, he pulled his MAN off the job (others quit because they weren't getting paid). I have also contacted him TWICE for him to what he thinks as complete the job by sealing our patio which was left a MESS. I called him towards the end of October and he said he was just too busy. I also asked him on his Facebook page which of course was left unanswered. I will call him one more time towards the end of February and if he doesn't come thru, I will report his business to the BBB. This probably will get me nowhere because I see he has MORE THAN SEVERAL reports already listed on his unprofessional workmanship.