Cornerstone Design

couldn't give it back because they had miscalculated how long they would need equipment, how many dumpsters they would need, and how long it would take to do the work! I told him those kinds of errors are on the contractor and not the customer.. In #8, he stated that he expected to have the wall done in 3 days, but at 4 weeks the wall needed to be torn down again . Ben and Jim have no idea how to bid a job or what is a contractor’s responsibility. 5) Jim stated several times that he had worked with a contractor in Georgia, and that is where he had experience in this type ‘hardscaping’ One of the guys in the crew is who Jim said he worked with in Georgia (well, the guy was from Georgia! – so I guess that counts!) 6, 7) Wrong Ben! I had NEVER heard of this type stone, or Super Landscape (wish I could still say that!) and Jim was excited that he had found a deal on some great stones. We looked at them and questioned their use for a retaining wall. We described the wall, yard, and water issues to Robert, salesman / co-owner. He assured us that it would be fine for that height, with 57 stone installed. There was NEVER any other product presented or discussed. We trusted Jim and didn’t realize he had no idea what a retaining wall should be. 7) Their ‘stone expert’ was the salesman. His way of assuring me that their wall was ok was to push down on a stone and tell me ‘that rock won’t move with the rocks tight on either side of it. They will hold that whole wall in place.’ If Gravity Based Wall is his idea of a retention wall, he never heard of Hydrostatic Pressure either! He refused to stand behind his product when he was proven wrong! **They should all be aware of the fact that the wall immediately started sliding and bulging and we watched it get worse with every rain; and we had LOTS of rain. Our only choice was to remove it quickly before it blew out and caused greater damage. These stones weigh between 50 -120 pounds and would cause great damage to our property when that wall would have blown! Pictures will prove this also! 8, 9) Ben’s plan failed for several reasons. Poor planning, misuse of improper equipment, & inexperience were the main problems. The end of week 1, we had an issue with a neighbor. However, we then had a week of rain, and we all commented that it was a good time not to be working; while I started dealing with the issue! Ben’s comments prove they continued to work on the wall, they hired a subcontractor to do the grading and irrigation, and work continued. Obviously we did NOT tell them to halt all work! 11) Do they really think minor flowerbed changes could make a difference of 2500 square feet of sod?! Their contract states 15 pallets of sod, my husband kept saying that was not correct. Ben’s comment that we installed smaller beds is why we needed more sod is ridiculous! The beds we installed are very close in square footage to what Jim planned. We paid Ben $500 for plants. We have spent $2,700 with almost 60 plants, and have very spacious beds. I repeatedly asked Jim to please be sure of his measurements, because we were very concerned after all their other costly errors. He told me he was absolutely sure and probably didn’t even need 15 pallets! We actually used 20 pallets in the front yard only, a huge difference to what Jim had measured. We asked Jim to check other sod vendors because we had heard many negative comments about his supplier, Super Landscape. Our concerns were; inferior quality and cutting. Jim said Super Landscape told him they were slightly cheaper because they have an average of 10% waste per pallet! Jim & Ben agreed with us that it would be beneficial to purchase a better quality sod. After their termination, Ben came back and asked for $377 more for the increase in better sod!! This proves that he knows we paid for the 15 pallets sod in the deposit; and he had never purchased any sod! (See 18) 12) Another example of their incompetence! We learned that Jim’s estimate of 2 irrigation zones was way off when Ben hired an irrigation specialist to do the job right. Jim apologized several times, and said they would work with the contractor and the price, since it was totally his error. They had a contract with the irrigation contractor, who performed all the work satisfactorily. 13) Motivated? I don’t think so! They started when the biscuits were gone and they usually left by 3:30 -4. There were few days they were still here when my husband got home at 5:00. (Proof is in the pictures!) 14) Contract states: Grade front yard to eliminate hill. Ben was aware of the pieces of the stump that were part of the hill area. Jim said they could remove these pieces with their equipment. After trying several days we called a stump grinder. He insisted someone be there to clear grindings so he could see where he had to work. When Ben was raking, the guy asked him to stay out of the way of the blade. That made Ben angry and he refused to help anymore! When the guy left he said he hoped he had gotten it all, but with no help, he couldn’t be sure. We paid him, and then Ben was mad because there were stump pieces left! Jim assured me they could get those pieces out with the bobcat, but after more days of failure, and the irrigation installation still on hold, we called another grinder. We had to pay double for what they said they could do. 15) THEY HIRED THE SUBCONTRACTOR. When nothing was getting accomplished in the front yard, and there was little progress with the wall, Jim & I had a conference call with my husband. We expressed our concerns about many things, especially the lack of progress. My husband again talked with him about a wheeled bobcat being inappropriate for this job. There were at least 4 experts that saw their equipment and said it was not suitable. Jim said he realized that, but the rental company only had a wheeled bobcat available! Jim agreed to looking into different options; another rental company, or even considering a subcontractor with better equipment. We had a friend, Jerry that did new home construction that might be able to help, ONLY IF he wanted us to call him. Jim agreed to that and said he would call their irrigation installer; because he had used the type equipment needed, and he was still waiting to finish the irrigation. By the time we got through to our guy, Jim had already contacted their irrigation installer. Our guy was not available until the next week, so Jim & Ben made the decision to rehire their subcontractor. That decision was TOTALLY THEIRS to make, as was indicated to Jim in our conference call. 16) We certainly had lots of inclement weather. We dealt with enough rain & damage to show Ben & Jim that their wall design was faulty for our situation. However, they brought in their ‘expert’ and they believed his nonsense. The issues with our neighbor were aggravating and frustrating, but of no concern for them doing their job. They should have concentrated on their mistakes! (See 1-15) 17) Contradictory to himself! Ben has proven that he was well aware of our concerns. In accepting this project, they knew they needed to put in a product that would retain and control water & mud, they knew they were dealing with a sloping yard and water flow was a major issue. We discussed this every time we had rain and we saw how much mud came into the wall area, then the garage. They kept reassuring us they would make this wall exactly what it should be. Per item #3, every time they took out any part of the wall and rebuilt, we talked about the fact that even though these stones were ‘freeform’, they had to be fitted snugly & reinforced securely. We asked about securing the wall, and Jim assured me it could be done. He did say that he realized it would be harder than he thought originally, but it would be done correctly. At termination only, Ben did offer to tear the wall down, and rebuild it, but out of the same stones. NOT anything we wanted. We had already wasted too much time and money; we had lost all confidence in their abilities and competence. We knew we could not trust them to be honest and do what was required on this project. Why would we repeat the same actions and expect different results? 18) False! Contract does not state a ‘specific price’ for sod. It does state: Install 15 pallets of zoysia sod in front yard. We expected to pay the increase in price between the sod we paid for and the better quality we preferred. But for Ben to ask us for that money AFTER termination is ridiculous. And yet it proves that he is well aware that we had paid for the sod in the deposit!! He would have expected us to pay for their mistake in measuring wrong too! 5 pallets would have been another $1200+ error! Ben’s response proves Lack of Integrity and careless disregard for customer relations. Ben made no attempt to offer definitive solutions to our concerns. Ben needed the assistance of an employee to defend their procedures and dispute our concerns. We had to ask Ben to deal with us personally, as he had for the last several years in our relationship. Ben really had very little to say in defense of their work, and accepted and agreed with many of our listed concerns. 2 days later Ben refused to look at the contractor’s responsibilities, and kept repeating that he spent all the materials money on ‘other stuff’ and didn’t have it any more. We have not harassed Ben in any manner. We did expect Ben to respond to 4 courteous calls in 3 ½ months, trying to resolve a bad situation. Ben’s refusal is both rude and bad business. If he truly wished to reach an agreement, he would certainly be open to conversation. One of the 4 calls was to let Ben know we would not pay his subcontractor’s invoice. (See 12) We can only consider Ben’s final statement to be false as well, since he is certainly not interested in resolving this issue, or wanting the best for a client. He has lost our business, and our respect.