TIERRA BELLO LANDSCAPING

.We dealt with MICKEY CARTER, who was Tierra Bello Landscaping. Work started right away and went well for awhile. As time went on we saw less and less of Mickey, in fact mostly it was to get some more money for the job. Durning this time there would be people here working and then they wouldn't be here for a long time. When they would come back they would tell us they were pulled off for another job. When the plants were finally planted - they were not where the landscape plan had them, and we found out later that they were not even the plants that we had been told they would be. This was such a nightmare that I cann't even bring myself to write about it. We finally had to get another landscape company to repair a lot of the work that had been done, and to complete work that we paid him to do, but was never started. We have tried to get our money back, but to no avail. We would tell anyone who reads this DO NOT EVEN TALK TO MICKEY CARTER about landscaping!!! He talks a good game, but is the biggest crook we have ever met. Believe us when we say there are many more out this who have had the same experience.

The contract, which we had to request (he wanted us to tell him how much we wanted to spend and we wanted him to give us a a price and what it included and work from there) was signed on July 15,2011 which stated the work was to begin on Wed. July 20, 2011 and be completed on July 31st, 2011 (with the exception of the oak tree trimming). He verbally said, when he was out looking at the areas we wanted done, that it would be 50% down and 50% upon completion. When he finally brought the bid (contract) out, he asked that we pay him $8,000.00 up front and the balance upon completion. We agreed. Work actually began on the 19th with two guys (weed eating the green weeds in our "natural" landscape that were actually supposed to be dead due to the spraying Micci did a few days earlier). Then the same two came back the next day for 4 or 5 hours and began the stone border work but were then rained out. They left and did not come back the next day (July 20) and Micci did call to say it would be too muddy to work The stone guys (two of them) came back out on the 21st and continued the stone border. On Friday,July 22, only one stone guy showed up and worked by himself for about 6 hours. Micci came to the site that afternoon to give him Micci said he would be out Sat, July 23 with the bobcat and the crew would cut and haul dirt/rock from the bed areas. He stated that the intent was to arrive that day (Friday )with the bobcat but the bobcat was not working at the moment.. Sat came and went with no work, no bobcat, and no word from Micci. On Monday, July 25 no workers had shown up by 10:30 A.M. I called and spoke with Micci around that time. Micci said he was having problems with the stone guy although he was in his vehicle and trying to find another stone layer and would call back in 15 minutes. At 5:30 P.M. we had not heard back from Micci and no one arrived for work. July 26th, no workers, no Micci, not even a phone call. On July 27, a big crew showed up (but not with the guy who was doing the stone work originally) and began weeding eating and digging up the native grass and weeds, working to get all the old vegetation out and they worked the next day. The work was slow but to be honest, it was extremely hot all that time in triple digits so the men took frequent breaks to sit in the shade of the oak tree which was understandable. Time marched on. Micci made the crew pull out the beginnings of the rock work for the water feature because he didn't like it. An experienced water feature guy that seemed to know exactly what Micci was wanting came. The mulch was placed prior to the lighting and the drip system so the mulch got trampled down and moved around and was uneven with bare spots where the caliche was showing through. During this last few days, prior to the water feature being completed, although the beds were completed, the work was scanty. Also the drip system was set to water for three hours each morning and three hours each evening. Now this was supposed to be zerascape. Well, because of so much water and because most of the large garden is on a slope, the bottom portion of the garden was literally standing in water and water was running down the hill that is not landscaped. It was a mess and our well was getting a bit sluggish (I turned off the drip system). I called Micci and he said I was becoming a problem. He did send the irrigation guy back out to fix the drip issue. We had a "surprise" landscape inauguration (only one or two folks knew about the project )planned for August 6th (to which Micci was invited) along with some family and friends to see the landscape that I had been dreaming about for more than six years. By this time it was August 4th and Micci came out in the morning while crews were there and asked for the balance although things were not yet complete. We were uncomfortable with this but stupidly we did because we were thinking he might need it to finish our job.. Then the drip system to the baskets was installed and it was horrible! the lines hung down and were wrapped aroung the porch posts like Christmas tree lights. Micci had told us in the very beginning that we would not even be able to see the drip lines going up to the baskets. Well the guy who installed it used duct tape to hold the lines under the top rail and that lasted about two hours before the duct tape came unstuck. Also, half of hte landscape lighting did not work. At the party, he told my Dad and us that we would see him on Monday, that he was going to bring out 3 more yards of mulch (which he had told us he would do earlier that week) and we said we needed to review the punch list at that time as well. Micci never showed up. He would not return our phone calls and did not respond to our emails. We had several plants die (that we pointed out at the party, less than a week after the were planted) and that left "holes" in those areas. There are big gaps in some areas where plants should be but were not planted and should have been. Finally we sent an email and stated that if the work and/or follow-up was not completed and it was necessary for us to hire someone to finish what he had started and what we had paid for, we would be forced to take legal action. Still, not one word from Micci, Then out of the blue, the week of Sept. 12, workers showed up and installed the float valve and fixed the drip to the hanging baskets and got the other half of the lights working. But we still have very little mulch, some dead plants and we have lots and lots of weeds growing up in the beds that we are trying to keep under control. It remains to be seen if the oak tree will be trimmed in December. We will not hold our collective breath and I hope he surprises us and takes responsibility for the work he was contracted and paid to do.

On 5-9-09 Micci and I sat on my back patio after he walked the job and he gave me a quote for the above mentioned scopes. He spoke with confidence and said getting this work done would be no problem within a week or so. I paid him $5k up front. I was going out of town the next week but he said he would drop off a written agreement my wife - he never did. He asked if he could get started early so he could finish by the following Thurs 5-14. I said yes. I reamined out of town but my wife reported only half the deck had been done. I heard from Micci on 5-15 and he asked for an addtl. $3k so he could have the cash flow to finish the job. I paid him. With only a small amount of additional work completed on the deck and many phone calls unreturned, Micci finally called again on 5-22. He assured me all work would be complete by 5-28 and once again asked for an additional $2,500 to finally be able to finish the work. I reluctantly (and foolishly) paid him. By 6-2-09 I had once again been unsuccessful in having Micci return any of my calls and I (finally) realized I was being taken advantage of. The deck was incomplete, no sprinkler work had been done, and approximately 5% of the landscaping had been completed. I left Micci a letter at his place of business stating I was pursuing legal remedies. This seemed to spark some urgency as the sprinkler system construction finally began and there were more workers at my house. Then there was no progress and I left a voice mail stating that the work must be complete by this past Sunday, 6-14. Again there was initially urgency late last week but no one worked Saturday or Sunday. Also, some of the sprinkler work seems to be less than stellar. For example, a control cable was simply punched through the trim of a garage window instead of being properly penetrated and secured. In summary, one month after this project was promised to be completed, I have: a deck not quite finished; a sprinkler system that has not been connected, with valves and sprinkler heads protruding from the ground; and a yard with knee high grass that has been burned in many spots due to lack of water. If I'm fortunate enough for Micci to answer his phone when I call, he simply does not tell the truth. Last week, it was as blatant as telling me "I have guys heading your way right to finish this afternoon...". Of course, no one showed up for days. Although I prefer to see the best in people, there is no other conclusion at which I can arrive than this: Micci is simply a dishonest person. He persuaded me to pay him for virtually the entire project up front to speed the construction, then took that cash and apparently used it elsewhere while my generosity was rewarded with ambivalence. Disturbingly he seems almost amused by his own unethical behavior, saying to me last week, "I told you it would be done Thursday...I just didn't tell you WHICH Thursday." Needless to say I am now pursuing all legal means necessary.

Micci is very gifted with knowledge of the designing of landscaping and how to treat the terrain of the hill country. His company property is landscaped beautifully and he has designed and built a fantastic water feature of cascading water falls and a fountain.

Micci is very gifted with knowledge of the designing of landscaping and how to treat the terrain of the hill country. His company property is landscaped beautifully and he has designed and built a fantastic water feature of cascading water falls and a fountain.

Overall all it went bad. The job was not completed, however, I paid in FULL for the job. Micci Carter is unreliable and dishonest. I telephoned him numerous times and asked him to please complete the job. He ALWAYS says "I will be there tomorrow" but he never shows up. He told me there was a 30 day guarantee on the plants and if there was a problem with any of them within that time period they would be replaced. Some plants are showing signs of distress. I also discussed with him before he began the job that we have a deer problem here and I stressed to him that I wanted plants that the deer will not eat. He paid no attention to me regarding that request and many of the plants have been eaten by the deer. He promised me that he would plant succulents in four large pots that I have, but that was never done either.