Island Details Landscaping & Maintenance

I would describe this company as incredibly disrespectful, incompetent, and predatory. We initially hired island details when we moved to the island. We were convinced by them to spend extra at the beginning for a "clean up" and then an ongoing maintenance schedule. Fortunately, someone was at the house during many of the ongoing maintenance visits. We discovered that we were not receiving the time on site that we were paying for! Often only two hours with two people who worked slowly while we were paying for 8 man-hours on-site at each visit. When we spoke to the company we were told that yes that is true and that they that closely monitor their trucks with GPS, the banked time would be used for the fall "clean up". Had we not confronted the company I am sure they would never have said anything. Fall came around and despite paying for maintenance all year, our yard did not look good! This was because they were not adequately doing the maintenance job they were being paid for. At the time of the fall "clean up" I met with her crew and it was clear they did not receive much direction or supervision. After one day we were texted that it was going to take more time to finish the work and that the crew would be back tomorrow. We never approved additional time or agreed to any expenditure beyond our maintenance agreement with which they failed to perform. We were out of town and could not respond or review the work. The crew proceeded to work for three more days. We were under the understanding that this work was to be completed under the time we had already paid for and had been "banked". They worked for three days without our approval or a contract and then tried to bill us for almost 4 grand for the additional work! Work that wouldn't have been needed if they had done it as scheduled. When we spoke about this issue the company refused to compromise on the bill in order to reach a fair agreement for the work that was done. The owner was very rude! At one point saying "this is what it costs to take care of houses on the island." "Most of her clients would never complain about a bill like this." and "that some of our plants had needed specialists that required a much higher rate", "If we can't afford to take care of the house then we may be living beyond our means" and she has seen "kids from Seattle move here before and not understand what it takes to maintain a property on the island". It became clear that she thought she could just take advantage of us. Avoid this company at all costs. We have since found a great company, and not had any of these issues.

Good workers, mean manager Most of the front-line people do excellent work, but be warned. If they do anything wrong, management won’t accept responsibility. After a worker left an irrigation valve on full earlier this year, I got a huge water bill, but the boss refused to reimburse me, although that worker has been fired. After blaming the City and asking them to replace the water meter, I did get a refund from the City, but nothing from Island Details.

Island Details did a big job for us in 2016 when a car crashed through the front hedge and plowed through our front yard. Dian provided a detailed estimate for the insurance company, and responded immediately to them when there were additional details needed about the project. She went out of her way to find the plants that we wanted to replace the hedge material, and followed through at every step (hedge replacement, ground repair, lawn replacement, irrigation with pipe, sprinklers and timers). I was very impressed, and when the front yard grass got out of hand during this rainy, rainy April (2017) I called on them again to help. She had a crew out the following day, and everything was taken care of immediately. Bravo!

Their representative meet me on site at the appointed hour and was professional and enthusiastic about the possibilities. I was told he could provide me with a bid with a week or so. A week turned into over a month. I have called twice and was told it was in the works. I am very disappointed to give them negative review. I had read nice things about their company, and had hope to do business with them. But the reality was it was a frustrating waste of my time.

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Work was completed on time and exactly as described....Diane took care of everything and kept me abreast of everything.....100% satisfaction....this doesn't happen very often but it did this time