Creative Contours (under new management)

Experience was pleasant. Design was different and introduced new things to think about.

I purchased a big deal from Angie's List and they immediately contacted me and scheduled an appt. They no showed and never called or emailed. Finally contacted Angie's List and they contacted them and again we rescheduled and they were over an hour late for the appt. They submit a bid but were over 4k over other bids. Customer service was very poor. Had to have Angie's List refund my coupon.

I had used Mark//Creative Contours last year and he had built a pathway on the side of my house. My previous review is on here, and at that time I had rated him a C. Mark had contacted me again this year with a special on sealing my path. I was shocked that he would even contact me to offer me his services, as I was very frustrated after the last project. I openly expressed these concerns with Mark, and in return he provided me some explanation of his circumstances at that time. It sounded reasonable enough to me, so I hired him again; but only with the promise this time would be different. I think he still needs a better system with making/canceling appointments and better communication and organizational skills. But overall, his work is very good and it was completed in a reasonable amount of time. Make your expectations clear, allow some room for delay; and you can expect a great product in the end. There is no question that he is very good at what he does!

My father in law have house in very bad location, on a hill side. where is very limited access and not much of usefull property outside. Old retaining wall from railroad ties slowly was giving away so we needed to replace it ASAP cause it does hold a large amount of soil behind. And since it is a hill side there is a huge amount of water rubs off in fall time. It took a week maybe two for Mark to come up with a concept for future retaining wall and patio. The amount of work what needed to be done was huge and space to work with and access was very limited. Me and Mark did go over the project but still It took me few days to fully understand how does the whole project would look like at the end. I did get few bids for the project from different companies and not only Marks bid was very competitive he also gave me a 20% discount as for referral of myself, if we can say so. I'm sure Mark most likely wasnt happy with the fact that he give discount on this project but he kept his word. Why unhappy, because the job site did throw a few curve balls to him and from a distance it looked like the property was defending itself however it could, starting with underground water and finishing with mud slides from upper level. I will attach few pictures so you could see the complex of the project and how everything done in level. The easy way probably would be for them to build walls as separate structures same as steps but Mark and his crew actually did not go that route. The project took 1.5 month to complete and I'm glad that it took this long cause in my mind i was hoping for 2 month or maybe more. Mark truly outdid himself and my father in law is very happy person with nice looking patio. But even after building patio at his placee it did not stoped him to come over for BBQ to my house most of the time

The overall experience was great. Right from the start Mark did let us know that working days will be starting a little bit after 10 am due to his morning classes in college, this way we did not have to worry where is he in a morning. It took approx. 2 weeks after our initial meeting to the final paper signing and Mark have been patient with all our reviews of the project where we been removing and adding some stuff after looking on some materials or finding some new design for the patio. Probably he had to redo the estimate 5 times due to all changes and estimate have been professionally done where Mark did itemized all materials separately with brake down in prices. But even after all our revisions my wife managed to come up with something during the construction and Mark always took it into consideration, recommending something different if on his opinion what we asked wasn?t looking good or did not even go there at all. Mark was working with his crew full days regardless from what time they start the day unless the midterm or final was coming up. At every point of the construction he tried to explain us what he is doing and why and his attention to the details is INCREDIBLE. Thru out all project he did not cut any corner, like some contractors like to do or skip some step since no one is at home. Always been on a watch for what does his crew does and making sure it is done correct way cause he had to redo level of crushed gravel after his crew made it with to little of a slope. The project itself was going for 2 month or so, with all the delays which been caused by my fault. I do not know how he managed to do it but Mark actually did go with my wife to the nursery to help her choose the plants for the yard and deliver them. That day I haven?t seen them working on my yard only next day he arrived with all plants I didn?t try to ask him about yesterday cause I know what it takes to go with my wife for the plants. Overall I had great experience with Creative Contours and with a final product so I did hire them again for my father in law house.

I signed up for a Big Deal that was to have been power washing deck, driveway, weeding, pruning, spreading bark, applying fertilizer and weed killer to flower beds and lawn, and gutter cleaning, and hauling away debris for $1,400. for $2700. worth of work. Mark came out and looked at the job. We made an appointment for him to come and start the work He and another worker spent 12 hours on my yard in a months time. He missed numerous scheduled appointments. I never knew if or when he would show up. He had a million excuses for not making the appointments - he spent a night in the hospital with food poisoning, he had to go to court and too many other excuses to remember. He could not make phone calls out - he could only take incoming calls - but usually I had to leave a message to which he never responded. He used email to communicate. I got a refund from Angie's list, but I decided to give Creative Contours a chance to finish the job they'd started. He did not complete a single job - he left them all partially finished. The last appointment we had, he was to have been here at 10 AM to collect $300 from me so he could go to the dump and pick up bark. He showed up unannounced at 2 PM (4 hours late). The only reason I knew he was here is because my dog who was in the backyard, started barking when he entered the yard. In the meantime, I had called another landscape service and scheduled the work to be done by them. I believe that Mark was overbooked and ill-equipped to run a business. I don't believe he has any training in landscaping. I would never use him again nor would I recommend him.

Mark does beautiful work and his prices are very good. He is however unreliable. When asked to return to fix something not done correctly, he never responds. We also ordered and paid for him to deliver a load of mulch and we never heard from him again.

We purchased an Angie's List coupon in May of 2012. The landscaper called us immediately to schedule an initial visit, although it took several weeks to actually meet him in person. Due to an overwhelming demand for the Angie's List coupon, he wasn't able to schedule us for the patio until September, which was ok with us- we weren't in a hurry. The actual job took about two weeks to complete due to the unusual nature of the location of the patio (underneath a vine maple with roots causing an uneven surface)and the landscaper's schedule. He did an amazing job on the patio and had a number of good suggestions on how to minimize the eventual surfacing of tree roots (he dug down deep and added extra layers of gravel to ensure a firm foundation). The end product is beautiful. It just took a while to complete it.

It was terrible - the worse experience I have ever had.

Came out for estimate of additional work needed beyond the Angie List Deal. Sent me an estimate but never returned calls to schedule the work. Angie's List gave me a refund.

The work performed, when performed, appears to be high quality. Mark's attention to detail was excellent, including at one point re-doing several hours of work because of a mistake one of his guys made. So I'm very happy with the finished product. This is the only redeeming value in the entire deal. Mark made numerous promises about when he'd start the job, which we'd paid 50% up front on. He ended up starting the job about a week late, only after I told him I was concerned he'd ripped me off. Once he started the job he'd show up one day, work about 4-6 hours then not show for several. I'd call him, which mostly involved leaving voicemails and emails while waiting for him to get back to me. This pattern continued so that the promised 9 day job took nearly 3 months. We also had a disagreement over the charge for fill dirt. When he initially quoted the job I specifically asked him about fill dirt being included. He'd indicated it was not but that he could get it for free very easily and he'd just charge for delivery at $50/load with the likely-hood that three loads would be adequate. Once the job got to the point where he needed fill dirt he emailed me telling me he couldn't find any for free and it would likely cost several hundred dollars. I called around and searched on-line and found free (clean) dirt within a few miles of my home. I passed this info on to mark. He replied to my email asking for my cell number, leaving me to assume he was going to call me, which he never did. The next day he tells me via email he's got fill dirt on the way. I mistakenly assumed he'd gotten the fill dirt I'd found. In the end he tacked on the charges for the fill dirt at $920. The original estimate was about $3400, another 25% added to the bill for ordering fill dirt that I never expressly approved. I speculate that based on the behavior I witnessed from him, and complaints he'd made about how far a drive it was for him to come up to our home each time, he just didn't want to make the trips necessary to pickup and deliver the fill dirt himself. His mistake was assuming we'd simply pay the bill for this when he never got our ok, it's not like it was only a $100 or $200 difference. In the end we settled on paying another $250 above the original estimate. I think this was probably fair as neither of us was real happy with the number. One last thing that upset me about this was a comment he made when we settled the final bill. He knew we were Christians and said in his last email that God would judge us. The entire dealing for me was filtered through what I thought was right as a Christian. This was a business transaction in which he'd made a mistake that cost $920. The argument was over who was financially responsible for that mistake. We paid $250 out of the beleif that we were at least partially responsible.

It took several phone calls(the last one to Angie's List) and emails until I got a reply and date for a first meeting with the proprieter, Mr. Satin. We agreed on the work to be done, even to an enlarged project and a higher price. I was given an approximate start date witin 1-2 weeks. Time went by, nothing was done. I tried repeatedly to contact Mr. Satin and finally was told it would be another week. This also went by, and another promise for a later start "as soon as his present job was finished." Three weeks later I called Angie's List again and cancelled the contract, the money was promptly refunded. By then almost 6 weeks had passed and I had lost interest and faith in the agreement. I built the patio myself, it was much cheaper and I am very proud of it. Several weeks after I completed my patio Mr. Satin called to inform me he was now ready to start.

They did a great job with the work, but the job took a very long time; we were dissatisfied with how long the work took, since we couldn’t use our driveway normally. Mark, the owner of the company, is straightforward and honest, but isn’t very responsive and is uncommunicative. He also seems to be unresponsive to my neighbor as well, since he wanted some work done by Mark. Also, one of the phone numbers on his business cards has been disconnected.

Everything was unorganized and there was no communication between him &I. I was always left not knowing what was going on. The work started in the beginning of June; I wanted to have the work done by the end of June, since that’s when I was having guests over, however, the work wasn’t finished until the first week of July. Overall, I love my path, but I don’t think it looks finished. He might’ve been extremely overwhelmed, but I wish there would’ve been more and better communication throughout the project.

I talked to Mark once in May and he came out to the house for the estimate. I have made repeated phone calls that were not returned and we are now into August. I even sent emails and worked through the Angie's List team to get this appointment set up but still have no date for the work. I have not been able to set a date with him since May, I feel that I am a small job being put off for a bigger job.

I will not use this contractor as they did not arrive for their consult appointment. They did not call to say they would not be coming nor have they contacted me in any way to attempt to explain nor reschedule. If a company can't manage the inital interactions, they won't get my business.

Listed in Angie's Big Deals for $1300. My yard needed a lot of attention which made the price reasonable to me. During a very busy time of year for them, Mark, the owner kept me informed of when they would be working at the house. He went the extra mile and laid additional bark in my very large back yard for no additional cost! Everything looks wonderful, I'm very pleased with their landscaping and lawn services. I've hired them for an additional job to replace a fence section and I plan to start a monthly maintenance plan for my front yard. I highly recommend Creative Contours.

We decided not to do the work that was bid.

I found Mark on Angie's and had him over to give an estimate on the retaining wall which simply needed replacing. It is on the back side of the house so the look of it is less important than the function. Mark talked me through the pros and cons of different materials, and gave me his view of what would give the best bang for the bucks and that's what I went for - a natural boulder wall. The end result is brilliant - functional and good looking. We then went on and let Mark do our patio as well, in flagstone, with a low stone bench going around a tree. Also here he had some nice ideas and the final result looks good. Mark is easy to deal with and his price is very competitive. The only remark I have is that the time estimates for both project start and project completion in both cases were too optimistic and not in line with my original plans. But the price makes up for that since the quality of the work is not affected. I would engage Mark again if I had more landscaping needs.

His bid was way too high, so I didn't call him back. They quoted me $6100 + tax. I had several bids for several dollars less. I am sure he knew what he was doing. I think even if his bid was $4000, I don't think so I would have used him. He came out and looked at it. He gave me the bid, and he was here for less than 30 minutes. He told me if I choose him, he would give me some address to show his work. He was very responsive. He was here when he said he would come.

Overall experience was great. Will use Mark again for hardscaping and maintenance work in the future

Mark is prompt, professional and very hard working. I had three quotes and his was the most competitive. I'm so glad we went with Creative Contours. Every month he checks in to make sure things are getting done well and to make sure there isn't a specific new thing I need. He's super responsive. I would highly recommend Creative Contours!

The end result turned out good. But, we had some problems with the process. Mark, the owner, did a poor job at estimating the amount of time the job was to take, the amount of sod, top soil, organic material, and labor.....all of which were under estimated. Mark had many excuses for why the job was delayed and when his crew would arrive. Mark was on the job only 10% of the time. His worker, Raul, was the only person who was on the job working each day. Raul was a very hard worker who had three different helpers during the job. Not sure where Mark was getting his help, but, the use of the manpower was not very efficient.

I am very glad that I found Mark. He has transformed my yard into a wonderful, usable outdoor space. His charges were very reasonable and I found him to be very honest and reliable. I am extremely pleased with his work and would highly recommend him. The whole process was done quickly and efficiently and without any problems

Marc came to give me an estimate way after hours, way out of his way and in the pouring rain dodging chickens and dog bombs through my yard and clearly had a really good sense of humor and high tolerance for chaos. We got several estimates, but his price was comparable and also included replacing a short stairwell in the slope that other contractors said they would just build over unless we paid extra for the detail work. We opted to go with Marc for this reason and the fact that it we got a good vibe when we met with him. He started and finished within a reasonable time, with minimal disruption and didnt complain about having chickens running all over his worksite. He even spoke with the owner of adjoining property about the construction to help with the neighbor's concerns about the erosion we were resolving with the installation. Overall we are very pleased, have received numerous comments about how nice the wall looks and have already referred him to friends