Radley Landscaping

I had used them for a minor job and they did an okay job, so I talked with them (Steve Taylor) about repairing/repainting my front porch and steps. I got a quote that I thought was too high, he wanted to negotiate so he agreed to repair/replace/repaint some trim on my garage and I agreed. Then the price for the repair kept going up, because he needed paint, he was going to do an extra good job, etc. This was all in November of 2012. I specifically asked him if it could be done and he said it would because we were having a very mild autumn. He promised it would be done on such a date and he didn't show up. Over and over again. Then came the snow, and he said first thing in the spring. In the spring I contacted him and again, promises, promised. I have the emails from him promising and promising, yet never showing up. Promises about what a good job he is going to do, he's not there because he's got this really good, expensive paint and he's almost losing money because he knows he messed up not coming in the fall, yadda yadda. Finally I'd had enough and started demanding my money back, because of course my checks had long since been cashed. Steve told me he could give it back, but I was on the schedule for "tomorrow." I agreed to let them do the work. I was told that 3 times before they finally showed up, but show up they did. I was at work when they came, but when I got home, the garage trim had not been repaired or replaced. Sloppily repainted, sure, with water based paint (I believe, because it washed off in the rain) and there was paint all over my driveway. The front steps and porch - he did the top of the porch and the top and the rise of the steps, but not the sides of the porch, which we specifically discussed. Even better, I have brass house numbers on the rise of one of the stairs and yes, you guessed it, he painted those as well! Even better, I guess he used my hose to clean up his brushes because the water was still running when I got home, flooding a flower bed. I called and complained about the lack of repair to the garage and to one specific step that was splitting that he promised to replace, about the bad paint on the garage, about the lack of paint on the side of the porch, and was met with disdain and told too bad. When I persisted in trying to contact him, I ended up having to text him as he stopped taking my calls. I received the following text in reply to my requests that he call me so we could work something out. He said: "Sorry your (sic) not happy and you never gave me $100 first off. Second off I told you your wood was bad from the start and you did not want it replaced. IF Y Im (sic) done with you now please stop calling me since your (sic) talking about legal issues and take it up with your attorney then. I told you everything on the phone that needed to be done so maybe check your recordings." I have copies of my cancelled checks, I have copies of the emails we exchanged talking about the scope of the project, I even have 2 voice mails from him. Unfortunately to recover $600 (or some portion thereof) will cost me still more money. I think that's what he counts on: taking small enough jobs so when people are dissatisfied they ultimately decide it's not worth it to sue for their money back. This is a dangerous, deceitful man. Do not, under any circumstances, give him any money. He will ruin your property and you will end up having to pay yet someone else to fix his mistakes.

I called 4 landscapers to get quotes for a retaining wall, some landscaping, and to fill in the area with dirt and seed. Radley Landscaping was one of the choices. I called for a quote and Steve (owner) was at my house within a day. My husband and I wanted the project completed in a short time period and Steve assured us he could complete the job in that time frame. He had given us a written quote for the project. It was competitively priced in comparison to the other quotes we received. He also told us he would give us free sod (instead of seed) and would fix my flower bed (flatten the dirt and make my border even and flat) free of charge. The quote included all the materials, labor, etc. My husband and I decided to use Radley since he could complete the job when we wanted it done. However after giving Steve half down, it was very difficult to contact him after that. He made promises to come and start work on a certain day and did not show up or even call to inform us he was not going to make it. This occurred on several occasions. Then he sent out one of his employees to start the job and stated it would be completed by the weekend. He had the paving bricks delivered to the house and the delivery truck placed them behind one of our cars. We did not think anything of it, since Steve assured us the job would be completed over the weekend. However, Steve and his employees did not show up to complete the job. As a result, our car was blocked in the garage. My husband and myself were luckily able to move one of the palettes and got the car out of the garage. The job was not completed in the time frame we had been promised (also due to some rain). After numerous phone calls to Steve and Steve not returning our phone calls, we decided to let Steve know we were no longer interested in him completing the job. Steve called back within minutes. He had many excuses why the job was not complete (my trailer hitch broke, I don?t have a trencher, weather, on and on). He also told us that the sod he was going to give us would not grow well in the area were we wanted it. Our thoughts were if he knew this, why would he offer us the sod? About 3 weeks after our requested date of completion, Steve was at the house working on the project. However as my husband was watching their progress, he noticed that Steve was not fulfilling his contract. Per the contract, Steve was supposed to put down a 6? base of crushed gravel, install a weed barrier behind and in front of the wall, backfill with gravel (and dirt), and provide all materials. These are things he did not do. He also did not order enough dirt to fill the area and told us we had enough. When we questioned him about why he did not follow the contract, he told us we did not need these items. We asked him to adjust the price and he refused, indicating the ?price is the price.? We were furious since he did not complete the job to our satisfaction. Against our better judgment, we agreed to pay him and my husband told him to get off our property. My husband and I discussed we would have another landscaper fix his work and we did not want to deal with Steve anymore. However the next day, Steve called and apologized. My husband indicated he was not happy with the job and was going to cancel the check. Steve had already cashed the check but our bacn did not take it out of the account yet. Steve asked him not to cancel the check and would be at the house the same day to finish the job. He brought in more dirt and seeded. Despite this, Steve did not fulfill his contract. Steve was very unprofessional and made promises he did not keep (he did not fix my flower bed as promised). Every time we talked to him, he was always in a rush. He did not listen to what we wanted and attempted to convince us to change our minds. He did not measure accurately and was short on dirt (and wanted to charge us for the extra dirt). We also had to supply some materials and had to purchase more seed. I would not recommend Radley landscaping/contracting for any work that you want done to your home or yard. Extremely disappointed in our decision and would not recommend them to anyone. FYI, he also owns Seth's affordable roofing. I can't image that service for that business is any better.