Another Pool Drama Story. Sort of. (Long)

16 years ago

Have been procrastinating on some things around the house and finally called a landscaping company to come out for a "free" consultation.(Found them at a homeshow) They were to come up for an estimate on two small corner planters in the pool area and to come up with some privacy landscaping at the corners and sides of the pool cage.

I am away on business and Company owner shows up. My wife tells him what we need done and he jots everything down and he will call us back with the estimate and plans on CD. She hands him a check for $500. A BIG MISTAKE/MISCOMMUNICATION on our part.My wife thought I had spoken to them about a fee and that it would just come off the price of plants/supplies if we do business with them. The Home Theater and Window Treatment companies had fees and they were taken off the bills.

Two weeks goes by and we don't get a call. I call them and go out to their site. They apologize and sit down and go over the plans and estimate. Their plans are to tear up all our new landscaping around all sides and front of house and install their "look" they want for us. The plans don't even include the planters in the pool area or the corners of the pool screen what we had called them for in the first place. The price. $19,900 Then we get an E-mail we forgot a few things. The labor for installing the plants. New estimate is $24,500. Not including the planters nor the $85 hour labor for redoing the sprinklers. All plants sold "As Is" No warranty.Even Lowes gives you a year warranty on some plants Oh yea the $500 will be returned if you buy our entire package labor included. The form my wife signed at the beginning said none of this. We learned a big lesson.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

airborne101
16 years ago
Mike thats outrageous. I guess they aren't willing to refund your $? I sure hope you tell them you are reporting them to the BBB, any licensing agency for them there ( must need some kind of contractor license if they are doing plumbing?) and to the show producers too. I have seen the show producer here make a furniture company literally take a table and chair set off display and give it to someone they "forgot" about from a prior show. Keep us posted. Barb
chiefneil
16 years ago
That sucks. But when I was selecting a landscaping company, they all charged a fee to develop a plan. Typically around $500, too. So you didn't necessarily get ripped off, you just paid for a plan you don't like. It might easily be based on miscommunication, not knowing what your wife said when they were there.
Related Professionals
Haltom City Swimming Pool Builders · Santa Clarita Swimming Pool Builders · Oatfield Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · White Oak Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Berkley Landscape Contractors · Chelmsford Landscape Contractors · Harvey Landscape Contractors · Point Pleasant Landscape Contractors · San Pedro Landscape Contractors · Tinton Falls Landscape Contractors · Quartz Hill Landscape Contractors · Kalamazoo Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Midwest City Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Saint Louis Park Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Wheaton Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures
krisfl
16 years ago
Wow, that sounds like a crazy amount of money for landscaping....it must have been a very elaborate plan! I just had a plan drawn up and he didn't charge us anything to do it. It included 6 Queen Palms, 2 white birds of paradise, 3 magnolias, about 30 other plants, landscape lighting illuminating palms and BOP, sod replacement and added 2 zones to the sprinkler system for about $7K. Too bad you didn't live closer...I would definetly recommend this guy, he has done about 5 homes in my neighborhood and he is great!
jfraley
16 years ago
That is outrageous. Our landscaper charged $250 to come up with a design that you could keep and if you went with them, it came off of the bill. His first quote was $9000 but that was before the pool was put in. Afterwards there was not as much area as we thought. It dropped to $3000 and that included: 6' Palm, 2 sml palms, Lg Magnolia Tree, 3 Med Magnolia Trees, Lg. Japanese Yew, 12 smaller shrub/plants, groundcover, mix & mulch. Our PB did the sprinkler reroute and it was $1150. You might just get the design from them and find someone else to do business with.
little_country_gal
16 years ago
Guess it's too late to cancel the check....
kurtv
16 years ago
So, you basically paid for a plan. If you don't like the plan, have them redo it to your specs; they should be willing to do that especially if they think you're going to use them for the work. Turn the tables: String them along and get something for your $500.
sandradee
16 years ago
Don't know if the "md" part of your screen name means you're in MD, but when we lived in MD, a "free" landscaping consultation was a person coming by to say, "Yeah, you could put some kind of planting area over here, maybe a path going through here, etc." Usually, this "free" consultation could only be scheduled 2-3 months out. There was one company out there who also charged just $25 for a consultation, but it was the same, general overview, nothing specific - that would cost a whole lot "extra." Now, if they thought you might actually go through with a plan, they'd draw it all up for you for a $500 fee, applicable to their work, should you decide to go with the plan in its entirety at mega-bucks...all of this is very, very similar to what you encountered.

I always thought the $500 fee was to weed out those who just wanted a few ideas and would then go DIY. Also, in metro-MD/DC, ANY company spends a huge amount of time on the road going from place to place, as the traffic is horrendous.

Now that we're in a smaller city in TX, there was 1 company in town who had the same $500 consultation fee if I wanted anything specific or drawn up. And...they were booked at least 8 weeks out to even get the consultation.

We ended up finding a much more accomodating company who saw us the very next week, drew up plans for less than $100 and gave us the option of DIY with their whole-hearted support, or they could also do the full installation (landscape only, no sprinklers) for a reasonable amount, IMO.

I'm with kurtv, get the plans to your liking for the $500 and then re-evaluate.
gk5040
16 years ago
Did your wife tell them your master plan and budget? Or at least that you werent looking to rip out what you already had, you just wanted to enhance? I am sure they wont refund the money but maybe they could revamp the plans to fit your budget, even if you do some of the work later on your own. Most nurseries do not offer much more than a 30-90 day warranty on their plants. Hopefully you would get that? Best of luck.