I came in contact with this company via Home Depot. Communication was horrible. My quote came a week later than they said and after I emailed them did it come a day later. When I had questions, I received a brief answer. I felt after 3 attempts of clarifying the quote, that I was pulling teeth to get information. It really shouldn't be that way!! I guess I'm of the frame of mind that when someone wants to do business, they try to be as professional and upfront as they can. That they try to "wow" the customer with information so that they can make a decent and informed decision. After all, I would be the person "paying them!" The way I figure it, if a company can't perform very simple basic follow up, follow through and professional communication at the start, they're not going to be successful in managing a landscaping project until the end making sure that the customer is happy. Look, they obviously did a few things right back in 2008 from the other reviews, but they are not doing so well right now. I passed on their services happily and knowing that I just saved myself a huge mega headache. read more

Never got off the ground. We bought a new build Pulte home. Called three different landscaping services. We were impressive with creative landscaping's portfolio. All threw came out. Told them out budget (~40K +/- 5K). The designer came out and walked around the lot with us. We exchanged info and told me he would get back to me In a week. Nothing since then. We even contacted them again but still not response. Idk what happened to customer service, but of I'm paying THAT much money, it's not MY responsiblity, and nor are you doing a favor. Very disappointed. Regardless, Gothic Landscaping was who we went with, and they did a knock out job, stuck to the schedule, etc. you may not get the service you would expect from these guys (unless you are rich and think a $40K job is cheap). read more

We hired this company to do the pool and landscaping on our new home and it has been a disaster. First of all the landscape designer did not listen to a single thing we said as she was much more interested in looking for additional ways to charge us money. Then they were two months behind schedule on completion of the project. We continue to have issues with the work that they did. We have lost over 20% of the plants they planted and because the overseeded a young lawn, our lawn never recovered from winter. In addition they improperly installed the pool causing us to leak water for months and costing over a thousand dollars. We have tried to approach them about these issues but they continue to lie and make excuses. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. They only care about money, not the quality of work they do. read more

Horrible customer service. I was canceled on 8 minutes before a yard design meeting that I took time away from my job to be home for. I was told he just got out of a meeting and then he'll be out of town for a week?? This is the same type of excuses I've heard from previous contractors read more

Stay AWAY! These people are master manipulators! Very expensive and very poor quality. I called them out on how they created a beautifully drawn up design and what they delivered was the complete opposite. Tiny, small plants that died within two days... They are incredibly MISLEADING, please save your money & headache and go with another company! read more

I want to recognize the outstanding service I've received from Paul our current pool technician from CEMS, as well as, Charlie his predecessor. I've had weekly maintenance from CEMS on my pool for 5 years and in addition to thorough routine maintenance they have been very responsive to the occasional equipment issues that crop up. read more

This is a really good company, i would say the best IF IF IF you have 200k to spend on your backyard/pool. They make the best designs. If you hve less than 100k to pout in your backyard or pool, go to a 3 person shop, they will treat you like a king /queen. Their mark ups are crazy, but then again if you can get them more credit to them. For example, avg cost for art turf is 5.5 per ft they charge 14. Look at their wirk, it is amongst the best cant argue with that, they have designers who do a good job read more

Megan and her team did an amazing job on our pool and entire front/back yard. She's always been responsive and very personal. She has given us the freedom to enjoy our family and friends in a beautiful environment. We are forever grateful for her and her experience. Creative Environments was competitively priced and always provided excellent customer service. read more

I bought a house that was in need of some new landscaping, but I didn't have a whole lot of money to spend. I saw a Creative Environments truck in my neighborhood and called them and they offered me a free consultation and detailed estimate. I met with a very nice designer and let them know I only had a small budget and they worked with me and kept their design within my budget. The job was completed when they said it would be and the end result exceeded my expectations. I've recommended them to many of my friends and neighbors. Joe P. Mesa, AZ read more

After spending several months looking for the right design company we finally found someone who could think outside the box (not give a the same basic travertine pattern that is in almost every AZ home) and deliver the final product. There are many companies who will charge to design and many who will "just wing it " then install. We were given a design and quote with everything in writing. We had daily meetings to explain the progress and timeline of what was to happen. Our project was completed before the scheduled date. Creative went above and beyond to make sure we were impressed. They even repaired the border to our neighbors yard because it was an eyesore to the completed work on our property (at no cost to him or us.) Every member of the crew was professional and respectful. read more

Hired these guys to build us a pool in Gilbert. Lots of empty promises!! They started out strong and finished very weak! They damaged our custom decking and promised to fix it. never did it right. We now have to pay the original landscape guys to re-do. I have been out there all morning trying to put together and install the vaccuum, which they left in a box. They do not return my calls and I have never had a cartridge filter before and do not know how to clean it. No one coming by or returning phone calls! Chuck Hammond was the salesman, and he pieced out the works to what seemed to be unskilled laborers. Stay away from these guys! They are a rip-off. Should have went with Shasta! Our $17,000 pool looks like a $5000 pool. Also, very bad travertine work for decking. read more

Absolutely THE best customer service I've ever dealt with! From beginning to end! Erica Lara - front desk- one of the nicest people you'll meet and can tell genuinely cares about the customers issues ! Then with my yard! Absolutely down to the pebble in the sand they nailed it! Thanks everybody at creative! Highly recommend you guys for anybody who wants a beautiful yard or land anywhere! read more

Did original flagstone work for us in 2005. Work was probably 3 stars at that time. Needed some repair done earlier this year, not due to anything they originally did. Took way too long to get someone to come out to quote and then too long to get scheduled and had several different crews work on the same job. Despite our concerns expressed to the field crew during the work, they assured us all was OK. Here we are a few months later and a part of their repair work, the most critical part for us, recurred. Didn't waste our time getting them back, but called to let them know what happened and their reply was they have been in business since 1950 and we should have given them another chance to fix the problem. Not a chance. read more

Last year my wife and I decided to redo our backyard. Not knowing a thing about landscaping I contacted Creative Environments to ask some basic questions. The gal on the phone couldn't have been more helpful answering my sometime dumb questions. She scheduled me an appointment with their landscape designers. The designer showed up on time and was very professional and catered to my needs. He took several measurements and ask me lots of questions about things that I wanted. He showed me past projects that he completed and I was taken back on how awesome they were. A week later I received a computer drawing of my new back yard. Unreal. Plants, trees, shrubs, concrete, built in BBQ, planters, and then some were all laid out for me to see. It was drawn to scale so I could make any changes. The good news was there were no changes needed as it was everything I wanted. Once the project started I was taken back by the crew. They were very respectful to my needs and my property. They cleaned up every day before they left home. They put in all new sprinkler systems, lighting, audio speakers, all in one day. They worked super fast and very hard. After the project was done, I gained several new members to my family. We got along with everyone and I took care of their lunch on the last day to show my appreciation for their hard work. I can't say enough about them. Dan your awesome and I am glad to have you as part of my new family. read more

Don't waste your time, there was no "creative" in our experience. I went on their website and requested an estimate no response for a week finally got an email and the first available appointment was another week out. The guy came and didn't ask to many questions, defiantly didn't have any idea about plants when I explained our trees were planted to close to the fence and needed to be removed (as we have been told by several landscapers during our search) he told me they didn't. The guy said he would send me a design and info in a week and we would go from there. A week came and went, I emailed and he asked for another week. Now a month later he calls and says he is sending me everything. He sends me a bill, no design, no "creative" no ideas nothing. I called him and he said he would do a design when I told him how much I was going to spend 70k or 100k. I emailed him back and told him I was going to go with another company who could show me what 100k was getting me. Clearly they aren't interested in customers until you show them your bank account. read more

Lisa came out to give us a bid and offered no input whatsoever. I understand not being able to provide a complete design, but she didn't give us any idea of what she might do. She said she would send us a drawing and proposal in 2 weeks, but never heard back. Obviously we hired another company who verbalized some great ideas even prior to sending a formal proposal. I don't understand doing business like this. If she didn't want the job for any reason, why not just say so up front? Based on some other reviews, sounds like we dodged a bullet. read more

One start for the beautiful CAD and design/plant selections. Went downhill from there. One stressful problem after another. Couldn't wait for this nightmare to end so we would never have to deal with them ever again. Cannot recommend them to my worst enemy. read more

Worst company ever! Did a terrible job and wouldn't fix dead plants or anything. Everything was a half butt job or worse!

Great customer service is NOT their priority. Dealt with Lisa. Initial meeting was great, but she never delivered a plan or quote. Cancelled on us twice stating she was working 70+ hrs a week and that she had other customer plans that she was pulling together. Don't waste your time - go to Sonoran Landesign as they were fantastic and know what customer service is all about. read more

This company is the WORST! They have strung us along and have never provided what they say they will. I have sent over 18 emails and still have not received what they keep promising over and over. DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THEM IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO WAIT AT LEAST THREE MONTHS BEFORE INSTALLATION.... they don't tell you that upfront, of course. Beware! ... fancy, beautiful showroom ... terrible delivery ... don't be fooled! read more

This was the worst experience I have had with a landscaper. I had previously had a poor experience with another provider and when I spoke with Imagine Backyards, they recommended Creative Environments. Unfortunately, from day one once the contract was signed, they provided a substandard level of service. Examples of what they did are as follows. In spite of multiple calls, emails and attempts to contact CE, they consistently ignored my calls, did not return my emails, and when they finally did, they would placate me by telling me things would get done, however, never actually lived up to those promises. Just to give you an idea, this was initially described as a 4 week job, however, it lasted from October to February. The worst thing is, despite the significant increase in time to perform the job, it wasn't performed at any higher level. There continues to be several things that they have broken in the backyard including my fountain and irrigation system, however, despite dealing with their warranty department, even when they come to fix it, they have not fixed properly and they remain broken so I have had to use another provider to fix properly. The quality of care was very poor with CE digging the spa enclosure too deep and having to backfill and then too small, and having to enlarge to actually fit the spa. In the mean time, the spa was delivered and placed on my lawn and when the CE employees needed to move it, they used their shovels as levers to fulcrum the spa, obviously not taking care with this very expensive piece of equipment. Countless examples of how they would say one thing then do another, including not building the grill to spec and having to go back and redo, paving in cables that I had explicitly told them not to pave in, and others. The worst part of it all is that as I sit here 5 months out from when they started construction and significantly lighter in the pocket (they were the most expensive of our bids, however, we were assured that was because of their higher quality), I still have issues with my yard that they created that have not been resolved (the fountain and the irrigation system), so I have had to use another provider to actually get things done correctly. I would dissuade anyone from using Creative Environments in the future as they are a headache to deal with and you will not get a quality product from them. read more

To get to my 4 stars - I give 5 stars to both Eugenia our sales/designer and Morgan in customer service, 2 stars for the plant selection and 4 stars for the installation. Morgan and Eugenia are excellent ! We bought a Toll Brothers home and chose Creative out of 2 others we spoke with because of the knowledge and design of Eugenia and that she was very responsive and easy to deal with. I have heard from others, as in some of these reviews, not all of their sales/designers/installers at Creative are very responsive so we got lucky. The implementation/installation was good, not great. The minuses were the plant/tree selection from their wholesalers stock were not real impressive compared to what we saw others in the neighborhood were getting from competitors and that was disappointing. It looked like they just sent anyone to pick up whatever they gave them at the nursery rather than hand select the best sized and looking for the job. However, Eugenia did make it right without any push back and we really appreciated that ! After it was completed we did have a handful of plants not survive which is normal and some issues with the sprinkler and their customer service was top notch ! Morgan who takes care of that is right on top of things, getting it taken care of quickly and following up immediately. I would recommenced them but I would ask for Eugenia and take note of the stock and I think you will be very pleased. read more

HUGE BUYER BEWARE!!!!! We budgeted $25,000 - their plan ended up costing us $38,000 and that was necessary to fix issues they overlooked or measured incorrectly. They now have all their money and yet we still have unresolved issues. The pavers are buckled throughout the backyard - we request a fix - we still wait. The relaxation areas remain too small. The BBQ is too large (but we were told that's all we could have as it is a standard size) -- it was hand built and we fail to see how it was custom sized only. We fired our salesperson and then were told by Jim that he didn't understand why we were told this or that. The pool was supposed to be 5 foot throughout and is 5 foot in the very center only. 50% of their plants had to be replaced at our cost - most of which they themselves trampled while working. We were told after they formulated their backyard blueprint that they couldn't put patterned concrete down as it would crack so we were stuck with pavers, yet they provide concrete in other plans. All requested changes or questions were met with "we can't" "it's too late" and our salesman's favorite: "remember, you already signed the contract and we'd hate to have to take measures that will force you to....." We were never approached about backyard lighting and pool privacy issues were "solved" by them putting in 6" plants and telling us we'd have privacy in a matter of years. Any other planting ideas were knocked down by them. We will continue to wait for CE to fix things but they will end up forcing us to pay yet another contractor to fix it. CE exhaust us with appts that result in a no-fix. There are many really great landscaping companies out there as we have since learned while completing other areas of our new home. DO NOT settle for this company's pricing; it is NOT worth it. DO NOT sit by and let them railroad you into getting things done the way they want them done -- they will be forcing materials they already have in stock from some other job onto your job but you will pay full price nonetheless. If you find yourself buying into their Customer is Number 1 story, DON'T SIGN THE CONTRACT before the salesperson leaves the appointment. Forget the 3-day cancellation policy they will tell you about - it will take you longer than that to find out what a gigantic rip off they are. This company will promise you a world of satisfaction and then do whatever is easiest and cost effective for them. The entire project was exhausting, frustrating and lesson in talking into the wind. read more

Last year we built a home with TB and CE was their preferred vendor for landscape and pool design and build. we meet with 3 companies in total and our first meeting with CE was not a positive experience and they came in with the highest bid. At the urging of their VP of sales and owner they asked for another opportunity to rebid the project. Generally I would have never agreed to do this, but there were some potential advantages to having a completed yard and our dogs. Dan and Jim were great they designed a yard nobody else even considered to quote my wife upon completion "It looks exactly like the photo they created", they also earned the opportunity to install our paver drive, courtyard and covered patio. So it is 9 months later and the front landscape didn't have as much color pop as we would like. So we contacted Dan about replacing some of the plants, he revised our plan and when we asked for the quote, he said No Charge. We were floored we never expected him to say that. I have read the reviews here and would offer talk to Dan Waters and you will be more than pleased. read more

The work is sub-par, way over priced and once the job is done and you need warranty work! Good-Luck getting them back in a timely manor.. i had trades walk all over my grass and plants prior to us moving in, and i had a leak.. this has taken 2 weeks total to get everything fixed, ridiculous, especially since we had a bad leak.. i called on the 2nd and left a message, come Monday i never heard back, so i called again, finally got a returned phone call on the 9th. Leak didn't get fixed until the 12th and they are "scheduled" to come and fix grass and replace plants on the 16th.. THANK GOODNESS we didn't go through them for our backyard and pool... i heard they are a nightmare and hardly anyone in the neighborhood who did is happy with their work.. #dodgedabulltetthere.. UPDATE: what a joke. called customer service to see why they were no shows today (16th), we have been rescheduled for the 21st, thanks for the follow up call creative to let me know.. read more

I'm not rating Creative Environments 5 stars because it was a super smooth process, or because they are the least expensive option. I'm doing it because in the end, we got exactly what we wanted and paid for - the backyard and pool of our dreams. And I'm doing it because there is a guy that works for them named Dave Kardian (project manager) who is absolutely the hardest working guy I've ever seen who doesn't sit behind a desk all day to earn a living. Dave is all about customer service, and he delivers what he says he will, which today is no small thing. The other great outcome is the job was completed pretty much on time, with top notch materials, and without too many hiccups. And this was no simple job either, it involved swim jets for swim-in-place as well as an outdoor kitchen and gazebo. My advice to folks considering Creative is to very carefully review the proposal, get a second bid, and set your expectations up front for the kind of customer service and response time on communications you want and expect. But if you are looking for a team that GETS THE JOB DONE per the spec, you can't really go wrong with them. They delivered what they said they would and more. We are happy customers. read more

Front Yard Landscaping Project: We got a new build by TM and decided on Creative Environments because my husband had seen a previous job this company had done and loved it. Our designer/sale was Stephen, was excellent to deal with and always very communicative and accessible to be reached. We went back and forth changing the design until we got all we wanted and choosing the plants that will go, Stephen guided us in the selection and really listen to us on what we wanted in our front yard and the budget we wanted to keep. Papers were submitted to the HOA and all was great, then time to start came along. Instead of starting on the date they gave us in mid July, they started right after July 4th which made us super happy. The crew was very cordial, professional and checked with me along the way to make sure all was where we wanted it. Shelby was our project manager and was great to deal with. We had small issues with the some parts of the design layout and he was able to see it right away, address it and enhance for the best that pat of the project. But I do have to say a few things: - Know your budget and how much you want to spend, this company is not the lowest you will find because the quality of their work is very good, they are insured and take great care of your on their customer service department. - Make sure you are home when they start your project. Compare your final design to what the crew has to make sure all is correct and the plants that are going in are the ones you agreed. - Look at the plants selected as soon as they arrive. I don't care if you are running late just look at them, we had to send a few back that I didn't want, and some that didn't look good and were not on our final layout. - Communicate all the time, don't wait until the job is done to say that you don't like something. This will delay your project. I know we were annoying Stephen as some point but I rather that than us being unhappy with the final result. Bottom line: We will use this company again next year for our backyard and I will keep you guys posted on how that goes as we will be doing a pool. read more

Creative Environments goes as cheap as possible! Had to use them for my new home landscaper and have had nothing but problems for over 5 years now. Started with poor placement and drainage of sprinkler heads- front lawn looks like crap every year even with reseeding and aeration. Every time I have to work on the sprinkler lines I am reminded of how cheap they are- used all thin walled pipe and constantly spliced small pieces and is a nightmare to work with. They chose the worst valves too- Orbit inline valves constantly break and cause slow leaks that don't show up until you get your water bill. The topper to the complete failure called Creative Environments was that I have spent the last two weekends rerouting all 4 lines they installed because they planted a tree on top of them and the tree has now broken one line and the others are completely root bound. Oh and they also put this tree on top of the main supply line to my house which will also need to be moved. I have lots of photos if anyone wants to see this piss poor design. When I initially complained about the poor installation I only got excuses and was told it was done as designed and approved- What a bunch of jerks! I did not even bother to contact them on this latest failure, I can only imagine the response now that its 5+ years later. Do Not use Creative Environments for your design or installation. read more

Creative Environments is a professional and talented company with a strong understanding of what quality landscape work entails. I highly recommend this company if your are interested in creating your dream outside living space. read more

Morgan in the warranty dept is outstanding to deal with! Very communicative and stays on top of the project on hand! If you are in need of any warranty repair, give her a call! read more

I had Creative environments design my back yard grass landscaping about seven years ago. I initially had problems with the valves leaking. But after I wrote a letter to the company, they came and upgraded the valves. Since then, I have had them come out for leaks, rain dial replacement and repair and lighting fixes that happen over time. I have found emailing Morgan to be the easiest way to contact and get scheduled. They have come to my house and diagnosed issues and I did not need to be home. I have been pleased that they have been able to resolve my irrigation issues. I would recommend them. read more

Creative was hired to design and install our backyard for a new house. Working with Amy was wonderful as she fully understood what we wanted our yard to be when it was finished. Amy listened and delivered a design that stayed true to our vision even though we didn't specify any plants to be included. Like most home improvement projects, the implementation was not perfect. This is where Julio and his team stepped in and took responsibility for our project. Julio did everything he said he would do and completed the project in a timely manner. In the end our backyard is more than what we originally believed could be achieved and are excited for our time enjoying the plants and hardscape. Thank you Amy and Julio for taking a personal interest in our yard. read more

The reason I decided to review Creative Environments now is because I'm on Yelp looking for a landscaping company to replace the dead grass and plants that Creative left us with. We built our home in 2015, and Creative was the "preferred" landscaper. Lisa was an absolute nightmare to work with. She cancelled on us left and right, frequently made excuses for why nothing was done on time, and in the end, over half of what was planted died within a few months. The gate they installed leading to our courtyard ripped right out of the wall due to poor installation (this was after they put the lock on the wrong side, not to mention several other issues). It was never properly fixed; it was instead patched over and spray painted with a color that didn't match our home. We attempted to have them come back out (which they did) but nothing was ever resolved.The $40,000 we spent was just the cherry on top of an absolutely horrible experience. I would strongly advise you to spend your money elsewhere. read more

Wow, these guys really left us disappointed. Their salesmanship and presentation were great. We saw pictures of jobs they'd done, they promised the world and assured us the foreman would be on-site every day. They also promised they understood our timeline and would get a backyard remodel done in the 3-4 weeks that we had. After the contract was signed and they collected their first check, everything changed. The work teams that they promised were "their own people" were often contractors that showed up on-site in their own company truck. One shared with me that he only got the work when he was willing to be the lowest price. That explained why some of the professionals had no idea what they were doing. They trenched through other lines in the ground, their electrical connections didn't work, their touch-up paint didn't match what they'd previously used, they broke things in close proximity to their work and on and on. Worse yet, their foreman never showed up except for when the job had creaked far enough for him to pick up another check. He assigned the job of showing up daily to "a supervisor" that we met on the day of the assignment and the last day of the job. Frequently, no one would show up for several days at a time. When we could reach the foreman or supervisor, they would say twice as many guys would show the next day, but the situation would repeat itself again. My favorite was when I called to tell the foreman that no one was working again and he told me that I was mistaken, they were there and maybe I just didn't see them come and go. I told him the gate remained locked because no one had asked for it to be opened and he replied, "Yeah, they jump the fence a lot of the time." That was one thing they were great at doing during the job - lying to your face and covering past lies that were exposed with even more outrageous lies. No shame whatsoever. The job took over 3x longer than their estimate (no weather delays either, except for a strong breeze one day that I was told convinced their team to stay home). When completed, the job was sub-standard and I had people in to fix or re-do parts of their job. As the final acts of total disrespect for the customer, I had to clean up their crew's garbage each day they showed up. I don't mean construction garbage (which they hid everywhere in the yard or, if small like nails and screws, just threw into the grass for someone to have to find the hard way), I mean every day they ate their lunch or drank a thirst buster or peeled a banana or opened a bag of chips, they dropped it wherever they finished it so that it could lie there or blow into your pool later on. After multiple times of telling them to clean up their own garbage and putting a pail in the middle of the yard, the more energetic ones starting throwing their garbage behind some oleanders in the yard. I did feel bad for the kids that accompanied their contractor parents to the job and had to hang out watching their parent work, but less so when they started occupying themselves by carving their name or initials into our trees. Finally, the day came for Creative Environments to leave and we were happy to just get rid of them. They packed up their gear...and everything else (our hoses, trash cans, a rake, broom, any tool anywhere in the back yard even though these items were clearly not theirs and left. I told the "foreman" about it when he came for his check and he put on a good act at being outraged, saying that all materials would come back to us the next day. We never heard from them again and rather than follow up for a couple hundred dollars of gear, we considered it a loss on top of the money spent on their poor performance and product. read more

We interviewed a lot of companies before deciding on Creative. We had a very large project and the company and their subs were there six days a week for three months. We had complete demolition of previous yard and cement patio and a beautiful pool, BBQ, courtyard and sidewalks put in. We used 2700 square feet of travertine. We had complete landscaping and lighting done by them as well. The designer we worked with, Jason, was amazing. He listened to our ideas and was never ruffled when we said, "we've been thinking and maybe we want to make this change...", he just worked with us so well. He and the other members of Creative Environments have an extensive construction background and an eye for what works and what doesn't. Our only issues were with a few of their subs... A few things had to be redone but Creative made sure they were done correctly and to our satisfaction. I don't think they are the cheapest guys around but it is true that you get what you pay for. Overall we are thrilled with our beautiful new surroundings! read more

Creative Environments...not to be confused with fellow competitors via home depot, was a wonderful company to redesign and revamp our entire back yard. We worked with the designer Jason, and the project was overseen by Shelby ,who were with us every step of the way. We incorporated a water feature, gazebo, outdoor herbal garden area, fire pit, outdoor BBQ area, travertine stone and artificial grass ...and embellished the entire yard with beautiful outdoor lighting and various trees and foliage. The biggest advantage with this company is the fact that you work with one person, which in my case was Jason, and the communication was superb. This project entailed a great deal of moving parts and it all fell in place beautifully. For those of you who have trouble envisioning a backyard upgrade, a cad drawing is provided to you which is an exact replica of what the changes will look like. This is a pivotal component in a successful project, avoiding a costly mistake. In addition, there is a 120 day warranty on all plants and trees which is a comfort to us since a green thumb is not our strength. I highly recommend this company and its" First Class" approach in doing business. Kathleen and Mark Summer of 2014 read more