If I was rating JUST the work the did on my lawn, they'd get 5 stars.
If I was rating JUST the customer service, they'd get 1 star.
I'll start with the good. Our lawn was a disaster when we bought our house. The previous owner did not maintain it and there were two big trees blocking out much sun. Ringer's removed a bunch of branches and then laid sod down, and river rocks along our house and the back yard looks amazing now. The 3 guys who came to do the actual work were awesome. The detail they put into their work was impressive. They even started watering the lawn for us as they finished other details. The guy who led the team of 3 whose name I cannot remember should start his own business; he's that good. The cost was also very reasonable compared to other estimates we received.
Now the bad. I started taking notes on each issue we had. This is going to get lengthy.
1. When e-mailing back and forth about all of the work we needed done, I specifically asked how much it would be to remove a large limb on one of the trees that for some reason had a metal wire tied around it and it's strangling the limb. I received the price back and it looked great so I said go for it. When the tree guys came to do the work I saw them just cleaning some branches off that limb and I asked if they were going to remove the whole limb. Their response was "Are we supposed to"? I called Erik, the owner, and it turns out he miss-read the e-mail and thought I only wanted the branches cleaned off that limb. That limb is still on the tree.
2. We had quite a few limbs removed from both trees. Ringer's didn't seal any of the limbs. I've heard this can cause rot, and I know someone who actually had a tree come down due to this. The biggest limbs were low enough I was able to seal them myself, but there are a lot of smaller ones that are not sealed because they're too high for me to get to.
3. The first invoice we received for the tree work had an extra charge on it. This was removed after I questioned it.
4. Response times from the office were awful. The above appointment with Erik was somewhere before March 28th. On March 28th I e-mailed Erik and the office with questions based off our meeting. I had to follow up twice and didn't receive a response until well over a week later.
5. I know scheduling work is difficult in the spring when dealing with the spring rains. But Erik and I had talked about the work being done between April 16th and April 20th if weather permitted since we would be out of town and wouldn't have to worry about the dogs. On 3/31 the wires and utilities were marked in our yard. I texted Erik to make sure that was for him and he said yes, and he had us on the schedule for that week, and he'd let me know what day for sure. Never heard from him that week. I e-mailed the office at the end of the week and asked about this. I was told we were on the schedule for the week of 4/16. I responded saying that's weird, Erik said we were on the schedule this week. Did not receive a response.
6. Erik finally called on 4/8. We discussed some changes to the plan. I asked how much he would charge to take down our 7ftx7ft shed. He said $150. I thought this was high but I didn't have time to do it myself so I said OK. When it was time to remove the shed I noticed the guys hauling it out in one piece. I laughed at how they were doing it and the head guy said one of the other guys wanted it, so they were going to load it on the truck and take it. OK. Fine with me, but I'm not paying $150 for them to keep the shed. I mentioned this to Erik and he said well they still had to do the labor so he cut it in half to $75. I'll take the $75 in savings but I think it's ridiculous I paid Erik $75 for his guys to take my shed for themselves. I should have just sold it online.
7. Again, I know the rain makes scheduling difficult, but the communication was awful. Erik said we'd be on the schedule now for 4/10 or 4/11. The forecast for 4/10 at the time was already terrible so I knew they weren't coming that day. 4/11 came and there was no rain in sight, and no landscapers in sight. I texted Erik at 11AM to see if they were coming and he said he called his guys off the previous night because the forecast was calling for rain and it changed dramatically overnight. I don't know what the forecast was so I can't confirm or deny this. But he said they'd be there the next day, 4/12, at 7:30AM. So I made plans with work to work from home that day. I then received a text from him at 8PM on 4/11 saying we were getting too much rain overnight, they couldn't do the work in the morning. But there was always rain in the forecast that evening. This hadn't changed, so why was it ok at 11AM when we talked but not at 8PM?
8. Invoice for the yard work contained an extra $250 charge. This was also removed after I questioned.
I have talked to Erik about more work I want done in future years, but I can't decide if the great work is worth the hassle. read more