Hello,
Our recent, personal experience with SiteOne and specifically the owner of the company can only be described as disappointing.
Background:
With the current state of things, we thought about increasing the size of our 2nd tier (out of 3) in our backyard to give the kids as much flat room to play as possible. We researched putting in a retaining wall, but with estimates of $30K+ for a 4 foot wall which would only increase the width of the 2nd tier by 1-2 feet, we decided to look into other options. We found SiteOne was a soil conveyor delivery company and called to see if someone could come by to help us determine what we could do with our yard.
Pros:
1. Quick response time and relatively fast delivery.
2. Great job with bringing soil into our yard, a tricky spot to maneuver around.
Cons:
1. Odd interaction.
Mark Scheidegger came to our home to look at our property and help decide our options. He also personally delivered all of the soil and told us he's been doing this type of work for over 20 years. The odd thing was, he never mentioned he was actually the owner/founder of the SiteOne. I didn't find that out until after I started researching more about the company.
2. Bad outcome.
After having a GeoTech engineer come evaluate the soil brought in, their recommendation was to remove all of it, as the soil delivered wasn't "structural soil" and hadn't been properly compacted a foot at a time like it should have been. The possibility of a slide causing damage to our neighbor's home below us was significant. You would think that someone with over 20 years experience, who also happens to live in the hills and has delivered multiple times to neighbors in the same area would have provided different recommendations instead of just saying "you ordered the dirt, we delivered it".
3. Poor customer service.
After realizing we had made a mistake, I tried contacting Mark to see what our options were. The first time we spoke, I mentioned that I wanted to try to stabilize the hill in preparation for building a retaining wall in the spring. After hearing from the GeoTech that we needed to remove the soil, I called Mark again asking for his advice or help. He was polite, but didn't offer any assistance other than calling a buddy who could come and setup a remote conveyor system to remove the dirt. That would cost approximately $15K. The dirt cost $4K to be delivered. I basically pleaded with Mark for advice or help (maybe a SiteOne could help with dumpster rentals or help extract the soil with me). He said sorry, he couldn't do anything. Finally, frustrated, I asked him if he knew, while he was delivering the soil, if it was going to work out. He said, he wasn't at liberty to say one way or another. He just "delivered the soil that was ordered". After that disappointing answer, I texted him a question asking if he'd have delivered the same soil to his family if they owned this property, of course he hasn't replied.
While delivering the soil, Mark mentioned multiple times that crazy things happen with soil delivery "all the time", customers significantly underestimate how much soil they need, and end up needing multiple deliveries. In other cases, customers need to have the recently delivered soil removed.
Should I have researched more before making the decision to have the soil brought in? Yes, looking back now, I realize I should have talked to more people and found out what would work. I take the blame for not doing my due diligence. However, when you are the (undercover) owner of a business and having been working in the field for 20+ years, seeing all of those "crazy things" (soil having to be removed, etc.) you'd think they would be knowledgeable, honest, and want to put their best foot forward for the reputation of the company. In this case, I have to say, we feel as though we were let down badly by SiteOne and it's owner Mark Scheidegger.
Hopefully this review will help others when making the choice of which material transport company to hire. read more