This is an updated review from my previous one- the owner, David Swartz, has threatened legal…read moreaction (see below) and requested that I remove my previous review. However, it is imperative that potential customers at least hear my experience; after all, that is the purpose of Yelp, to help customers find the right fit.
I have had a horrible experience with this company.Let me start from the beginning so I do not seem overly hyperbolic.I met with Gary, who came over and provided a quote. He was great and, unfortunately, the only good part of my experience. The price itself was reasonable, in the middle of the quotes I had received.
Okay so I signed the contract and was told the "project manager" would reach out to schedule. I did not hear from this person for weeks and the project was set to start on Monday July 7th, 2025. I was told the team was coming from Corona, which should have been a red flag that Turf Bros did not hire anyone local.July 7th comes around and the delivery person decides to leave all the material, including the turf, on the street.I call the project manager who tells me the team was at another location and would not be able to start until Tuesday July 8th, which is fine.
On Tuesday July 8th, at around noon, while away from the house, I realized no one showed up! So I call the project manager who tells me the team had a "flat" and would show up at 12:30PM. No one shows up until about 2:30, and they work for one hour before leaving. A crew of two people!! show up. Funny because the contract said the project would be "3-5 days" but yet only two people showed up. I should have had even redder flags by this time, honestly. The contract misrepresented the amount of time it would take to finish the job and this was one of the reasons I picked this company.
On July 9th, Wednesday, they work for a few more hours digging up the front yard and then leave.On July 11th, they come back but leave after a few hours. By this time, I'm fed up and call Gary, instead of the project manager, because the project manager always seemed too busy to talk and wanted to get me off the phone. Come to find out that, even though Gary initially said that the bubblers would be included, they did not put it in the contract and therefore they would charge more for it. I decided not to do that but rather to have my own contractor do the watering work instead. I am glad I did by the way because the PVC piping that the crew installed was not even dug deep enough (see photos). But it gets even better.They come back on Sunday July 13th; instead of removing the customary 3-4" of dirt (per the contract), the two man crew decides to place the weed barrier in the front, without cleaning up all the roots underneath or the uneven footing. They also decide to place the gopher mesh on the side even though I told them my contractor would come the next day to put the PVC pipes for the watering.
On Monday July 14th, thank goodness my contractor came and saw the work, or else it could have gotten even worse. He noticed all the unequal footing, the lack of proper level grading, and leaving roots and holes in uneven areas. The pop up risers were not dug out properly, and the crew, when I called them, said this was normal operating procedure and that they would be putting the road base on top, even though they had not dug out the requisite 3-4 inches! My contractor said this did not sound right and indeed, there were too many dips in the weed barrier and it felt unsafe.
Hence, I decided to cancel but it gets even worse. I told Gary as such and he suggested I email David, the owner of the company. David came by my house on Tuesday 7/15 and defended his company's work! He admitted that they should have excavated more dirt but essentially said everything else was okay! He was wrongly of the impression I wanted to continue with the project and offered to supervise it himself despite never having set foot at my home previously (and neither did the "project manager"). I told David I did not want a misunderstanding and that I wanted to cancel and have a refund of the initial "progress" payment. They took the payment despite not delivering all the materials, per the contract. Additionaly, the team capped the water valves without knowing where the water goes (they capped the valve which would provide water to the PVC piping they placed, which is obviously flawed). At the time, I admitted there was a "progress" payment made, and, later saw that the payment was contingent on them delivering the materials, but they had not. So they withdrew the money for the first "progress" payment despite not delivering all the materials as was indicated in the contract. During my subsequent emails with David, he continued making excuses and was trying to spin the verbiage of the contract, all the while stating he would not refund my money despite them taking the money without provision of requisite materials, per their own contract.