R & J Yard Service

I highly DO NOT RECOMMEND this guy. We had two landscaping companies flake on us. So we contacted Raleigh he showed up and gave an estimate. Wrote up a contract and drew some plans. He was to also do the removal and hauling away of trimmings and cut downs. My husband and I agreed to the plans. Raleigh said he will be here at 8:30am each day. LIE!
He talked about «He is NOT a flaky person» and will prove that, he is NOT like the other landscapers.
We told him we are in no crunch, just needs to get done.
First day; showed up at 10:15 am worked until 12:30. Took lunch until 3:15 then left for the evening at 6:30. Raleigh worked a total of 2 hours and his brother in law worked 5 hours. While Raleigh was driving around finding a place to dump, I was helping the brother in law uproot bushes. Left a huge mess behind.
*Complained about finding a place to dump the greenery. One place was full, the other place his buddy wasn’t working and the other was closed.
(Excuse for being late, slept in)
Second day; Showed up at 3:45pm and left at 5:01pm. Here for an hour and 15 minutes. Still left a mess behind.
*Again complained about dumping the greenery.
(Excuse for being late, dropped my wife off at airport, had to go home and situate my kids)
Third day; Showed up at 2:44pm and left at 6:45pm.
Worked 4 hours.
(Excuse for being late was had to do laundry, had no clean work shirt)
Fourth day; NO CALL, NO TEXT, NO SHOW!
Fifth day; NO CALL, NO TEXT, NO SHOW!
Still to this very day, nothing! Thanks for flaking.
Shows up with a tiny tow trailer, um no good. Trailer was good for hauling a moped.
Then he stated he doesn’t like to drive his company van, because people recognize him. Ok, Red Flag!

Rebuttal to owner’s comments. These are the facts.
Issue: Landscapers not showing up due to calling to much.
During our initial consultation we had mentioned how important punctuality is (previous gardener did not show up on time or at all).
You had even agreed that it was important. We are busy people, I have to take time out of my day and wait for you. It is bad business to not arrive when you said you were going to be here. If you did not agree with that, you should have mentioned it before we hired you. In fact you did say that if you could not arrive due to an emergency you would call and let us know.
Issue: Red ginger plants removed.
Originally we had talked about how we wanted the landscaping done. You had suggested we remove these plants to make way for other native plants that would help. With your suggestion my wife said it was okay to remove the one plant in the corner to make way for the new plants. We were to rendezvous at Geobungas at an unspecified time to look at replacement plants. A little while later we came out to see how you guys where doing and refill your water glass due to your hangover. My wife noticed that all the red ginger plants where removed! She «opened her mouth» because she loved the red ginger, but only wanted one removed because it did not mesh with the plants beside it. As for the «ugly things» that was in reference to a small plant that left a lot of rubbish. We asked you to remove them as they had a horrible fragrance and created trash in the yard. I want to be clear at no point did my wife raise her voice to you or make any rude comments. That is not in her nature. She was upset that all the red ginger was removed, but dealt with it since we were to replace them.
Issue: Time lapse 3 –5 months
This issue did start way back in July. Originally my wife convinced me to drop it and make it a lesson learned to not use your services again. I put it behind me, but yesterday I saw your truck in my neighborhood and thought if I don’t post this review, someone else will get bamboozled. All you had to do was admit your mistake, correct it and be on your way. Now you attack me for taking to long to post about this? Well I have a new gardener now, and he is trustworthy and on time. I do not authorize any pictures of my home to be shared old or new since it is now maintained by a true professional and you would be using his work as your own.
Issue: Not returning phone calls excuse
So you say you never mentioned the Philippines? Why on earth would I make this up? You told me you had an emergency in the Philippines and had to leave that weekend you were to work on my yard. I asked why you did not call me, you said that your phone had broken and all of your contacts were lost. You did mention if I wanted a new gardener it would be okay, but I said I would give you a second chance, because things do happen. You thanked me for the second chance and we scheduled for the following weekend for you to come out. If you simply did not want to work with me JUST SAY IT! I did not need this.
Issue: «slave» gardener
This one was seriously funny. I don’t know what world you live in, but during our initial consultation you quoted us a price to get our yard up to par. I did not haggle, as I knew it would take some time. Now you say I am a slave driver? Ridiculous. Please tell me how you are a slave by not completing the work you said you would do and still get the full rate you quoted? I thought we were adults; if you wanted more money you could have said I need more to accomplish this.
Issue: Releasing client personal information
So you decided to use your business to release private information about me in a public venue? Not a good idea. I did not give you authorization to release my full name nor my housing area to the public. I will be reviewing my options in this matter. FYI saying «no threats my acquaintance but… you will be hearing from my attorney very soon» sure does sound like a threat to me.
Issue: Alleged «Running you off the road»
Again you take the cake with this one. In all the issues I have mentioned and addressed it is proven that you are not a man of your word. Now you make SERIOUS allegations that I ran you off the road? You know everything I have posted is correct and are attempting to deflect the issues. These are the facts.
On 10÷24÷14 I was returning home when I noticed your van in front of me. I changed lanes to get beside you and verify it is you. I saw you and shook my head without saying a word. It was at this point I knew that potential clients needed to know how you operate a business. You were driving below the speed limit so I continued home. At no point did I run you off the road or make any threating actions toward you and especially not your son. I verified that you were still working in my area without even trying to fix your wrongs. I know I did not do anything wrong, and now you attack me with slanderous accusations. Unilocaler’s will see the truth.

Raleigh is very honest and dependable. He was able to accommodate me on short notice and did a very thorough job. He took all his trash with him and is very respectful of the property. His rates are very reasonable. Highly recommended!