Grounds Guys Chula Vista Lew Vine, owner Never delivered promised extra DG Chula Vista California

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

We hired Lew and Grounds Guys Chula Vista to do our front yard and backyard for a total cost of over $20,000 of which less than $8,000 was for the front yard and $12,854 for the backyard. He included the raised bed garden area  idea I told him about we wanted, a ,fence, pavers, native plants, irrigation.

The day of the last walkabout he brought the rocks we had asked him to bring  that needed to be filled in and some DG but he promised he would bring more DG(extra DG) which wasn’t much and my Mom who is a senior citizen, 80 years old, paid him with the belief Lew would bring the extra DG since he promised us he would.

He came a few times to check on irrigation and a valve which was outside his scope and contract which we are grateful for but for every visit no DG was brought at all  and we would hear excuses from him.

My Mom who is a senior citizen would call and until I would call or email him he would respond.

I did email and got this email from Lew on 6/27/16 regarding the extra DG:

L <


To: B < > 


Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 3:11 PM


Subject: The Grounds Guys - Additional Visit

B,

I remembered you wanted us to get some extra DG; we will be over between 4 and 5 tomorrow to put in that DG and increase the time on the sprinkler zone.  Does that work for you guys?

Respectfully,

The Grounds Guys of Chula Vista

C: (619)392-9068

On 6/28/16 Pat, his father who works with him,  came over to check the irrigation but brought no DG. He told my Mom he had “no DG” and “would be a few weeks”. Pat told me he had “one DG but not the other” and would be a few weeks of which I told him when he would bring the extra DG and he said “Two weeks”. Because of this I emailed Lew because again we were promised the extra DG but nothing was brought nor put in. He emailed me this saying the issues he had with getting the DG which he never explained to us before, all he would do was tell us he would be bringing it. If Lew would have told us since the beginning this issue we would have understood( One time they even told us a neighbor who had some landscaping done by them too  they could get some DG from him which I thought was not cool and didn't say a thing).

From: L <>

To: B < >

Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 5:52 PM

Subject: RE: The Grounds Guys - Additional Visit

B,

Regarding the DG; we cannot buy a small bucket of DG.  We would need to pay $50 for the DG.  Plus have our trailer available.  I can’t buy a yard of material, and then turn right around and only use a bucket, and then pay again for disposal fees.  We can come out when we have some excess available.

Furthermore, I don’t appreciate you using a Yelp review as some kind of leverage.  My dad and I have both been out multiple times per your requests, because we attempt to go above and beyond with every client.  That said, I hope you realize I am attempting to run a business, and every hour we spend trying to go above and beyond with you is an hour we are not spending with another client. 

I’m glad to hear my dad confirmed the irrigation system is functional and increased the watering times.  Have a good night.

Respectfully,

The Grounds Guys of Chula Vista

C: (619)392-9068

Lew said yesterday he fulfilled the contract with bringing the rock and extra DG before getting final payment and I  told him no, because he did bring the rocks of which we were satisfied and some DG but he promised us he would bring the extra DG and as customers/ clients that is what he promised us before final payment as a few of the emails show:

From: L <>


To:B < >


Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2016 8:43 AM


Subject: Re: Invoice 1190 from Grounds Guys

B,

My dad has been very busy since I've been away for army training.  I'm sure that sprinkler line is working and the plants are being watered; everything was 100% functional when I left.  Have you touched the timer?  I can stop back by to increase the watering time, that may help to get more water to the plants.  I will let you know when we can stop by next week.

Regards,



Sent from my iPhone


On Jun 22, 2016, at 8:34 AM,

B < > wrote:

Hi L,

Just to let you know the plants by the back are still not being watered. The plants not by the fence are being watered.

Also, your dad Pat didn't call my mom nor came by as you said to her and I that he would be coming to put the DG that is missing in the backyard. Should have gotten his number.

My mom has to use the hose to water the plants in the back.

B

In my opinion to Lew and Grounds Guys we don't matter much as customers even though we gave him a $20,000 job and  I think people in his company's facebook page as reasonable consumers may be led to believe that  we only paid him $5,000 but in reality we paid  him $12,854 for the backyard and for the front yard less than $8,000. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea when making a consumer’s decision on price that  we paid him only $5,000 for a job that cost us $20,000.total for both front and back. We are very happy with how it turned out however wished Lew would have since the beginning been honest and would have  told us about the issue he had getting the extra DG then should have delivered the extra DG to us as he promised originally. We kept on asking because he kept promising and never delivered.  I told him honesty and word of mouth is the basis of good business... he left us hanging. In my opinion  not good business practice. And as a consumer I think I have a right if  I want to to review a business whether I feel was great, good, average or not. I did tell him I would review his company and was waiting until he would bring the DG because I was planning to give him a great review...still giving him time but he didn't bring any extra DG.