Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ***** installed concrete borders on 5/13/2020, invoice #***** and then borders with rubber on 6/4/2020, invoice #*****. Requested warranty work on 5/5/2021 within warranty period. Their installed borders had over 17 major cracks and splits before the warranty period was over. I have emailed pictures and requested warranty work 11 times via email and phone. I have more specifics. *****, the office manager replied with various excuses as to why they could not do the warranty work. ***** said she would tell the owner and get back to me. ***** never got back to me and never did their warranty work. I left another phone message on 10/28/2024. Received this via email on 9/2/2022: "Thank you for the photos ******, they have been received. I have forwarded this on to our owner. We will reply shortly. Thanks so much, ***** ********". NO REPLY. I have pics but I have sent them to L&B numerous times.

  Business response

  11/13/2024

  This is in response to the customers' complaint.
  We have received multiple emails and voicemails regarding the concerns and issues. We have replied accordingly. Unfortunately, this customer has voided his given warranty and here is the detailed explanation supporting this.
  To begin, we received a call, immediately following the installation of the concrete borders, that the customer believed that we had damaged his sprinkler system. Our Owner went to the property, the following day,and confirmed, with the customer, it was agreed that this was not any damage caused by L&B's. Our Owner noted that the customer had turned on his sprinklers,prior to the required *****hrs window requiring them to remain off, clearly stated in the signed contract/documentation. He also noted that the customer had dug underneath the newly installed fresh concrete, in multiple areas. Clearly, this would disturb the uncured concrete and could be the cause of any cracking and shifting. In addition to this, we were completing a walkway for this customer shortly after, and the crew notified us that the customer was doing work all around/near the concrete borders.
  As per the customers received documentation, we clearly state,that any activity near the newly installed concrete, is strictly discouraged.
  
  Any sod laying, sprinkler and landscape work can be started ***** hours after installation; however, caution must be taken as shovels, picks and wheelbarrows can damage the curb for several more days, while it is still curing. A full cure requires 28 days.
  
  In closing, the last email that we sent clarified L&Bs stance on any warranty work to be provided, as stated below. We uphold our provided warranty to all customers, that uphold their end of the contractual agreement.
  
  Cracking -We take every precaution to prevent cracking. Concrete curbing, like any other type of concrete, can and will crack. We experience very little cracking in our product. Some minor cracking is industry standard and will not warrant replacement of the concrete edging. The determination of whether cracking is normal will be solely determined by ****************

  
  Thank you for your time.

  Customer response

  11/13/2024

   
  Complaint: 22501395
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. Business stated I dug holes to move sprinklers. PROBLEM: Business was asked to install curbing to follow my installed metal edging because my sprinkler heads were just inside the metal edging. See attached photo: Curbing error. Some curbing was installed as much as 12 inches into the yard which impinged on my sprinkler heads. Not sure why they went that far into my yard. I had to move two heads BECAUSE OF THIS. The curbing was installed over the edge of the sprinkler head which impeded its function. In the area where the sprinkler heads were moved, there is no cracking. No other area was "Dug up" around the yard. Come and look.

  2. See photo: "no sprinklers". Our second contract was 6/4/2020. This job was done in my side yard where there were river rocks. WE HAVE NO SPRINKLERS THERE. The nearest sprinkler head is 20 feet away from the end of the walkway. How could the warranty be voided when I did not even have a sprinkler system there? 

  3. I have contacted the business more than 9 times over the last 42 months to ask for warranty service. They led me on for 42 months. They never gave a straight answer until last month.  The answers were: "I'll let the owner know", "Please resend your pictures", "We are very busy now", "We do our warranty work later in the year and we will let you know, etc. I have an email trail and phone log. Now, after 42 months they said I violated the contract.
  The business also stated I had used my sprinkler system too close to installation time. Not true. 

  4. The cracks in the installed edging are large and the curbing is separating. There are approximately 15 cracks. Some pieces have broken off.

  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

  Business response

  12/02/2024

  Our response remains the same and will not be altered.
  

  The customer knowingly turned on his sprinklers, breaching his contract, therefore, nullifying any attached warranty.

  The customer has been made aware of this.

  This will be our final statement.

  Customer response

  12/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 22501395
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The sprinklers had nothing to do with the curbing cracking after 8 and 10 months. The lack of proper tamping and low quality materials and installation was problematic.
  Merchant is wrong.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  09/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have paid $1880 for new borders and enhancer and sealer on my borders that were installed previously. The concrete was poured on July 8th. They demanded payment immediately following for the entire invoice. The 2nd check cleared the bank on August 5th (the first was lost with **** and not received until the 8th). I called on the 15th and the 22nd because no one was scheduled to apply the sealer and enhancer even though I was told that would happen 2-3 weeks following the pour - and it had been 5 weeks. The crew came out to apply the enhancer and sealant on August 30th. When sold the enhancer I was told it would bring my borders back to the original look. The product they were applying had no color variation in it as expected so I asked the crew to stop so I could call the office. While I was on the phone with ****** at the office to clarify what the product should look like, the crew left and has not returned. I have since contacted the office multiple times to find out when they would come out to complete the job. They are refusing to do so without charging additional fees. I did not ask the crew to leave - I asked them to stop so I could verify the correct product was being applied. I would like a full refund and I will find someone else to finish the job or they can finish applying the enhancer and sealer that I have already paid for 6 weeks ago without additional fees.

  Business response

  09/20/2022

  We are in the process of rectifying this with the customer.

   

  Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  L&B is running a scam operation. (2 of 2 - Front Yard Complaint)They unilaterally altered 5 aspects of our contract.We had a contract and clear understanding. *********** now demanding an upfront, cash payment;-Is now charging for otherwise included work;-Has not performed the work as agreed upon;-Has tried to cancel the contract and keep the down payment;-Is charging/extorting me in order to fix their mistakes.L&B 1) Surface-laid the base/cement in the front yard; put it in my gravel area, not the grass -Against the design, for their convenience -I no longer have a path to the side of my house -I must now fill up to 6 inches of dirt and material to cover the base/cement -This will still be inches above my neighbors area -I moved the gravel away from the border to lay new rock -They just pulled up the weed block and surface-laid the base/cement -Their pamphlet shows the base/cement should be under the ground -The base/cement is up to 6 inches above the ground -I caught the drainage mistake and they made enough room for a drain -They were unable to reestablish the curve, depth, or path to the side 2) Obliterated the side of my house -Again, they didnt want to move my sprinkler -And cut into my pathway, making it difficult to remove my trashcan -They breached into my neighbors property line.Ive been back and forth with offers to resolve this issue but theyve been absolutely unreasonable. Theyre now extorting me and have threatened to walk with my money. They claim $900 to fix their mistakes, creating them more revenue. And if I dont pay, my financial loss at this point could be in the thousands. Not to mention my loss of beauty in the yard. Theres a reason they only have a one-year warranty.

  Business response

  09/09/2022

  This was already filed under complaint #********, this is a duplicate.

  Thank you

  Customer response

  09/12/2022

   
  Complaint: 18001763
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  This is NOT a duplicate complaint.

  L & B damaged the front yard and the backyard.  One complaint is for each.  They did so much damage, and had different issues with each, that the complaints had to be separated as per a limit to the characters allowed in the complaint.  Should they benefit and I be punished because they did excessive damage above and beyond the BBB limitations?

  Pictures were provided for each, and many more exist.

  They are literally benefiting by doing as much damage as possible due to the BBB's limitations, and convoluting the situation to scale back their responsibility.  I submit that the backyard and front yard are different in issues - AND these issues were NOT submitted in the other complaint.  Therefore, it cannot be a duplicate by definition.

  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  09/20/2022

  This is a classic case of the customer knows best. The customer was present at the time of his Prep. He walked it with our crew lead.There was an area that he decided he wanted to change and conveyed this to our crew. They changed it on site and he was very appreciative. We have received MULTIPLE emails from the customer letting us know how we "should" be doing his job. We have tried to reply professionally and respectfully, that we,in fact, do know this business, being in the industry for 22 years.

  Our owner,as good customer service, had stated we would come back and modify one of the areas, at no charge, prior to his installation. This of course, wasn't going to be enough. This is a very basic, 101 job, that had nothing complicated about it. We're not sure how he came up with the amount of $900 to fix the mistakes, when the entire job isn't much more than that? We stated there would be a trip fee assessed, in order to make the changes that he was requesting, if not, the project would be installed as our crew prepped and believed it should have been installed from the start. The only reason that an upfront payment was even suggested was due to the fact that he blatantly stated/threatened that if he wasn't 100% satisfied with the final product, he would dispute his payment and loge complaints. Clearly, we have no faith that the customer would uphold his end of the contract and will pay his bill in full. With regards to the moving of sprinkler heads, this is something that we do multiple times in a day, at almost every project and never adjust a line to avoid moving them. That's an absurd accusation.
  

  I have attached the signed documentation, with regards to his concern about the line that our Designer/Owner painted and what was trenched by our crew. Please see that section in the attached Welcome Kit.

  It's quite apparent that nothing we could say, or offer to do, was going to appease this customer.

  Please note, to date, the customer has not yet paid in full for the Prep work that was completed at his project.

   

  Thank you for your time.

  Customer response

  10/05/2022

  Rebuttle:
   
  Emails dont lie, but L&B? Among the untruths: no one said 100% satisfied, and I had the crew fix a mistake, unbeknownst to the others: the orange lines and pictures dont lie, but L&B? This is a case of L&B cutting too many corners. I want them to finish the job per the contract, but they wont unless I pay to fix their mistakes. Emails show L&B angry and obstinate, and I tried to work with them. 
   
  L&B prepped the wrong area, laid a inch of powder on my weed block, then wet it for a base. They expected to lay borders on grass and dirt. They promised a Trench and showed gravel, which they didnt do. Everyone knows you need a base in the ground. Everyone except L&B. 
   
  In their response, and emails and declaration I submitted, L&B ADMITS 4 things: 
  1. Demanding cash up front to finish the job 
  2. Making mistakes 
  3. Charging for sprinklers that were included 
  4. Raising charges by 30%: $250 per area x 3 and $150 for sprinklers to finish the work 
   
  These acts are a breach of the contract. 
  I want them to do the work they promised, but they abandoned the project, and now Im doing their work. BTW, I gave them cash on the prep day, which was worth more than their haphazard efforts. The owner wasnt here and didnt look at the mistakes, so how can he be a witness? We have two witness every time. 
   
  Declaration of ***************************: 
  I was present all three days L&B arrived, the owner was not. ******* offered to do the sprinklers, but we were told they were included. He did the work anyway. ******* was busy during prep but went out once for instructions and once to find a mistake. L&B laid the prep in the wrong areas. L&B moved the sprinklers to the wrong area. The owner was oblivious to instructions and lost the one day he arrived distracted and dazed. L&B didnt dig into the ground as per what we were shown. L&B didnt use gravel as we were led to believe. I have seen the damage done, and understand it will cost nearly a thousand dollars to fix, if not more to replace the grass. 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Had L& B give us an estimate June 11, 2021 and was told that we could have concrete landscape curbing in 4-6 weeks. I called every few weeks to get on the design schedule but was told that the installers would not be in my area. I was finally contacted in late October, but since it was winter and our sprinklers were winterized, we would have to wait until the spring. ***** the owner called in March 2022 and said that L&B would like to schedule the curbing. I addressed my concerns that we were not comfortable proceeding forward since our yard had snow on the ground and we did not want to pour concrete while it was still freezing. I was told by the owner that if we didn't take this timeslot we would be bumped back and have to wait many more months. I told her that we would have to cancel the job. On May 4,2022 ***** called to tell me that she is running my credit card for 20% of the job, even though we had never had a design consultation or formal estimate. The contract does not state that we would be charged a cancellation fee before a site visit or formal estimate submitted for approval.

  Business response

  05/12/2022

  We had given this customer an estimate on June 11, ******* that time, she signed her contract and was informed that, with her catching us in the middle of our busy season, we were going to be **** weeks out. We called her in September to schedule the Design appt and she stated that she was unavailable to meet with our Designer. We called again, in October, towards the end of our season, to get them in. She told us her sprinklers had already been turned off and what was the point of doing it now, at the end of the season. I confirmed that we would call her in the Spring, as soon as we were up and running, to have her completed, as one of our first jobs. As promised, I called her in March and said we could schedule her Design appt ASAP, in order to move forward with completing her Concrete Borders. She stated that she and her husband didn't feel comfortable with concrete being poured, while it was still cold out. I confirmed that we are the experts in the field and have done this for 23 years and do know when we can install concrete in  the Spring. She stated that she and her husband did not want us to come out until May, when it warmed up. I reached out on May 4th, to schedule the Design appt, once again, as promised. She stated they decided to go with someone else. I questioned why, when we followed the timeline we had so quite thoroughly discussed? I was very confused as to what she was speaking about, considering we had done everything that we had said we would.

  We have a signed contract that clearly states our 20% cancellation fee.  We charged the customer what she agreed to on her signed contract. There should be no dispute or confusion,as it's ******* clear why she was charged that.
  Please see the attached signed contract.

   

  Thank you for your time

• Initial Complaint

  03/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had L&B borders out to lay concrete edging for our landscaping. What they laid was not in our design, is not what they had painted out to be laid and is not what we discussed. We notified them of the issues the day it was installed and they told us they were closed for the season and refused to speak with us. They are open for the season again, and still refuse to discuss the issues. They will not come out and look at it, and now they are ignoring emails and have blocked our phone numbers. There are issues with the backyard install, but we can live with them...the front however, needs to be ripped out and redone.

  Business response

  04/04/2022

  We are sorry Mr and ************* are not happy with their product, we are also very aware of this project and are happy to explain the situation.
  The issues were addressed by the owner, on site, at the day of install. The owner personally installed this job and called the office and requested they put specific notes in this customers file, notating that he had numerous concerns.  We were initially under the impression this was a job we were doing for a landscaper & were anything but impressed with the terrain i.e. the grading and the loose soil, that we needed to attempt to run our equipment on.
  During the install, the owner specifically had the office reach out to the customer and have them come out to make sure he understood what was taking place on the front yard/left side of driveway. The owner spoke to the husband and wife, in the driveway, to get clarification on what was going on down the property line.  We install concrete edging to retain landscape materials and provide a lawn mower friendly environment. Down the property line, there were too many things going on. They had the first area, by the fence, that has two areas of landscape materials, one on the neighborsside, and one on the homeowners side. In turn, that required our block style,so they would have 4 on each side, in order to retain landscape materials.  The 2nd area needed to have a transition from the block style, because the neighbors lawn was the mower friendly side. The neighbor and homeowner have landscape material butting up to neighbors lawn, so the high side would be on homeowners side. The 3rd transition is by the sidewalk, because now you have two yards butting up to each other, and per the homeowner they wanted the mower friendly side facing their yard, which is correct.  This was all explicitly discussed with both of the customers and made very clear what was going to be installed.
  Weve been installing concrete borders for 23 years and know how to install borders with the best of them.  This customer wanted to have a picturesque end product, as seen on our brochure and website, unfortunately,their terrain and landscape is not conducive to that type of final product. We did the absolute best that we could, with what we were given.

  
  Thank you

  Customer response

  04/05/2022

   
  Complaint: 16947122
  
  I am rejecting this response because: We were NEVER informed the terrain was inadequate. We were NEVER notified they couldn't make the edging we had discussed and approved. They most definitely did NOT pour what was designed, painted out, discussed and told they would be able to do.  Our landscaping IS done by a professional landscaping company, and we were specifically told L&B could do what was designed and discussed.  This is a terrible result and they refuse to talk with us about fixing this mess they've left in our yard.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  Business response

  04/14/2022

  As previously stated, we did the best that we could with the area that we were given. Our company proceeded, as with any job, in a professional manner,completing it as we saw fit.
  We have had multiple conversations, to date, with the customer's husband, working to try find a mutually acceptable resolution. He confirmed that there were multiple concerns, with regards to the grade, existing on their property, that he was working with their Landscaper to rectify. 
  We simply want to state that many of these allegations are false and simply untruthful. We have never "blocked" a phone number, as that is not how we conduct business. We have kept the lines of communication completely open, looking to work with this customer to possibly find a solution.

  Customer response

  04/19/2022

   
  Complaint: 16947122
  
  I am rejecting this response because: They falsely advertise the product they could provide. They poured NOT what was agreed upon nor discussed. If the "best they can do" isn't what was approved, then they shouldn't pour. We've torn out the c*** job L&B provided and are hiring a company that actually CAN provide what they say they can.  Unbelievable what poor service, communication and just c*** job we received. They had a clean slate to work with and they can't even pour 2 straight lines and a curve. if you can't do something SAY SOMETHING.  Don't provide a crappy product and then NOT stand by it.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩