D BrookhouserDecember 2, 2021
I want to be fair and say they were on time and the crew that reimagined our backyard beautifully. The overall project lingered on an overstacked Hurr Vasa schedule due to a limited employment base (which I do not fault), incorrect plant material, lack of tools for individual tasks, etc. I will also shoulder some of the delay issues with having to travel out of town for a family illness.
I had several conversations with our lead, where he took no notes, despite at one point me asking if he should be taking notes, and believed that we were on the same page. I blame myself for trusting him to plant what I asked for, execute the landscape plan I had asked for, and potentially not being more firm.
I am sure that you can tell by the photo's that the North and East backyard landscaping is quite beautiful; however, the looks completely shade the real story. The spiral trees were erroneously placed (they were supposed to be placed in three spots that I chose with the lead of my project to help block the neighbor view from my picture window in the kitchen), the drain spout took three callbacks to do correctly, incorrect plants were ordered and had to be returned, and reordered-I am still not convinced that we weren't charged double on the delivery fee for this, broken flagstone was not only laid but left as that were acceptable, one of the posts for the sun sail had to be redone, I have 3/4 plants that died or are dying and was told to wait till spring and they will be replaced as they fall under the warranty. The sprinkler cap-off and restructuring took three or more times to get completed due to lack of communication, is what I was told. I am sure there is more, but I am overwhelmed with the details.
Moving to the front South yard, the small area near the sidewalk... The plants were not placed where we had discussed and not placed right until two callbacks and excuses from the lead. The backyard and the small front section were part of the original 'new' landscaping.
Here's the deal, because they are nice and polite, mostly, I asked them to do a clean-up of the front yard and honestly, the only reason I feel the need to tell you about my experience. I have a small manicured area near the porch and an even smaller landscaped area on the SW edge of the driveway. I asked for these two areas to be weeded and refreshed with new mulch. Not only did I have to call them back for leaving debris and old leaves behind, a light mulch refresh, and removing a Colorado native plant, they destroyed my Colorado state tree-my gorgeous 30+-year-old Blue Spruce (pictured). The blue spruce is NOT a pinon pine, which thrives in its beauty trimmed this way; it won't grow back, and was not to be touched. I was told, "my bad", the new crew didn't know, and the leader said he would take $500 off the overall bill for the clean-up and the sprinkler fix. The first bill for this work was, IMO, highway robbery for the clean-up and offered a mere 10% discount for forever ruining my Blue Spruce. I emailed them to complain and heard nothing from anyone for nearly a month, then I got more apologies and offered a 30% discount, which still was less than the lead had promised initially. I emailed them again in between yet another trip to NE to help care for my ailing mother-in-law and an emergency trip to care for my daughter in KY, who was put on bed rest at 22 weeks pregnant. It's been two weeks, and we have decided to pay the bill as is and leave it be.
I had to write this as a warning to you. The crews I spoke with and mostly worked on the significant project were friendly, respectful, and on time. I cannot, however, in good conscience, recommend the company. The seeming lack of concern for my position (mostly about my tree), the $$$ spent, the apparent void of integrity or customer service, etc.
*the picture of the spruce is an older one, as the landscaped area in front of it has changed since this picture (which Hurr did not do). This is what 'she' looked liked before Hurr chopped off the bottom 5 feet of her branches.
via Google
