I called to have clay that I dug from my garden (this past summer)which I had left on my driveway in a mound. Derek arrived promptly to estimate the job. He advised $150 to pick up the clay and haul to the dump.
I approved.
Derek and his crew arrived on time as promised. I was busy inside my home and did not watch or supervise him. Derek rang the bell to advise the job was completed. I went outside to pay him only to see approximately 3/4 of wheelbarrow full of dirt still remaining on the driveway (edging into the grass) and the workmen spreading other clumps of clay back on my garden. One workman sat on my lawn picking the clay out of his boots - (he left that blob of clay where he sat)
I asked Derek to complete the job and remove the dirt and also - why was he spreading clay back on the garden. He ignored the latter question but stated that the grass had grown over the dirt (?)and it could not be removed. I said that was ridiculous and said it would take me two minutes to rake the dirt from the edge of the grass. I opened the garage door to grab my rake and as I did so, it was clear his crew was packing up and leaving. He said pick up the dirt myself and spread this remaining dirt on the garden - I told him that was the point of having him come (I didn't want the clay fill) and that I expected him to complete the job as promised.
He became very argumentative, yelling at me. I told him not to take this tone with me, I was not deaf, and that he had no right to speak to me that way and finally, that I expected the job to be completed as promised and asking him to remove all the clay was not unreasonable. His tone and demeanour did not change - in fact it got worse. I told him to get off my property.
I would not recommend this company to anyone.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $150.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Treat all customers with respect regardless of job size or cost. Yelling at customers, calling them names and mocking them when they make a request you don't agree with is never an acceptable method of problem resolution. Take a course in anger management. Develop customer relationship skills, with particular emphasis on dealing respectfully with women. Learn the art of compromise. I offered to rake the dirt off the grass - you had the truck in the driveway. It would have taken not more than 5 minutes for you to shovel up the dirt I raked and leave with it. You had 4 men with you - I was by myself. Instead, I spent 20 minutes to: (1) rake the dirt off the garden your service people dumped back on it(clay on top of triple mix is not a good combination for plants), (2) rake the blobs of clay off the grass left in the middle of my yard by your service man, and (3) load up the remaining dirt left on the driveway's edge into my wheelbarrow and then cart it back to the back of my yard and up a steep birm to dump at the fenceline. Finally, practise good manners. Do not leave more mess for the homeowner to clean up than was there when you arrived. Leaving huge lumps of clay picked from your boots in the middle of my lawn is disrespectful and sloppy and inconsiderate. Do not accept paid work if your intent is to provide a less than acceptable level of service. If you accept a job - honour the contract.
- Company Response
First of all we are not in the dirt removal business, we did it as a favour seeing as you live close by to us. The amount you are arguing over was minimal and not worth this type of response. We did not make any money over your job, it cost more to dump it plus the man hours, as I said we were just doing it to help out a neighbour. We deal with many Condo Corporations and Golf Courses and have never had any issues with the quality of work we perform.