Tina from Vancouver

Do not be fooled by the team at West Pacific Landscaping Ltd. They gave me the most reasonable estimate for redesigning and building my front and back yards. After they completed the job, I realized why they were priced so "reasonably". First, the job took two months longer than they had said it would. Sometimes there would be a big team working on our yard, and other days there would be a crew of two people doing work that clearly required a bigger team. When I told Kevin about this inconsistency, he stated that his company was big and that there were other more important jobs to tend to. Second, the team at West Pacific Landscaping are not receptive to client concerns. During the job I noticed that water was gathering at certain areas of my garden. When I pointed this out to Kevin, he stated that the water will drain and there was nothing he could do about it. He re-planted a very expensive Hinoki tree in one of the holes where water was gathering-- as expected it died. Water also puddled and destroyed our newly planted grass. Third, the team at West Pacific Landscaping Ltd. are inexperienced-- although they will tell you that they have done this for years. They planted sun plants in shaded areas of the lawn. In replacing my Hinoki, they chose something that looked similar, but was not a Hinoki! I ended up spending an extra $500 to buy my own plants even though the cost had been factored into the original estimate. Although the workmanship for the paving stones was done beautifully, we found out later on, that several corners had been cut in doing so. They used so much concrete to hold up the paving stones in the garden walkways that grass does not grow anywhere near the walkways. For the curves in the walkways, Kevin said that it was not standard to cut smaller pieces to follow the curves, but rather to fill in the gaps with sand. I had to request repeatedly to have it done-- and even when it was being done, he complained to me about the time and cost it was incurring for him to do so. Finally, they are dishonest. A year later I had to call West Pacific Landscaping Ltd back to fix the problems they had created. Although it was supposed to be under warranty, Kevin took an extra $10,000 from us in supposed materials cost. He stated that I was changing the garden from the plans we had initially agreed upon and hence the extra charges. One of his workers drank all the beer in our fridge in the garage. When we told Kevin, he stated that he will fire the employee. However, a few weeks later, we saw the same employee working at our house. If you value your money, do not use this company. I will certainly not call them back to be duped again!

In deciding who to hire to paint our home, we obtained several estimates from different companies. We decided to go with Budget and Save Painters after meeting with Kerry and hearing his plans for painting our house. Although they did not give the cheapest estimate, they also were not the most expensive. They gave the longest warranty and were willing to do small house repairs (e.g., repairing cracked deck boards, and replacing a few rotted exterior house paneling) so that our house would look as good as new once the new paint had been applied. We felt particularly good about our decision after a second meeting with Kerry and a paint sales rep to discuss the kinds of paint they would be using on our house. We became concerned when Kerry pushed for the best products-- assuming that he would use that opportunity to increase the cost of the job. Much to our pleasant surprise, Kerry informed us that using the best products would not affect his original estimate. Throughout the job, Kerry checked in with us and was willing to apply additional coats as requested. Already we've had positive comments from neighbours about how good our house looks. Thank you Kerry and the team at Budget and Save Painters for restoring our house to the jewel that it is!