Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We had our patio and fence done by Glover Brothers Landscaping Inc. The project was started in October 2019 and finished in June 2020. There are 5 years warranty on all hardscape material and labour according to our Landscape Installation Agreement.
  
  When they installed the patio in 2019, I noticed the length of the patio did not meet the size as agreed. The person who was in charge on the site agreed to add one more row of bricks. I expressed my concerns that the gravel base was not wide enough, which might cause problems. He promised to come back to fix it if that’s the case.
  
  In the spring of 2021, two conner bricks in the backyard were found to be wobbling and there are some cracks in the polymeric sand between the bricks. They fixed it simply by resanding the bricks with polymeric sand.
  In the early spring of 2022, I noticed the edge bricks which were wobbling last year came up a little bit and there was water paddling on the patio. It indicates the edge bricks are heaving in the winter. The new polymeric sand between the bricks cracked again as the bricks went backdown when the weather got warmer.
  I was worried about the situation, so I took the pictures and sent the email to them to request repairs as we are still under 5 years warranty. The person who received my email responded not only declining the problem but also insulting me as below.
  
  “the picture of the ice melting...congratulations...this is a picture of ice melting...not of any problem with the patio...it is ice melting in the spring.”,
  
  “this is polymeric sand opening and is completely normal ...also not an indication of a problem with the patio. Resweep it with polymeric sand.”
  
  “We no longer do residential landscaping specifically because of clients like you.”
  
  “Please get a life.”
  
  
  I am looking for justice and fairness here and hope the problems with my patio can be fixed under the warranty.
  
  Thanks

  Business Response

  Date: 08/08/2022

  We do apologize for any misinterpretation of comments, this was not our intention. We value all feedback from clients and hope to address this in a professional manner. Over time the sand between stones can begin to break down as the interlock settles. Take one of our hot summer days and then a thunderstorm passing through—these dramatic weather variations can begin to take a toll. The sand gets hot, then wet, then dried out—and it begins to crack. The freeze/thaw cycle can also play a role. As a result, unfortunately, polymeric sand is an item we do not include in the warranty (we stipulate this on our estimates also, screenshot attached). That being said, we did complete a repair out of good faith for this client in 2021 as he mentioned, it is Glover Brothers intention to always leave a client feeling happy with our work. After the repair we kindly reminded the client that polymeric sand is not a warranty item and there is zero sinkage on the interlock as well as no structural problem with the patio. While we can sympathize with the client, we suggest purchasing a bag of polymeric sand and re-sweeping. We wish all the best to this client and if he has any questions regarding proper re-sweeping we would be glad to provide comments on this for him to complete. We do thank him for the comments. 

  Business Response

  Date: 15/09/2022

  We put a proper gravel base. The photo sent shows snow still and it is melting. The ground looks like it is still thawing, therefore is still frozen and cannot seep into the grass as its supposed to so it melts on the interlock. 

  We would like to further extend an offer to the customer of having our crews come out there to inspect the "nonexistent" gravel, as we are confident there is granular under the brick he is claiming we "refused to extend". However, if there is gravel, he will need to pay T&M for having our crews mobilize. If there is none, then we will repair for free.

  We stand by our work. A deposit will need to be provided before the crews mobilize if this is the route he would like to go. If it is deemed we repair for free, we will return the deposit. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 16/09/2022

   
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. Please refer to the attached photo
  IMG-4207.original.jpg. From this photo, you can see clearly the edge bricks
  were tilted and blocked the water from running over the edge bricks. The water
  was not blocked by the snow on the bricks. The edge bricks were tilted up by
  frost heave and pressed the polymeric sand during the winter season. When the
  ground and the gravel were thawed out, the bricks went back down to the
  original position and left the crack, caused the brick wobbling.

  
  2. The explanation on the polymeric sand
  crack is not reasonable. The patio brick should not wobble and the polymeric
  sand should not crack every year immediately after finishing. The edge bricks wobbled
  last year and one of the business’s employees inspected and confirmed it is a
  problem. The same edge bricks are wobbling again this year.

  
  3. The
  business said “polymeric sand is an item we do not include in the warranty (we
  stipulate this on our estimates also, screenshot attached)”. Firstly, I
  never saw this content of the screenshot attached by the
  business. Secondly, it is only a portion and does not mean it is on our
  estimates. All our documents were sent by emails as attachments. It is easy to
  prove the attached portion is on the estimate or not by supplying a complete estimate
  or the dates of emails that were sent with attached estimates, so we can
  see who is wrong. I would like to emphasize that the problem is the edge bricks
  wobbling which caused by winter heaves.

  
  4. I never said that there are no
  granular under the bricks. Why does the business keeps saying paying to inspect
  the “nonexistent” gravel? Does this make any sense? I confirm that the patio
  bricks were put on the gravel. Again, when they were installing the bricks, I expressed my concern that the gravel was
  not wider enough to prevent the edge bricks from winter heaves.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** **