Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Columbus Landworks, LLC's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Columbus Landworks, LLC

  1509 Blatt Blvd Ste 1803 Columbus, OH 43230-6925

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  Columbus Landworks, LLC

  424 E Como Ave Columbus, OH 43202-1457

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/19/2024

  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 entered into a contract with Columbus Landworks LLC on 3/2/2024 for services related to landscaping, re-leveling a stone paver patio and applying weed barrier and re-leveling to an existing path. The company uncommunicative overall, often delaying the project without informing us, the burden was most often on us to reach out and get a status update. they did not provide clear directions regarding expectations of our use of the area for stages of the work, but the little direction we did get, we followed. Upon their return after multiple delays, they attempted to add additional charges based on accusations that we are the source of the need for additional work, when in fact, the work had not been delivered even to the contract standards for the portion they had completed. There was no prior discussion about additional charges. When we questioned this they were retaliatory and stated they would not finish the project. Once we stated this was a breach of contract, they replied they would return and finish. The staff came again to complete part of it, during which they damaged our property and engaged in poor craftsmanship and did not honor the agreement of the contract. We immediately contacted the business owner and provided ph***s and stated we also had video evidence to back up our claim, as he declined to believe our statements about his team and the quality of work prior. He stated he would call us the following day and did not. We asked him again to contact us the day after the expected call and he stated they were off for the holiday and would call tomorrow. At this point I stated I expected to hear from them or I would file a complaint with relevant agencies. He responded that he would not return to my property or respond, which in fact is still and again a breach of contact, and now there is property damage to boot, along with a half finished project and poor quality. Repair to finish and reimbursement along with damages is requested.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/21/2024

  We were contracted to perform services as stated by the client. Before we were able to finish the project, the client's cat got out and we were told not to return to the property until told, so as not to scare the cat away if it came back. We had already performed the leveling of the patio at this point and pressure washed. We instructed the client not to walk on the patio for 24 hours, but that was before we learned of not being able to return. Eight days later, we were cleared to return. The client said they had cleared the patio again. We returned two weeks after we were told we were cleared to do so. The use of the patio, including returning the furniture to the surface before we could finish meant we had to level the patio again. Having the project delayed, we had to move onto other projects. I informed the client of a very reasonable $175 charge for performing this work. The client said they were comfortable paying for half of that, which I found unacceptable. An argument ensued and I told the client we would not charge them. 
  
  Before we returned, the client informed us of two individual stones that needed re-leveled. It was clear that more was needed for us to provide a quality project. After the $175 charge was communicated, they then claimed the patio was still very uneven and began getting hyper-focused on every possible aspect of the project before we were finished. I was barraged with messages in a manner that was not diplomatic, and showed to me that the intent was retaliatory. We are not perfect, but if there is something wrong, it is not shown as an attack, but rather feedback, and we fix it. Our 100% 5-star rating on every platform shows this. 
  
  The client's behavior made me uncomfortable with returning to the project. Their claims of damaged property are unfounded. There was one cracked stone that I saw. These were cut flagstone, and many were far too thin to be used for the patio already. This was a leveling project of an existing patio. There is no way to know the condition of the stone there, whether it was already damaged, or had started to crack and only needed to be lifted for it to show. 
  
  The work performed was to scope. The services performed were performed to completion of the line items on the contract. The path described was a separate line item that was not started. The client's financial obligation for work completed exceeds the deposit provided before starting. 
  
  I have attached the full conversation beginning with the cat running away.
  
  Thank you,
  
  
  Marshall S***
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/26/2024

  I have now had time for a thorough review of Mr S**** response and all of our communications and would like to add to my response and add information he omitted. 
  In his initial response to the BBB, he is plain out, lying. He did not attach the full conversation, far from it. He seems to omit his accountability to his preference. Following our pets return, we sent him 3 photos total of water pooling up. We also sent him a photo of his equipment still laying in our flower bed, where it had been for weeks. We had to repeatedly reach out to him for status updates throughout, and have stayed in clear and direct communication since the project began in Feb of 2024. 
  We can show that we have consistently communicated in the same friendly manner until he added nebulous and unfounded charges which he did not communicate about prior to completing the alleged work, despite multiple opportunities to do so, both via text and in person. He then admits that he argued with us, but attempts to say he is the “uncomfortable” one. We were made very uncomfortable by his quick turn in personality and feel that he is in fact the retaliatory one. This led us to feel as though we needed to become more vigilant and protect ourselves with regard to interactions with him.
  The “barrage” of messages he may be referring to is after we returned home to more progress on our project by his employees. This was after the conversation about the charges where he initially threatened not to complete, then rescinded the threat and the charge. Returning home that evening, we found damage to our patio. We absolutely were upset, and he showed little urgency to address our concerns, and did not call the next day as promised. When we reached out again he brushed us off the following day as well. He took no constructive feedback or accountability throughout the entire project. Following his initial threat not to finish, we became concerned with his reactionary behaviors and we were left in a state where we felt we had to be hypervigilant with regard to him and his employees and to document our occurrences in case he attempted to add more charges or shirk more accountability. 
  This was an attempt at self protection which unfortunately was well-founded, since we literally have evidence of them damaging our home and as evidenced by his response, he thinks that someone being upset about damage to their property is not “diplomatic” and as such he has no obligations as a business owner to honor a contractual agreement. He then continued to evade communication and gave no guidance around our concerns about the damage to our property. He did not follow up or clarify and this has been consistent throughout. We have to chase him down for updates all the time, he says one thing and does another. Perhaps he is frustrated by our concern of our project as he is aware he does shoddy work. There is no more goodwill.
  It is commonplace to expect that a contractor will not damage your property and that if there is damage it is reported and amended. There is an 18 month warranty on the work, which is NOT completed as he indicates in the second paragraph, and we also have texts to prove that. The stones are loose as is still, the sand and stones very uneven, along with the many other damages to them (cracks, dried piles of polymeric sand atop) and if he had concerns about the integrity of them, he should've spoken up at one of the many many many opportunities he had to do so. I can't just throw a baseball through someone's window and be like, “well the glass was old”. His rationales are weak and baseless. 
  The entire point of a contract is to ensure the work is done in an acceptable manner, which it is not. It is absolutely not done to scope or performed to completion, which contradicts with his assertions that “they then claimed the patio was still very uneven and began getting hyper-focused on every possible aspect of the project before we were finished” in the following paragraph. He did not use proper equipment to complete the work, which caused damage (aka used mallets rather than a hand tamper or plate compactor, which is industry standard). His workers were careless and it looks atrocious, outside of the damage of polymeric sand now adhered to the top of the edging stones. 
  There has been no discussion of deposit or debts owed. He has gone into his invoicing software and marked our estimate as “not accepted” but we have a screenshot from the day I stated I would complain if he didnt address us, showing it was in a state of acceptance (attached). So truly it is he who is retaliatory. He is a liar and a fraud. Even returning our deposit isn't going to suffice at this point, he did more damage than our deposit could pay for to remedy this with another company. Our patio is made of irregular cut bluestone pavers, which are expensive and now are damaged.
  I am attaching other screenshots of the damage and other communication he omitted in an attempt to avoid any responsibility. All of these messages were received, there are no rejections on them. I also have a detailed timeline of events and media evidence of damage, which he was prior invited to review, but was uninterested. 

  Business Response

  Date: 06/26/2024

  I acknowledge the customer’s concerns and would be happy to remedy any damage that was caused by our company. I appreciate the resource of your video showing what happened. Please share this so I can see what happened, address it with the team, and make the repairs as needed. 
  

  Regarding the contract, I recognize that there was a separate area to be worked on. That area had not been started and had its own line item pricing. For that reason, when looking at the full contract, not all work was performed. The client was not sent an invoice for the balance of the contract, despite the owed amount exceeding the deposit provided. We completed all aspects of the scope of work for the patio. This was to provide a clean breaking point and not leave the client with unfinished work. 
  

  I stand by my decision to step away from the project. We leveled the patio twice at no additional charge. The client was not charged anything in addition to their initial deposit, and were not sent an invoice. For this reason, we will not be able to return the deposit.

  Again, we will make any repairs caused by negligence from the team. These repairs will take place within 2 business days of receiving the client’s media footage.  
  

  Marshall S***

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/30/2024

  I am rejecting this response because: The most frustrating part of this process is that Columbus Landworks continues to change their response based on our ability to prove accountability on their part, while our narrative remains the same. Thus the response is unacceptable. The project remains unfinished.

  I do not wish to share the video at this time, I do not trust this company or the intentions of asking for the video. All ph*** evidence has been provided here and we initially offered for him to see any video media he wanted to, which was ignored. I also provided Columbus Landworks pictures of the damage the day of, and there was no response. We have been called undiplomatic, retaliatory and stated that we "barraged" the owner with messages, when actually the only day we sent multiple messages were when we returned home to damage from his employees to our property, this was following his initial attempt to pull out of the contract. He did not care about the damage that day and I do not believe he cares about it today, as such I will not release this video, because he has plenty of imagery of the damage, that was sent the last day his company was on the property. 

  We requested the updated invoice on 3/1/2024 and on 3/2/2024 MS/CLW requested the deposit and then stated "I'll send a modified invoice. Will likely be 10-15 days before project start." He failed to send the updated invoice before project start and he simply began work on the property. Despite that no additional invoice was sent, there was a contract. When an invoice was sent has nothing to do with the contract or the validity of.

  The project was left unfinished. On 6/14/2024 after MS left our property we immediately asked him for guidance on how to best care for the work he did. He didn't offer this, we asked for it, and followed it, just as we have followed any direction he has given us. On 6/15/2024 the message we received from Marshall S*** stated "We will put in a little more of the fine gravel in a couple of areas, sweet the sand in, and it will need at least 24h to cure. We will then backfill around the edges of the patio." The only day after his visit on 6/14/2024 that that anyone from CLW as on our property was 6/17/2024. There was no return to fill after the sand cured. There was no backfilling around the edges of the patio. The edges of our patio are basically the "compacted crushed limestone (angular) is needed for structural integrity". The angular edge is exposed, the weed fabric in the flower beds is still upturned, there are piles of dirt that was dug out that remains in the beds and the pavers are displaced on the path of the area that would have been the next stage of the project. Nothing about this project is to scope or finished. There was no opportunity to send an invoice for the total, because he pulled out from the project, unfinished, after we sent him photos of the damage his company caused, he blew us off for days and we expressed frustration about this and stated we expected to hear from him or we would file complaints. This was his second attempt to leave the project. Nothing about his departure from this project was on the up and up and we have all the texts to show it. 

  Also, he is stating he "leveled the patio twice at no additional charge".  The initial leveling was in the contact. after the second "re-leveling" he attempted to charge for after the fact, and when we offered to pay half due to his lack of direction and clear communication about any directions or charges prior, he threatened to walk from the project. So it was not at no charge. In fact it is the inception point for this entire case. There was not other leveling done before or since. 

  Making repairs would require MS and CLW to source pavers, cut the to fit and likely to pull up and redo the polymeric sand, for starters. I have included images of the damage to the top of the edging pavers and I dont know how that gets remedied either, if all of that has to come up or what. 

  Perhaps instead of gaslighting and retaliating against us, you could've have listened to your customers who had been nothing but friendly to you up to the point of these false truths, threats and retaliations. You said yourself you had recent staff turnover, had to let someone go, and literally we have done nothing to you to deserve any of this, besides offer to pay half for a charge we really thought was unfair to start with. 

  Regards,
  
  ****** *** ******* ********