Riley's Midwest Landscaping, Scottsdale, AZ

# 17 for August 26, 2003

Business Reply - April 14, 2004 - From: //

reply to Midwest Landscaping complaint

To whom it may concern:

I would like to the reply to the letter submitted to Complaints.com in regards to Midwest Landscaping written by Sherry Peta.

In response to her saying she was not allowed to get other bids for her landscaping because we were their preferred landscaper. She knew that when she purchased the home. If it was that important to her she should have considered another builder. It is a service TW Lewis offers with the purchase of their new homes to include a landscape package, which is part of the price of the home. It is not a "basic" package, by no means. She stated her upgrades were "minor". She add a masonry wall 14' long 30" h with flagstone cap & piers, 18 ft. drystack wall with 11 extra tons dirt, Vista lighting and upgraded the size of her tree. All the upgrade prices were approved by Ms. Peta before the work was done, if she thought we were too high she did not have to go with any of the upgrades, but she sign the contract and the work was done June 2001. The first time she called and complained about us being over priced was in 2003.

We install professional quality outdoor lighting from Vista. The price she compared it too was Malibu. There is no comparison.

We were out there on several issues that were "above & beyond our call of duty", just to please her. We DID NOT plant anything in the wrong place. Everything was installed according to a design she signed off on.

She contacted the AZ Register of Contractors 3 times for 3 different issues. The first time was October 2002, 16 months after the job was complete. The Register asked us to add 1 ton of granite and lower 4 lights. The other two complaints the register sided with US and the third time they told her not to call them again. So Ms Peta now decides to take T. W. Lewis and Midwest to court. SHE LOST IN COURT SO SHE DECIDES TO GO ON THE INTERNET AND TRY TO DESTROY OUR REPUTATION.

Please disregard her letter. We have plenty of happy customers.

Richard Riley

President

Riley's Midwest Landscaping

Consumer follow-up message - March 11, 2005 - From: Email User Consumer

I would like to reply to Riley's Midwest Landscaping's reply to my posting.

First, they indicate that I knew Riley's was the landscaper and I did not have an opportunity to get bids -- they do not know what I knew. In fact, there was another landscape company working in the neighborhood as well, so it was not certain who the company would be, nor did TW Lewis make it known at the time of contract to buy the HOUSE that they would force us to use an overpriced landscape company.

Second, while I added a 14' stucco wall with flagstone cap, I'll note here (as in my initial complaint) that I added TWO of these walls in my backyard, and they are identical (I had the back yard walls done the same as the front in order to coordinate). Here's the price difference:

Stucco Wall with Flagstone Cap

Midwest / TWLewis: $1,245.00

Other Landscape Company: $400.00

They also point our that I added an 18' dry stacked wall with 11 tons of dirt. I added THREE drystacked walls of similar or longer length in the backyard by a different landscaper (exact same stone, and more than triple the amount of dirt). Here's the price difference:

Dry Stacked Rock Wall

Midwest / TWLewis: $1,636.00 for one rock wall

Other Landscape Company: $600.00 -- FOR THREE WALLS vs. ONE

They did, in fact, plant a tree in the wrong place. They did, in fact, after TW Lewis determine by measuring according to the drawn out plans, that the tree was in the wrong place, move the tree. The court hearing was because the tree was dying after they in fact moved the tree -- the tree would not have been failing had it not been moved. The tree was nursed back to health by TWL; thus, further court proceedings were not necessary.

The reason the issue of being charged more than triple the going rate was brought up in 2003 was because that is when I had my backyard landscaped, thus, that is when the comparisons were made available. In fact, I find that even more ironic now because as prices tend to go up -- in 2001, Midwest was actually charging 3 to 8 times the going rate of 2003 when prices had likely gone up since 2001.

Additionally, the Registrar never instructed me not to call again, but I have not contacted them again (a) because all issues had been resolved the best they could be with this type of company, and (b) the Registrar only has jurisdiction for a certain period of time.

To this day, I look at my beautifully landscaped large, lighted, and lush back yard done by a personally chosen landscape company, and marvel at it's beauty, achieved for a price of $12,000 (with over 2000 square feet of lawn, 60 tons of gravel, ten trees, raised planter w/flagstone wall, three rock walls, built in barbeque w/stucco & flagstone walls).... compared to the drab desert landscape of my small front yard for a price tag of $11,500 (with 3 trees, gravel, and a bunch of cheap desert plants).

I stand behind my facts....... Midwest and TWLewis had a nice plan to put a lot of extra cash in their pockets by not giving us a choice, drastically overcharging, and topping it off with zero customer service.

Sherry P

Scottsdale, Arizona

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 25, 2003:

From: Email User Consumer

RE: Riley's Midwest Landscaping - unhappy with job done at new TW Lewis home in Scottsdale, AZ

My recent purchase of a TW Lewis home "included" a $6500 front yard landscape package from Riley's Midwest Landscaping. This meant new homeowners did not have the option of going out for a bid and selecting their own landscaper. I added some very minor upgrades which outrageously pushed my price up to $11,500 for this small, very basic, desert landscape. Since then, I've had my backyard done (about 6-7 times the size of my front yard). This oversized backyard with two large sections of grass with automatic sprinklers, 10 trees, built in BBQ area with flagstone capped stucco walls, and other formed planters and walls -- all together cost roughly $12,000. I spoke with Tom Lewis about how he and his subcontractor, Midwest Landscape, are severely overcharging for landscape -- Tom Lewis of TW Lewis believes the prices are fair. I beg to differ -- and here are some comparisons: Midwest Landscaping / T.W. Lewis prices vs. Landscaper selected by homeowner Dry Stacked Rock Wall

Midwest / TWLewis: $1,636.00 for one rock wall

Other Landscape Company: $600.00 -- FOR THREE WALLS vs. ONE Here, Midwest and T.W. Lewis charged more than EIGHT times as much per wall, for the same exact rock, same style wall, same size wall. I call that outrageous. Landscape Spotlights

Midwest / TWLewis: $62.50 per spot light

Other Landscape Company: $34.00 per spot light Double the price ... doesn't seem like "fair" pricing to mem especially when we're not given the choice or option to get bids. Stucco Wall with Flagstone Cap

Midwest / TWLewis: $1,245.00

Other Landscape Company: $400.00 More than triple the price -- I call that outrageous. Add Valve for Separate Water Line

Midwest / TWLewis: $225.00

Other Landscape Company: $75.00 Riley's Midwest Landscaping and T.W. Lewis company are charging three times more than the average price to install a valve.

To top it off, my front yard had leaks in the drip system that they refused to pinpoint and fix. They planted incorrect plants that did not match the plans, and put things in wrong places, that did not match the plans. It would be nice if there was some kind of legislation that allowed homeowners a little more fairness when having a house built, instead of being forced to use a poor quality and over priced landscaper that is obviously padding someone else's pocket. Clearly, T.W.Lewis is not at the top of my list, and I would NEVER recommend them as a home builder. It has been nothing but a headache working with them. Surely a disappointment in having to deal with both Riley's Midwest Landscaping and T.W.Lewis, and for what I paid, it is just not right. Sherry P

Scottsdale, Arizona