aura landscaping

We hired Aura Landscaping to complete a job on our backyard following a renovation/extension by Baeumler Quality Construction. The only reason we hired this company was because they had a "Baeumler Approved" status and our home renovation had gone well. Then the nightmare began. The owner of the company Scott, came to our home in February, 2015, and first verbally quoted us a price of $65, 000 to repair the patio, remove existing shrubs and replace with new ones. That price almost immediately went up to $94,471.48, which in reality was $106,752.77 which he never fully explained in terms of "applicable taxes added", though this wording was in the contract, so that was our first big mistake in not being more questioning from the beginning. In May, this amount increased to $122,176.88. Before any work was started, we had already paid $68,791.49. The job that was supposed to take 2 weeks (as in the contract) took 11 weeks from mid- June to late August resulting in the loss of use and enjoyment of our backyard for almost the entire summer. We were prepared for a 2-week, or even a 4-week delay, but we never anticipated a 9-week over-run and Scott never once adequately explained or apologized for this unwarranted delay. There were ongoing problems from start to finish--workers not showing up on entire days; cable lines being cut; pool lines being cut--all of which resulted in even more delays and inconvenience. When the job was finally complete, we found the final invoice had increased by more than $6,000.00--all for work within the scope of the contract, which he deducted after we balked at these charges that we had never approved in advance, and so were deemed unenforceable by our legal counsel. In our opinion, you may want to think carefully about hiring this company while seeking other quotes and reviewing other options because he also contractually promised us a landscape design which he never actually provided, with the result that the gardens were not designed according to our wishes, and we remain deeply dissatisfied by the final outcome. This problem can be alleviated by hiring a Certified Landscape Designer and/or Architect which we learned too late. The contract also stated that our fence would be constructed using 6 foot boards, but he supplied only 5 foot boards resulting in necessary amendments in order to pass the town inspection. We were verbally promised a $1,600.00 credit for this shortcoming, but received only $900.00 when we asked for the full amount. The side yard was supposed to be re-graded prior to laying down new sod, but this also never happened and no credit was provided. We did receive a credit of $7,910.00 for outdoor lighting after we decided that we would take care of that ourselves in order to avoid yet more delays, expenses and frustration. It took many months, tens of thousands of dollars, and several legal consultations to realize that hiring "Aura Landscaping" on the basis of their "Baeumler Approved" status was the worst mistake we ever made. Despite the fact that we have paid in full every penny demanded, we continue to be extremely unhappy and dismayed about this entire experience, and only hope that others can benefit from our errors in judgement.