Complaint Review: Lawn and Beyond Landscaping Solutions

Owner Ben Barnes introduced himself as a licensed contractor. His employees insist he is a licensed contractor, however no information can be found by the state, city or county to verify that.

We paid up front to take advantage of the discount. Once Lawn and Beyond has your money, you have to stay on them to do any work. We would go 4 or 5 weekdays at a time with no one working on our yard. When confronted, Mr. Barnes always has an excuse which could never be verified. When various day labor workers did show up, they were here for 3 or 4 hours and left.

Mr Barnes insisted we did not need a permit for a fence replacement or for a retaining wall that is 3 ft tall or under. Mr. Barnes was wrong. We were fined for his beginning work without a permit. He insists he is right, but he cannot verify that. he called our city "retarted". Our fence is of less than poor quality. It moves, it is uneven, panels are already coming off. Pickets are cracking, wood is untreated, the gate will not close and drags on the ground. Mr. Barnes ignores all questions regarding the issues with the fence. Mr. Barns insists we have a 15 year manufacturer warranty, however when we contacted the manufacturer, we were informed only 10 of the 30 fence panels were purchased, the rest were hand built by Mr. Barnes which voids the warranty. This explains the terrible craftsmanship, mismatched wood, and other issues. The manufacturer also verified they have never been out of these panels which is a claim that Mr. Barnes made for one of his delays.

Mr. Barnes was to build a retaining wall of 68ftx3ft. Mr. Barnes claims he ran out of materials not even half way through and could not explain why. What was built of the wall is not anchored and is bowing out. Mr. Barns could also not explain why he installed a fence and then put up a retaining wall when the job was to build a wall, raise the ground level and put in a fence.

We paid for 1 1/2 inch rock and received mainly 1/4-1/2 inch rock. Mr. Barnes was informed that is the incorrect rock and it needs to be removed and replaced with what we paid for. Mr. Barnes also ignored that request. Mr. Barnes also used the rock company running out of rock as one of his many delays. We verified with the rock company that they have never been out of what we ordered. And there is a drastic price difference from what we ordered and what we received.

With concerns of the workmanship on the project, the untimely manor, being ripped off, as well as the integrity and standards of the company and Mr. Barnes in mind, we requested several times to meet with Mr. Barnes in attempt to settle these issues through friendly negations. He was very rude and refused to say when he could meet. He very rudely told us to speak to his employees. They knew nothing. They did verify that other people have had issues with him and his company. They also did respond that he is a licensed contractor. 10 minutes later, they left and we have never seen any workers here or heard from Lawn and Beyond or Ben Barnes since.

Start Date: May 29 2017 Last Date worked: August 2 2017 XXXXX over 10 weeks!!! XXXXX

Mr. Barnes "somewhat agreed" after many requests and having to remind him that he is the contractor and he has unhappy clients, to be at our house after 5pm on August 2nd after his "very important business meetings in Tampa." He never showed up, never called and we have not heard from him since. Our attempts to settle this through friendly negotiations has been unsuccessful. We have been in contact with several customers who have had this same experience with Mr. Barnes and Lawn and Beyond Landscaping and also have been unable to resolve their issues through friendly negotiations.