Find another contractor, Paul is a crook! He has made a living off stealing money from his clients. He was supposed to build a pool in our backyard. After we gave our 5-figure deposit, prices started to change (pricing the project far out of our agreed upon budget) and Paul became very hard to get ahold of. We ultimately decided that we did not want to work with Paul. Since no work was scheduled, and no materials were ordered, we asked for a refund of our deposit (agreeing to pay the design fee). That was 2 months ago and still nothing... We have started legal proceedings. In our research we found that Paul has a history of ripping people off. He previously owned another Landscape company called Gerard Associates which went bankrupt due debts (amounting to over $300k) owed to clients and suppliers. He also claims to have won many awards on his website, which we have verified are also fabricated, such as the "Boston Flower Show" awards. Paul is a quintessential con artist. He has made a living ripping off honest, hard working people. I hope that this reviews spares others from the horrible experience my husband and I are going through. read more

Paul is a complete scam artist. Here are clear examples: 1. He claims to have won awards at the 2017 Boston Flower Show....He has NOT. Check their website and even with their Executive Director. (It's quite comical to see how detailed the awards he made up are - ha!) 2. He claims to be part of the ASLA....he is NOT. Last I checked in May 2017 they confirmed he was using their logo without their permission. 3. Paul has not refunded us a five figure deposit when NO work has been complete except for a design. More than 30 days have passed since our request. Can you trust anyone with this kind of blatant misrepresentation? Check the facts before working with this person. Read the complaints on the BBB site as well, lots of other similar comments. read more

Paul at Allure design did not follow thru on any work- never returned calls did not live up to the contract . We were very disappointed and would never recommend him. Altho, we did check on his references- they were wrong. I would not even give him 1 star. Carolyn K. read more

Paul Kauranen of Allure Design never completed a job at our home he started in late January 2017. Allure had agreed in writing to redo our pool deck and replace our automatic pool cover for $25,000. I made all payments as requested, including "reimbursing" him for payment to a pool cover subcontractor when he stated on January 24, 2017, "I paid for the automatic cover kit and components on our company credit card", which ended up being a false claim; the subcontractor was never paid. With work about half completed, but us having paid in $20,000 of the $25,000, Paul stopped showing up. He has refused to issue a refund for the unfinished work and unordered products. The checks I paid Allure Design were: $10,000 on 24JAN17 $5,000 on 30JAN17 $5,000 on 31JAN17 All winter and into the spring he left our pool deck torn up, and equipment and material stored in our yard. For a while (like, months) he made all sorts of excuses, said he would come on a certain day but would not show up (repeatedly), and explicitly and repeatedly reassured me he would finish the job. He did not. In June 2017 he referred me to his lawyer to negotiate a refund for unfinished work. His attorney and I agreed on an amount, which the attorney said Paul approved: $5,000. However, Paul has not actually paid the refund. Do not hire Paul Kauranen or Allure Design. If you have any questions, please contact me: Andrew Bonney 22 Main St. Marion, Mass. awbonney@hotmail.com 508-648-5911 read more

Paul is a very knowledgeable and dedicated landscape designer. He has been in the business a long time and is a very capable partner to create a successful and transformative project. Pro: -the job he did on my garden was great and I'm very happy with the result -he knowledgably and patiently worked with me to find plantings that I liked -he is very dedicated to his work - and creative -He will work with a budget and little direction -His team is service oriented and courteous - cleanup after every day was great -He is a force and his team works quickly and capably Con: -Communication - Many things he says happens differently than expected as he changes the project scope without warning (specific examples: black mulch was requested and brown mulch was put in, certain plantings or "extras" were added to the project such that other things needed to be cut off that were part of the original scope, progress milestones and project scope communicated were too aggressive, etc) -Disorganized - I left work 3-4 times during the course of the project to meet him on agreed upon times and he was frequently late or didn't show. -Billing settlement afterwards has been drawn out - the final invoice included plantings that I purchased myself and plants that weren't part of my project and part of someone else's project. read more

Paul will give you a great story about how he will work with your budget & how he will partner with you throughout the process. While he knows about plants, his estimates can not be trusted. We feel he low-balled the pricing to get our business & then, once we were at a "point of not return" in the process, with 1/2 of our yard torn up, he suddenly raised the cost of our project over 50%. His story was he "didn't realize how much brush there was to remove from the property"--if he's been in landscape for nearly 40 years he should be able to give a VERY accurate assessment--there's no hidden walls like in home renos. We walked it with him BEFORE the estimate and it was clear how much was there. We have over a month with our yard torn up with NO progress on our project and no contact from him. a few days before our irrigation was to be put in, he told us we had to hire a plumber, so it was a rush to find someone. He will tell you things are "in the contract" when they clearly are not in the contract. While he did a nice design, nearly all the plants he plants were NOT the plants we paid for or even on the design. He substituted cheaper plants while we paid for more expensive ones. We submitted a complaint to the BBB and he fabricated an email he said was from us that said we were happy with his work. While his team works hard, I would avoid Allure at all costs. He is not trustworthy and will lie to you, the BBB and whomever just to get your money and not deliver what he has promised. read more

My first dealing with Paul at Allure designs , I had a simple outdoor bar built constuction was supposed to take a month even though we had a mild winter it is now April project still not complete,the roof design that was suppose to cover the bar leaks so bad that you cannot even sit under if it's raining ,the water that I was going to have to the sink in the bar wich he ran from my sprinkler system doesn't work and has caused damage to the system ,the granite on the bar is in pieces instead of only one seem I have three. Now I have to spend more money on a different contractor to repair his mistakes I have called him multiple times asking him to meet and see the results of the projects and he refuses. What I thought would be a simple design to add to my backyard turned out to be more than a nightmarish experience. I would never recommend these guys to ANYONE read more

Working with Paul and allure landscaping has been the biggest nightmare. Do not trust this man and his company. He will take your money, steal it in fact, and deviate from the proposed plan. He plants flowers that were not in the contract and the same day they are planted, instead of returning them, he throws them in the dumpster. The lighting he installs and promises are not the nice ones in the agreement but rather clearance made in China lights that look awful and no longer work. He turns everything upside down and cuts multiple corners to leave the customer with an awful situation. He promises to ensure plants for a two year time frame but not is the case. Many dead flowers and plants, many problems. He will turn your landscaping upside down and your life will be upside down indefinitely. We have a never ending water bill for plants that are withering in the sunlight that should've been planted in the shade x 30! $20,000 water bill and counting. Yes he plants the wrong plants and flowers in the wrong places. He constructed a pond multiple times with different materials each time and it is the biggest eye sore not to mention it only holds 20 percent of the water it was supposed to hold. It leaks from god knows where and makes yet another issue. The porch he constructed is falling apart all over. The grout is undone the tiles are broken. He lies in regards to charging your credit card he also will call the credit card company to raise your credit limit and then blame his secretary for charging the wrong amount! People like this should not be allowed to run a business and have a point of sale system for credit cards. If this man approaches you for business turn the other way and get away as far and fast as you can. If you are considering doing business with this man and company do yourself and loved ones a favor and do not! I repeat, do not do Business with him unless you want the biggest never ending headache of your life. I knew my dog was correct with her sentiments, she would not stop barking and growling at this guy. I thought it was because he was cutting down everything and tearing up everything to plant his false promises, but she was barking nonstop for everything I believe. She saw this guy was a fraud like I had supposed but neither one of us were the ones with the 6 figure payment. We were just observers and the ones having to hose and water all the dying plants after he high tailed it out of here with a mess on our hands. Yes we have a sprinkler system but it was poorly executed with the landscaping. A sprinkler head located at the base of a towering flower will not water all the surrounding flowers, the surrounding flowers which we paid an arm and a leg for need to be watered daily by hand with a hose because of poor logistics and planning. Just terrible! read more