Saul Cruz of Cruz Lawn and Landscape is a fraud. Do not hire him at any price. He will take your money and not do any work. He stole $3,170 from me. This is embarrassing to admit because I like to think of myself as business savvy and no one wants to have to admit they have been defrauded, but that's the case here and I need to say something so that hopefully he will not prey on anyone else in our community. On Big Island we look out for each other, we don't steal hard earned money from our neighbors. A predator like this does not belong in this society. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii. I currently rent, but have been working on creating a home of my own that will belong to me. (It's the dream right?! Building something that you can call your own.) While making moves to attain that end, I purchased a small piece of undeveloped land on the east side of the island with plans to have a small portion of it cleared and put a tiny home on it just big enough for me and my dog. These are modest goals. I poured every cent I had into this project, wiped out my entire savings. I was "all in" for this dream. I contracted with Saul to do the clearing portion of the project as this is undeveloped land, lightly forested with native Ohia trees and ferns. In an attempt to respect the land as much as possible I only wanted to have a small area cleared. Only 2,000 square feet. Big enough to put a little cottage down and have a modest little yard. I want to leave the majority of the property in its untouched natural state. Afterall, you don't come to Hawaii to mow everything down and have a big lawn. You come here because you love everything about it, the rain, the trees, the vines, the beauty of the tropics as they are. You come here to live hand-in-hand with those things, not in opposition to them. I currently live and work on the west side of the island. This is a couple hours away from the property in question. And as I work long hours I am not able every day to visit my property to inspect it. I did however make the mistake of trusting Saul at his word and on his contract that the work I paid for would be completed as contracted for. On April 23rd of this year I had my first contact with Saul regarding a land clearing project. On May 1st he sent me a formal proposal for the cost of the project. Which I signed on the same day and returned to him. Which he then signed in turn that same day (See attached photo of the contract signed and dated by both of us) That same day he sent me his Venmo information via email requesting that I pay him that way, and I promptly paid him 50% of the declared project cost as was outlined in the contract that we both signed. First Venmo payment Paid 5/1/21: $1,585.00 We scheduled to have the project begin on June 12th as I needed to get the property officially surveyed and marked at the boundary lines. I needed to wait until I got that official report back from the surveyors office before any work started on the project. I was specifically advised to proceed this way by my realtor, in order to avoid any mistakes in the clearing project. (My realtor, I should say, Is excellent. I highly recommend her) On June 5th (a full week in advance of the project start date) I sent Saul and email containing the report from the surveyor. This report clearly detailed the Tax Map Key number for the parcel of land as well as the exact GPS coordinates of the piece of land. Along with this document I also sent him a detailed sketch of how exactly I wanted the land cleared in order to preserve it as much as possible in it's natural state. On this same day I also followed up with him via text message to be sure he received the documents in question. On June 6th he responded via email confirming that he had received my previous email and that he would use the sketch as a reference for clearing the land. On June 12th (the morning that the project was scheduled to start) I confirmed with him one last time that he Still had the surveyors report and the sketch of how the land was to be cleared. He responded yes, and said that the final portion of the project (The Base Course for foundation of the future home - cinders) would be completed the following Monday. In this same text conversation I asked him to send me photos of the finished product when he was done with the clearing. He did not send any pictures that day. 10 days later after several unanswered texts he sent me fraudulent photos of a completed project. And requested that I pay the remaining amount as he needed to pay his people. I foolishly did send the final payment. But when I got a chance to visit my property I discovered that he had in fact done no work at all. The photos he sent were fake. He refuses to take my calls or to refund my money. This man is a predator and a thief. read more

I initially contacted Saúl to request a quote from him for a backyard renovation he came out the same day took a quick walkthrough with me and gave me some ideas of what could be done, he took some measurements and emailed me the same day with a 3-D rendering which was very impressive he took my ideas and put them in the design as well a very thorough proposal we hired him and his crew work was performed in a week from start to finish they executed the work very quickly I am very happy with the end result and highly recommend them to anyone that is looking for quality work read more

Cruz landscapes did an amazing job on making my vision a reality I initially reached out to the because I have recently purchased a home on the island and the back yard was a blank canvas. Saul came out did a walkthrough and took measurements the following day I was emailed a 3-D rendering which I was surprised it gave me exactly what my yard would look like when the work would be done the job took 1 week from start to finish I highly recommend them if your looking for a back yard makeover thank you cruz landscapes! read more

I would not hire this person. He is dishonest, unethical, and someone that is not to be trusted. I had an extremely poor experience with this company and have a hard time imagining how they stay in business. It is not my practice to write reviews like this however I feel strongly that based on the experience I had it was important to let other people know. I do not want what happened to me to happen to others. If I could have given '0' stars I would have. read more

We hired Cruz landscapes for a removal of a huge naupaka shrub that was taking over our rock wall here in Hualalai four seasons more than a 100ft long and 6 ft high. A crew of 6men was on site for three days and was a bit challenging due to the only access to the shrubs was thru the golf course however They coordinated with the manager and it all came out great! read more

I was looking to hire someone to do some yard work at one of my rental properties here in Kona the back yard had been neglected for several months from the previous tenants I hired Saul and his crew to do a landscape cleanup and I am very satisfied with the results thank you guys! read more

Saul and his team are excellent! He was quick to respond to my requests, and eager to get right to work. Such a huge help and relief to have dependable people in our community. Highly recommended. Will definitely hire again for future landscape work. Thank you Saul! read more

Cruz Lawn And Landscape EXCEEDED my expectations with my Landscape project. Mr.Cruz did not only nail it with my budget for my project but made sure the outcome was picture perfect. I cannot thank them enough. Definitely a must-call company. 10/10 read more

So happy to see such young men with great ambition Saul and his crew did a great job at maintaining my landscape in Kona I would refer them to friends and family they are quick and do excellent work and it shows read more

I hired Saul to build a paver walkway at my home in Kailua and I am very impressed with the work performed from start to finish the crew showed professionalism and craftsmanship thank you Saul! read more

Very responsible and hardworking young men found them thru Instagram (@cruz_landscapesllc) I reach out to them and my expectations were succeeded thank you for everything guys read more

They have great prices and the team is very knowledgeable about plants and pruning I personally like my yard a little jungly and they do a good job at keeping how I like it read more