UPDATE: There was a response on another review site, supposedly from the owner asking me to call and resolve the issue. The number given is the owner's cell (Jorge). Even though he already refused to come back to complete his work properly, I called it. He answered and knew nothing about the review response. When I told him, he laughed and reiterated that he's not coming back. These reviews are clearly from a paid social media curator with no regular contact with the Owner. I'll see if I can file a complaint.
I hired Jorge to install artificial grass for a dog play area, and to reset flagstone pavers in my yard in Berkeley. His price was MUCH lower than others, and I was concerned because his website and social media are such a mismatch with the vibe I was getting from him personally. His site has a hundred or more local projects, all with glowing reviews. But when I tried for days to get references to look at or speak with, he kept resisting. Finally he gave me several, and one of them gave an excellent and clearly very authentic review. When I called her back to tell her about my experience, she apologized and admitted that she had to threaten to fire him in the middle of the job, after which he performed well.
Jorge and his crew showed up intent on completing--in one day-- a job that everyone else had scheduled at least two days for. I don't even think they had tape measures or pencils with them. They just threw things down, eyeballed and made border cuts over their knees. But they are very skilled at doing an acceptable Turf job quickly, if supervised closely, and if everything goes perfectly smoothly. Jorge has already complained that I micromanaged them, but it's fortunate that I did-- in many instances. They installed a very cheap, shiny weed block fabric on top of the prepared base, and were rolling the turf right over the top of it. I tried to spray water through a piece and it was almost like plastic sheeting. Jorge claimed drainage of rainwater and urine would occur "through the nail holes"!!! Fortunately, I had them remove the fabric, or it would have been a serious problem.
My artificial turf will probably be fine, I went into this with low expectations, and I saved a lot of money going with Jorge. The real problem I have is with the flagstone they re-installed on a pathway from the turf area to a gate. I paid to have this re-done because the stone had been put down directly over weed block fabric on soil, and all the stones were wobbling and cracking. Jorge agreed in writing to put the same compacted 4" base rock and DG under it that they put under the turf, and any fabric should have gone under that base. But they put down a sprinkling of base material and started reinstalling the flagstones directly over weed block. I complained that it would all wobble and crack like it had the last time, but he said it would be fine. As soon as they left, I saw that the stones are already loose and also that they are much lower than the adjacent Turf and border. This is going to be a tripping hazard every time we walk from the turf to the gate, and is going to cause the wood border trim to deteriorate very quickly. Jorge has refused to return and correct this to match what he had agreed to in writing and been paid for.
Jorge's crew is competent for basic turf installation if you supervise closely and are willing to accept some compromises for the lower price. But I wouldn't have them do any other kind of work. Even cutting and nailing the wood and plastic border boards was almost beyond their level of skill and patience. And they don't really care whether they leave behind incompetent work as long as they get in and out in the short time they have allotted for the job, and get a check.
I'm sure Jorge (or his Social Media consultant), will respond strongly to this review. I look forward to the back and forth, and only hope they don't have a method for blocking it. read more