I hired Cope to deliver garden mix for my raised bed garden project. I discussed on the phone with…read moreRyan the quality of the soil. He explained what type of organic materials are in their garden mix, and we discussed the need for the soil to be sifted, which he said it would go through a 1/4 inch sift process. I decided to go with Cope because of this conversation and these claims. His price was more than others in the area, but the soil quality and sifting were the most important things to me, so I went with him. This raised bed project is meant to be a celebration of getting through a tough year fighting breast cancer.
The positive: Isaac the delivery driver was courteous and helpful. Ryan was quick to call me back when I first inquired.
The negative: The soil was not mixed and it was not sifted. We loaded a few beds, noticed a lot of glass, large rocks, large wood pieces. I reached out to Ryan and inquired. I asked him to come and see what I was pulling out of these first few beds. I thought maybe a quality control issue happened and that he didn't realize what was delivered to me. He doubled down and said "I loaded it myself, I know what is in it". I sent him a quick screen photo of what I could pull from a bed just by running my hand over the surface. A handful of items; glass, wood, plastic. He said that I was complaining about such a small amount of items, and that in 20 years, he has never had anyone complain. I was flummoxed. I kept loading the beds to see if maybe there was just a section of the pile that I was pulling from that had some trash in it, but the rest would be fine. Ryan was so adamant that I wanted to make sure. We loaded a few more beds. Pulled out even more trash, glass, rocks, plastic. I am not talking about 1 or 2 small pieces in an entire wheelbarrow load. I am talking a lot. I contacted him again and requested that he please come and see what I was pulling out, to come and check the pile. He refused again. I told him I would have to hand sift the last 3-4 inches of this soil in order to use it for these veggie beds. And there are 10 of them. I explained that I went with his product because he claimed it was sifted. Because of my surgeries and treatment, I am not able to do a ton of physical labor, so this was a very important piece of my choosing his service. He told me I could return the soil for a full refund (which we all know is not a real option) or load my car with his topsoil to finish my beds. Why would I take MORE of this soil? He claimed I was just trying to get something for free because I stopped payment on the check I gave him. I did that to give him a chance to make it right. He refused. Told me he would take me to court. I just wanted him to be honest and fair. I did not receive the product he claimed he was delivering. However, the next morning, I sent him a new check certified mail, I paid him in full. I decided it was a lesson learned and that all I could do now is let others know what type of company Cope is. I have since began sifting the last 4 inches of soil on these beds, spending my entire spring break from my teaching job to sift this soil. I am still not finished. We have removed buckets of trash. I am not exaggerating. Buckets. Here is what is included in the garden mix soil from Cope; glass, rocks (some as big as my hand), toothpaste tubes, pop cans, what appears to be part of a car bumper, plastic pieces, large wood pieces and a handful of metal pieces as well. I do not expect perfect soil. I expected to have to remove some pieces.I asked him if he stood by this product and he said he did. I told him I did not agree. I take no joy in posting a bad review, especially for a local company. I did everything I could to get him to make this right so that I didn't have to write a bad review. I am really sad about this entire situation. What I wanted is what he claimed he provided. What I learned is that you cannot trust this mans word. If you want crappy soil filled with trash and you want to deal with a person who will try to gaslight you, go with Cope.
