liz s.

Last year this time I was searching for someone to install a flower garden in my backyard. I called All things Outdoors. They sent a very nice gentleman, Chad, out. Chad was pleasant and did a great job in choosing flowers according to my preferences. He sent me the list of plants he chose but from here it all went downhill. I asked for the landscape design. I heard nothing back. I emailed & called but got only a very pleasant receptionist but no response from the landscapers. 6 weeks went by without a word from All Things Outdoors. I began to look for other landscapers. Then suddenly, one Friday I got a call from Chad that they were coming that Monday. Monday they arrived but I was unable to take off work on such late notice. So between calls I met with Chad at which point he was then discussing the layout/ design. I was forced to make a rushed decision, which had I tried to avoid by deciding on the design ahead of time. This may just be a job for them but for me its a decision I have to live with and want to enjoy looking onto for as long as I live here.

Anyway, the install went as smoothly as possible given the design was rushed. They invoiced me when finished and I paid.

6 months later, towards the end of the summer, I was dismayed to find that my plants didn't seem to be thriving, especially in one part of the bed. I called All Things Outdoors and again left several messages. Eventually, Jason returned my call and, without laying eyes on my property or hearing me out on my concerns attempted to hard sell me on an in-ground irrigation system for 1/2 an hour. I emailed the office and informed them of the repeated difficulties in getting in touch with the staff and of this interaction. It seems Jason was asked to call me back but when he did he was clearly angry. He was shouting at me, talking over me, denying he tried to upsell me, not allowing me to explain my specific concerns. He then told me that they don't guarantee any installation they do without an in-ground irritation. I wasn't even calling about a guarantee or getting money back. I simply wanted some advice but Jason never gave me a chance to explain myself. He told me he had to go because he was working on a $70K project for a company. $5000 may not seem alot to them but I worked very hard to get that money together.

Anyway, I'm just sharing my experience with folks as a buyer-beware. It seems that All Things Outdoors is poor at communication and collaborating with its customers. It seems that they inform you of terms of their work after the work is done. They have no vested interest in the outcome of their work. Once they've gotten your money they are not interested in hearing from you. They hire staff who have no problem shouting at customers. And also have little interest in looking at what may need to be changed within their company ( when I told them I had been trying to get them without success they asked if I was sure i had the right number… even though I had the right number before they got my money). So if you love to be ignored, berated and considered dumb by a company who doesn't want to collaborate with you and doesn't care if you have something or nothing outdoors, this is the company for you. Do not delay, call All Things Outdoors now.

I have been loyal to Marriott Hotels for years to the point that I am now a Gold Elite member. I had checked into the Fairfield Inn in Valdosta one night about midnight then got up early to go to work. After a long day at work I sat to eat & watch TV. Unfortunately my TV wasn't working. I called the front desk and the front desk attendant offered to have the electrician look at it tomorrow as it was evening & they already went home. I asked what could be done tonight & she suggested I could move to another room. Unfortunately, i had already unpacked, ironed & hung my clothes, unpacked my toiletries & bought groceries. She had no further suggestions so i asked if she could call her manager & ask her manager to call me back. The attendant called me back & informed me that the manager wouldn't speak to me until she was back on shift in the morning. She had no further suggestions and clearly had no concern about a paying, loyal member.

I reinforced that i paid for a room that was advertised as including TV service. I've been inconvenienced by not having this service & the suggested fix is that I further inconvenience myself by packing everything up, moving it & unpacking again. She then offered to comp my one night, cancel the remainder of my reservation & I could leave…I requested again to speak to her manager. Again the manager sent the message that she would not take the time to speak to me until the next day. She did have the attendant call maintenance who gave her a suggestion that might fix my TV. The attendant came up, fiddled with something in the back of the TV & there it was, working.

I was very appreciative that I had a working TV but I was extremely disappointed in how uncompassionate the staff was in my experience as a customer. They had no care about inconveniencing me but would not inconvenience themselves with a simple phone call. I had to battle with them to take the simplest action. How terribly flippant & rude. Up till now no one has offered me an apology, but they did offer me to leave. What a disgraceful show of service.

I used Evolve to manage my home as a vacation rental. They were very pleasant to talk to but clearly immature, unprofessional & petty. They misinformed me on rules related to cameras then denied they had misinformed me. When I produced the email they told me I should have reminded them (which I had). They took no responsibility. They did not assist when a client disputed her charge for a booking they made & managed. I ended up having to return $1000. When I informed them I was leaving they suddenly changed the rules on submitting claims for damages. They now required my handyman have a website & logo. When I asked to see the policy they told me the decide what they request on a case by case basis.
Childish behavior. I would avoid them at all costs.

I purchased a trip on Groupon but when I went to book with thetravel company the travel options were ridiculous so I decided to cancel the trip. To begin with it was difficult for me to figure out how to cancel as I was looking for about 1/2 hr for a contact number (my preference) and never saw one. I was able to send an email to customer service who said they would check that I had not used to coupon and get back to me. One week later my money has nto been refunded nor have I heard a peep from customer servicee.
I dug around some more and found a way to request for customer service to call me, which they did within a matter of minutes. However, the assistance was abismal so I asked for a supervisor. Amanda, the supervisor came on the line and informed me that Groupon's policy is to reapond within 72 business hours (which had never been stated to me before). She was able to see that, regardless, they exceed their time limit given that I sent the email on 3/14 and it was now 3/21. Amanda, however, said that there was nothing that she could do to speed up this process, which was beyond their acceptable limits, and that I would just have to wait for that team to get back to me. She then informed me that IF the decision is made to refund me it would take 7-10 business days. She insisted that she had no supervisor that I could talk to nor any way of excalating any of this. Amanda's suggestion was that I simply wait for then to return my $700. Absolutely unacceptable. Groupon has lost a customer.