ComplaintsforGoins Excavating LLC

• Initial Complaint

  05/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Awful experience with Dallas of Goins Excavating. We received a number of quotes (some much less than his) and chose to go with him because he seemed very honest and reliable. He told us he would not leave us hanging and would stick with us until the job was complete. He worked hard initially and we were impressed. But after lots of rain, the seed he put down was almost completely washed away. Obviously an act of God, no one’s fault. We were told he’d be back to over-seed. We paid him $12,000 for the job and after receiving payment, he became completely disinterested in completing the job. We contacted him multiple times last fall and he said it was too late in the season to plant seed. Meanwhile our neighbors planted a lawn and theirs grew in beautifully after this communication. This spring we contacted him again. He said he would let us know when he could come out. No response for a month. We contacted him again and got a very short response but he showed up for a half hour to over-seed. He then proceeded to send us an extremely nasty email saying we were neglectful and this is our fault and we should look into Hydro seeding as an alternative. First, we spent countless hours watering last summer (with a newborn baby which makes this even more frustrating!). Second, why would we hire someone else and pay even more for Hydro seeding when we hired him to do just that? If this was the route our yard needs then he should have done this in the first place! As the expert, he should have identified that or make it right now and do the hydro seeding himself. He continued being disrespectful via email and refused to complete the job. When we tried to explain these facts to him, he accused us of harassing him. Pictures provided so you can be the judge. He told us he is proud of this… Learn from our lesson and do not hire Goins Excavating. We are so sorry we did.

  Business response

  06/02/2022

  All work was performed per the estimate. No guarantee of growth was ever stated. Homeowner was seeking a conversation in which they could have called and expressed displeasure well before 10 months later.

  Homeowner states nasty email was sent but it was a truthful email of client neglect. Email was nasty in their eyes because it was the truth.

  Homeowner could’ve easily provided watering schedule and how many sprinklers they had and the time cycle it was on to settle that disagreement.

  Home owner stated he mowed 3 TIMES and grass stopped growing. Did he mow too low? Did army work a get it ? 
  

  He PUBLICLY states he mowed 3 times and they left good reviews, now 10 months later they believe the issue was not over seeding ?

  Yard has clear marks where there’s been recent activity destroying yard (circled in yellow)

  Homeowner blames a new born baby for not being able to water yard in complaint ! That’s all the proof there !

  NO REFUND

  Customer response

  06/04/2022

  All of the information in the "business's" response is either inaccurate, incomplete, and a misrepresentation of our complaint. 

  The business states that all work was completed per the estimate. The work was not completed to the oral promises made on the work site by the business owner. He stated that we "would not leave us stranded like he did" and pointed at our builder. This was in reference to the builder not completing our final grade, which initiated our conversation with Dallas Goins. He also stated multiple times that our back hill will would take some time and that we were in this together. While this was not on the contract, it was a false promise that was not delivered. Multiple neighbors offered to "fix" our yard last summer. I told them no, and I defended that Dallas would be back, stick to his word, and correct our issues. He also publicly stated on his Facebook that he would be back up to check on the lawn and overseed last summer. That did not happen. Our complaint started as our back and side yard not growing. It has now changed to a lack of professionalism and follow-through.

  The business says we waited 10 months to voice displeasure. I sent progress pictures on 7.26.21, 8.18.21, and 10.20.21. In all of those, I expressed concern about the back and side yard. I was never satisfied. Dallas said he was going to come back and overseed and did not. He later eludes to me mowing 3 times and it not growing back. The third mow was days before the 10.20.21 photo album. Not only did the hill and side yard look terrible, the rest of the grass never returned. I mowed every time on the highest setting of the mower. It is interesting that there was no feedback about mower height on any of the pictures I sent previously or even at that time. We also have since had a contractor say that he observed Dallas removing topsoil from our lawn and moving it to a neighboring property. It would make sense why the grass took initially, but did not grow back after a few mows.  In response, after the 10.20.21 pictures, Dallas said it was "too late" to come back and overseed. Interestingly, we had a neighbor move in and plant a lawn after that date. Their yard looks great today.

  The business states that we view the email as nasty, because it was the truth. The email (entire thread attached) was nasty, because it pointed the finger at us, was completely opposite in tone of every communication he and I ever had, and shifted from "we are in this together" to "this is your fault". We contacted him last summer, last fall, and again this spring to come back up. He came back almost a month after we reached out (again) this spring (text message attached from 4.15.22 and he finally came out on 5.2.22). As stated in the text, we wanted to talk to him about our back hill and side yard. I even included my wife on a text thread later, so Dallas would have her number. Instead of texting, knocking on the door, or calling when he was done or when he saw how bad the yard looked, he worked for a half hour, left, and sent an unprofessional email blaming us.

  In the attached email thread, I told Dallas we were frustrated, because we spent "countless hours" watering last summer. He could have asked about the watering schedule. Instead he continued to point the finger. Attached is our sprinkler map for our two sprinklers. This map was created for our reference and for family members who came to water when we were in the hospital when we were having a baby. I find it very interesting that Dallas questions our dedication to watering. When asked for care instructions, he sent us a link to a Youtube video (that he didn't create) for reference. We followed those instructions to the detail. A real business should have better resources than third party video if it is going to question a customer.

  The business mentions contractor marks on the lawn. We had a sinkhole form in two places in our front lawn. These sinkholes were not the fault of Goins LLC. We were in contact with our builder about this issue. Days before Dallas came up in May, our builder filled the sinkholes in with topsoil. A tractor was used on our lawn in late April to complete that job. It was extremely disheartening to see that Dallas threw seed in that area when he came up without our permission. We asked him to look at the hill and side yard. As shown in the ***** Yard picture, those two areas still look terrible, even though those were the areas referenced in my text to Dallas. We would have explained the sinkhole situation, but Dallas did not talk to us and sent the initial email. There are two pictures in the ***** Yard collage of the front. One from 5.14.22 and one from 6.4.22. On 5.13.22, I had to re-cultivate the areas with dirt, where the sinkholes were filled. In the 6.4.22 pictures, you can see luscious grass has grown. Whatever seed Dallas wasted in that area in May did not contribute to that growth. I spread another 15lbs of seed and fertilizer after cultivating and prepping the area by hand. It is interesting as a customer, that the best grass I have on my lawn is from the 15lb bag I bought and did by myself. Dallas  says he put 250lbs down and it did not grow in many areas. The areas I planted had topsoil added by the builder. This does make me believe that Dallas removed our topsoil and truly wasted his initial seed. We are seeking a refund for the seeding, so we can use that money to fix the yard ourselves (especially the hill and side).

  The business says that we blamed the newborn baby for not being able to water. This is not accurate. We are extremely upset, because the first two months of our baby's life were spent with us going outside and watering religiously. As mentioned previously, we even had people come over and water according to our map and schedule when we were not home. This statement reflects Dallas's lack of professionalism and understanding of the actual issue.

  We have recently had a contractor tell us we are going to need another grade on our yard and likely will have to get more topsoil and will need to reseed our entire lawn. We are not seeking a full refund, just the amount that was charged for seed and straw ($5300). All of this could have been avoided if Dallas would have communicated with us and stayed true to his word instead of not following up in a timely manner and pointing the finger at us. I hope no one ever has him do their lawn again, so they avoid this frustration. His company should stick to excavation and should not be allowed to charge for services that he does not know how to do.

  Regards,

  
  ******** *****

  Business response

  06/07/2022

  No refund.

  No WRITTEN promise of growth ever provided. No physical contract ever signed. No signature ever provided on any documentation.
  

   

   

  Acts of God AFTER the contractor left the site does NOT require anything from contractor.

   

   

  Every consulted lawn care company (5 to date) has stated the homeowner DID NOT water adequately based off visual photos.

  Truth in email, no profanity, no nastiness 

  No refund.

  Customer response

  06/07/2022

  [If you do not say why you are rejecting the company's response, BBB must close your complaint.] 
  
  Complaint: 17234203
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  Growth was promised in every conversation with Dallas during the project, in text messages about the lack of growth on the hill specifically (citing the business used heavier straw on the hill, so customers should just be patient), and in emails last July (attached). On July 15, 2021 and July 18, 2021 in the emails, Dallas promised to come back up to the work site to check progress within a couple weeks. He did not. He stated that he "believe[d] this time next year it’ll be a whole different yard". Comments like this align with the other verbal promises made throughout the project. Some areas look worse now (almost a year later) than before he began work.

  There were Acts of God during Dallas's work at our house. He even stated, on May 3, 2022 (email attached in previous response) that "I had to deal with and re-did my soil prep after each storm. 4 times to be exact." He never mentions replacing the seed that was washed away during these storms on the back hill and side yard. This area was never addressed when he was here or after multiple sets of progress pictures were sent last summer. The back hill and side yard never grew. 

  A YouTube video was provided by the business as watering instructions. The video was followed by the customers. The back hill and side yard are, were, and always have been dirt (with no visible seed or growth) since the project was completed. No amount of watering on dirt would stimulate growth in the areas of customer concern. If other areas of the lawn were shown to others, they are irrelevant to the complaint of the customer. 

  Dallas has pointed the finger at many things in his responses to us (neglect, army worms, low mowing, not enough watering, the seed he bought, Acts of God during his work, Acts of God after his work). He refuses to take any ownership for the large areas that never grew (back hill and side yard) and for not following through on his word and follow-up timelines.

  The customer actively sought feedback last summer, fall, and into this spring. Dallas came up this spring, tampered with another contractors work area, and sent an ignorant, finger-pointing email. 

  Regards,
  
  Mike & ******** *****

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩