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Originally Posted by Guy&Connie1103
When I moved here I was told by my realtor that I could depend on contractors working in The Villages. Any contractor that did not perform as promised would never work in The Villages again. My wife and I hired Devon to separate two stone areas in our front yard. What a disaster. He failed to show up when promised. When he did finally show up,he said he would have to get a half load of dirt to level the area for the blocks. Several days later we were told by his wife that he was sick and they couldn't afford the medicine. We gave them the balance of the money. Days later we noticed Devon working on another job. When we called to ask when we were going to have our messed up front yard finished, we got a lengthy text from his wife that he was overwhelmed and wouldn't be able to finish our job. We had to. Hire another landscaper to finish.
This also happened to our neighbor. Others in our villa neighborhood, Barrineau Villas, have had similar problems with improperly planted palm trees (the one across the street is dying), poor customer service, threats, and more.
Devon Dodd has proven to be just the sort of contractor we were told wouln't be allowed to work in The Villages.
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Remember, even tho' this is TV, it is still a free market place, and no one can be banned from doing business - ALL the streets are public!
Your Realtor told you wrong, and I would definitely let them know!
Many people get excited to "get going" with their improvements, and make quick decisions - that's never good in any case. Always ask friends & neighbors, even strangers at the pool are willing to give advise.
We waited 9 months to make our decision, carefully watching what others did, then asking for references. My sister & her husband went door to door for referrals.
We finally chose "JAMIE'S LANDSCAPING" (sometimes you'll see it spelled "Jaime's", but still the same company).
WHAT A PLEASURE! Jamie was born and raised in Lady Lake, and one day when Jamie was in high school (obviously because of his work ethic) was approached by a childless man in his 80's who was still in the lawn business. He mentored Jamie & encouraged him to landscape. When the man died, he left his small business to Jamie. Now 20 years later, Jamie has built a great reputation all his own. He is honest and hard working & personable, and so is his crew! All polite. We paid NO money down, he would take no money after 1 1/2 days of work and asked that we pay him when he is done, and we are happy. OUR YARD IS SO BEAUTIFUL NOW!
What a change! Somehow I trusted Jamie to take over the design, as I am typically a micro-manager. I am familiar with yards & plants in Florida because I've lived here all my adult life & then some, so I had everything planned, BUT Jamie's plan completely outdid my plan and all my expectations!
Jamie tells me he works mostly north of 466A fixing landscape problems, and even tearing it all out and starting over again because the owners are so disgusted. He said it was refreshing to do our yard, because it wasn't a "re-do". Jamie's work is all word of mouth, because he doesn't have to advertise & send out mailers!
The yard, driveway & street were cleaned after the end of each workday. I respect that they take the weekend off, and applaud him for that. So we expect him back on Monday to finish, and I will keep you posted... Mary