[JanetMM]

Originally Posted by chuckpedrey

The neighboring town is not named Belleview by coincidence - Mr Steve won’t have far to travel

No reason to be that sarcastic nasty.

[Boomer]

About that part of being offered a discount for a TOTV recommendation……….

Twice in TV we were offered a discount — I think it was 25 bucks (or maybe 50) if I would write a recommendation.

I refused.

If I have ever written a recommendation, it is a real one.

Neither of the contractors who tried to buy my words were the one in question here. Both of them asked me after they knew we were happy with the jobs well done.

Even though both were good at what they did, I thought offering money for a recommendation devalued every one they had ever had.

But we see those recommendations from time to time here on TOTV — usually from someone who has never posted before — or since.

I have no problem if someone asks me for my recommendation when a job is complete and they know we are happy — but if they offer me money, I let them know how I feel about that.

I think one guy was shocked when I said I was happy and might write something, but I would NOT accept money. (And I think I can easily spot a bought-and-paid-for recommendation on here.)

So anyway, yes it does happen in TV. It happened to me in 2014. That was before Facebook had completely taken over the world. (I still am not on Facebook though so I don’t know if the direction of those thumbs or whatever have a few bucks behind them.)

Boomerosaurus

PS: About the man who is the topic of this thread, this is not the first time I have heard about such behavior. Perhaps he needs to hire a frontman — or a frontwoman — to handle all conversations if he cannot control how he talks to people. (Of course, now it sadly seems to be more acceptable to be rude and obnoxious and loud and in-your-face, everywhere. (shudder)

[merrymini]

I would never, ever hire someone who behaves badly. If he is like that when you ask him for a quote, he will be like that when you ask him to do something during the job. Life is too short and this forum is perfect for sharing that kind of information.

[Jensor17]

This is a good case of “buyer beware” IF A contractor is nasty at the outset, he won’t be any nicer when he makes mistakes!

I WAS VICTIM TO UNSCRUPULOUS CONTRACTOR. I checked the A+ Better Business Bureau rating on a garage door company—and i was hoodwinked by a salesman who bought the business and its good name only 4 months prior to my contacting them. I WAS NEVER TOLD HE JUST BOUGHT THE BUSINESS. This new owner botched the garage door job, raised price twice during install when he couldnt fix his blunders! The new owner was trading on the good name of a company he purchased four months ago that had done outstanding business for 16 years— but it was the PRIOR OWNER WHO PERFORMED THE REPUTED OUTSTANDING WORK —not this New Owner BBB was unaware the business changed ownership hands. I found out the new ownership by calling FL corporate assessor

[Pres1939]

Thank you for the warning. I am about to do something similar, but have not found anyone yet. I will post if I find a good source. Please do the same.

Originally Posted by billethkid

We had Steve Mansfield come out to do an estimate for a substantial re-do/upgrade of 17 year old landscaping.

In my 85 years I assumed I had met the most of many different characters in business.

UNTIL YESTERDAY!!

Most rude, impolite, self assuming, bombastic boar!!

No notes.
No measurements.
A for show scribble of a note on his hand.
Has your number written on his finger.
Does not want to hear that you are getting other quotes.
Once he gives you his outta the ballpark number, he continues to add to it with other details that come into his head.

Tells you to your face you have until he steps off your property to accept his offer....as he turns and walks to his truck.

I am struggling to remain polite.

I just read the TOTV posts about him from 2011.....most say the same as the above.

He is the owner and obviously doesn't care.

Steve is the classic vendor that is so busy he does not have to respect the customer.

This is the first time I have ever written any business up as my tolerance for rude and crude is pretty high (for many reasons).
There is no way to let this experience pass without fair warning to others. Yes he will have supporters....which I suspect are in the minority, but enough to do a good business.

[DaleDivine]

Originally Posted by Pres1939

Thank you for the warning. I am about to do something similar, but have not found anyone yet. I will post if I find a good source. Please do the same.

The main thing is to NEVER EVER EVER give them money up front. Reputable contractors rarely ever ask until the job is complete and you're happy.

[Roron123]

Wow! What horror stories enough to have nightmares 😩 good to know though 😇

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by oneclickplus

I wonder then ... how is this set of reviews (below) even remotely possible? Somehow, no bad reviews end up on the BBB site. Is it that ... if you get past his arrogance and rudeness ... he does a good job? Are all these reviews from people who have a super high tolerance for rudeness and arrogance and hired him? I don't have an opinion ... just trying to make sense of these strangely diverse ratings. Has anyone here actually used him? Or are these all complaints by those put off by his rude personality and never actually hired him?

https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/yalaha/pro...stomer-reviews

Our next-door neighbor used him and had a horrible time getting him to complete the job. Our neighbor finally stopped payment on the check, finally refused to speak with Mansfield. Mansfield's son had to come in and mediate the situation.
Plus he planted palms too close to the house, which had to be taken down later.

[vettman01]

A friend of mine had work done by them and it wasn't done right. He came to their house and there was a big argument and started using the F bomb and a lot of foul language. I guess he just not a nice person.

[davem4616]

Originally Posted by vettman01

A friend of mine had work done by them and it wasn't done right. He came to their house and there was a big argument and started using the F bomb and a lot of foul language. I guess he just not a nice person.

I think you pretty much nailed it

He's dysfunctional...I'm still angry at how he attempted to treat me, but I gave him my two cents and hung up on him.

[Barborv]

Spoke with him at the beginning of covid for an estimate. He was ok on the phone but had a very strong personality. His quote was high . He told us we had to book it right there and then. We didn’t book it of course.

[retiredguy123]

My only experience with him was a phone call where he insulted me for 15 minutes until I interrupted him to tell him to never ever come to my house, and then I ended the call. I didn't even know the guy. I just wanted a landscaping quote.

[Bonanza]

My own experience with Mansfield from some years ago, mirrors that of many others. I told him what I wanted and he didn't agree. How do you disagree with an oak tree unless you don't have the room for one??? Mind you, this was on the phone and he had never even seen my property. He also didn't like my choice of shrubs. One of his comments was that they don't use a certain plant any longer. What??!?

I find most of what he does looks like all his other jobs. He also has a thing for palms which I did not want and he bad-mouthed me for not wanting any on my property.

It is my understanding that he "rewards" those who write accolades and great comments regarding what he does. The reward is either monetary or in the form of landscape favors. I have no way of knowing if this is true but it wouldn't surprise me.

I finally had wonderful luck with Sabrina McGowan. She is knowledgeable and knows her stuff! She has some excellent ideas and follows through. I can recommend her from personal experience.

[shopinpat]

Sounds like the same experience we had with Decorative Concrete of Central Florida.
He was rude, arrogant, in a hurry , promised the world and then did what he wanted. I could not understand all of his positive posts on TOTV now I know if he pays people off.
I guess my fault, if someone is rude and arrogant go elsewhere!!!

[Jimmydoodlebug]

Originally Posted by billethkid

We had Steve Mansfield come out to do an estimate for a substantial re-do/upgrade of 17 year old landscaping.

In my 85 years I assumed I had met the most of many different characters in business.

UNTIL YESTERDAY!!

Most rude, impolite, self assuming, bombastic boar!!

No notes.
No measurements.
A for show scribble of a note on his hand.
Has your number written on his finger.
Does not want to hear that you are getting other quotes.
Once he gives you his outta the ballpark number, he continues to add to it with other details that come into his head.

Tells you to your face you have until he steps off your property to accept his offer....as he turns and walks to his truck.

I am struggling to remain polite.

I just read the TOTV posts about him from 2011.....most say the same as the above.

He is the owner and obviously doesn't care.

Steve is the classic vendor that is so busy he does not have to respect the customer.

This is the first time I have ever written any business up as my tolerance for rude and crude is pretty high (for many reasons).
There is no way to let this experience pass without fair warning to others. Yes he will have supporters....which I suspect are in the minority, but enough to do a good business.

We had exactly the same experience with this guy. He wouldn't even come to our house to give us an estimate, we had to go to his muddy nursery and meet him in his office. On the way home we looked at each other and said only a masochist would do business with him.