Mansfield Nursery...never again!!!
 

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.

I had the same experience 5 years ago.

thanks for sharing, what was the dollar amount of the quote?

I had the exact same experience 4+ years ago with Mansfield, although over the phone

he basically told me to shut up as I was explaining to him what we were looking for...and when I let him know he was one of three businesses I wanted to quote, he told me to go use one of the others, he wasn't interested

biggest arrogant bully that I've ever come across....difficult to understand how that brand of 'salesmanship' stays afloat in this day and age

You don't look 85.

Agree

My wife called him last year to ask for a quote. He demanded to speak with the man of the house. She politely said no thank you.

I had the same experience with him...He went off the deep end ranting and raving.

We went to his nursery with an idea of what we wanted. He bullied us into what HE wanted. We went home and decided we still wanted what we wanted. So we never contracted for the job. He called and left the nastiest accusatory message on our voicemail. I thought he was arrogant when we were there speaking to him in person; I thought he was beyond that from the message he left.
He actually threatened another member of this forum several years ago.

Mansfield Landscaping
 

Called this company and was told Steve would call and set up an estimate for my landscaping job. Steve called me three days later , what a obnoxious ass this guy is. I was so glad he showed his colors over the phone to me or things would have gone bad up close and personal. I researched landscaping companies on this forum and Mansfield landscaping got good reviews , how the hell is this possible ? Good luck if you use this company I feel for anyone that has to deal with this guy!!

I may get an infraction for this because he is a paid vendor on TOTV, but we were told by him that if you gave him a good review on TOTV (specifically TOTV) he would give you a discount. Plus there was one specific poster who sang his praises no matter what anyone posted. This was a few years ago.

So the good reviews might be questionable.

If you notice most of the reviews come from people with only one post. They're either shills or getting an incentive from him to leave a positive review.

A Thank you to all who posted. Will definitely stay away from this business. Is this the same fellow that brings plants to Brownwood??

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

We had a similar experience several years ago with his son-in-law. Refused to come out for an estimate.wanted us to come in and watch a PowerPoint presentation, which we wouldn’t do. He knew what we needed and it would be $15,000. We said we would get other quotes. He got mad. We called the owner because we thought he would want to know how we were treated. He was furious we called, screaming in the phone until he screamed “I’m a good f—ing person” and hung up the phone.
We ended up getting exactly what we wanted for $8,000!

Hmm sounds like an experience I had with Steve Munz of Galaxy back in 2012. I could tell he was likely the bully back in school. Came to my home to insult me after I rejected a bid for additional work after his people made several visits fixing wiring shorts under warranty. (They wired the house when constructed). I had gotten a bid for the same extra work from Lenhart that was HALF the amount and he didn't want to hear that. Stevie boy told me that I HAD to understand his high overhead and reputation. Huh? He was so bombastic I told him to get out of my house NOW! Thanks for the heads up. As a 30 year Disney Cast Member I have less than a zero tolerance for rude business people. Ron.

Steve
 

I was one of the people who used and liked Steve very much. In fact, everyone I knew who used him loved him. Does he have an "interesting" personality? Yes! I believe there is a reason for that, but not for me to go into it.

Steve, is different. He is also honest. We all (the people who hired him) have stories of how he went above and beyond when he did our landscaping. Gave us more than we thought we were getting. He was fast and the most part HONEST!!!! He NEVER cheated anyone. In fact, there was one time the he realized he overcharged someone and brought the money to me to take to the client. The client was moving and upgraded his landscaping to sell his home. He didn't know and was surprised when I gave him the money.

Everyone who got through the initial contact, loved him. Everyone that I knew who used him loved him.

The people who don't like him are the people who never used him. Many of us could see that maybe, there was something more there than, rude. Sometimes people are born with conditions that appear rude. It's their personality. I believe Steve is a genius. I am surprised that he wrote something down on his hand. When I knew him, he remembered EVERYTHING. EVERY detail. He never took any money unless you were completely satisficed.

So, I was one of the people who defended him. I guess I still am. I got NOTHING from it . NO Discount for writing a review. I never heard of anyone getting a discount from writing a review.


I was accused of working for him. It never happened. It's 10 years later. I haven't seen Steve in a long time. At the time I used him, his prices and his work were better than the companies that had slick sales presentations.

Don't get me wrong. I have a high regard for many of the landscapers in The Villages. I just happen to know that if you want someone who isn't going to take you. Steve is the man. I don't think his personality will let him lie to someone.

I know I will get slammed for this. It's OK.


Again, all these bad reviews are by people who have not used him. I'm sure there has to be someone who did use him that wasn't happy... they are far and few between.

My experience as well. I wouldn't hire him for a job if he was the only one in the business...period.

We had the very same thoughts about this guy. Thankfully, it was over the phone or it could have been uglier. We went with Swilley and Son Landscaping and they are fantastic. Be prepared to wait several months because they are in demand and have only one small crew. They work hard, clean up every day when they’re done and do wonderful work. My next door neighbor called them and hired them after seeing our results. Life’s too short to work with buttheads!

Same Horrible Experience
 

We encountered similar terrible behavior from him 9 years ago. I too had never before or since interacted with such a belligerent, rude, and unprofessional person. When we told him we were deciding from quotes between lvendors he upped his nastiness, belittled any other vendor and then told us to leave. I was appalled and would warn anyone that asks me for a landscaper reference to definitely avoid him.

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

My neighbor used him and was very disappointed with him and the process. There were problems and Steve was nasty about it. Also planted Sylvester’s with the plastic still wrapped on the bottom trunk. The tree died and the problem was found when a different Landscaper removed the tree.

Goney's is worth calling!
 

We just moved to TV in June. We got four different bids for total yard re-landscaping. We settled on Goney's and have been spectacularly pleased! Not only have they done an exceptional job, but their bid was fair. Additionally, the owner, Wayne, met with us numerous times as we prepared our plan. He always gets back to us when we call or text him and is a wonderful person! We recommend Goney's without reservation!
Goney's Landscaping
Owner, Wayne Goney
(352)753-7007 office
38112 Arlington Ave
Lady Lake

And what does the "value" of the quote have to with his attitude and presentation

Stay away from pauls nursery on 466 he is horrible as well

Mansfield
 

I used him several years ago. He did what he wanted, not what I wanted. He was rude and obnoxious to me when I complained and left me in tears. I had to hire another company and spend a lot more to fix what he did badly (a water feature that kept leaking among other things). Initially I was told to leave good review to get a discount. I left a bad review which prompted him to leave me a nasty voicemail message. Horrible experience.

In this case, a lot. I wouldn't accept any quote from this company.

Really!?
For many of us what you say and do describes who you are.
No need to restate all the unprofessional behavior of Steve Mansfield.......AGAIN!

We also spoke with Wayne at Goneys and were very happy with him and the company. Very nice people. One of our friends used them and were very pleased also. We just got a lower bid from Swilley for the work and my brother had used them and raved about them. You can’t go wrong with either of these companies, in my opinion.

Thanks for the info, will put him on my " Don't bother list "

one of the worst
 

Does exactly nothing you expect ot be done ...


doesnt stand up for work - says wait till next year... and not terribly pleasant.


I dont know how he stays in business.

No reason to be that sarcastic nasty.

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)

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.

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

Mansfield Nursery
 

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 :ohdear: give them money up front. Reputable contractors rarely ever ask until the job is complete and you're happy.

:bigbow::bigbow:

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

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.

Mansfield
 

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.