MBG Lawn & Landscape LLC

MBG was 1 of three contractors I contacted through Angies to bid for the job. I was as clear as possible illustrating the issue and my understanding of it. I shared with Leanne what the 2 other contractors had shared with me as well as a photo of how the water was seeping into the garage. I received an estimate from her based on that conversation. Upon receiving the bid i contacted Leanne to clarify what was going to be done. We spoke about the depth of the drain (approximately 18” according to her) the start and end points, how it would be back filled, placement of drains and piping, the need for removal of roots. I felt confident they were the best contractor for the job. Leanne ensured me they would stand behind their work and come back to fix any issues. During that conversation i texted her photos to clarify what we were speaking about. she texted back “yes” and i agreed to hire them. When the workers showed up they wanted to install 2 drains as opposed to the 3 proposed and run the pipe around the tree as opposed to along the wall. The scope of the project was clarified with Leanne. They left to buy a 3rd drain and began work several hours latter While the work was being done on day 1 I again asked about the depth and the need to back fill with stone. I was assured by the project manager and Leanne that they had done this type of work many times and the work being done would produce the desired results. The job was completed on the second day. I was not home for part of the time the work was being done. I was assured the issues I raised were addressed. At the end of the job the project manager tested the system in my presence by putting the hose in the last drain connected to the last 20 feet of the drain. (This part of the drain is not relevant to the actual French drain. It is simply for overflow) After some time (a minute or so at full strength) no water came out. He said it would take days of rain for that to happen because of the size of the pipe and the fact that it was corrugated. That made sense to me in the moment. I paid the invoice the same day I received it. The following night it rained. In the morning i checked my garage and water had seeped into the garage more or less in the same way it had before the work was done. I texted Leanne a photo immediately. (Sunday December 10th) She texted me back the next day saying the manager would be out to discus ways to improve it. Upon inspection he acknowledged there was issues and we discussed solutions… Basically going deeper and backing filling with primarily rock as initially proposed as opposed to primarily dirt. In our conversations I offered to purchase some rubberized tar to paint the wall that would be exposed as and extra layer of protection. The manager thought that would be a good idea. He referred me back to Leanne to schedule the work and indicated it would ultimately be up to her. I contacted Leanne that day (12/11) to reschedule. Initially, she acknowledged there was an issue. I was confident they would come and fix the issue. She said she just needed approval from the owner and I would here back from her later in the day. After 2 days of not hearing from her I called and left a message. She respond via text that she will contact me when she hears from the owner. At that time I requested the owners name and number. I have requested to speak to the owner via text, verbally and email. Leanne told me that would never happen. On Friday December 15th. Leanne texted me she was coming by on Saturday to inspect. I asked her to let me know what time so I would be there. I never heard from her. On Sunday i texted her to inquire why she didn’t come by. No response. On Monday I called her and she informed me she was there Saturday afternoon and witnessed water coming out the drain. I asked for photos. She did not provide any. She shared with me her GPS tracking as being there from 1:30ish to 1:45ish (best to my recollection)and did not take photos because it was raining. I asked why she didn’t let me know she was there and that i and been waiting for her. She simply said I’m not lying. After our conversation I emailed Leanne photos I took that day (12/16) illustrating the drain was not functioning as intended. After that, Leanne’s position changed to “there are no issues.” The work has been done correctly. If you want more work done you will have to pay for it. I again asked her to complete the job as proposed and that I was unwilling to pay for more work. I requested she put in writing what they planed to do. I have yet to receive any written response for a solution even though she said she would send me one on 12/26. I have tried my best to resolve this issue with Leanne. I have shared before, during and after photos, proposed solutions and been more then patient. I have asked for photos to back up her claims, work in progress and written proposal for how she plans resolving the issues. I have been met with excuses, gaslighting, and requests for more money.

Quick work of a large yard. Nice people to deal with and left the site clean when they left

I would recommend MBG. I have been pleased with MBG keeping my lawn and flowerbeds well maintained. Their prices and services are excellent. I look forward to continuing to work with MBG.

MBG was a pleasure to work with! I definitely recommend them! They have done a great job servicing my yards and flowerbeds.

I’m posting this to prevent anyone else from being put through the frustration that we have encountered over the last year. We moved to BR in 2021, and not knowing anyone in the area, found a lawn service online. MBG. They were fairly quick to respond, and were helpful to begin with orienting us to the area. They even recommended a handyman. Over time, we had occasional minor issues such as them not showing up 2 or 3 times in a row, and we’d call to remind them that we were supposed to be on a regular service schedule, and they’d start arriving in a slightly more timely way. In July 2022, there was an incident in which the riding lawnmower slid into our back fence during a regular mow. There was obvious immediate damage to the fence, but no one mentioned this to us. Upon seeing the damage, we called MBG, who readily admitted it was them and explained the process to get this repaired. Over the next several months, various employees came out and requested photos and/or measurements at different times. By about November, we were told that this wasn’t something they could fix because this is a “custom fence panel”. It’s not, but okay. We were told to contact our property manager, who was very helpful in connecting us with a fencing company who came out immediately, noted that this was a pretty typical fence panel that they could get and have fixed right away. As promised, they had the entire issue resolved within about 2 weeks. Based on the instructions from MBG, we sent them an invoice for the repairs. We asked for a response, indicating that they got the invoice and a copy of the receipt for our records as well. We heard nothing. About a month past, and we continued to hear nothing. We reached out to the company and no one would return our calls/emails/texts. Finally, it would seem as though someone would either accidentally answer the phone and be surprised to hear about our situation. They would all say oh, we can take care of that right away, let me speak to the owner Jeff. They would ask for me to email all of the details to them again, which I have done multiple times now. All the while, we had been in contact with the fencing company as they were understandably frustrated that they had not yet been paid. We were trying to avoid getting ourselves into a situation which we are in now where we paid the fencing company ourselves, because we knew that we would be powerless to do anything against this obviously dishonest lawn company. We would speak to various people over the course of a few months at MBG who would openly say that the owner does this often, and is “impossible to deal with”, and “is going to let this linger until we get sick of dealing with him”. We tried every avenue to get in touch with the owner directly, but he would never agree to speak to my husband or I except once by accident when he quickly had to go…? At some point during all of this, we obviously got frustrated to the point where we could no longer have them as our Lawn Service company and terminated our regularly scheduled service. We have a wonderful Lawn Service now whom we really like and would highly recommend as they come when they say they will and don’t damage anything. Low standards, I know right? Ultimately we paid the fencing company who seemed apologetic that this happened, and have also indicated that they are going to avoid going near MBG as well. Anyway I’m posting this to try to ensure that no one else does any unnecessary business with MBG and their owner Jeffrey Foster. This was one of the most unprofessional experiences I’ve ever had working with a company like this. It is literally in the service industry. I was shocked to find how his own staff speak so poorly about him, but not surprised once I saw how he conducts his business. I don’t often hope this about anyone, but I genuinely hope he is not able to provide service for people in the community any longer, as he does not deserve your business. Your money can be spent on someone who will do right by you when their employees damage your property, not someone who is going to put you through the ringer for no reason and ultimately wind up with you footing the bill for their mistake. I try to make a habit now of researching companies before we hire them for any purpose, and I hope that this can be useful for someone in the future if they’re considering hiring this absolutely terrible service. If anyone from MBG is reading this, I am more than happy to discuss this further with you, as I have spoken to many different employees at MBG over the last several months about this issue and I’m sure they’re all readily familiar as we tried for a very long time to get this resolved amicably. In all fairness, the last time I spoke to the last person who was willing to answer the phone at MBG, I did warn them that I would be putting this review online. Please feel free to reach out if you have questions about what happened or want more information, or are curious about who we are using now, as they are fantastic!

Their service was excellent. They took care of the lawn cutting, no questions asked.