Ware Landscaping & Snow Removal

Homeowner BEWARE! Mike is a dirty car salesmen. After he gets your deposit you won’t hear from him unless you threaten lawyers or ask for a refund on your deposit. We signed our contract in May, and we were promised 1st or 2nd week in August start. We asked for a refund early October, which mike refused to give to us. Stupidly, we decided to give him another chance. We attempted to come to an agreement of what he would do with our deposit. Mike attempted to screw us. He forgot he gave us several quotes - our full project and just a drainage project. The drainage and sod quote was originally 8k... he tried to charge us 16k! More than our deposit and said he was “doing hs a favor.” Nice try Mike. Mike then blamed it on the computer software stating “that was the number it was giving him.” We FINALLY got him to start the project on October 26th (we remember because we had a baby two days later) it then snowed and stopped the project. They came back roughly a week later. Our neighbor stopped the project due to water concerns from the trenches they created - so in his defense, in theory, he would’ve been completing the project if it wasn’t for said neighbor. Once we got the all clear from the city 11/19, Ware landscaping has come back once. We have had several days 40s and sunny. Mike promised Mon 12/2, on Thur 12/5 we called them and Wendy stated they would be here Mon 12/9! On Fri 12/13, Wendy called to say two crews would be at our house any minute, FOUR HOURS later 2 trucks showed up... and the crews proceeded to eat in our drive way (it was 2pm) 1 truck drove away - not having done any work - and the remaining crew proceeded to work for 90 minutes before they left for the day. We are left with a pile of gravel in the middle of our driveway and busted cement in our backyard, left over pavers at the side of our house, incomplete walkway to our front door with pavers thrown all over the place. No sod that we were promised. We have a dog, 2 toddlers and a newborn; imagine leaving your newborn crying while wiping your dogs muddy paws. This is the nightmare that Ware Landscaping has created. NOW, they’re refusing and rejecting our phone calls, we are only left with taking legal action. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

We contracted with Ware Landscaping from November 2017 through November 2018, and I have to say, we were relieved when the contract expired. Our initial contacts and communications were all pleasant, but once spring rolled around, we started to have issues. Unfortunately, Ware did not entirely fulfill the terms of our contract. They missed a month of yard maintenance and one of four lawn fertilizer treatments. They were late with the spring cleanup, and when they did eventually come, they sent fewer people and spent half the time that was written out in the service contract. When we asked them to compensate us for the shortcomings in service, they offered us free plants. As much as we appreciated the gesture, we didn't want plants, we wanted the money back for the services we did not get that were part our contract. While the folks at Ware were initially responsive, they never responded to us on the matter after that. I made multiple attempts to contact the owner, but he never acknowledged my requests or contacted me, which I found disrespectful and unprofessional. We found the lawn service itself mediocre. Once they starting coming for mowing, they did come consistently, but they initially didn't weed-whack or do edging until we complained about it, though it was part of the mowing service in the contract. Once they started weed-whacking, they put holes in the bottom of our siding next to the planting bed. They generally weren't very careful with their work, in our opinion. While we hired Ware hoping that the lawn would be one less thing we'd need to worry about, it ended up being a huge headache, and quite frustrating. I would not recommend contracting with Ware for lawn service/mowing.

Cross posted to google - it's a shame they can't run a consistent business. Service when they show up is good and they're decent people, but I pay for the service - which is bad. Late snow removal and they randomly skip your lawn for a week or more. Very nice people, but DO NOT hire them. A "D" rating because when they do work - it's good work, but I've had to fight tooth and nail to get consistent service and end up frustrated that I've paid them for the aggravation for another year. They just can't keep a schedule in summer or winter. Trust me and look elsewhere. Two weeks into the season and I'm asking why my lawn is a foot tall and unmowed for the week....you want that? I don't.

He did a good job and we're very happy with the work. We're going to be hiring him again this year for more landscaping work.

The work was satisfactory. My issues with this company are centered around inconsistent and untimely billing practices. Additionally, they are very hard to get ahold of.

Ware We were absolutely horrified with our experience with Ware Landscaping. From the poor quality work and lack of landscaping knowledge to the unacceptable customer service. We hired Ware Landscaping to enhance our property with plants/trees and install a drainage system on the sides of our home. Ware Landscaping made a mess of our yard as plants/transplants died and the yard now floods with even the smallest amount of rain. After the evaluation of multiple landscaping companies we learned that plants and trees were incorrectly planted and inappropriatly placed. We paid $3500 to have another company redo Ware’s planting work only a month later. We are still having issues with drainage and Mike Ware refuses to help us problem solve to resolve the issues. After two inches of rain we have standing water in our side yards and the water pools in our backyard (which was never an issue before Ware Landscaping). Mike Ware ignored the majority of our communications with him once payment was collected. Mike both stood us up and canceled appointments last minute when trying to review our concerns with him. In addition to the poor quality work on our property, Ware Landscaping tore up my neighbor’s yard without their permission. Mike Ware promised to repair the property damages which has not happened. Additionally, we had neighbors who were previous Ware customers attempt to warn us if their bad experience but unfortunately they reached us too late. Please do your homework and read up on this company by checking their profile on the Better Business Bureau. Be sure to click on the BBB letter grade to read all the negative reviews and complaints filed. Remember Facebook reviews often come from friends and family (isn’t it unethical to go as far as having his wife submit a five star rating?). Ware Landscaping deletes the negative customer comments on Facebook (both my neighbor and I have been deleted). If only this company put more time into doing quality landscaping and less time manipulating their online image, they might find the key to running a successful business. Please save yourself a lot of aggravation and reconsider if you’re thinking of hiring Ware Landscaping. We have never encountered a more dishonest and unethical business in our 23 years as homeowners in Naperville.

They did my snow and ice removal all through the winter and I am more than happy. Local business, punctual, reliable, great work, great customer service and communication. No matter what time the snow and ice arrived, they took care of my driveway (3 cars), walkway and sidewalk. Michael Ware tries his best to keep his customers happy and I will certainly use them again next year.

Very happy with Ware's design, service, and execution. We had a bad flooding/standing water situation in our back yard and side of the house, which would pool up and flood even after a small rainfall. Ware designed and installed a passive drainage solution that works very well - even after a heavy rain, for a few days, very little to no pooling. They did a thorough, high quality job.

He said that I needed to put in a drainage system to draw the water off of my yard more completely. They put in the drainage system and resodded the area. The drainage system did draw more water off, however, the sod died and the muddy area returned. The next time they came out, they regraded my yard and left a gap under my fence that my dogs (Jack Russells) could easily escape. Again more of the sod that they put down died and left me with the muddy area again. I watered the sod as required, however, it died over the winter and the problem remained. The caused a further problem of erosion where they left a gap under my fence. I called hime again this year and he showed up to discuss the problem. he promised to put me on the schedule. My calls have gone unanswered. My recourse now is to sue him for the amount that I paid him. I have included photos from 2016-one year after the work was done and from april of this year. You can see from both sets of pictures that I still have much of the same issue as I had before I spent 6500.00 with Ware Landscaping.

Original work down well. Follow-up to replace three plants lost over winter. Called three times. Promised to fix. Never did. Gave up after many weeks of promised action.

Quality o the driveway was very good but paid over $70000 for 4000 sq ft driveway. Claimed he had to use additional 500 sq ft and asked for another $5000. I had a professional landscaper measure the driveway and it was 4260 sq ft. There were 250 sq ft of paver material which stayed on my lot for 4 months due delay in his work. I asked him I would like to use those pavers for other projects, but he claimed that was a separate order for another client (waiting 3 months on my lot) but is still asking for the cost of the whole 500 st ft extra paver outside our contract. Also wanted to install topsoil for the backyard. He put topsoil only on half of the backyard. When I ask him why not all, his answer is "he installed 22 yards". No answer why half was installed but asking for the price agreed upon for complete backyard topsoil installation. Also left the village asphalt bike road that he damaged during installation of the driveway unrepaired. Village will not give me final occupancy permit without repair of the bike road. This is in summary a very unethical unprofessional business, and I suggest any one who values their money and sanity to stay away from them. He does quality driveway work so if you have a lot of money and don't care overpaying and adding extra payments during the process to keep him happier, he is the right guy for you.

Ware does an excellent job keeping our lawn looking great. They always mow when needed, trim, edge and keep weeds cut back. They are prompt, quick and professional. Our yard has never looked better. We have used them over 2 years and have never been disappointed.

They charged a flat fee for the whole season and charged for whenever they came out. I was not happy with their services. <br /> <br /> At the end of the season, they said I had more charges because of the chemicals they used on my yard. Sometimes, instead of waiting on them I would do my yard so that it was clean, and they would come by to throw the chemical on there even though it was clean. All they did was spread the chemical, they didn't even have to do any cleaning.  <br /> <br /> When they came out, they did do a good job. Most of the time I had already cleaned it.

Due to the complexity we're now writing this review after 2 years of seasonal testing. I'm very pleased to say it's continued to work under the most demanding water conditions, rain or snow. While anyone could gripe about the small issues that arise with any project, we found Michael and his team to be very creative and collaborative each time we ran into the inevitable small hurdles along the way. At each challenge they did not back away from doing it "right", and I can't stress enough the importance of that with any contractor. They also didn't stop until they completed the project to our complete satisfaction. The fact we're writing this review 2 years post project hopefully assures you that in our estimation, Ware Landscaping is a solid company that we would definitely use again. Thanks to Michael and the team....we're dry!

Whenever we had concerns they listened and did their best to work out a resolve.

unknown

unknown

Mike came out and after assessing the issues and explaining exactly what could be done, we had a written quote the next day and proceeded to schedule the work. The job was completed promptly and at a reasonable cost, including new sod over the leveled area, and new trenched drain pipe with well. <p>Everyone we worked was friendly and professional and we would recommend Ware Landscaping to anyone.</p>

It took a while to schedule the work but they came in and installed full drainage along both side of our house from the back yard to the street.  The crew could have used some additional supervision.  They completed the work quickly and overall the quality of the work was really good.  We have had many extreme rainfalls in the last few months and the yard is effectively dry.  

unknown

He fixed the drain; however I now have water coming back out of the drain again

unknown

They did not show up for some snowfalls and still billed us for the dates. They showed up too early (before snowfall to only apply salt and never return to shovel) or too late (>48 hours after snowfall). Owner's response was to offer discounts that never made it onto the invoice. When confronted with written evidence of this, owner handed off to his mom. No kidding. It took 6 months to sort out the final bill, we had to clean our own snow the entire winter and dealing with him was just unpleasant overall. Would not repeat. Would strongly advise against considering him. Frankly i'm shocked he's on Angie's list at all, though I do see as of writing this review that Ware is in trouble for violating agreements with them too. <br />

unknown

The people they sent out did not speak English and had no idea what they were doing. They showed up earlier than anticipated without notice. I tried to call Michael, the owner, and no answer. For a while everything looked nice and followed the instructions as given. My sod ended up dying and my backyard looks like a disaster zone. Their only concern was the money. I had someone give me another estimate and they said it shouldn't have died if they installed in correctly. Months later, we finally figured out they installed the wrong sod. It took forever to get them to do anything. On December 15th, he said money was tight so I told him he could give me half the money owed and again on January 15th. He paid me the first installment. January 15th rolls around and he does not call or email. He calls me 2 days later like everything is fine. He said he would try and get me my money. Today is Thursday and I have yet to receive payment. This is so unprofessional. I have bills to pay and they left me in a really tough spot. He still owes me $575.00