Poor professionalism by Alda Landscapes
We engaged ALDA Landscapes for a nine-week garden landscaping project. While the overall design and planting were reasonable, our experience of the project management, workmanship, treatment of our property and aftercare was disappointing.
We were given no meaningful warning about the level of disruption, mess and impact on our property. No precautions were taken to protect our driveway, resulting in significant damage to a large area, which ALDA did not make good and which we have had to pay to repair ourselves.
Three large vehicles were parked on our driveway for extended periods without permission, and our garage access was blocked for days at a time without prior discussion. Our shed, outhouse, electricity and water were also used throughout the project without permission. On one occasion, food waste and building debris were left in open bags over a weekend, despite the quotation stating that the garden would be left “clean and tidy”.
There were also workmanship concerns. The garden edging subsequently showed significant separation from the ground in several different areas, while some ground areas were left uneven and with surface debris.
After the works, no written aftercare guidance was provided for lawn areas disturbed during the project. Despite the length of the project, we were never asked for feedback or whether we were satisfied with how things were progressing.
We subsequently raised our concerns several times and repeatedly invited ALDA to visit the property so that the issues could be discussed and inspected together. They declined to do so. ALDA did agree to provide topsoil as a goodwill gesture, but failed to keep their promise.
Overall, we found the site management, consideration for our property, workmanship, communication and handling of our concerns disappointing. Our experience did not reflect the level of professionalism we expected.