Tyson Quick rated Liaison Landscapes 5 stars
11 months ago
The Worst Business Owner I've Ever Worked With
First, I want to mention that I am also a business owner with 15 years of experience, so I understand the challenges of running a business. That said, Markus at Liaison is the worst business owner I've ever had the misfortune of working with.
I first contacted Liaison in September 2021 and received a top-end quote of $99,646. I signed the contract expecting work to begin within a month. However, seemingly because Markus took on every project he could get, my project was delayed until February 2022. Then, when work was supposed to start, they said they forgot to get the permit, pushing the project back again to March 2022 - a full 6 months after I signed the contract. The project finally ended, unfinished, in October 2022 - an astonishing 7 months after it began. During this entire time, my yard was torn up with a portable toilet in the front. There was no sense of urgency or efficient project management.
I wish the delayed start was the end of my issues with Markus and Liaison, but it was just the beginning of the worst contracting experience of my life. Once the project finally started, I was informed that Sean, the project manager I originally met with, had quit. I was left without a project manager for weeks while the subcontractors tried to figure things out on their own. I had only met Markus in person for 10-15 minutes when he came to tell me Sean left.
The project began with demolition and trenching. The trenching bill came in at exactly the high end of the original quote, even though it was supposed to be based on hours worked. It became clear that hours weren't being tracked in detail and Markus planned to simply bill the maximum for each line item. The original quote only included a line for "Retrofit existing - Time and material at $85 pr. hr." Yet I was billed $7,200 for trenching alone, not even the irrigation retrofit. No change order was ever made for this major scope increase.
Next was the hot tub pad and decking, which ended up costing nearly $50,000. Issues included:
- The deck was finished before the gas line was hooked up, requiring boards to be pulled up
- The deck finish needed to be redone by a third party
- The removable stairs to access the hot tub panel were misaligned and wobbly
Furthermore, despite repeatedly communicating our desire for a clover lawn, Markus' crew showed up one day and added gravel, compacting it down because they thought we wanted grass turf. This not only added cost but required completely tearing up the yard later because they didn't fully remove the gravel, leaving the soil too compact for growth.
When it came time for planting, the crew brought about 20% of the wrong plants. After I rearranged many of them into the correct layout, we later discovered that some still weren't the ones we originally selected.
Many aspects of the project were changed without any negotiation. When I brought this up, I was told that I had made the changes myself, without any evidence or even an in-person conversation. This is the result of a detached business owner who has taken on too many contracts, a lack of project management, poor business organization, and/or blatant dishonesty.
After more than a year, $125,000 paid, going through two project managers who did next to nothing, a budget overrun of nearly 30%, much of the original plan scrapped, and having to redo a lot of the work ourselves, I was done with this disorganized company. The only positive was working with Ernie, the electrical/gas subcontractor, who demonstrated integrity, communication, respect, and quality work.
I strongly encourage anyone considering a project larger than simple decking or fencing to find a different contractor. Even for those, I'd advise finding someone more organized and honest to work with than Liaison.
The experience was so bad, I am likely considering a lawsuit against Markus and Liaison.
