Natural Landscapes & Designs LLC

i found john martinez and his "natural landscapes + designs" in an ad in the northwest arkansas democrat gazette. i called him for ideas and a quote on replacing our cracked and subsiding concrete garage floor and driveway, having ruled out replacing with concrete. he was very responsive and came up with an idea of paver stones throughout. he would also install french drains to correct the water flow problem that caused the original problems. he even agreed to deepen the garage entrance so taller vehicles. he asked for $18,000 which seemed steep, but accepted my counter offer of 16,000 immediately. he repeated promised that we would be happy and satisfied with the results by the time we agreed the job was finished. he asked for $10,000 down and $6000 upon completion. the job started off well and his crew seemed to be doing everything to plan. inclement weather delayed things a bit and several times the crew left early or didn't show as promised when john was not on site. john asked for $3000 of the remaining final payment of $6000 early because he "had to pay for materials and his workers." feeling very positive about his responsiveness at this point i had a check cut and paid him. on what he told me was the final day of work -- "job completion day -- disaster struck. with drainage still exposed in the torn up side yard next to the driveway, with stones still needing to be leveled (too high or too low), with the stone under the new longer garage door still not level and meeting the bottom of the door, with the plastic drain across the driveway sticking up above the surrounding pavers so it would be destroyed if driven over, with cement they'd laid for our steps blocking water from draining off, with everything covered in loose sand, with sealant application still to be done . . . a man purporting to be from the city allegedly showed up when we were not home and ordered john's crew to halt work and leave the jobsite. he supposedly said that the 12 foot section of driveway next to the road had to be concrete. no citation was issued nor were the homeowners given anything remotely official or address specific. he gave the (now absent) worker he spoke with a card and a sheet of pa[per explaining sidewalk easements (there are no sidewalks for blocks in any direction). when i asked john martinez when he was going to finish the job, he told me he was afraid of being fined by the city -- despite our contract and his claim to be fully bonded, licensed and insured. i pressed him to return and at least finish the drainage and the pavement in the garage leaving the last 12 feet until i had met with a lawyer. his crew came out and "finished everything" in one day while i was out of town. he had requested that i leave the final $3000 check with my wife in case they finished all work when i was away. i agreed. after applying an incredibly smelly sealant to pavers that were not even swept of the cheap play sand (not paver sand) they used to fill the joints, john asked my wife for the check because he "really needed it." he again, for the tenth time, assured her that the job would not be done until we loved it. she gave him the check. we never saw john again! i returned home to a mess. the sealant, which had rendered our home almost unlivable with three days of fumes, completely failed. the substandard sand was loose and already being carried away by rainwater. the sealant was flaking off the pavers, which look leperous, in huge sheets and blowing all over. many stones were high or low compared to the adjoining pavers, creating a tripping hazard and low stones disappearing, as they filled with loose sand. pavers along the drive's edge slid into the side yard and sand and chat spread out over the grass area. the drain was sticking way up blocking vehicles from entering the garage and all the stones on either side needed to be reset and leveled for the garage door to seal. everything was filthy and covered with now glued-down sand. we were not satisfied. it took several days (numerous phone calls, sms texts and emails) to get john to answer a call from me. he seemed put out to hear the job was unfinished. he said he was losing money on it and asked for photos which i provided at once via email. he did agree to send out one work in four days (monday march 7th) to complete the to-do list i had compiled and finish the work. i cleared my schedule and prepared to spend monday supervising the completion of each item. i waited in vain all day --- repeatedly calling john and getting voicemail. he began ghosting all my numerous texts and messages. desperate, i even drove all the way up to the address he'd put on the contract -- all i got was a dog barking inside. no answer at door. i have basically given up and will have to hire someone else to finish his work. i will then claim the expenses in small claims court. although i was initially happy with john martinez and his work, this all soured at the end where he abandoned the job and left us with an ugly mess. i would not recommend doing business with natural landscapes + designs and should you take the risk please make sure you keep 50% to be paid after you sign off on a completed job. he is not a man of his word and he has turned out to be a coward about that.