Nigel the gardener

[Ekster86]

Unfortunately I feel very strongly that I need to back up what the user in the link below has said;

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1333509,1333861

Right from the start I have to take a bit of responsibility in that I should really have used somebody who came recommended to do my landscaping; instead I consulted google and unfortunately had not read the other negative reviews before I decided to use him.

Fundamentally, if I have to summarise the main problem with Nigel, he is desperate to get paid as much money as possible for doing as little and as shoddy work as possible. Unfortunately I found this out too late. Nigel was CONSTANTLY bad at time-keeping, him and his boys are lazy indeed. The slightest bit of rain and they would vanish for the day. We live in England for crying out loud?! How they can expect not to have to work just because of a little rain is beyond me.

Nigel will promise you the world; his main claim to fame being he likes to ?connect people to their gardens?. In reality he wants people?s cash to connect with his pocket without putting in much effort. He would hound for payment at every step of the way ? yet when it came to arriving on time and making sure things were competed in a professional manner, he was not interested. For example, the concrete paving he did for me started to come loose after just one day. Luckily for me at the time, I had not yet paid him upon completion ? when I called him to tell him about this, he was there bright and early FIRST thing in the morning to repair this. Why? Because he knew he wasn?t getting paid otherwise. Contrast this with my more recent issue; the paint he did for me just over 6 weeks ago has already all chipped and come off. Unfortunately I had already paid him at this point. I have since requested on several times that he comes are repaints this. Excuse after excuse and there is NO excuse Nigel will fail to give. He will lie he is in hospital, he will lie that his boys don?t have drivers? licenses to come over (even though they had managed several times before), my personal favourite excuse was ?it?s too frosty for us to paint?. Yes ?this was his last excuse ?in March?! Too frosty?!

It really saddens me to have to be this negative about somebody ? but his attitude really is appalling. He didn?t complete the work as agreed in my garden and things he had factored into the cost he simply never did (and this only became evident after I had paid him). Please do NOT use him or trust him. He should NOT be allowed to provide services to people ? he is so unprofessional. I am currently putting together a claim so I can get back at least some of the money that he has (effectively) stolen from me.

Please take heed.

[womanofdulwich]

I have to say Nigel came to my garden a few years ago for a few hours to tidy up/ prune/cut back. He was polite and prompt, knew what he was doing.Shared his knowledge. I have no complaints.

[Ekster86]

Your job was on a far smaller scale than what he was supposed to do for me. He worked for me over a series of weeks not on a one off occasion so with the greatest of respects I think my account holds a little more weight.

[red devil]

On the premis that there might be more than one 'Nigel the Gardener' in the area, any chance of being a little more specific, company name etc...

[womanofdulwich]

Nigel

Exterior Design Gardens

07961888253

Thia is the guy I mean-I know it was a little job Ekster- not sure if it was the same guy.Anyway he was a pleasant chap.

[Ekster86]

Nigel ? pretty much everything you have said is incorrect and what is frustrating is that you know this as well as well as I do. I understand that this is your livelihood and I decided to post what I did after much careful thought and consideration and pleas to try and get you to rectify the shoddy work you did. If you care that much about your reputation ? you would have fixed this straight away.

Your argument about the ?frost? is fantastical at best. If this is the real rationale behind why you have refused to come over and re-paint then why one earth did you do the painting in the first place if you knew it would crack? It was way colder at the start of January than it is now?! The point is ? you don?t want to do it because you are not receiving any further payment for RECTIFYING what you have done wrong ? and again, all it comes down to with you is getting cash while cutting corners. This is a horrendous attitude to have.

Seeing as you are such an expert on the law of libel I am shocked that you would make allegations that I borrowed money in order to pay you when this is not the case and I have never given you the impression it was. I assume you are making this ridiculous assertion on account of the fact I pre-warned you that the last instalment would be coming from my father?s account?! As a young lady in her twenties who has just bought her first property (yes ? that?s how ?terrible? I am with my finances) my dad wanted to contribute to some of the work I was having done to the property at the time. Is it a crime for a dad to want to give a gift to his daughter?! Really ? appalling accusation on your part Nigel. You also say you have never encountered this from another customer ? yet you told my sister and I several times that the reason you were hounding for payment so passionately is because another customer had not paid you at all and you were having cash flow issues as a result?! If anybody?s financial stability should be questioned Sir, it is yours not mine. But with the work ethic you guys have I am not surprised that you are having such issues.

You claim to have never had such an ?attack? on you or your boys in 9 years. Please re-think that ridiculous statement. Again I refer you the link I posted above. This was summer of last year when you and the workers who you are so very proud of were accused of vandalising someone?s personal property and once again performing in a way that was shoddy and sub-standard.

To be honest ? yes you did improve my garden from the state it was in before but it doesn?t change the fact that your work overall was not up to scratch and you promised elements that you failed to deliver which only became evident after I had paid you the balance. I paid you the balance because I have integrity and quite frankly I had no idea at that point that there were things that needed rectifying and that indeed you would refuse to rectify them.

Sir, I am a well brought up, professional young woman and I am ultimately a good person. I have NOTHING whatsoever to gain from this other than to warn others so that they don?t fall into the same trap. This could have been resolved a long time ago if you had simply done what you had said you would do. I noticed a few weeks ago that you had not finished the decking lights as you had promised (and factored into my cost) but was willing to let this slide if only you would have come to repaint and finish what you started. You left me with no other choice but to take this publicly. I don?t want a long drawn out argument ? I just want what you now owe me as a refund. Let?s take this offline and talk like adults?

[ravingrose]

FFS! Grow up! Don't really need an essay on your problem Ekster and you being a lawyer too. You were not happy, enough said. There appear to be lots of other people who are happy with work done by the garden man. I also wonder what type of person you are to call into question someone's health issues... come on really, is this really what the EDF has come too?

[MrBen]

This thread was dead. But you've just re-opened it unnecessarily. The summary is probably that both parties could have handled this job better. Fir what its worth I've used Nigel a few times and he's a nice chap and they're generally very good.

Doesn't mean he doesn't have the odd glitch like any other business or indeed person.

Can we let the sorry sludge above go now?

[Ekster86]

If you really want to defend and help Nigel then you really should have had the sense to let this thread fall away. You should have probably kept quiet rather than reviving a thread that was over three weeks old. I have every right to give my account of what I consider to be appalling service. If you don't like what I have to say or disapprove of me writing what you deem to be 'an essay' then why take the time to read and make a pointless response like that?! Your comment is far more pointless that anything I said so if you are really disillusioned by what the forum is becoming I suggest you take a look in the mirror first.

Thank you for reviving a thread that was well laid to rest already.

[monica]

I worked with Nigel Hawkins on a schools garden project a while ago, when SNUB were awarded funding for the growing schools project. I found Nigel, very polite, helpful and completely different to the OP description. I do hope this resolves soon, I always feel if you have a dispute with someone, try and resolve it in private, before you put it on here. Nigel has a good reputation in East Dulwich, and he even donated a lot of his time and materials to the project.

Thank you Nigel

[sue k]

seconded... Nigel is a professional, who wants to make sure the job is done correctly, and has been great and helpful in installing new fencing to our garden..even offering to come and help with some pruning for us, and is very generous with advice. Some people forget that everyone who is running their own business works extremely hard to maintain good feedback, and work outside normal hours to make sure everything is as per expectations. I also find it unbelievable and embarrassing, when some people choose to 'hide' behind posting online rather than speak in person with who ever they have an issue with. Nigel is a hardworking person who believes in delivering an efficient service...we were very happy with him and his team.

[Maria Jose- MJ]

Hi all,

I am sorry some of you had a bad experience. We had a very good one. Nigel and his son Ollie just finished our back and front gardens; we are delighted with the experience and final result. In the back the project was quite big, they built a railway sleepers wall, redesign the whole garden, and help us choose and buy plants and trees. At the last minute we decided to also tidy up and re-design the front garden too and they managed to accommodate this project too. Nigel was always very responsive, knowledgeable and would accommodate to our ideas and budget but really adding a lot of his ideas. Working with them was a real pleasure. Best, MJ from Westwood Park

[RZB]

I am sure Ekster86 that you are being extremely careful not to in any way use your professional qualifications as some sort of blackmail. You will, undoubtedly,

be aware that to do so would be a breach of your professional code of conduct