Allotments 4 All

hi folks,
i have employed a landscaping firm to build our community garden,consisting of four raised beds for those in wheelchairs.its costing us a lot of money,which i got from the pct (thank you!) and was going to take 2 weeks,so they said.we are now at the end of week 6. the main guy doesnt answer his phone,or respond to my texts,well,he does EVENTUALLY. i had a meeting with them last week to show them some flags they had laid that were very wonky,and then miraculously straight when i arrived. they have completely churned up a path that was once beautifully grassed,although they insist they are going to turf that. there is no way its going to be ready for this years growing season,which will give me more time to do the cosmetic side of things,but still,its not the point,i am exhausted with going backwards and forwards to the plot to try and catch them,they are hardly ever there,presumably on other jobs. they had all the flags outside completely blocking the pavement for a whole week and they werent onsite,i was waiting for the neighbours to complain but thankfully they didnt (yet). hopefully it will be finished soon and i can stop worrying about it.
thanks for letting me get that off my chest,feel better now  ;D

I sympathize.  Finding good tradespeople is very difficult.  OK, sometimes there are unavoidable delays, especially when the weather is involved, but then you manage the situation, and telling the client what's going on is the most important part of that.

Out of interest, how much is the whole project costing?

6750 quid.  and yes,the weather this year hasnt helped matters but as you say i wasnt informed of what was going on,ever. and there hasnt been that many days they couldnt work.a bit of rain wouldnt keep me off my plot! thanks unwashed,good to have a bit of support

No wonder you are frustrated! I never understand the no contact thing or the proper planning that these small firms obviously never do!
Anyway it sounds like a great project so I hope you get it sorted soon  :)

I think you need to put something in writing to them and express the urgency, ask for a start date, say you want the work completed once started without breaks, ans set a last acceptable completion date. I trust you have not paid in  advance  ???

Penalty clauses into the contract when you engage them is what the experienced use. Otherwise your project ends up as something to do between jobs.

you really need to 'firm up' any contracts issued. did they give start and completion dates?