Vinca Landscape

Vinca Lanscaping tricked us into paying 100% of the project fee and then abandoned the job site after 60% of the project was completed . We had to hire another company to fix faulty work done by Vinca and complete the project. Many trades hired by Vinca have contacted us as they have not been paid for their services. We have tried to contact Vinca Landscaping numerous times with no luck. I would never advise anyone to use Vinca Landscaping.

This review is being written 7 1/2 month after we started working with Mario, Louis and the rest of the team at Vinca Landscaping, and over 6 months after we've paid a $35,000 deposit up front for a job that was supposed to take 15-20 business days. We are also in the process of filing a claim with the Better Business Bureau.

After a few meetings with Mario and Louis and figuring out the details of the project we settled on a $35,000 price point which included a discount if we paid the whole amount up front. The project included replacing a fence in the back yard, building a ground level deck, planting a small hedge, and putting up a metal fence up in the front yard. We paid the deposit in May and the project was supposed to have started in July. In June Louis dropped off some sample for the deck material for us to choose from and we had made our selection known to them a few weeks after. This is when our troubles began. The more time has passed since they have cashed our cheque the harder it became getting a hold of Mario and his team. The first project manager that was assigned to us (Paulina) was responsive saying that work will begin "the next week or two" for over two months until she eventually stopped replying. There has been quite a bit of turnover of employees while we have worked with Vinca and Ive heard from multiple employees so far that they have not actually been getting paid. I, of course, havent been able to verify this but I hope this isnt true as they all seem quite nice when I have interacted with them.

Paulina was eventually replaced by a different project manager named Leslie who was also making promises every week and failing to deliver on them every single week. Intermittently Mario would answer his calls and occasionally would show up to the work site apologizing for delays and seeming quite genuine in his concerns making promises that the work will go on according to schedule from this point on. So far, we have been given multiple schedules with deadlines and the team had failed to deliver on every single one. For the past two weeks Mario had stopped picking up my calls and for the past week he had blocked my number. I know this because the calls go through if I call from a number I hadn't called him on yet.

Last week he had sent in an email asking for more money claiming I had filed a "work change order" with a previous project manager for more expensive materials. When I had replied with copies of the email chain where we had selected the materials offered to us by Louis during our initial meeting in June he had stopped replying, blocked my number again and we had not heard or seem from him or his team since until an e-mail today saying that my multiple calls are a nuisance. I havent been able to speak to Mario since Oct 24. I was told by Leslie that he was up north with bad reception, tending to a family emergency, and actively working at a different site, all with promises to have him call me back which he had not yet done.

Out of the work we had pre-paid for which included the backyard fence, front fence, ground level deck and hedge, the only part that is partially done is the backyard fence which is still incompletely painted with smudges and doesnt quite follow a straight line. Currently we are left with a crooked partially painted fence, a mud pit in our backyard, a headache and an uncomfortable feeling of being swindled by someone who seemed so personable during our first meeting, with a business that at least initially only had good reviews on here.

Ive just written Vinca an email letting them know I will be willing to give them yet another last chance at completing this project if they agree on giving me a schedule with a firm deadline and sticking to. I sincerely hope they are interested in completing the project to the originally agreed upon specifications and materials and that they are capable of actually getting it done. Im hoping the next review I post on here is more positive but I somehow have my doubts.

The spring of 2020 is definitely a very difficult time for everyone due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. We have to face many restrictions and give up many activities. But I felt fortunate and blessed to get one of my important garden work nicely done. For this, I have to express my gratitude to Vinca Landscape and its crew members.
I have a Japanese maple tree grown in a big pot for a few years and I want to move the tree out of the pot and plant it into ground this year. I talked to my neighbour, who is very good at gardening, about this project and she suggested me contact Vinca Landscape. This was in the middle of April, a time that we were at the state of emergency. I was told at the beginning that the work might be scheduled into the coming month due to their difficult schedules, but they didn’t let me wait too long. When their crews were available about 10 days later, they came and got my project done. Later, I realized that to transplant a tree, the best time should be in early spring. So it’s fortunate for the tree to get this completed in April instead of in May. In normal years, it’s probably not very difficult to schedule a project like this. But during a pandemic period, I really appreciate their dedication and professional service. Talking about their professionalism, I have to thank the crew members for taking a good care of other plants near the tree during this re-planting process. The limited space around the tree added extra difficulty to the work but the crew members were so careful and didn’t cause much of damage to other flowers nearby. For the final orientation, the crew did it as I wished, which made the tree nicely fit into the surroundings. When they finished the re-planting, they collected all the garbage and vacuumed the site.
Now the Japanese maple happily grows and brings freshness to the garden. I am glad that I have a professional team done this.

Mario quoted us a job for $10k and required a $5k deposit up front. After performing only the excavation of a trench and backfilling with soil, he proceeded to bring the wrong trees and then argue that this is what we had asked for, despite the fact that we showed him the existing trees in our yard and told him we wanted the same ones. After returning these trees, he had the gall to back charge us for their return and restocking fee.

We fired him after this and he promised to send us an itemized receipt of the work done to date and provide a refund for the services that were not rendered. After having to chase him down all summer to get the receipt, he eventually sent it to us — and surprisingly, the services rendered equaled the $5k deposit!

When we challenged him on this, he shrugged it off and said that was that, despite us showing him that the cost of the trees alone comprised well over 50% of his quote, and he never supplied them nor planted them.

I would never trust this man again and certainly would never give him money up front for services to be performed. Live and learn, and I hope no one else has to deal with this character.

Mario and his team came to do basic landscaping for a new construction site in 2015 and ended up doing all the hardscape and softscape of entire project including the pavers, retaining walls, and gardens. I have hired his crew multiple times since then.

Mario has provided construction services for my landscape design projects for the last 5 years. He is always professional and courteous with clients, and is flexible during the design process. The Vinca team's work is always completed to a high standard.

We had a very technically challenging project that firstly needed to solve a structural (engineering) issue, and secondly needed to be aesthetically pleasing.

We contacted a number of potential partners to work with and found It very difficult to find a team who could deliver on both criteria.

Vinca not only came to us with a unique (and beautiful) vision, but also one that gave us the confidence that it would be done properly (i.e., hit the first quality-structural criteria). The project, as planned, lasted several months that in the end delivered a product more visually impressive and functional than we had originally envisioned. When the dust had settled Mario and his team were like extended family.

The Vinca team was both flexible and understanding as we cooperatively troubleshot our way through a complicated set of challenges. Their technical skill, professionalism, and most importantly flexibility and understanding is ultimately what culminated in a job executed to our satisfaction and within our budget.

Major backyard renovation. Mario and his team were fabulous. The project was complicated with not having easy access to the backyard but Mario had a plan..executed the plan with professionalism and proficiency ..the work was done properly, safely and done not only on time but on budget too. We now have a dream backyard.. note..we loved our pool but it was time to change things up.
We could not be happier and could not recommend Vinca Landscape any stronger . They were the best contractors we have had in the 15years of owning our house and plan to use them for a few other projects later this year.

Overall the service deliver was very good. I just wished that it could have been completed a little sooner. Mario and Carlos were excellent to deal with, always returning calls immediately. I would certainly recommend to others.

first crew didn't do what was agreed to on the estimate. Next day another crew came and did everything very well. They were polite and made sure I was happy and satisfied with their work. I'm very happy with the final results. Thank you Mario and 2nd team for the hard work, attention to detail and the nice landscaped yard just in time for my open house.