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Email templates · Landscaper

Email template to complain about unfinished landscaping work

The landscaper took a deposit, did part of the job, and stopped. Or the job is "done" but the sod is dying, the pavers are uneven, and the drainage runs toward the house. You have called and gotten promises. This is the moment to switch to email, because a landscaping job is a contract, even a handshake one, and the way you get it finished or get money back is by putting the gap between what was promised and what was delivered in writing. This email does that without threats. It lists the work, sets a date, and says what happens if the date passes. Keep any final payment until the list is done.

Before you send

  • The original quote, contract, or the email where the scope was agreed. If it was verbal, write down what was agreed, with the date and the amount.
  • What you have paid so far, with dates, and what remains.
  • A numbered list of what is unfinished or wrong. Be specific: "the twelve boxwoods on the quote, only eight were planted," not "the plants aren't right."
  • Photos of each item, dated. Take them now, even if you took some earlier.
  • Whether the work has a warranty. Plants often carry a one-year replacement guarantee; hardscape sometimes longer. It is on the quote if it exists.
Subject Unfinished work at [address], quote #[quote or invoice number] 
Hi [landscaper name],

I'm writing about the landscaping job at [address] that we agreed on [date] for $[total], with $[amount paid] paid so far.

The last day anyone worked on it was [date]. These items from the quote are still not done or need to be fixed:

- [Item, e.g. the paver patio: about a third of the pavers are unset and the sand base is exposed]
- [Item, e.g. the sod in the back: two pallets are down, the third from the quote was never delivered]
- [Item, e.g. the irrigation line to the front bed was cut and not repaired]

I've attached photos of each. I called on [dates] and was told [what you were told].

Could you confirm by [date, a few days out] which day you'll be back, and finish everything on this list by [date, one to two weeks out]? I'll pay the remaining $[amount] once the list is done and we've walked the yard together.

If you can't finish, please tell me so we can agree on a fair amount for the completed work and I can arrange the rest elsewhere.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A landscaper who means to finish replies with a date. Hold them to it, and reply the day after if no one shows.
  • If they say the missing items were never part of the job, point to the quote line. If there was no written quote, restate what was agreed and what you paid for, and ask what they think the fair value of the completed work is.
  • If the deadline passes with no reply or no work, get a written quote from another company to finish, and send it to the original landscaper with a request for a refund of the difference. That letter is your record if you end up in small claims court, which handles this size of dispute in every state.
  • If you paid the deposit by card and the work truly stopped, your card issuer can reverse the part you did not receive. Most want the dispute within 60 days of the statement.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get my landscaper to finish the job 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to get a landscaper to finish a job they left incomplete, or agree on a fair refund if they won't.

The landscaper: [name, company, email or phone].
The job: [address, what was agreed, the date, the total, and what I've paid; quote attached].
What's unfinished or wrong: [the list, one per line; photos attached].
What I've already done: [dates I called and what they said].
What I want: [the job finished by a date / a refund of a specific amount].

Please write to them, chase a firm date, and if they won't finish, get a quote from another company for the remaining work so we have a number for the refund.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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