ABOUT THIS PAGE
Small businesses live and die by their reputation. As customers, Facebook, Google, Yelp and other review sites are an invaluable resource when trying to decide whether to hire a given contractor.
Based on what I've seen, Limitless Irrigation seems to recognize this, and they seem to value the credibility that comes from positive reviews. I've also observed actions that appear designed to bury or obfuscate negative reviews.
On this page I'll walk you through my experience with how they tried to bury my negative review, how they seem to have shifted their strategy such that they can better manage the reviews they receive, and I'll share with you the negative reviews that I and my wife left as well as some of the other reviews that I was able to dig up.
Review Management
Any business worth it's salt, will seek to promote the positive reviews, and do what it can to smooth over negative reviews. When it comes to negative reviews, a smart business will generally respond politely, and ideally offer to make things right. This is not the behavior that I've observed with Limitless Irrigation.
- One customer, Jesse C. left a negative review on Facebook, and Limitless Irrigation decided that their best course of action was to push back publicly.
- When it came to my Facebook and Google reviews, instead of addressing my issues, they appear to have enlisted friends to add several positive reviews to pad their stats and push mine down. They even went so far as to have Kyle's wife leave a positive review - which has since been taken down after I called them on it.
- When it came to my wife's Facebook and Google reviews, they blocked her on Facebook, and then just ignored them entirely.
One of the challenges of Facebook and Google reviews, is that the vendor doesn't have any control over what gets posted. The reviews cannot be edited or removed. They can block you on social media, which they did to my wife and me, but beyond that they can't do anything about the review itself.
As of this writing, Limitless Irrigation has moved their reviews to Housecall Pro - a web based home service application. From what I can tell, Housecall Pro reviews are by invitation only - which makes reviews far easier to control. If a vendor doesn't think that a customer is satisfied, they simply need not send that person an invitation to leave a review. I tried to go to Limitless Irrigation's Housecall page to leave a review but was unsuccessful because I hadn't received an invitation to do so. This is a great way to control the narrative. Limitless Irrigation has since removed the reviews section of their web page and added a link to their Housecall Pro review page.
REVIEWS
I hired Limitless Irrigation, LLC to install a passive drainage system and a new sprinkler system. Leading up to the start of the project, I had Kyle out to look at our property and discuss what I wanted multiple times. He assured me, multiple times, that this would be easy, and that he was eager to do the project. I did the design, told him how many feet of pipe needed to be installed, and I purchased all the materials. All he had to do was come in with his team and install the two systems. They had every opportunity to be successful with our project, yet over the course of the two and a half weeks they were here, we rarely had a full complement of workers because they didn't have enough staff on hand, and instead of focusing on our project, they spent significant time away servicing their other customers. I was very patient and tolerant with this - probably too much so. I understand what it's like to run a small company, and I was willing to be flexible as long as the work got done right. What we got instead were two systems where nothing worked.
They got in a bind when they committed to another installation project before mine was done, and then started slapping things together so poorly that I had to ask them to leave, allow them to do the other project, regroup, and then come back to finish mine. We agreed that they'd come back in two weeks, and in that time I'd pull together an issues list. As an act of good faith, I even paid them (foolish me). Two weeks is fourteen days. Come to find out, he was off on a cruise when the fourteenth day came around. No communication whatsoever. Nothing to indicate that he and his team wouldn't be returning in the committed timeframe. When I emailed him the issues list and expressed my dissatisfaction, he seemed to take it personally, then refused to return to fix the few remaining issues or finish the work.
In looking at some of their other reviews, everyone is enamored with the fairness of their pricing. At Site One here in Vero Beach, they regularly indicated what a great guy they think Kyle is. I also found his pricing to be fair, and I likewise found him to be very affable. However, his pricing turned out to be extremely unfair when I had to bring in another contractor to finish the job, and his affability disappeared after I expressed my dissatisfaction. Once I did find another contractor to finish the work, I paid a premium because contractors don't want to fix, or finish, another contractor's work.
I do not recommend Kyle Story, Gryphon Todd, or Limitless Irrigation, LLC.
After posting my review to their Facebook page, instead of addressing my complaints on the merits - they blocked me, and then his wife and others left a flurry of positive reviews to push mine down and bolster their rating. It stretches the imagination to believe that these were spontaneous reviews. But then again, there's not much they can say to defend their poor work quality. Pictures don't lie.
Met him one day servicing my neighbors changed ahead for me. That was absolutely broken. Said it come back when he evaluated my system. Had an appointment for 3 to 4 in the afternoon showed up at noon when I wasn’t home don’t feel he checked all my heads as he said he would and adjust them for the $80, requested an estimate on coming back an asked him to break it down so I could pick and choose what areas I want and repair. He gave me the areas that needed to be repaired, but put his labor all in which was no help to me because I don’t wanna pay over $200 to adjust these heads just the ones that I really needed , so I guess I won’t be calling him back but doesn’t follow through with my request
I incorporated Margaret T.'s review from the Limitless Irrigation's Google review because it raises important issues that I overlooked with their quotes and their contracts. These are things you might want to consider before entering into an agreement with them. To learn more click here.
Don’t recommend. Came out twice for dry spots. Blamed it on everything but their sub par service. Wasted service call fee and now I have to call a REAL irrigation company to fix my problem. Obviously they do have “limits”.
I incorporated Jesse C.'s review from the Limitless Irrigation's Facebook review because it reinforces a couple of my points. I saw a different version of the poor attitude from their technician - especially his repeated need for changes to make his job easier. But more importantly, it reinforces my assertion that when faced with criticism, they're quick to make it the homeowner's fault. You can read the entire exchange here.
I do NOT recommend Limitless Irrigation. We hired them to deliver drainage and irrigation systems. We expected to receive two new systems. What we got were broken pipes and broken sprinklers. When we reached out to them with the list of issues, they refused to return and address any of the problems. Yes, they literally refused to warranty their own work – leaving us to hire someone else to complete the project.
They treated our project and property with disrespect. Little to no communication as to who would show up on a given day. Littered our yard with their garbage and scrap materials as they worked. Technician flipping attitude when asked to do just about anything.
This is the Facebook review my wife left for Limitless Irrigation. Even with limited interaction with them during the course of the project, she saw the poor attitude from their technician. She ended up having to help me fix the issues after they left. She added some additional comments to her review before they blocked her. You can read her entire review here.
Fast response, great work, fast and without breaking the bank. Great personality, very knowledgeable and helpful.
That was first appointment! Following appointments not so great, very difficult if non-existent communication, price going higher and higher! Finally decided to cut ties and find something better, more communication, more reliable….
Even though he recommends Limitless Irrigation, I included M. Moraru's Facebook review as another example of Limitless Irrigation's poor communication and the breakdowns that seem to occur as a homeowner becomes further engaged with them. You can read his entire review here.
LEARN FROM MY EXPERIENCE
It's been my experience that a quality company will take the feedback from a negative review, acknowledge the issue, and ideally try to make things right. A lot of the time the response is a canned platitude about how they're sorry the customer feels this way, but they at least try to present a pleasant face to others who come across the review. This has not been my experience with Limitless Irrigation. From what I've seen, Limitless Irrigation will push back, try to obfuscate, or simply ignore the negative feedback.
You may wonder why they have so few negative reviews, and my theory is this...
- Kyle Story gets by on his likeability - so long as you don't challenge him. Most reviews talk about how great a guy he is.
- I don't think they bid many large jobs, and our project was beyond their capabilities.
- Other homeowners aren't forced to follow after them and inspect their work. It's expected that the job will be done in a workman like manner.
From my perspective, they underestimated the size of the job, got in a bind, misrepresented the state of the job in order to get paid, and rather than make us whole, they simply abandoned the project. I don't know whether they did or didn't expect us to leave negative reviews, but if they did, I imagine that there was a calculation that the reviews would either get pushed down over time, or that we'd be seen as a one-off that people might choose to ignore in the face of all their other positive reviews. Regardless of what they may or may not have thought, they took the job, they took our money, and they were expected to deliver against their commitments.
Before either my wife or I posted our negative reviews, I approached Kyle Story twice via email regarding the list of issues, and pushed him to come back to finish the job as he agreed to do. Instead, he fired back with a list of grievances in an effort to deflect blame, and then refused to come back despite having given me his word that he would do so.
This website should tell you everything you need to know about the quality of their work product and more importantly - the quality of their character. At this point it's up to you to decide if Limitless Irrigation is a vendor that you wish to do business with.