1445 Villa Dr, Los Altos California 94024
We made the horrible mistake or originally going with Black Diamond Paver Stones & Landscape for our front and back yard project. From the beginning, our project was plagued by an absence of governance, poor quality workmanship and a lack of project management.
Distraught, we sought the recommendation of a trusted friend who had recently completed and was very happy with his own yard project. He enthusiastically recommended Peter Pazmany, and for that we are forever indebted.
To say that Peter and the entire team at Pazmany were lifesavers would be an understatement. Our yard project was the dream of an 86 year old man, and we thought it was a total loss after the Black Diamond experience. But Peter salvaged it. He listened well as we described what we were hoping for, captured our hopes and goals perfectly in the project scope, and worked with us to hit our budget without compromising project quality and outcome.
Here's a (very) short list of what differentiates Pazmany from Black Diamond and the others:
- Peter, the founder/CEO, is personally involved throughout. While Black Diamond's CEO refused to visit even after it became apparent that their project was faulty, Peter regularly came unprompted during the Pazmany project, surveying the work, double checking items, and even assisting with tasks such as plant layout.
- All the workers on site were actual employees of Pazmany. This is different from not just Black Diamond, who supplies a project manager but all others are subcontractors, but most others as well. This makes a HUGE difference. Pazmany's workers were well trained and highly experienced. They obviously knew how to work as a team, what was expected of them, and shared the corporate commitment to customer satisfaction.
- They take radical responsibility for their work. This means that any issue that comes up where a mistake may have been made, they immediately acknowledge their error course correct. For instance, some of the stepping stones on our pathway were cut a bit too big. When this was brought to their attention, Pazmany had someone out right away to correct this. No argument or issue whatsoever. Just a focus on customer satisfaction. Juxtapose this with Black Diamond who installed faulty irrigation valves, repeatedly insisted they were performing as designed despite the persistent leakage, and only admitted the problem once I personally opened the valve to show them (at which point they replaced them with valves that also were faulty!)
- Peter, Wayne, and the entire crew have exceptionally broad knowledge. While we knew many of the specifics of what we wanted for our project, there were key parts of the yard where our intention was clear, but our vision wasn't. For instance, we wanted a natural feel for our patio area and an inviting flow to/from our deck, we didn't know how to design this or what materials to use. Pazmany laid out something that captured our thoughts perfectly, first conceptually and then on the ground with markers, working with us to fine tune it. The end result is that it's 100% the form, feel and flow that we wanted.
- And much, much more
My hope in sharing this publicly is that others won't make the same mistake that I did. Peter and the entire team at Pazmany are talented, honest, fair, and work with integrity. These are characteristics that should be more common in the world of home contractors. For these reasons, Pazmany should be the very first call when it comes time to landscape.