Carpenter Costin Landscape Management

Awful. If you want stumps ground — don’t call here, if you want excuses then this is your company. If I had only looked on here first I would have avoided a long year of headache from this poorly managed company. My husband purchased a home in the north shore last fall — we needed a lot of trees and bush cut down and the stumps ground. A very nice man came out and gave us a quote that we found acceptable. He told us that if we waited until December it would be even cheaper because it was a slower month, so we did. After doing a couple work from home days with no shows on appointments they finally came out to do the job. They cut everything down and we were happy with that work. From here it went down hill. We were told that their stump grinder broke and that they would schedule as soon as they got a new one in which would be a couple weeks. Well a month goes by — no word, we check and are told another week. By now the back to back winter storms start piling on — looks like spring it is. In April we reach out but are told they are so backed up it will be a month… wait, what? This job was pending since Dec. A month goes by and nothing no call, no apt. We called many times and were told the stump grinder has still not been replaced… something not told to us in April. Late in May the owner came out and told us that our quote was not right and that we would have to pay more — his sales rep screwed up. Now I am seeing red! Still no apt on top of it. We called them back to say this was unacceptable to raise the price. The same salesman from the fall comes out and tells us all this drama about how they purchased fancy equipment after all the business from the storms and now needed more income, yada yada yada. So finally a guy comes out to do the work in June. First stump in and the grinder breaks — you have got to be kidding. A week later another guy comes out and the owner fires him on the job before he can finish… We were set up with a new guy the following week because they cannot find the remote to the grinder. The amount of excuses was unbearable. We hire another company in June and couldn’t have been happier. The funny part is Costin still has NEVER called us back to schedule our stumps. Awful customer service and company. Avoid at all cost!!!

These folks are fantastic. They provided me exactly what I needed and then some. Thank you for all you wonderful help.

The best service provider I have used in years!
Shane is amazing and always responsive. They do high quality work. Rich is great too.
I felt in good hands as they installed over 5,000 sqf of new grass sod and 4″ of high end loam. The Kentucky Bluegrass looks great after watering it for 4 weeks.
Highly recommended! Will use them again when we expand our yard.

Carpenter costin also known as cut-​rate tree service, I called, a man came out the next day to give me an estimate, said I would be contacted in a couple days as to when they would come to do the job, I waited a week, then started making calls, each time I got empty promises that some one would call me back. finally on one of my calls I was told they would come the following monday, so i needed to wait another week, then 15min later a man shows up at my house says he’s there to do the work,
there was a huge stomp in my front yard he asked me what I wanted grinded, (really) you cant see the big stomp in front of you… any way his machine broke during the job, he had no tools so I had to get my tools and work on the machine for him, the belt was broken and couldn’t be fixed. so he decided to clean up and call it a day, is leaf blower didn’t work so one again he or I should say I had to use my yard tools to clean up the mess, ive been calling for three weeks now asking when they will come to finish the job, but foolish me already paid them in good faith, so all I get is excuses and voicemail. one person did say they would put me back on the list but never said how long of a list and when I could expect them, I demanded I should be first on the list since they started my job and didn’t finish I asked for a manager and was given voicemail. if you are foolish enough to hire these people dont give them a dime until you are satisfied with the job. and if you go to their web site you will see all kinds of positive feedback, obviously they screen out the bad,
would not recommend !!!

Ok, so long story short: I hired Carpenter Costin to remove one 50′ cherry tree from my back yard in November of 2013. I was told by Paul (the foreman) that the tree would be cut down and everything removed within a day or two, including the stumpgrinding. Unfortunately, one day turned into a weeklong headache filled with open-​ended schedules and damage to my property.
After arriving on time on the first day of work, the crew decided to use a small cherry-​picker type machine called a «T-​Lift», rather than the traditional method of climbing and cutting. So after taking an hour to manuever the machine into place, my grass was torn up with tire depressions all across the yard. After cutting down the tree (without helmets or any normal safety gear), the crew left a huge pile of 5 – 10′ logs in my back yard, eventually packing up and leaving around noon.
Assuming they had left for lunch, I expected them to return in an hour or so but no one ever came back. Thinking they would return first thing the next day, I was shocked that no one showed up all day. So I called the foreman for a status and he replied that they would be back sometime later that week to remove all of the logs, but he couldn’t tell me when or even if they could make it this week.
So 2 – 3 days later (while I was at work), one of their employees shows up with a compact log carrying machine. Rather than using my asphalt neighbor’s driveway (as I had requested on my contract), he proceeded to drive this machine back and forth across my front and rear yard, stacking up a huge pile of logs on my newly sodded lawn that I had just installed that summer. Not only did the machine tear up my new grass, but it left deep tire tracks all across the lawn. So not only did I have a mess of logs on my front yard, but now my new grass was all torn up.
So what did Paul say when I brought this to his attention. First he said «well, we had to put the logs somewhere». Then, rather than apologizing, he told me that «don’t worry, the grass will bounce right back next spring»…apparently ignoring the fact that I was still stuck with deep tire depressions to deal with. So rather than calling me to 1) tell me they were coming and 2) ask me where I’d like the log pile, they took it upon themselves to move the pile of logs in my back yard to my front yard, tearing up both sides of the house.
To further add insult to injury, he then said another crew would come by the following day to pick everything up. So now we’re going on 5 days for this company to remove one medium size tree from a normal suburban home. In that time, they’ve trashed my front and back lawns and left me hanging as to when exactly they plan to get rid of everything… all without an ounce of an apology. The foreman’s tone was almost one of «well duh, this is how everyone removes a tree». Unbelievable!
Bottom line: I would not recommend this company for tree removal, based upon the fact that they failed to explain how long the job would take, and the fact that they simply did not care about the damage they admittedly caused.

I give them one star only because a negative (-) star was not an option. We hired Carpenter Costin to take down some large double maples but being on the water it was not feasible, so they quoted us for pruning the very large branches that hung over the house. After two consultations at the house, a price and date were agreed upon. It was stated they could do the job in a day… well, they did show up on time the first day and proceeded to take down one large branch, leaving the very large branch stumps all over the yard, (they were large & heavy enough were they could not be picked up by 2 people) the 50+’ rope hanging from the tree as well as knocking down a down spout pipe from the house… and just leaving it. They were suppose to return the next day and after several phone calls & texts told us «the crew had been redirected»!! Not only are there children and dogs in the house that had to step over large branches that were left directly in front of the back door access, they did not complete the job as promised. Completely dissatisfied and would not recommend… but if you do happen to use them, make sure you have OSHA’s hotline on speed dial.

I am a general contractor specializing in residential renovations based in Marblehead/​Swampscott. In October of 2012 I received a call from a client who noticed some damage to his house which we had just re-​sided. Upon further investigation it turns out that Carpenter Costin had used my clients driveway without permission to remove a neighbors tree. They then proceeded to damage my clients house and NEVER told anyone about it. That’s just bad business karma. But only half of the story.
After fighting me over the proposed cost ($ 550) to take care of their MISTAKE I was given the green light to fix the damage. I did so and sent them a bill the first week of November. I still have not been paid as of January 30^th. I have called Bonnie who answers the phone in the Swampscott office. She should be a offensive lineman for the Patriots! I have never been blocked like that over and over again. I have called her at least 6 times inquiring as to when I could expect payment. First I asked for accounts payable and was told at least twice «they were on vacation». Then I asked for the owner and was told «he’s on vacation». Clearly this entire company is on vacation from responsible behavior. Bonnie’s reply to my repeated requests for payment? «We’re a seasonal business». So what? That means from November to May they stop paying their bills? Totally deplorable. Why even be in business if that’s how you run it…
Reading the one other review for Carpenter Costin on Unilocal it’s clear they’re headed for the compost heap. Good riddance.

I had an appointment with Marc Carbone in the beginning of May last year to discuss yard cleanup (including tree and shrub) and new sod for my property.
I was initially impressed with the service as a crew showed up promptly to complete the shrub/​bush clean up and I thought they did a great job. Unfortunately, all went downhill from there. I attempted to reach Marc to confirm when the rest of the job would be done but, despite leaving several messages, never heard back. I did manage to catch him one day and was given a rather vague answer as to when I could expect the sod and mulch to be put in. Specifically, that they wanted to wait until they had several jobs lined up before doing mine so they could have a full day of laying sod.
I waited. Another week passed and still no word. I called again and was, at this point, not surprised to get no call back from Marc. So, I called the office and received the same explanation. That I had to wait for them to line up other jobs and then they would order the sod. I waited another week. I called the office again late in the day on the Thursday prior to Memorial Day and was advised they would be there the following day (on Friday) almost a full month later.
I was very disappointed with the work upon arriving home on Friday evening but was too late to call as the office was closed for the holiday weekend. The grass was brown (especially at all the seams) and the mulch was not black as I had requested in my initial meeting (but rather brown). My husband and I did everything we could to revive the poor quality sod we received but it was never revived to the quality we expected (we installed sprinklers on timers that weekend and measured the water, we kept the dog out of the yard for a full month). I have had sod put down in my last home as well as seeing many neighbors go through the same process and the sod is always green and lush when put in. This sod looked like it was rolled up on the back of a truck for several days before being unrolled and put in my yard.
I called the office the first opportunity I had (the Tuesday after Memorial Day) and went through this same complaint. I spoke to a very friendly woman who said she would put a note in my record as well as talk to Marc as soon as he was back from vacation. I asked whether someone could come by and look at the grass (I live a block from the office). No one ever came. No one ever called to follow up.
I got a bill several weeks later and did not immediately remit payment as I was intent on sending this note recounting my unsatisfactory service so a week and ½ had passed since I received the bill by mail. I was floored when I got a call from Marc 1 week later chasing for payment. This is the same person I had tried in vain so many times to get a call back from. He certainly knew how to contact me when HE wanted something. I told him how disappointed I was that there was no follow up to my concerns and he just kept asking for his money (it had only been a week since I received the bill).
It is clear to me, from my experience with Carpenter Costin, that their priority is getting paid and certainly not their client’s satisfaction. The best part? They called me this year to remind me that spring was here and to schedule my yard services (followed by a mailing advertising their services). Really? I guess they didn’t read my letter, e-​mail or remember my several calls. Awful experience all around.