Dear neighbors: I am writing in response to the previous email sent by Ms. Latta warning you of my business. As many people in this neighborhood already know, I am not a liar or a thief and I stand behind my work and business decisions. I am fortunate to have so many satisfied customers that stand behind my name and my business, and unfortunately Ms.Latta is not one of them. In short, a lot of time and effort goes into designing and planning for a large scale landscape project (obviously more than the simple sketch that was shown in Ms. Latta's email). I explain to all of my customers from the beginning that that I charge a design fee/deposit to protect myself as a small business owner in the case of a customer backing out after I have already put time into a design. I had already put in this time when Ms. Latta needed to significantly reduce the project budget and then later called it off completely. I do my best to work with changes and to meet people's needs and schedules while continuing to move my business forward, but in this particular case Ms. Latta was left feeling unsatisfied with my decisions. Earlier this week I returned part of her design fee/deposit but explained that I would be keeping a portion of it as I had already put in the time to design her project. I am regretful that Ms. Latta is left so unhappy/angry, but I did what I thought was best for my business and my family while still being as fair as possible to my customer. I was in no way "out to get" Ms. Latta; at the end of the day I have a small business to run and a family to support. Unfortunately, I cannot please everyone but I do my best to accommodate customers and I always deliver high quality landscapes to my neighbors. I would be happy to offer anyone references of people in the neighborhood that stand behind my work and continually support my business. I am also willing to answer any questions anyone might have, please email me directly or call my cell phone listed below. I am grateful for the connections I have made in this community and I look forward to working with more of you in the future. Best, -- Josiah Leisher Leisher Landscapes Telephone (814) 450-7738