ComplaintsforHunt Club East Snow & Lawn

• Initial Complaint

  21/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contracted with Hunt Club East Snow and Lawn to provide lawn care services last summer (2022). We paid for an expensive lawn care program, with a long-term goal of hopefully reviving our lawn. Over time, it became apparent the lawn could not be salvaged, and when I brought this to the attention of the company, they sent someone over to inspect the lawn. That individual confirmed to me the lawn was not salvageable. He also said someone from the company should have told us this sooner (i.e., prior to us paying for additional services). I was eventually put in touch with *** *** *** ********* ** *** *******. He came out to my house and spoke with me about the situation. We agreed that in order to resolve the matter, the company would put in a new lawn in the front and/or sides of the house, at cost, and I was provided with a quote. The plan was that we would return to the issue in the spring to book a time to replace the lawn. On March 30, 2023, the company sent out an email to its customers stating the company would no longer be providing lawn care services. I have emailed Mr. ** twice and I have left voicemails for him twice, asking him to contact me so we could determine how to deal with the fact that they said they would put in a new lawn for us this spring. He (or anyone else from the company) has not responded to my calls or my emails. I have included my email exchanges with the company/Mr. ** regarding this issue. Thank you.

  Business response

  02/06/2023

  The work the Mr **** hired us to do was completed throughout the season. 

  We completed all the requirements that the customer paid for that season.  The customer was not happy with the results, as the lawn was more weeds than grass.  The customer was unhappy expecting all the weeds to disappear, which is never the case with any of our programs.  The process we have would of taken many more years to bring his lawn back, but since the customer was unhappy on how long it would take, I explained to him other options to get his lawn back faster. 

  As a gesture of good faith, and marketing for us, I offered to provide new sod for the customer at a discounted rate (not free) that season, the customer did not act upon it.  We never received any feedback from the customer of wanting to get the sod job done.  He mentioned calling us back when he would be ready but we did not hear back from him.  

  We were not offering any refunds for the work, as the work described in the contract was completed.  We hired staff to go the property on a set basis to manually remove weeds and replace holes with soil and seed.  This is a more expensive option than calling a weed spray company.  We also sprayed the property with our biological spray on a regular basis. 

  We only received a message from the customer once we announced that we shut down our summer services.  Unfortunately, for the customer, the offer no longer stands as we are out of business in the lawn care services.  

  Customer response

  04/06/2023

  
  Complaint: 20086743
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The representative from the business is completely mischaracterizing what transpired. This is not a case of buyer's remorse. I was always fully aware that the process of improving the health of our lawn would take years using the program that we paid for. I never expected the services provided to get rid of all the weeds in one season, and the president of the company knows that because we discussed the issue more than once. What happened is that we paid for additional services after the company knew our lawn count NOT be salvaged. I was explicitly told that by a representative who came out to inspect the lawn. He clearly said we should have been told the lawn could not be saved BEFORE we paid for additional weeding services that were NOT part of the initial lawn restoration plan. This is also why the president of the company agreed to install a new lawn at cost. The president of the company and I also agreed that we would touch base again in the spring to coordinate the project.

  The respondent for the business noted that I did not contact the company to raise this issue until after they announced they were no longer offering lawn care services. I don't understand the relevance of that comment. I had no need to contact them before then; I had an agreement with the president of the company that they would install a new lawn and we would touch base again in the spring. After the company announced they were no longer offering lawn care services, I contacted them to see how we would resolve this issue, only to have the president of the company ignore my repeated attempts to speak with him.

  Again, the respondent from the company is trying to frame this as a simple case of buyer's remorse, when in fact they did not follow through on a commitment on their part. Now, they are mischaracterizing the events that led to my initial complaint. I have submitted emails to the *** that support my complaint. Perhaps these need to be shared with the company? 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ********

  Business response

  13/06/2023

  Thank you for the response.

   

  I am still unsure what the customer is looking for from us.  

  We did the service, as good will we offered new sod at a discounted rate.  Since we are out of business, we can no longer offer new sod at a discount.

  Customer response

  13/06/2023

  
  Complaint: 20086743
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The business offered to install a new lawn at cost, not out of “good will”, as they now claim, but because they admitted to me at the time that we should have been advised our lawn was not salvageable before we spent extra money (over and above what we paid for the lawn restoration program). For example we paid $500 for weeding services, and for that cost, two individuals weeded only half our back lawn. I say “only” not because I was unhappy with their weeding, but rather because that is how bad the lawn was. It was that event that prompted me to ask someone to come out and look at the lawn. The person who came out said we should have been told previously that our lawn was unsalvageable. So, how about refunding what we paid for the weeding? That seems reasonable to me, and is significantly less money that what we would have paid for the new lawn, even if it was installed at cost. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ********

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