ComplaintsforThe Lawn Company LLC

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I hired THE LAWN COMPANY to plant shrubs along the perimeter of our back yard to act as a fence. ***** assured us of his services that he would be able to give us the results we were looking for. He planted 65 Podocarpus shrubs. We paid him over $6500.00. ***** rented a drilling machine to drill the hole for the shrubs and then proceeded to just plop the shrubs in the ground and mound the loose dirt/sand up around the shrub. After a short while we noticed some of the shrubs turning brown. We contacted ***** and his reply was we were not giving them enough water. We were watering them everyday due to it being the summer. Gradually more and more shrubs died. We finally convinced ***** to come take a look at the shrubs. He commented to my husband that we were lucky he was coming back out because no other landscaper would do the same. He replanted a few shrubs(that we had purchased ourselves from Lowes) and went on his way. Still claiming the shrubs were not getting enough water. My husband and I did some research and came to the conclusion that ***** did not plant the shrubs properly. He should have dug a hole much wider than he did and fill around the edge with fresh soil after roughing up the roots on the bottom of the root ball. Then he should have made a trench around each **** so that the water could get to the roots. ***** did none of these things. We have since replace 20% of the shrubs ourselves. All of which are doing fine because we followed proper planting procedures. We also made trenches around each remaining plant to help get the water to the roots. We feel that we should be refunded $1300.00 for the cost of the shrubs we had to replace. I have plenty of photo documentation of the dead shrubbery

  Business response

  12/05/2023

  We installed Podocarpus on June 5-6, 2023. June 5, 2023, we received a text to remove a jacuzzi, which we did at no cost to customer. We confirmed the customer was satisfied with install when completed. July 5, 2023, The Lawn Company received pictures of healthy Podocarpus plants with a follow up text asking to add additional plants in gap areas. Customer offered to purchase 5 or 6 more plants from Lowes and have them ready if we could move some of the existing plants closer together. The Lawn Company responded on July 5, 2023, that taking out the ones that are already planted wouldnt be the best idea. If they wanted us to install the new ones they purchased we would be happy to do so, at no additional charge. On July 7, 2023, The Lawn Company received a text that the customer had purchased a few more plants at Lowes and installed the plants themselves. Customer then stated that it wasnt really a difficult project...Wont need to have you back on Tuesday, Thank you for making yourself available! On August 3, 2023, we received pictures of Podocarpus ******** with a follow up text. The customer text stated that several plants arent looking good and that at least 6 of them have ******** and asked for The Lawn Companys thoughts. The Lawn Company stated that the plants look dry and that we could follow up with the nursery to see what they think. Customer stated they were methodical and that they thought plants were getting plenty of water. August 18, 2023, The Lawn Company received pictures of ******** Podocarpus. We responded that we werent sure why they were doing that. Customer asked that we refer to our vendor and let them know if some of the plants can be replaced, many of the others were doing great. We called the nursery that we purchased the Podocarpus from and asked why they would be ******** now. The nursery informed us that if the leaves are ********, it is a lack of water issue. If the ******** is starting from the bottom, it could be spider mites. We called the client back and informed them of the information we received from the nursery. August 31, 2023, customer sent a text stating that we have ignored their request to deal with the dead & dying plants. They were disappointed with the results and we were looking at a very poor rating. Per the customer, our follow-up to the issue was lackluster. We responded then as we will now; We are sorry you feel this way. We pride ourselves on always being communicative and we look forward to strengthening in this area. We appreciate the feedback we get from our customers and strive to give every customer the best customer service we can. 

  Customer response

  12/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 20944918
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The plants were not planted properly. We could have watered 5 times a day and the roots still would not have received enough water. I have also spoken to another professional landscaper with many years of experience and he specifically said Podocarpus shrubs DO NOT get spider mites. This is yet another untrue statement by The Lawn Company. I feel that we are *********** a refund as stated in my 1st letter of 20% of the $6500.00 that was paid to the Lawn Company.

  In regards to the hot tub we offered it to ***** free if he wanted it. We had brought our own from our previous address. His comment to us was "Even if I have to spend a little to fix it it's still worth getting a FREE hot tub" We could have had it removed but offered it to *****. If he didn't want it he could have just declined. Yet another false statement By The Lawn Company.

  Considering the extra expanse, time and effort that we had to put forth to remedy the situation I feel that a refund of $1300.00 (20%) is more than reasonable

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

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩