ComplaintsforMidwest Turf Management

• Initial Complaint

  03/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 3-1-21 I, Julia talked with ****** at Midwest Turf Management & agreed to 4 lawn applications at $37.20 each, so on 3-8-21, check number ****, I mailed them a check for $148.80. I paid for all 4 applications in advance. I new we would be moving & didn’t know exactly when. We moved 7-10-21, apparently they decided to do a 5th application without permission to be on our property at **** ********** *** ** **** ******. They have been sending us a bill for $40.00 & a late fee of $50.00 and have been harassing us ever since by calling & continuing to bill us for a 5th application that we didn’t even ask for. I called on 9-1-21 & talked with ******, I called a 2nd time on 10-14-21 & ***** said it would be removed & then my husband **** called a 3rd time on 2-14-22. They have ignored our attempts to clear up their mistake. We would like them to stop harassing us & remove the $90.00 charge from our account!

  Business response

  03/22/2022

  We sincerely apologize for the miscommunication and misunderstanding that has occurred regarding the ********’ account with Midwest Turf Management. We don’t set out with the intention to send customers to collections and we are more than willing to work with our customers when it comes to payments. We pride ourselves on customer service and want to make this issue right for the ********. We have rescinded the balance from ****** ********** ******** in good faith. Neither *** nor Midwest Turf Management will contact the customer going forward. 
  
  For clarification, I am also sharing the service history on their account to show there was no malicious intent behind our actions. In fact, we acted in good faith in regards to their payment and discounts, including another billing question they spoke to us about. 
  
  March 1, 2021: Customer enrolled signed up for seven rounds of lawn care at $40 per round with ****** *******.  We mailed the customer a service confirmation letter with a prepayment discount offer for seven rounds of lawn care on this date. We only offer discounted applications for full programs consisting of five or more rounds. After the 7% discount, their per application price would come to $37.20 per application.  
  
  There are no notes added to their account at the time of enrollment showing their intention to move mid-year. Mid-year property sales are something we handle frequently in our line of business, and we have done so successfully for many accounts over the years. Had we been aware of their intention to move, it would have been noted on the account. Had we been aware of the intent to move after only four rounds of lawn care, a discounted rate would not have been offered. 
  
  March 10, 2021: We received check **** for $148. Four rounds of lawn care at full price would have been $160. Four rounds of lawn care at the discounted rate would be $148.80. We honored the 7% discount in good faith and applied $140 towards Rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4, of their lawn care. It isn’t unusual for our customer base to prepay for multiple rounds without paying for an entire year of service. 
  
  We completed Round 1 of their lawn care on March 17, 2021. They received a recorded notification the business day before service. 
  
  Due to rain on March 17, 2021, we provided a free service call to respray their lawn on March 29, 2021. 
  
  We completed Round 2 of their lawn care on April 27, 2021. They received a recorded notification the business day before service.  
  
  We completed round 3 of their lawn care on June 7, 2021. They received a recorded notification the business day before service. 
  
  We completed round 4 of their lawn care on July 19, 2021. They received a recorded notification the business day before service.  
  
  ****** noted the account as Cancelled – Moved on July 19, 2021 after completing their 4th round of lawn care. 
  
  Our software automatically generated an invoice for $2.80 to the customer on August 19. 2021. This was due to an erroneous calculation the system automatically makes in regards to shortages or overages in prepayments, triggered in part by the shortage on Check ****. 
  
  September 1, 2021: ****** spoke with the customer and wrote off the $2.80 from the August invoice. At the same time, she changed the account status back to Active. There are no notes for this status change. The status change was not required to write off the balance, and per standard practice we don’t change a status without customer approval. Looking at our records this is likely where the disconnect happened between the customer and our office. 
  
  We completed round 5 of their lawn care on September 3, 2021. They received a recorded notification the business day before service. 
  
  October 4, 2021: We sent a statement regarding the balance due for Round 5 at the 30 day mark. 
  
  Their property was scheduled for round 6 of lawn care to be completed on October 15, 2021.  They received a recorded notification on October 14, 2021 for 6th round of lawn care. They called the office regarding this notification and told ***** that they moved. ***** marked this account as Cancelled – Moved on October 14, 2021. There are no notes that the customer contested the invoice due from the service completed September 3, 2021, at this time.  
  
  Statements also went out on the following dates: 
  November 11, 2021 
  January 25, 2022 
  January 21, 2022 
  January 31, 2022 – including a letter regarding the balance being more than 90 days past due 
  February 21, 2022 
  
  We left voicemails on the following dates: 
  November 18, 2021 
  December 1, 2021 
  January 19, 2021 
  
  February 14, 2022: The customer spoke with Alicia regarding his balance. He refused to pay, stating they had only requested four rounds of lawn care in 2021. After reviewing the records as stated above, we did not offer to write off the balance for the customer as it appeared they did not cancel until after the fifth round was completed. 
  
  March 2, 2022: The customer’s account was sent to ****** ********** ******** due to nonpayment. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/04/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They have been treating my yard. I started in April. I told them I was going to get some trees cut down in my yard. They told me that I will need to get some lime put down. He told me that grass may not grow there. On Wednesday, I woke up to some noise. The company was out there digging up soil. I told them I did not authorized that. I told them I would call and let them know when to come. I noticed that their equipment damaged my sidewalk. The owner called and said that their workers did not do that. I know that they are the ones that damaged the sidewalk.

  Business response

  10/06/2021

  Ms. ****** ***** (the customer) signed up for lawn care service with Midwest Turf Management (MTM) on April 20, 2021, and requested a fall aeration and seeding (AOS) on June 2, 2021. MTM technicians completed the AOS on Wednesday, September 29, 2021. Ms. *****’s account is noted as “call ahead/OK to leave message,” meaning that we call and leave a voicemail the day before any service is performed on the property. Our technicians called around 3:30 pm on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, and left a voicemail stating that they would be out the next day to perform the AOS. The messages we leave state that the customer can call back if they have any questions, concerns, or need to reschedule.
  
  MTM’s crew arrived at Ms. *****’s home around 7:50 - 8:00 am on September 29 to provide the AOS. Per the invoice left with the customer, our technicians spoke with her on the lawn upon completion of the job.

  1. The customer did not mention anything about her sidewalk to the technicians at this time.
       a. Upon completing the AOS, the MTM technicians spent extra time clearing accumulated dirt and debris from the customer’s front sidewalk as a courtesy. While doing this cleanup, they noticed the sidewalk had a lot of wear and tear, and several repaired patches that were not recent. They did not notice the damage that was pictured in the customer’s text messages to the MTM office.
  
  2. The customer mentioned that she was unhappy with the lawn care technician who had been at her lawn on September 21, 2021 to provide weed control and fertilization.
       a. MTM addressed this concern by setting up a service call at no charge to retreat her property for weeds. Follow up calls of this nature require a waiting period due to the products used. This service call would have been performed on or about October 4. On October 4, the customer told our owner we were no longer welcome on her property, so this service call was not completed as scheduled.
  

  3. The customer asked the technician what the charge was for the AOS. She accused him of lying when the total amount due was different than the cost of the AOS.
       a. The cost of the AOS was $200. The cost of her lawn care service applications are $46 each. The total balance due for the customer’s account after completion of the AOS was $246, for the AOS and one lawn care application that had been completed the week prior.
  
  

  The customer called the MTM office around 11:00 am on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, with several complaints as listed below, along with our supporting evidence:
  
  1. The customer was upset that she was unaware we would be at her property on the 29th because she waited to check her voicemail until after we had completed the work.
       a. We left a voicemail at approximately 3:30 pm on September 28. Per our agreement, this is the customer’s preferred method of contact and we have utilized the same process for all of the 2021 services completed year-to-date at this property.
  

  2. The customer claims nobody knocked at the door upon arrival.
      a. Our policy is to always knock unless requested otherwise. There are no notes on her account to skip knocking, so our technicians will always knock before services at her property.
  

  3. The customer claimed she told us that she wanted to clean up pine needles on her lawn before we aerated and seeded the lawn.
      a. We had no notes to that effect on her account. These requests are common to us and we are happy to accommodate such requests when we are made aware of them.
  The technician noted the pine needles had been on the lawn for what looked like several months, if not longer, but they did not pose as an obstruction to aerating the lawn. If the pine needles had posed an issue, the technicians would have rescheduled her AOS to another day.

  4. The customer was not aware that AOS required her to water her lawn until she received watering instructions with her invoice upon completion of the work. She stated that she was going out of town on September 30 and would be unable to water her lawn, making the service a waste of time and money.
       a. We are accustomed to working around our customers’ travel schedules, but she had not notified us of her travel plans. When signing up a customer for AOS services, our sales team describes the process, which includes watering afterwards.
  

  5. The customer claims our aerator split her front sidewalk in two and provided images via text message to the MTM company cell phone.
      a. The AOS technician went back to her property the same day, September 29 to examine the sidewalk. He spoke with the customer and took more photos and a video of the sidewalk and explained that our aerator machines do not cause that type of damage to concrete. The damage appeared to be pre-existing before the AOS was performed, especially when reviewing Google Street view images, and the crack/fallen piece of concrete was likely coincidental to the AOS being performed.
  
  Ms. ***** called our office twice on the morning of October 4, 2021, to speak with the owner. He was in meetings and called her back as soon as he was available.
  1.  MTM’s owner explained that the sidewalk showed signs of extensive damage and prior repairs that predated the AOS service. The straight-line break is not congruent with damage an aerator would cause, nor is it in a location that would be easily accessible by an aerator.
  

  2.  MTM’s owner asked for the customer to obtain an estimate for repairs and then send a copy to us.
  

  3.  The customer requested that MTM not come to her property again. MTM cancelled her account and will no longer provide services at her address.
  
  MTM stands by the work we perform. We pride ourselves on timely and complete resolutions when needed. Our resolve to stand by our services is further evidenced by MTM completing service calls at no charge to Ms. *****’s property on May 12, 2021, and June 18, 2021 related to lawn care applications. As MTM’s owner said to Ms. ***** on the telephone, we are happy to further discuss the sidewalk once we receive an estimate for the repairs. We have done our due diligence up to this point and are awaiting the estimate from Ms. *****.

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