ComplaintsforGrass Roots Landscape, Plow & Design

• Initial Complaint

  03/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired him to plow our parking lot. He insisted on getting paid in full before the season started. We were not comfortable paying $2000. We agreed to pay in installments but still be fully paid up by midseason. We were not comfortable with that either but it was too close to the snowfall to find a new plower. We paid the first invoice for 1000 but were not sent out an invoice for the second and third installments. In March, he sent out an invoice for the balance plus late fees. I told him we will pay the balance but not the late fees as we never received the other invoices and we never agreed to pay late fees. He said to pay the original balance first. After paying the remainder of the balance he said he will not plow the lot until we pay the late fees too. This person is dishonest and extremely difficult to work with. I would highly recommend that you do yourself a favor and find an honest person to work with.

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  Grass Roots is not a financial institution. When payments are late there are late fees. 
  Also this clients invoices from last season we’re 8 months late. We literally worked in the winter of 2021/2022 with no payment until this past fall. At the beginning of the season I explained that we would need payment In full at the beginning of the season and the client couldn’t afford to pay for it up front I believe so I said I would work with them to make it affordable. The agreement was $1000 down and the balance to be paid in two installments of $500. I let ***** know that given his poor payment history that the payments had to be on time. I sent a modified invoice which has an option to pay directly online through **********. They payment due dates were 1/15/23 and 2/1/23 which was agreed to by *****. We can provide a screen shot of this agreement in text. Every other customer agrees to our payment structure with no issues for the last 15 years we have been in business. I also told ***** that service would be reinstated once the fees were paid in full. 

  Customer response

  03/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******
  
  
  
  
   

  Customer response

  03/20/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  We found this snow plow guy during a big snowstorm in January of 2022. He offered to plow for $150 per plow of the parking lot and $50 per salting. A few days later we got a bill from him for 5 plowings and 3 salting. It had only snowed 1 more time so we calculated that we should have only been billed for 2 plowings. Furthermore when we came back to our business the next day, the parking lot was icy and it didn't look like it was salted. I responded to the email that he had sent with the invoice asking if he could let us know the times that he had come, I wanted to verify it with our security cameras. We never got a response to that email. We received the next email from him on 7/14/22 and he had added on late fees. We never signed any agreement to pay late fees. I spoke with him about it and he said if we agreed to use him again for the snow season he would waive the late fees. We agreed to meet at our business. After contacting him numerous times he never came out to us. A few days before the first snowfall of the season, he called telling us that we still had an outstanding invoice. I told him that he was supposed to come out, he told me that he apologized but his wife was unwell for a while and he wasn't able to come out. We never got to address the issue with the first invoice and now we were only days away from the snow season and it would be too late to find a new snow plower for the season.

  So we agreed to pay the original invoice minus the late fees and he would plow our lot for $2000 for the new season. He wanted all money paid upfront but we were very uncomfortable with that, especially considering the fact that we never verified what happened the first time he plowed for us. I told him that we usually pay 1/3 up front and the remainder upon completion of the season. He said he could not do that. He offered that we pay $1000 up front $500 January 15 and $500 February 1st. We weren't really happy with that but we weren't going to find a new plower this late in the season so we agreed to it.

  He had originally sent an invoice for the entire sum. I asked him to please send a new invoice with the balance due now. He told me to just pay a portion of it now so I did. We never received new invoices for the balances due 1/15 or 2/1. On March 9th we received an invoice with the balance plus late fees. I called him and told him that he never invoiced us for the last 2 payments. H said it was or responsibility to make the payments and he is not a bank. I told him that if we would have received the invoices we would have paid them. In addition we never signed anything or agreed to paying any late fees. He told us pay the $1000 balance and we'll talk after. We paid the balance and then he let us know that he will not complete the season of plowing for us until we pay the late fees. We did not agree to pay.

  He now has been paid in full and is still refusing to plow our paring lot. 

  This individual has been a very difficult person to work with. He has been dishonest and is constantly trying to take extra money from us without prior agreement.

   

  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******
  
  
  
  
   

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  I am done with this situation. This client is a liar. I’m not investing anymore time with addressing lie after lie. 

  Customer response

  03/21/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  The fact that the only response to us is calling us a liar is pretty telling.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******
  
  
  
  
   

*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. ↩