ComplaintsforAmerica's Best Lawncare

• Initial Complaint

  11/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I requested a refund after prepaying for a year supply of treatment for my yard. When I purchased the home I found out the sprinkler system was not running properly. I hired this company for help with treatments while I watered as best I could until I got the sprinkler system repaired, but even after all that the grass didn't survive on the right side of my property and the weeds were surviving every weed treatment. All I am requesting is for the treatments not rendered, not the full amount. But they are not even considering a partial because they claim they did nothing wrong. I have copies of our interaction on how this person responded to me and reviewing another person's complaint on the BBB recently, it seems to be a pattern. I have also reported this to my CC.

  

  Business response

  01/13/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/17) */ Contact Name and Title: ******** ******** - Owner Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX Contact Email: *********************@gmail.com In terms of this clients request for a partial refund of her prepaid services we explained the following to her below: (this is our policy in terms of refunds which is listed in the Welcome Letter sent over to each client, which was received by *******, directly when they sign up and also attached to our website under privacy policy) "Refund Policies are as follows: In order for a Prepaid customer to receive any kind of refund they are required to have been treated for a minimum of 6 months and to have followed all recommendations and/or instructions we have given them up to that point. If a client has not met both the above requirements, all payments to America's Best Lawncare will be forfeited. If a client has followed those instructions, we will offer a prorated refund back to the customer for services not yet completed, minus discounts, taxes & fees, as well as chemical costs for the entire 12 months of service. An alternative option we offer is a transfer of services not yet performed on the property to a customer's new location/property (sq. footage would be re-measured to make up the difference if necessary). We do not currently offer refunds for a Pay Per App customer. Once chemicals have been purchased and placed on your lawn, a payment then becomes due for those services rendered." The client filing the complaint knew of our policies for cancelationa and refunds when she signed up. Not reading this information in advance is not our fault as a business. It is the client's sole responsibility to read over all documentation before making the educated decision to prepay for 12 months in advance. Clearly this client did not do so. She ALSO does not fall into the partial refund category. #1 she hasn't been with us for a solid 6 months of service at the time of her request. #2 she did not followi by our watering and mowing recommendations due to her sprinkler system not working properly. These two things exempt her from receiving a partial refund. She complained that the treatments were not working after only 3 applications had been completed. On our welcome letter to her upon sign up, it clearly states expectations of our chemical treatments. It takes a minimum of 6 months (4 applications) to start seeing a difference. Sometimes it can take longer depending on how out of shape the clients lawn is in and/or whether they are following the maintenance recommendations we give to them. In order to have a great looking lawn, the effort on both said parties are very important. It's a two way street. We don't just come and spray and everything gets better. Each client has to follow by what we ask of them. No different than any other company like us similar in nature. The client above did not follow those guidelines. At the beginning of sign up she told myself directly that she was having sprinkler issues and I did, very professionally, explain to her how that will effect the progress of her lawn if she isn't watering our products in. This is a requirement. She said she understood and would hand water her lawn instead. The other owner, my husband, told her the same thing in person. He noticed quite a bit of lawn drought on her property and discussed with her how important it was for her to start water correctly otherwise, she would not receive the benefit she was paying for. Also to note, there has not been one complaint made on her behalf to our office or the techs coming to her property since the day she signed up. Our company doesn't offer a money back guarantee. We do however offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Which means if the client is unhappy we will do everything in our power to fix the problem. With that being said, unless the client brings their concerns to management, we cannot fix or discuss additional recommendations to said client. Each customer has to be willing to make a phone call if needed. She never did so. And when we saw physical issues with her lawn in person, we addressed those with her. She chose to do nothing about it. We offered to continue treating her lawn AND also do a full assessment with her in person again next week, but she declined that offer and asked that we stop coming to her property beginning 11/16/2022. We have respected her wishes, removed her as a current client, and canceled her from our system. If the BBB needs additional documentation in terms of email correspondence and welcome letter information, I will be glad to provide that to verify that all I have mentioned above is true and accurate. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Here they are again, assuming that I was at fault for the yard drought. But what the client didn't mention is that that same person who communicated with me did not tell them that I had just bought the home and for 3 months the yard was not watered until I moved in. I told him this. I hired them in hopes that the treatment and my watering would resolve the issue but it did not. Instead they assumed it was my fault as they continuously state even in the email I provided. So they are not even providing the whole story. I recently had another consultant come in and provide input on what is happening with my yard. According this consultant there is no soil left so the grass will have hard to grow regardless of the treatment. This should have been noticed by America's Best Lawncare but they didn't state this. I initially trusted this company to resolved my issue but it just didn't work out. And after their initial response of assumptions and accusations, why would I even continue services with a company like this? Regardless of what has happened, if services are not rendered then they should be reimbursed. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/11/21) */ We have provided as much information as possible to the BBB and the client in question with a breakdown in terms of our refund policy. We will continue to stand by our policies as they apply to all clients. Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/11/27) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I had another Landscaper come out to my property and was advised that it was possible that my yard was overtreated. I have moved forward with contacting my credit card company and possible legal action once the credit card company has received my information in the mail.

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company is supposed to provide 8 treatments for the annual program that renewed in April. As of today 1 treatment has been provided due to the consent scheduling issues, lack of lawn care products and lack of staff. This company will send email notifications that a date has been set for service and the service never arrives. Several phone calls have been on this to the company about missing scheduled times and it's always an excuse of why service didn't take place and a new date is given and then service is missed again. The amount $1525.21 was paid in April for 8 treatments 1 treatment has been received as of July 20, 2022. The service was canceled 7/20/22 and a refund of $411.09 was received. The amount of each treatment is $203.96 which means the full refund amount is $1321.25. Which means $910.16 are still owed at this time. Please review.

  

  Business response

  08/31/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/07/21) */ As per discussed with client: Our refund policy only applies to customers who are unsatisfied with our services in terms of how their lawn looks. Hers is in good shape. We rid her lawn of weeds and got it healthy again. Therefore we own this client $0. As the owner, I was willing to work with her and give a refund back of $411.09. Which is more than fair. This customer only had an issue in regards to scheduling. We are required based on the program this client signed up for (8 Step Lawncare Program) to treat roughly every 6-8 weeks. We have always kept up with this routine on her lawn. She's never gone longer than 8 weeks without a treatment and we've also offered free service calls in between treatments at no charge. She has been rescheduled a few times, yes. Which is common in the lawncare field. We work outdoors. However; because her propery exceeds 30,000 sq feet, it is important we do not treat when there are high winds because full chemical coverage will not happen and it becomes a waste of her money and our chemicals. It is a also a requirement (law) through the Texas Department of Agriculture that when winds exceed 10 mph or more we cannot spray. We could loose our licence by doing so. Also we have to mindful of how damp her lawn is after it rains. Because of the size we do not walk her property during treatment. We use a machine called a ride-on spreader. It's very heavy. If her lawn is too damp after rainfall, we cannot run our machine through it, otherwise it would cause divots all over the property. Which damages the turf graas. This client received our Welcome Letter upon signing up in 2021. In that Welcome Letter it clearly states, "Our reminders are never a guarentee. They are a curtosy only" She chose to continue with us even though she knew our guidelines. We have also spoken to her about this over the phone and via email in terms of expectations. She still proceeded with her renewal. Also to note: when a client signs up for services and prepays in advance for services, we purchase the chemicals needed for the duration of their Program, which lasts 12 months. If a person cancels mid session, they are responsible for those chemical costs. They are also responsible for any taxes and credit card fees that we do pay on behalf of all customer card charges, and they also loose all discounts given to them for their renewal. Discounts are only offered if a customer prepays in advance and finishes out their entire program. We gave used the upmost transparency with this client since the 1st day of service. We've had open communication, and set reasonable expectations based on the size of her property. We do not feel anything additonal is owned to her at this time, as we have offered as much back as we can without loosing money. We ask that this case be closed. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/07/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Our lawn has has 1 treatment since April it's full of weeds and is dead. I'm completed confused on how the company would know what our lawn looks like when they haven't been here in months. I received no service that was paid for and now am out money because a company can't service as promised. Reminder 1 treatment as of July, when it should be 4 at this time. Time for small clas court. I will recoup money lost for service not provided. I never signed any document on any policy. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/07/25) */ If this client felt her lawn was not in good shape, she should not have resigned with our company in April of 2022. We have received zero complaints via email, text or phone call about the visual dissatisfaction of her property. The only thing she has mentioned to us is the scheduling issues. Which again, we have gone over in great detail and she was made aware that dates can and do change due to her size of property. So long as we are treating her every 6-8 weeks on average, we are doing our job correctly. It is also a requirement that we offer recommendations to each client. If they need to water more often, have a disease or insect issue treated, ect. If a client does not follow by our recommendations, we also will not offer a refund. The services we provide are a team effort. This client has several areas in her back that are not sodded and there is exposed dirt, which is around 10,000 sq ft. We recommended her to have these areas sodded with turf. Exposed dirt germinates weeds if there is no grass present. And unfortunately, the chemicals we use will not kill out weeds on a consistence basis if there if no grass present and only dirt. Therefore, she is not getting the results that she wants in those areas. The owner has had many conversations with her about this in person as something to consider. It has been up to her to follow by our recommendations and she has not. We cannot force any client to do as we ask so that they are fully satisfied with the outcome of our treatments. Also, we have cleaned up her lawn in terms of weeds the entire time she has been with us. Again, if there were issues in terms of dissatisfaction in terms of the physical appearance of her property, she should have communicated that with us, but she has not. We have always and will continue to have an open-door policy in regards to complaints and will do everything in our power to fix any and all issues, so long as the customer does their part. Free follow ups are always given at anytime, which has gotten without asking.

*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. ↩