Doug's Landscaping

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 21, 2015/03/30) */
[redacted] contacted me on May 5th2013 about issues with her lawn. I met with her on Tuesday May 14th to look at it and upon inspection recommended having only the front yard power raked. I had been in business for 4 years at this point...

and with having delt with hundreds of customers I hadn't found it necessary to have contracts for smaller jobs. I'm honest and do quality work and simply took people at their word, so I did not have her sign a contract or a work order for the job.
Her front yard is only about 1500sqft and full of landscaping. My standard sqft price was not high enough to make the job worth doing so I told her I would have to get a minimum of $150 to come out with the equipment to do it but we would also do the side yard while we were there at no additional charge. I informed her that power raking a lawn can sometimes rough it up rally bad but would not always do that. I like to make sure my customers are informed so if it happens that they are not taken by surprise. On Tuesday May 21 my guy was on her job and I personally was there by 1:00 with him going over the job and actually checking the power rake and adjusting the height to make sure it was set properly as to not damage the lawn but low enough to do a good job. I stopped back about 3:00 to check on the job and my guy was still there. As I had expected with being such a small compact areas he had struggled with all the tight spaces and it had taken him extra time but he was finishing up. The job was done pretty well but I had him redo a few areas that I thought could be a little better. He had a large pile of thatch on the trailer but I couldn't tell you for sure how many bushels. I keep great records but don't keep track of everything.
I talked to [redacted] a week or so after the work was done and she expressed her disappointment so I went over the job with her again and thought we had things worked out. My book keeper sent her first invoice out on June 5, 2013 and continued sending them the beginning of every month. I attempted to contract her again when her account became past due but never heard back. Communication is key, if there is ever a problem just communicate with us and we can work it out. I was finally able to make contact with her again in Jan 2015 and found out she had sent a letter to the Revdex.com back in April 2014. I explained the whole situation to her again and as of Jan 19 2015 [redacted] has paid her debt in full and her account with me is closed.
If [redacted] thought the price was outrageous then she should have said no to us before having us do the job. I hold 3 licenses in lawn care and can assure you the job was done correctly. It also astonishes me that [redacted] actually believes her neighbor stares out there window at her house 24/7 and can give her exact time as to when people come and go, to a point that she is willing to hurt a company's reputation based upon that information. I assume that it's the same neighbor that stares at her house 24/7 that also gave her the professional opinion that there was no disturbance in her yard. After 6 years in business I have learned that there are many different types of people out there including some that you just can't make happy and some simply don't like to pay their bills.
Thanks
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 23, 2015/04/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
To address the owners response:
I would gladly pay $150 for a job which was well done. It was not and that is why I sent him a check for what I felt was unsatisfactory.
Doug said his employee was here for several hours and had trouble because of my landscaping. If there was so much trouble getting around the landscaping, there should be some evidence left behind.
I called Doug a couple weeks later and told him to cancel the job and that is when he told me the job was done. I advised him of his statement that the lawn would look "roughed up" and since I could see no change in my lawn, (and therefore thought the job had not been done), I wanted to cancel the job. I believe he should have come to my house, met with me, inspected the lawn and we could resolve the issue. If communication is the key, why wasn't that done?
I believe the communication on my part was satisfactory. I returned your call to me when you left a message for me, threatening me with collection (admitting there was no work order) and telling me you would place a lein on my house. Is someone really going to do that for a $75 balance? That message was nothing short of bullying. However, as soon as I finished working, I returned your call.
As far as calling my neighbor a liar, he is a firefighter AND a part time minister. And no, it was not his opinion that the lawn was not power raked correctely; that is MY opinion. I am an homeowner and I check any and all work I have performed on my house.
My last response is I have copies of the statements I sent back to the business with my notes advising I was unhappy with the job. He claims he never received that info. Please explain to me how you could receive my two checks, but you never received any of my letters or returned statements, nor the Revdex.com letters.
In closing, I have not changed my opinion about the supposed service given to me. I am not interested in bashing anyone or calling someone a liar, I just feel other people should know they do not get a job well done for the fee charged.