Eastern Grounds Landscaping

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved] Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: I sincerely believe that Bill S [redacted] wishes that this complaint would just go awayHe has only responded promptly twice since the start of the business proposalAfter calling Eastern Grounds Landscaping for inquiry into lawn renovation MrS [redacted] was at my residence in less than hoursAfter that there was either no response or very slow responseThe second prompt response was when I initially contacted the Revdex.com to seek help in resolution of this matter I will have to say MrS [redacted] has lied when he said that I said the guys did an excellent jobAt no time did I say that and in fact, repeatedly tried to contact him to resolve the issuesHe made it a point to avoid me and did an excellent job with that No matter what the split in commercial versus residential business is for him, really is not important to meWhat is important is that I get fair service and treatment as agreed for the $paidI have not received thatKeep in mind please, my grass was 75-80% good other than being in a dormant state which is usualThe areas where they concentrated with dethatching were not properly seeded and as a result, these areas are void of grass growth and this condition is present throughout my lawnI invite anyone who would like to examine my lawn to do soThis is something I asked MrS [redacted] on numerous attempts to come to my property to see what the issues wereAt no time did he take the time to do so As far as a discount, $is more than a fair amount paid for what service was doneChecking with similar lawn care businesses I can get a years worth, treatments for less than the hours put into the work on my propertyThis is just a comparison offered as far as me getting a discountI hope that the Revdex.com compares similar complaints to this one to just see what I did not get for the monies paidMrS [redacted] says that going to collections is a last resortThis was the first resort that MrS [redacted] took, less than days after the incomplete shoddy work was performedI told Judy his assistant as well as himthat he would get paidI just wanted my lawn corrected as agreed and which was not done to my satisfactionMrS [redacted] is proving to be a poor business man and is intent on leaving a customer unsatisfied and slightedA good company would do everything within reason to ensure a customer is totally satisfied with product and service Again, all I am asking for is to have my lawn restored as promised and to get what I have paid forTo date, I have not received thisMrS [redacted] needs to correct the situation before the relationship can be endedMrS [redacted] says successful business transactions are win win situations for both sidesSo far it is win for EGL and lose for [redacted] StraubAnd now the relationship should be ended? I am just seeking justification and what is right Fix my lawn please Bill Regards, [redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved] Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: The agreement and work that was done was very unsatisfactoryBill S [redacted] told me not to worry about the lack of results on 9/22/He told me that if the seed did not come in, he would assuredly take care of itJudy his assistant also said the same As far as the balance of $450, I knew that if I paid this, the likely outcome would be that nothing would get doneAnd as it turned out unfortunately, that is exactly what happenedAt no time did MrS [redacted] or Judy inform me that this would be taken to collectionsThat is a mistake made on Eastern Grounds Landscaping to go to that avenue of approachI do not care about the 50% charge he says they had to pay to collectionsI do care about the condition of my lawn, and it is unsatisfactory and needs correctionAny responsible business would do all they could to make a customer pleased with the outcomeIt is a fact that most of their business is for commercial and less of the residential type I dispute that EGL works hard to maintain their reputation, because my dispute and the condition of my lawn are evidence to that factAll I am asking is for correction of the service which was not done properly the first time for the money paidI pay my bills, work hard and expect good service when spending my moneyI have not received this from Eastern Grounds Landscaping and expect them to correct the problem as their time and supposed expertise allowsWhat is fair is fairAs a consumer I again have been slighted by this poor method of doing businessAlso, I do not need a recommendation form Bill S [redacted] to seek out a another landscaping companyAgain, I want the service that I paid for and want it done properly Regards, [redacted]

I am fully aware of *** *** complaint and I appreicate his time.
We provided the service as promised on schedule to *** ***.
He did not feel we performed the work properly and choose to hold payment until further
notice.
I kindly informed *** *** that not paying the balance has nothing to do with anything else once the work is completeWe are a small business and not paying is not part of the dealThis was respectfully explained to *** ***.
We performed a excellent job and we were very very thorough with our workMy crew who performed his work have been trained by me and have been on my stff for over years.
Unfortunalty we were left no other option but to send *** *** account to collectionsHe paid promptly once this occurred.
Our company policy is that we do not provide any support or service period to a customer who has been sent to collectionsAdditionally, *** *** was provided a significant discount of $for his workI believe we did everything reasonable for him but we can not pay to perform workLandscaping maintenance is a low profit margin business and while we do everything we can for our customers, the customer is not always rightIn this case, we can not do anything more for *** ***.
In case a person does not know, when you send an account to collections, they charge approximately 50% of the amount due to collect.
We work hard to maintain a good reputation and we provide excellent work all the time every time.
I suggested several times to *** *** that he seek out a new landscaping company.
Regards,
Bill

I have determined this to be a closed matter at this timeNo further responses will be made.
Please see previous messages for information.
Bill S

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
I sincerely believe that Bill S[redacted] wishes that this complaint would just go away. He has only responded promptly twice since the start of the business proposal. After calling Eastern Grounds Landscaping for inquiry into lawn renovation Mr. S[redacted] was at my residence in less than 2 hours. After that there was either no response or very slow response. The second prompt response was when I initially contacted the Revdex.com to seek help in resolution of this matter.
I will have to say Mr. S[redacted] has lied when he said that I said the guys did an excellent job. At no time did I say that and in fact, repeatedly tried to contact him to resolve the issues. He made it a point to avoid me and did an excellent job with that.
No matter what the split in commercial versus residential business is for him, really is not important to me. What is important is that I get fair service and treatment as agreed for the $900 paid. I have not received that. Keep in mind please, my grass was 75-80% good other than being in a normal dormant state which is usual. The areas where they concentrated with dethatching were not properly seeded and as a result, these areas are void of grass growth and this condition is present throughout my lawn. I invite anyone who would like to examine my lawn to do so. This is something I asked Mr. S[redacted] on numerous attempts to come to my property to see what the issues were. At no time did he take the time to do so. 
As far as a discount, $900 is more than a fair amount paid for what service was done. Checking with similar lawn care businesses I can get a years worth, 5 treatments for less than the 3 hours put into the work on my property. This is just a comparison offered as far as me getting a discount. I hope that the Revdex.com compares similar complaints to this one to just see what I did not get for the monies paid.
Mr. S[redacted] says that going to collections is a last resort. This was the first resort that Mr. S[redacted] took, less than 30 days after the incomplete shoddy work was performed. I told Judy his assistant as well as him. that he would get paid. I just wanted my lawn corrected as agreed and which was not done to my satisfaction.
Mr. S[redacted] is proving to be a poor business man and is intent on leaving a customer unsatisfied and slighted. A good company would do everything within reason to ensure a customer is totally satisfied with product and service. 
Again, all I am asking for is to have my lawn restored as promised and to get what I have paid for. To date, I have not received this. Mr. S[redacted] needs to correct the situation before the relationship can be ended. Mr. S[redacted] says successful business transactions are win win situations for both sides. So far it is win for EGL and lose for [redacted] Straub. And now the relationship should be ended?
I am just seeking justification and what is right.  Fix my lawn please Bill.    
Regards,
[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
The agreement and work that was done was very unsatisfactory. Bill S[redacted] told me not to worry about the lack of results on 9/22/14. He told me that if the seed did not come in, he would assuredly take care of it. Judy his assistant also said the same.
As far as the balance of $450, I knew that if I paid this, the likely outcome would be that nothing would get done. And as it turned out unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. At no time did Mr. S[redacted] or Judy inform me that this would be taken to collections. That is a mistake made on Eastern Grounds Landscaping to go to that avenue of approach. I do not care about the 50% charge he says they had to pay to collections. I do care about the condition of my lawn, and it is unsatisfactory and needs correction.
Any responsible business would do all they could to make a customer pleased with the outcome. It is a fact that most of their business is for commercial and less of the residential type.
I dispute that EGL works hard to maintain their reputation, because my dispute and the condition of my lawn are evidence to that fact.
All I am asking is for correction of the service which was not done properly the first time for the money paid. I pay my bills, work hard and expect good service when spending my money. I have not received this from Eastern Grounds Landscaping and expect them to correct the problem as their time and supposed expertise allows. What is fair is fair. As a consumer I again have been slighted by this poor method of doing business.
Also, I do not need a recommendation form Bill S[redacted] to seek out a another landscaping company. Again, I want the service that I paid for and want it done properly.
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: Submitted below is the letter which was submitted to Mr. Bill S[redacted] who owns and originally sold me the fall lawn service which was done incorrectly. Numerous attempts to try to resolve the situation to receive thorough service, which was promised, have not been addressed by Mr. S[redacted]. An e-mail with the company policy' was e-mailed to me and no further contact has or as I believe will be received. This is my letter sent to Mr. S[redacted] which has been ignored. Please help... Dear Mr. S[redacted], On Friday September 12th, 2014, representatives of your company performed fall lawn care at my home. As you well know, we had agreed by contract the week before on what exactly was to be done and further good faith agreement. The price was agreed upon to be $900. You were paid one half of the project cost up front, by check which was cashed on September 5th, 2014 in the amount of $450. Our agreement was to renovate my lawn as follows: 1) Deep core aeration entire lawn, with a total of 4 passes. 2) Dethatching of underlying decayed grass. 3) Top dressing for the most problematic areas void of grass. 4) Lime and fertilizer. 5) Grass seed at a rate of 9 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. I was not home at the time of the service work, but my wife was. You initially told me that the crew would be at my house for at least 6 hours to perform the work. As it turns out, they arrived at 9:00 a.m. and were gone by 12:30 p.m. My wife indicated to me that the crew spent a lengthy period during this time in their vehicle. Upon my arrival home I looked at the work that was done. I was skeptical based on my observations, but decided to remain patient and follow through vigorously with daily waterings of the entire lawn. After 10 days on September 22nd, 2014, I called you and reported that I was not seeing any appreciable growth of the seedlings, particularly in the most problematic areas. To refresh your memory, you told me to be patient and continue to keep the seed wet, which I did. You told me that the better grass seeds take longer to germinate and that I would see results. Since that day I continued to try to contact you with little success. Without any other alternative, I called your office and started a dialogue with your assistant Judy about the problem with the service. She, like you in the beginning, assured me that if there was a problem with the service that it would be properly addressed and corrected. I continued at least once a week to contact you up to the 2nd week of October and was successful once. I informed you of the lack of grass growth and that I was displeased with the service and lack of results. You said that you thought that a crew had already came and redone the work, which was absolutely not true. And I informed you of such. You said you would review my account and get back to me promptly. You never did and made yourself very unavailable to me. I continued a rapport with Judy as my only alternative. She said she would pass the message on to you, but still you chose to avoid the situation. On October 14th, 2014 I received a notice from a collection agency about the remaining $450 to be paid. I immediately called the office and spoke with Judy. I was not happy that a collection agency was the course of action chosen by Eastern Grounds Landscaping. I informed Judy that I fully intended to pay the balance and that I just wanted my lawn issues corrected as was initially promised. I told her that I would send the balance immediately and she said that would be fine. She continued to say that you would correct the situation, based on previous customer experiences. Now that the job was paid in full, no further contacts were made by anyone at Eastern Grounds Landscaping. I continued to call you; leave messages and no return calls to me were ever made. Finally, on Monday November 10th, 2014 I received an e-mail form you. You said you sent this by e-mail on November 4th but it was never received. This was your response to refresh your memory: Dear [redacted], Thank you for your business. My plan was to review your lawn today and provide next step advice to fully complete and maintain rebuilding your turf. At this time, upon reviewing your account, our company policy is that we do not perform work for accounts which have been in collections. We thank you again for your business and wish you the very best of luck with your lawn. Regards, Bill Mr. S[redacted], I want to inform you that your response and proposed non course of action is totally unacceptable. Your pusillanimous attitude will not be tolerated. I paid $900 for a slubbered service and was deceived by what you promised. The current state of my lawn is proof and evidence to these statements It is hoped that you have a change of mind and decide to do what is proper. That would be to correct my lawn issues and deliver what you sold. That is what is fair and that is what I am asking. I will give you 10 days, until November 26th, 2014 to respond to this letter. All I want is what I paid for. If I do not hear from you in writing by this time with a course of action I will be seeking third party help for assistance in resolving this matter. Sincerely,[redacted]Desired Settlement: All I am asking is to have my lawn corrected for the $900 paid in good faith. I did not receive the results that were promised. I understand that this time of year, there is probably no correction that could be made because the growing season has ended. I would like Mr. S[redacted] to correct the lawn problems based on his expertise to get it renovated when the weather allows.A second option would be to reimburse my half the price for the incomplete service. I certainly prefer the first option.

Business

Response:

I am fully aware of [redacted] complaint and I appreicate his time.