Home Pride Services

Review: Satisfaction guaranteed, but not performed. Landscaping not completed, and what was done was not satisfactory.. Had another company complete this work. Sent Home Pride a registered letter (together with a check for $500 for work performed; original contract for $1251.26). This after Home Pride did not respond to our requests that they finish the work. Asking only that they send me no more bills for services and finance chargesDesired Settlement: Send me no more bills.

Business

Response:

IN RESPONSE TO COMPLAINT ID [redacted]:

The week of April 2,2013, customer called Home Pride Turf Management (HPTM) requesting an estimate to repair an area in his back lawn where a drainage pipe had been installed from his house to the back of his property. We scheduled the estimate for April 10th•

The ditch that had been dug was a foot or more deep and extended approximately 70 feet long. Another company filled in the ditch with the existing subsoil, which included a high concentrate of clay. The estimate proposed was to core-aerate the area of lawn and incorporate 6 yards of sifted compost and topsoil mix. The purpose of core-aeration is to break up the existing hard clay soil in order to incorporate the topsoil/compost mix. This estimate also included seeding this area with Class Act II grass seed at the rate of 15 pounds per 1000 square feet. The estimated area to be seeded was 11,000 sq. ft. Therefore, we included 165 pounds of seed. To help with seed germination, spreading 50 pounds of 8-24-8 starter fertilizer to the area was included. During the visit the importance of keeping the seeded area watered to assist seed germination was emphasized, and customer was given a printed watering procedure.

The estimate was written and mailed to customer on April 12. During the week of April 23, Home Pride Turf Management received the signed agreement from customer to perform the work.

On April 25, HPTM contacted customer by telephone to schedule a date to do the work, and May 1 was agreed upon. During the conversation, customer stated that he would be away from his home that day, but for HPTM to go ahead with performing the work. Again, customer was reminded of the importance of watering the area upon his return.

On May 1, while employees of HPTM were performing the work, a neighbor asked "Do you know what you are getting into? You will never be able to please (customer)."

Home Pride Turf Management performed work that was stated on the signed estimate. Prior to completing the job, two employees picked up rocks and gravel that were pulled up during the core-aeration. Approximately 5 wheel-barrel loads of rock/gravel were hauled away, at no charge to customer.

On May 10, customer contacted HPTM and was upset that the work had been performed while he was away. A HPTM representative told customer that HPTM was told on April 25 that the work should be done on May 1 even though customer would not be at home. Customer stated he did not remember this conversation. During this call, customer stated there was still a lot of gravel in the soil and that if HPTM did haul in any soil, it was filled with rocks.

Customer also stated that the seed was not germinating. It was explained to customer that the gravel and rock was the result of the subsoil being aerated and was not from the soil that had been added to the area. Customer was asked if he had been watering the area according to information given him, and he stated that he had.

A representative from HPTM was sent to Customer's home on May 15 to analyze the issues. He removed more gravel, hard-raked the area, and applied 75 pounds of additional seed at no charge. Customer stated to the HPTM representative that the area "had never been seeded in the first place". Prior to leaving, customer stated that he was satisfied with the remedies that were performed at that time. The representative noticed that the area where work was performed was dry and did not appear to have been watered.

On May 21, customer contacted HPTM and stated that he still had a lot of rocks and did not see any grass coming up.

On May 30, again, a HPTM representative evaluated the area. Upon arrival, he noticed very few gravel/rock in the seeded area, only along the edge, the soil was very dry, and no sprinkler heads were visible. Pictures were taken for record verification. The necessity of watering, without which the seed would not germinate, was again mentioned to customer. Regardless of the lack of watering, customer was told someone would be sent out to remove the gravel around the edge and apply more grass seed. A soil sample was recommended to the customer. Customer agreed to pay for any nutrients that may be recommended as a result of the test, and HPTM would apply additional compost at no cost to customer.

On June 3, a HPTM employee removed the gravel along the edge and spread 25 pounds of grass seed in the areas customer was concerned with.

On June 10, HPTM received the soil sample results showing low PH, calcium and organic levels. A copy of this report was mailed to customer on June 20.

During the week of June 25, a HPTM representative spoke with customer, who was unwilling to perform any special treatments to improve the soil.

On August 5, HPTM received a check for $500 and a letter stating that customer would not be paying the remainder of the bill.

On January 27 Home Pride Turf Management received a letter from the Revdex.com.

HOME PRIDE TURF MANAGEMENT, LLC

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

His response to you is filled with untruths and does not cover all terms of our contract with him. We watered frequently and thoroughly. He did not do mulching as contracted nor did he use proper soil as contracted. This was confirmed by my neighbor and others including visitors, sons, and relatives. Inasmuch as he did not complete the work and would not return calls, we are obviously very dissatisfied. contracted with another company to complete the project. His advertisement offers complete satisfaction. Soil samples which he himself took from soil he had applied showed nutrition deficiencies and were not corrected by his company. His response to you is too lengthy to elicit a full response from me.

Thank you for your interest in this matter. We paid him the $500 for time spent, not for his job. We had hoped that would end of it.