Lawn Masters Lawn and Garden

I contracted Lawnmasters to lay a [redacted] grass They did not do the jobI contracted in early may Lawnmasters to lay a [redacted] lawn on my property.They did not do the job properly thereby little or NO [redacted] grass has come up.I gave them checks for approximately $3000.I failed to do a proper background check on Lawnmasters.They have numerous liens and complaints against they should not be allowed to stay in businessDesired SettlementI would like the refund of $3000Business Response Mr. [redacted] contacted us in Spring of 2014 to look at his lawn to see about getting [redacted] started in the lawn. He also wanted to get our opinion on the current condition of his lawn after another company had applied a weed control product on the lawn. He was complaining that they had also not done their job. According to what we seen the weeds were dieing and time just needed to pass for them to finish dieing. As for his complaint that we didn't do the job properly. We graded the entire lawn with a [redacted] fertilized and seeded. That's all there was to the project. [redacted] grass seed takes a lot of water to get it to germinate. This was explained to Mr. [redacted] and he stated that he could not water the entire lawn, it was explained that if he did not water, the grass would still germinate and grow, but it would take time. He said he would have patience and let the grass do what it could with time. One week later he was calling complaining that there was not grass. I made a trip to his house and looked at the property, no watering had taken place with very little rainfall. The ground was dusty dry. I again explained that water was required, and the ground needed to get wet and stay wet. We offered him the use of our traveling water sprinkler system that would allow him to water the entire lawn, he declined that offer.Each week he calls to say no grass growing yet, even though he has been given written instructions on what needs to happen on his lawn to get the grass to germinate. I have made 6 trips to his property to look at the lawn at his request, each time explaining that when I can kick the ground and dust flies up, it's not wet. On our last trip to his property he asked if we should fertilize again since it had been a month, this was done and is common practice and had already been suggested. Also, we spread some straw in a few areas directly around his house that were bare dirt, to encourage what water did fall on it to stay there. I suggested strawing the entire lawn at the original estimate, he declined due to the increased cost. After we fertilized the lawn again and spread the straw on these areas Mr. [redacted] refused to pay the fee for the service he requested. Again, saying that no grass was present. Again, we explained that if he didn't get the ground wet and keep it wet that the seed would not germinate, and the seed that did germinate would die if he didn't keep it wet until it reached a height enough that the grass can withstand the weather. After returning from a short vacation a couple weeks ago, I had received a letter from Mr. [redacted] saying that he didn't think we had done things right and again saying he had no grass yet. I called to talk to him about this again and he hung up on me, I called again to make sure it wasn't a mistake and he told me that he had talked to other people and had decided that we had not done what we said we would. I have four people that worked on this project that are happy to state exactly what we did on the property, which was more than what was originally contracted for. We do not now and have never guaranteed grass germination as too many things can happen that are not in our control, the number one thing is lack of watering. No water, no grass until it gets enough to make the grass seed germinate. There has been germination in areas of the lawn that have retained some moisture, but there are large areas that have not germinated, they need water. I have again told Mr. [redacted] that I am willing to offer the use of our traveling irrigation gun, he will either have to have a connection made to his well by others or we will be happy to do it for him for a fee. The use of the system would be no charge. I repeat, It's not our job to water someones lawn, and we have not been paid to do so. I will be happy to advise Mr. [redacted] further on what he needs to do, as I have so far, but if he refuses to follow the instructions given it is pointless. This has also been conveyed to Mr. [redacted] by certified letter this week. I await his decision to either start watering, or wait for time to pass and the grass will eventually come up. That is all there is to it. I am a Certified Turfgrass Professional and have been in the Landscape Design/Installation/Maintenance business for 23 years now. We know more about how to get grass to grow than anyone in this area, and have hundreds of happy customers. There are always those that you cannot please or will not follow instructions. Again, we are happy to help him get the grass going, if he will follow our advice. Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)There is NO sign of any [redacted] especially in the back yard.We have had plenty of rain for the past month and NOTHING appears.I spent 2 weeks watering the lawn by hand with NO[redacted] at all.I was told that there would be growth within 2 weeks.It has been 2 months with No [redacted] challenge the company have an independent company look at the lawn.There is no question that the work was NOT done properly.The only[redacted] showing was the old[redacted] remaining from last year.I will only be satisfied if I am refunded the $3000 I spent for NOTHINGFinal Business Response All of this has already been answered previously, however, I will restate the facts. 1) Mr. [redacted] was NOT told that there would be grass in 2 weeks. He was told it would take a minimum of 2 months for [redacted] to germinate and start growing, this is with proper watering and not letting it dry out. He DOES have germination and the grass is spreading. I had to show him what [redacted] grass looks like, as he did not know. 2) Mr. [redacted] has NOT watered by hand as his property is too large for him to do that, I offered the use of our large traveling water sprinkler for him to accomplish watering the entire lawn, he declined. He did put out two small hoses around the house to attempt to water around the house, at my suggestion after we observed that the ground was so dry that dust would fly up when scraped. On a repeat trip,after he had been trying to water around the house I observed the sprinklers not working properly and suggested he go buy the proper size hose and more sprinklers as what he had was not going to work. Again, dust was flying up after he had attempted to water.3)We were hired do seed the lawn with [redacted]. We have done that,according to University of[redacted] suggestions for this type of seed. We also fertilized and spread straw on some bare areas on another repeat visit at his request that he has refused to pay for. His accusation that it was not done properly is false, we have the employees that actually done the work that are happy to state that. This was actually a simple job: grade, seed, fertilize. All that was done. 4) We do not, have never, and never will guarantee grass seeding results as 90% of the success is dependent on what the customer does to the lawn. If they do not follow our recommendations,the lawn may or may not be successful. In addition, the customer may have an urge to apply a product to the lawn that could harm it. These things are NOT in our control. There will be no refund5) I repeat my earlier offer, we are happy to work with Mr. [redacted] to help him get the grass spreading, if he will follow our advice. 6) The pictures I have of his property do not show a failed lawn, but a nicely covering and spreading lawn, in spite of his not watering. We have had a good amount of rain that has helped. As I told him in the beginning, by the end of the year, the lawn should be covered over.