Richard Stephens Lawn Care

I was not going to respond to this because my business is doing great and this is the first and only complaint that I have EVER received in the 3 years I have owned and operated my business. I would like to start this off by stating very clearly and confidently that what Ms. has DONE is FRAUDUELENT, and if she were worth taking up any more of my time I would pursue the matter legally. 3 months after I completed the work, on Valentine's day, she decided to make a claim to her credit card company that she had "no knowledge" of making payments to me. They took back her payment and as of now I have only lost time and money. I also am responding for the Revdex.com. They contacted me to ask my side and after I told them the facts and that I have picture proof to match, they informed me part of what they do is "resolve" matters and do not want one person's words (that could be personal, untrue, or even a mistaken business name) to affect your business rating. I will state mostly only facts below, but it is difficult to not share your opinion in a personal situation. I am ***, of Richard Stephens Lawn Care and Landscaping, and my name and work ethic has been something I have prided myself on for longer than my adult life. If you choose to keep reading I will openly and honestly describe the series of events, most of which I have screenshots of but I am not sure I can upload them in this response.

When I was initially contacted by Ms., she requested a quote for me to focus on the perimeter of her property - cleaning up the treeline, and pressure washing the concrete and walkway. I quoted her $500. We discussed this in depth and I agreed to do what was asked for less money. From our first interaction I had a funny feeling about her intent to pay, so I asked her for a partial payment up front because I thought it would protect me from this exact situation. I was wrong on that one. I have only asked for payment up front one other time in 3 years. So since it was November (slow season) and she seemed stressed or alone and needed this break, we agreed to the amount of $350, and she agreed to make a partial payment up front. So Ms. knowingly made two separate payments to me, and then claimed she had no knowledge of the charges to her credit card company.

Below is a summation of the work I completed, in order:
-trimmed 2 palms that were 5-7 ft tall and 1 that was 20+ ft tall. All of which were neglected for years. I then dragged all the branches to the road. The big tree being no less than 30 yards from the road.
-I cut down a couple of yards of dead bamboo at the back corner or the property and placed for pick up.
- I then trimmed the shrubs, along the perimeter, like asked. Also a roughly 6x3 shrub by the house.
- I spent a hour give or take 10 minutes to blow the leaves off of the fence, away from the house, out of the drive way, and out of the shrubs so I can rake them.
-I raked the leaves into piles and then onto tarps and took them to be picked up. I can say with confidence a more than 700 pounds of leaves.
*** At this point the perimeter was completed within reason and after some discussion about how much of the bamboo she wanted me to remove (it was quite neglected). She then asked me to clear the 2 flower beds by the front door. They were filled with mostly leaves and some weeds and between the 2 of them they were roughly 15 square feet. Again, out of kindness, I simply said ok instead of adding it to the invoice. Continued work below.
-Cleared the mention beds of leaves and weed-eated them.
-Sprayed a bleach solution on the back patio, the stones encasing the flower beds, the walkway from the road, to the door, to the driveway.
-Scrubbed the spots mentioned above. Spraying and scrubbing took roughly 1.5 hours.
-I then pressure washed the 400-500 square feet of pavers and concrete.
***I took pictures before I started and pictures of my work after. I sent those to her and she did not have anything to say about the work but that she wanted pictures from the curb and wanted me to focus on curb appeal. At this point I was already home on day 2 (no less than 14 hours but most likely 16-18) of only working at her property and have done everything that was asked and more than agreed to.
-I drove back to take the better pictures she requested, notice a couple more minutes of work that would make the trees that were not even discussed look better, so I trimmed them.
-Took pictures for the third time prepared them neatly and delivered them via text and email.

***1 month later a few days before Christmas she called me and said I didn't do a bush that was by the door and not originally discussed. I explained to her that I was not going back for free again. She then threatened me with bad reviews, which really doesn't concern me because I know that I do take a great deal of pride in my work. I have already gone above and beyond for Ms., but when I realized I was going to be working 1 block away and that it would take 10 minutes, I stopped by and trimmed the bush for free. Again, more pictures were taken and sent.

On Valentine's day 2020, three months after the job was completed, she claimed to her credit card company that she did not make those payments and 5 days later filed this complaint. That being said, reread her complaint and count the redundencies please. She paid in full upfront but also partially, but at the time she typed that, she already received her money back from the "No Knowledge" claim. Meaning if she typed that with less bias and more honesty, it would state how these payments have also already been refunded/taken back due to the charge back. If the Revdex.com's responsibility is truly to resolve this issue (which I earnestly believe through being contacted from agents multiple times), I hope this can be seen for what it is: a hard-working small business owner being taken advantage of by Ms..

Also the "threats or harassment" was simply me trying to collect the payment for the job I had completed for Ms.. She previously threatened me with "bad reviews" at Christmastime when she decided she wanted additional work done without paying any more money. Her reaction to finding out that I have rights and abundant evidence to protect myself was to file this complaint and leave a negative review on google. My assumption is she did not know that Mastercard (the card company she paid with) and square both informed me the reason of the chargeback was her claim of no knowledge in timestamped emails. When she charged her payment back, her explanation to me was that there were vines on her property that had not been cleaned up - again, three months later. The vines she spoke of grew maybe 5 inches in that 3 month period and that is natural and how I make a living.

I have owned my own business for years (with licensure) and never had an issue with a client like this one. I now realize that Ms., in my opinion, never intended to pay me for the work that I had done, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she had scammed other small business owners out of money for work that they completed.