I take care of my own lawn, but on occasion I will hire a lawn service to do seasonal services such as aerating or dethatching, etc. I was living in Ohio at the time we purchased our house in Spring Lake. The current homeowner informed me that spring had arrived and the yard was full of weeds, so since I was in another state I called the lawn service he recommended (Pete's) and told them specifically to do a ONE TIME application for weeds, after I explained that I lived in Ohio currently and wouldn't be moving in for a couple months.
When a bill never arrived I called to inquire and they told me they didn't do the service because "there was a new homeowner". I explained to them that I was, in fact that new homeowner and asked them again to do a ONE TIME weed application.
They did, so I thought, but then weeks later after we had arrived to Spring Lake they showed up one day while I was at work and did another application of fertilizer and grub treatment. My wife went outside to approach them. She explained that we only agreed to a one time service, specifically, because I always take care of my own yard. The guy there said they just "assumed we would want the same service as the previous owner" and left a bill for around $140 and said we owed him that.
I emailed their website that evening, trying to be cordial and even stating that I would still want to use their services for the future (dethatching, aeration, possible snow removal) but that I didn't think it was fair to be charged for a service I never wanted. A lady from the office called me the next day, was incredibly rude and confrontational. She stated that if I would have said one time only she would have wrote it down. Apparently she didn't. She then said that "we don't do ppls lawns for free" and I replied "I understand, but I don't pay ppl for services that I never signed up for". She said "Fine, be happy elsewhere" and slammed the phone down.
So, obviously I will be using a different service for any lawn care needs I have in the future. This was most likely a simple misunderstanding at best, a clerical error on their part. However, the way they responded was unprofessional. These people are either just poorly organized or scammers who try to force their services on you and trick you into paying them for something you never agreed to. read more