Response from Independent Lawn Service
The fertilizing portion of the Angie’s list Big Deal was performed on April 24, 2016. This in no way could be considered late. This was well within the parameters for a first round application. We contacted this customer multiple times to discuss the scheduled aeration and situation prior to the Angie’s List review on June 16. We did this as part of our aeration procedure. A letter is sent prior to the aeration informing the customer about the service and preparing the property for our visit (1st contact by letter approximately 10 days before service). We ask customers if they have a sprinkler system, invisible dog fence or any cable lines that could be damaged by the aeration if not installed at the proper level (2nd contact by phone two days before service). If they do we ask them to mark them the lines, sprinkler heads or any other areas so that the aerator does not touch those areas. We try to protect our customers. The customer advised us at the time of the 2nd contact that a sprinkler system was present. When we arrived at the property on May 3rd the sprinkler heads were not marked even after confirmation on the phone that they would be. We protected the customer by not doing the aeration at this point and incurred expense in doing so. We contacted the customer on May 4th to set up another visit and she informed us that she did not have a sprinkler system, screamed at our representative and hung up. We immediately called back and she informed us that she wanted a refund stating that it was too late for an aeration. We advised her that it was not too late, but if she wanted a refund she would need to contact Angie’s List. This is what Angie’s List tells customers and suppliers to do. Aeration's are performed throughout May and even into early June if there is enough rain to keep the soil moist. Again, an aeration within the second week of May was well within the parameters for proper aeration timing in Michigan. We made numerous calls after May 4 to discuss the situation and determine if there was some resolve. We called on May 7, May 10, May 18, May 31 and finally June 1 hoping for a resolution. We either left a message or the customer hung up on us refusing to talk. We leave the reader to draw their own conclusion on this matter.