Lawn Pride

Unfortunately, after signing a contract and paying $3,500 for a deck repair in June, I’ve not heard nor seen back from Mr. Cole Blackburn again. He said he needed the money upfront. Said he got sick and now will not return my calls.

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Spoke with Cole Blackburn on May 14th, said he was at the house right then walking over our property to determine an estimate and to discuss what we wanted done. There is a medium pile of brush on the property and Cole asked if we’d like to have it removed along with some netted straw bales used in the ditch for drainage. We said to include that in his estimate. May 16th, he sent a text saying he could do a “mow package” for $135, and haul the brush away for $85 - $220 total. He explained the ditch was so over-grown he'd have to “get a 2 man crew out” to trim it all. I told him I'd be in touch as we were still waiting for a couple other estimates. On May 17th he sent a text message saying he could haul the brush away for $50 instead of $85 because he had another job in the area. I told him to go ahead and mow and haul away and scheduled the afternoon of May 21st.. Cole didn’t arrive until 530pm but went right to work. The mowing part went fine and that part of the work was what I expected. While he was loading the mower onto his trailer I walked out to introduce myself before he got started trimming and loading the brush. He was on the phone and hung up after a couple minutes. Cole talked non-stop and I found him to be a “hard sell” on us agreeing on a two-week commitment for lawn service. I told him we were not ready to commit to that but I would let him know if we changed our minds. I also told him we were buying a lawn tractor to do the work ourselves. He still needed to do the trimming and load the brush, when out of the blue he asked if I'd mind if he left early if he promised to come back the next morning to finish the work. He said his friend had just called to see if he could go FISHING that evening if I wouldn't mind letting him leave before all his work was done. I found that very irritating but said fine, as long as it got done the next day. Then he commented that our yard was not only h****** his equipment, but h****** him! If it was too much for him and his equipment, shouldn’t he have noticed that when he was walking around the property on the 14th? And what about that "2-man crew" he’d mentioned if it was so h****** him? Where were they? He then presented me at that time with an invoice for $185, clearly expecting payment for ALL the work - complete and incomplete. I went ahead and paid him despite being unhappy about him leaving before his work was complete. I went ahead and paid him by check, which of course he deposited immediately. As I had feared, I left to go out of town late the next afternoon, and Cole had still not showed up to finish the work. We returned on Friday, May 25th and still no trimming or debris haul-off had been done. Immediately sent text to him asking when it would be completed since I‘d paid him. He answered by text message within minutes: "Heading your way in an hour. If not an hour first thing in the morning." He never showed up all weekend or sent any other messages. Returned back to property on June 1st and still no work had been completed so I sent Cole another text asking when he planned to haul away the brush. He answered saying the ground had been too wet (baloney) and he didn't want to cause ruts in yard (the brush is something that can easily be dragged to the street). He had, however, finally trimmed the sidewalk and driveway, although none of the ditch had been done. Instead, he said he’d sprayed for weeds and thanks for our business. No mention of brush haul away - again - and never heard another thing from him. THEN, on June 5th, exactly 2 weeks after he'd mowed the first time, I heard the sound of a loud mower right next to our house. Went outside and found Cole mowing our yard! Flagged him down and told him we never agreed to repeat mowing and reminded him that were going to let him know if we decided otherwise. He apologized and said he must‘ve confused me with another customer (how that happened I have no idea) and that he'd load as much brush on the trailer that he could before leaving since his equipment was also on the trailer (2nd time I‘d heard that). THEN he loaded the mower and promptly LEFT without taking any of the brush he'd JUST said he'd take! Aside from the initial verbal phone call to talk about an estimate, I have all text messages on my phone, so I am not confused about dates, facts or what was said back and forth. He gave promises that turned out to be lies, choose not to complete work for which he was paid, showed up and started mowing when we'd never asked him to, then blatantly left before finishing the work he‘d JUST minutes before promised he'd do. Trying to chase him down has been nothing but frustration but we're done with that now. And I’m sure that’s what he counts on - people giving up. And a side note, he lists an address of “600 Lawn Drive, Ft. Worth” on Angie’s List but that address doesn't exist (seriously? - "lawn drive" for a lawncare business??) the entire street for that matter does not exist. His social network page “Complete Lawn Care & Landscaping” lists an address of 220 Adams, Weatherford, Texas along with his name and the same phone number I’ve been texting with him at (and where he’s also ignored my message to him there telling him I wanted the work completed or our $50 refunded). It explains why he twice ignored me back on the 14th when I asked for his mailing address so I could mail a check to him (had I not been back in town when he had mowed) - there are probably lots of people looking for him so he created the bogus "lawn drive" address. “Lawn PRIDE?” Cole needs to re-learn the definition of “pride.” Maybe our $50 worth of frustration with him will convince others to avoid him like the plague. In the meantime we were delayed in buying a lawn tractor, so we ended up hiring another company on a two-week basis after all, which is professional, has the appropriate equipment, has the staff they claim to have, who mows our land for $35 less than Cole did. And they hauled the tree limbs away for $20. If he didn't want the job or if he didn't want to do it for $50 he should not have offered to do it in the first place - there is just NO EXCUSE for taking our money and running regardless of whether it was $50 or $500. With that I can only say, if you’re still inclined past all this to consider hiring this guy, 1) be prepared to get ripped off, hear repeated excuses and lies, and 2) get more estimates than just his because he’s over-priced in addition to being unreliable and untrustworthy.

Completely messed up our yard and shrubs!! They quoted a price to cut and trim the yard and trim shrubs and then when it was done, they attempted to get more money. The yard was a mess with edging totally butchered and mow marks indicating the mower blades were not adjusted. Owner--Mr Blackburn--was an arrogant know-it-all. He refused to fix the yard and shrubs which were only half trimmed. One of the worst experiences we have ever had. This company was advertised in a newspaper. It's a lesson for everyone--if the company you want to hire does not have a business address and land line phone, avoid them like the plague!!! This company only has a cell phone and a name for contact. Our mistake! AVOID THESE PEOPLE AT ALL COST!!!!