TruGreen - Charlottesville

unknown

Originally the service plan was to include both the front yard and back yard. Halfway through the contract period we agreed not to treat the backyard. Credits were promised as I had pre-paid for the annual service plan. (Don't prepay for an annual service plan!) Local Service Manager remeasured property and promised credits. Credits were never forthcoming. Service Manager "disappeared" as I have left numerous emails and voice messages. Additionally, I called the corporate customer service number who promised to take action. None has been forthcoming. With regards to service, there was never the promised lawn service plan. Service was provided out of Richmond because the local team apparently has had all sorts of difficulties, as admitted to me by the local Charlottesville Service Manager. Stay away from this company.

I originally contracted with TruGreen for a year in early August. They came and treated the yard for weeds. The weeds died and we are still looking at a brown yard and no further work has taken place. Upon asking them to also treat for pest control and then aerate and seed, I called weekly to find out when they were coming and they never did. Every time I'd call (5x) to find out when they'd come out here, they said they'd get back to me, but I never heard anything in return. Twice the technician came out, but he was less than professional and never performed any services. We are now three months into our contract and are canceling.

They are the kind of company that has deals where you use them until you notify them otherwise. They did come one time this past spring when I did not want them to come but I guess it would count within the contract we had from them. Their pricing was okay but their service is a different story. They have a good product but apparently, they went through some sort of reorganization nationally. They went with some sort of a new phone system nationally and what I’m thinking, that was their downfall because you can never get hold of anybody. If you do, you will be answered from a call center and you wouldn't know where they are. You will be told one thing by one person and that doesn't happen and you callback and they would say a different thing. It tried to stop the service and they still came. I think the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, that definitely apply to them. I think the phone system does more harm than good and they've taken away any kind of local touch so to speak that they ever had. You can get through and I know that’s the way some larger companies operate but at least you should get your story straight. We just want somebody to deal with the work we want done full time. I was being told that they would come but they didn't come. I come to a point to cancel the whole thing and they still came and do the service. It just drove me crazy. The customer service is not good. I think their people are capable but it disconnect somewhere and I don’t know if it’s nationally or locally but this phone service did not do them any favors because you are not able to any longer contact a more local person and you get those other people that doesn't know your area. I've used them for 3 or 4 years but I always had some issues with them. I was never a 100% pleased with them but it just got progressively worse and so I just finally dropped them. I just got to a point that I could not handle their incompetency. I think the people that they have know what they’re doing but there’s something missing with communication.

Lawn applications were incomplete at best. They seemed to service the most visible areas of the yard and incompletely treated the side and backyard. On two occassions the technician claimed he ran out of fertilizer and the weed application. Largest complaint is about the billing department. The bills are sent from Rochester Ny. I paid for the full year of service when I signed up in April and they continued to send me a bill after every treatment. Five times I had to call somenone and get them to fix my account. Too frustrating and too expensive for all the hassle.

My backyard looked patchy when Tru Green started treating it. On year later, after a full year of treatment from Tru Green, it still looked patchy. They were very timely and professional, but a "null" effect on my lawn.

It was a disaster. We saw no improvement and the yard actually went down hill. The yard was full of weeds and whenever we called them they would say they would come back for a charge. Every month they always tried to up sell us something. They never fulfilled what they should have done to start with. We complained and complained and finally ended up talking to someone in the corporate office in Dallas, Texas. It is an issue that is still not resolved. We ended up with a yard full of weeds and grass that didn't look any better than when we started. They were more than willing to come back out and charge us. I don't know how they stay in business.

They’re somewhat better than others at returning my calls. They’re relatively prompt about that. They’re a large organization, obviously, but the local employees of the company are interested in what they do.

They are prompt and knowledgeable.

The last time I saw them was earlier this month. As always, they do the lawn care, including fertilization and aeration. They do pretty good quality work, and they're always on time and professional. I will be using them the next time of course.