Wonder Gro

This letter is in response to the complaint entered by Ms. entered on 12/11/2019. Ms. complaint as written is not clear, but I am happy to provide or clear up any details as necessary. Ms. states her problem occurred 5/2/2019, yet an email was sent on 5/22/19 stating concerns that the crew was not cutting her grass short enough – see below. She also states she is happy with service and acknowledges that the lawn was growing at an unusual rate due to the rain. Her concern was six days after her last service, and the crew was scheduled to return to her property the next day. I explained to Ms. in a phone call that our crew cuts her lawn high to ensure proper grass growth and that they were following the proper techniques for establishing a healthy lawn. Below is her email.

Hi ***, this is ***. I am writing because I really need for the guys to do a lower cut on my lawn. I realize that the rainy season makes the grass grow at a much higher rate, but at this time my lawn really looks uncared for. Enclosed is a picture of my lawn. So could you please inform the crew to do a lower cut. Otherwise they are doing a great job. Thank you have a nice day

Mr., WonderGro’s Vice President, surveyed Ms. property prior to the start of the season to confirm she was eligible for weekly property maintenance and to determine a price. It was determined that Ms. would be billed at our minimum pricing due to the size of her property. He again met with Ms. on July 19, 2019, to respond to a concern that the crew was not servicing her property as expected by not trimming around her trees and not cutting the backyard. It was at this time that Mr. discussed Ms. backyard and the lack of growth. Because WonderGro has no control over the fertilization program at Ms. property, we cannot assume responsibility for lack of lawn growth. In ***defense, Ms. backyard is heavily shaded and lawn growth in this area would be difficult to achieve due to the tree growth (roots and lack of sunlight). WonderGro’s crews cannot cut what is not there. Mr. also explained that the weeds Ms. said were not being taken care of were in an overgrown/unlandscaped bed and that our service included weeding and maintaining landscaped beds only. Ms. beds required a full weeding which is done by a different crew as part of our property clean-up service. Mr. explained this to Ms., and as a compromise the crew was instructed to cut down the tall grasses growing in the beds as needed. These are the only meetings which occurred between Mr. and Ms..

Ms. is correct that her final bill included two months of services. Due to unpredictable northeast Ohio weather, our crews get off-schedule and invoices were issued when it was clear services were complete for the season. Ms. calls our invoicing a hardship, but our prices are clearly stated, and her bill should have been anticipated as she would know her property was serviced when the grass was cut and the leaves were removed from the property.

In a good faith effort, WonderGro offered to refund November services back to her card on file (see email below). Ms. replied via telephone on 12/16/19 stating, "No, I do not want you to make any changes to our account." Her account remains paid in full.
I apologize for the delay in getting out the invoice for October and November. Please see the revised invoice for October services only. I will happily refund the $99.02 in November services back to your card and extend your payment terms to 30 days for this final invoice. Please let me know if this is how you would like to proceed or if you have any questions. Thanks,

In summary, Ms. property is priced at a minimum and not eligible for any further discount, WonderGro performed services as contracted, and we made a good-faith effort to rectify the customer’s dissatisfaction to the best of our ability. Please contact us with any further questions or if copies of original contracts and correspondence are required.

Sincerely

I am not sure why we are here...

There is no new information provided in Ms.' further complaints which would support a refund of monies for partial service. Ms. received services as stated in her contract (which is attached). Nowhere in our contract does it state we will only charge 1/4 if we cut only the front or half if we cut only the front and one side. Ms.' contracted price was $30 per cut and this is what she was charged.

The only new information in this complaint is in regard to chemicals being applied to her lawn without her knowledge. If our crew did apply chemicals, it would be as part of Weekly Bed Maintenance Service which Ms. agreed to in her approved contract. Ms. never received, or was billed for, Bed Maintenance Service from WonderGro during the time she was a customer. In addition, the crew which serviced Ms.' property carries only a non-selective herbicide. If this product was applied to her lawn it would have died wherever applied. If Ms. continues to make slanderous statements that WonderGro applied chemicals without permission, legal action may be required.

While we understand Ms. had "sticker-shock" at the total of her final bill, all services were supplied and invoiced as contracted. Since I am sure Ms. will continue to feel she is entitled to a refund, please contact me with further questions.

Sincerely