NoMow Turf

Service Provider Response

To the Angie's List community, prospective customers, and fellow contractors: I thank you for taking the time to read this. It has been with utmost professionalism and courtesy that we have tried to resolve this situation. Unfortunately, in the end, one has to have an honest broker on the other end to facilitate a good resolution. 1. We take our reputation and standing in the community very seriously and I therefore want to be sure to present the other side of this matter, hopefully showing the integrity with which I run my company and have done so for 14 years - I'm proud to say we've achieved a solid, customer-centric reputation in the OC-SoCal area over that time as well as a tradition of happy and satisfied homeowners. 2. Just as important, it is my desire to do a public service and help prevent this person from attempting to damage another company's or contractor's reputation. You will see, after reading my response and the timeline laid out, that this person intentionally posted negative reviews all over our social media presence online (Yelp, Google, Angie's List, BBB, etc.) in order to force us to render a service we were no longer contractually bound to perform (she knows she was years beyond warranty). It essentially amounts to extortion. I have only read about this type of behavior in other posts and articles but never thought I would experience it personally. I am pleased to share that this person has effectively been blackballed by Yelp, meaning her review of our company doesn't show up as "recommended". Perhaps it has to do with the fact that she has posted one-star ratings to almost 10 other companies on Yelp. I am trusting the other home-social sites will follow suit, but if we have to restore our profile the old fashioned way, so be it. Let this simply be a PSA for contractors to beware of signing with this person - eyes wide open. Below, is posted in summary (couldn't fit it all), my last email exchange with this customer. Thank you for your support - we look forward to serving you! ************************************************************************* - 4/24/09: Our company installed a front yard turf area at your property in Huntington Beach. (Warranty: 5 years on labor - covers installation - corners coming up or seams splitting; 10 year warranty on turf fading) 8 1/2 years later.... - 12/31/17: 4:01 pm. We were contacted by you, where you stated "You guys installed artificial grass in my front yard years ago and it still looks just as good as it did on day one!" You requested that we come out to your property to take a look at an issue with the bender board. You mentioned you would send photos of the issue in question. - 12/31/17 4:36 pm. I responded via Yelp: Hi [Member Name Removed], Happy New Year! We'd happy to take a look in the new year after the holidays. Please feel free to send a picture of the spot to our GM. (email shared...) She may be able to arrange to have someone come by to repair - naturally since the install was done in '09 it would be a trip charge. But once we see the pic we can determine more from the details. Thank you and have a great rest of '17! NoMow Turf Customer Care. *** Please note we did not receive a photo from you, as we requested (and as you stated you would send), which would have helped us understand the scope of the repair (or go-back as we like to call it). We noted that there would be a trip charge because the installation occurred many years ago and would be out of warranty - this is standard protocol to inform our clients to protect both the client and us - but as I indicated, pictures would have helped - we usually go above and beyond for these types of requests and when we are in the area we can tend to it, especially if it's a quick fix. 1/1/18 New Year's Day: Without any warning or dialogue you posted a negative review on Yelp. You had yet to send the requested pictures, that certainly would have helped and in all honesty, would have prevented all of this. You did this simply for the fact that we mentioned a possible trip charge for a repair we were under no obligation to perform. This is the essence of your offense. 1/2/18: You continued to post on Google, Facebook, My Good reviews site - all one star negative ratings, while there was no interaction with me, the business owner, to explain why we would deserve such a thing. 1/2/18: At the behest and advice of my rep at Yelp and another social media consultant, I did what most all small businesses with a strong social media profile do when confronted with this situation, do the best you can to reason with the client and fix whatever is needed. *****We reached an agreement to make the repair, even while client continued hold negative reviews over our head. Repair would be done when we were in the client's neighborhood. 1/16/18: 8:56 am. You posted another negative review on Better Business Bureau. This is with the understanding in place that we had an agreement to go back and do the repair. ******** That was the final straw... One would simply ask, who does that? We made a decision to post all of this information for interested parties to view and decide for themselves against a backdrop of many many happy and satisfied customers! In all honesty, I can rest assured knowing that we have done and continue to do what we do everyday, which is to endeavor to please our customers each and every time we are hired to do so. The preponderance of evidence of our superb customer service and quality experience is shown in our stellar profiles throughout our online presence. Thank you for the time it took to read this!

Service Provider Response

Point taken. We will try to respond in a faster fashion. Thanks for your business!

Service Provider Response

It was our mistake for charging this customer for the return grooming of his lawn. We used to have a program whereby we provided one complimentary brush-up. Due to the fact that we're not really set up as a maintenance company we no longer offer that as a regular service. Therefore it was a mix up on our part for the charge. Incidentally, the charge was refunded and an offer for another subsequent brush-up was put forth. To this day, we have not heard back from the client, either for acknowledging the refund or the offer for another maintenance. Instead, we received a negative post on Angie's List. As far as the actual work completed, my communication to the customer was that when we were in the area we would stop by to brush up for free. Sometimes we're able to give more notice than other times. On balance though, I see where the client might have been a little frustrated, but in the grand scheme of things, especially people to people issues, his reaction is overdone and overstated. His comment above of having "overpaid" is unfounded given the quality of turf selected and the overall bid value. Sure, he might have been given slightly lower total quotes from the other companies he mentions, but at the expense of a lower quality turf. Enough said. On the whole, we have a long history of satisfying many clients and providing great value. See other posts for other opinions! Thanks.