Affordable Sprinkler Care By Jeff Bender
About us
14 employees. No subs. Cost is determined by the job. No travel charges. Service call fee applies. License 0501509. Extra charge for after hours service applies.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Lawn Maintanace, Sprinkler Repair & Maintenance. New irrigation installations. Lawn Fertilization
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 80% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 6% |
Contacted Jeff Bender Sprinklers in April to repair broken sprinkler pipe. Jeff Bender Sprinklers is an acquired company under Arrow Environmental Services based in Sarasota, Florida. On April 27th, John from Jeff Bender Sprinklers came out and repaired the broken pipe. The break was complicated and several T fittings and elbows had to be replaced that fed into 3 sprinkler valves. I was satisfied with John's work, paid him in cash and even gave him a $10 tip.
In early July, I noticed water pooling in the same area where the pipes were fixed in April. I called Arrow Environmental Services (the parent company of Jeff Bender Sprinklers) and requested someone come out and fix it. Three days later on a Friday, Steve from Arrow came out without tools, looked at the pool of water, and declared that he'll have to get Jeff Bender Sprinklers out on Monday to dig up the area to determine the problem. I reminded Steve that I had called this issue in the previous Monday and I wasn't interested in waiting until the next Monday to get the repairs effected. Steve agreed to come back the next day, Saturday, to what I thought was going to be the repair of the pipe. True to his word, Steve came back the next day with a shovel and dug out around the broken pipe. He observed that the broken pipe looked new and I remarked that it was the same pipe that John had installed in April. Steve then indicated he would have to get John back out to get it fixed.
The following week, John and Jeff Bender came out to inspect the pipe - this is where the absolution of responsibility began. They both indicated that the break must have been the result of soil erosion - the shifting of soil around the pipe. Really? In two months? Was there an earthquake I missed somewhere? John indicated that the soil could shift if there were air pockets in the soil. I reminded John that HE WAS THE ONE THAT FILLED IN THE HOLE AFTER HE FIXED THE PIPE. John and Jeff left without fixing the pipe indicating that someone from Arrow would contact me on this issue. Nobody called.
I called Arrow Environmental the next day and asked to have a manager or supervisor contact me. On Tuesday, I was contacted by a "Richard" who indicated he was the manager. I explained to Richard the complete chronology of this issue and asked what Arrow was planning to do to resolve the issue - in short I was told by Richard that nothing would be done because it was not their fault that pipe had broke. I asked to speak to the owner of the company and Richard stated that there was no owner - the company was owned by a private equity firm. I find it appalling that any company would absolve themselves from responsibility on the repair work they performed.
"Let me start by saying this , 1. I am Jeff Bender I have never ever been out to your house. 2.There IS NO WARRANTY ON A BROKEN PIPE how can we warranty the pvc wont crack again or something hit etc . 3. Steve King had been working with us for a month prior to coming out to your house . There is no way he would have a clue what pipe was fixed its 18 inches or more below ground and covered in dirt . 4. NEVER NEVER EVER HAS A PIPE WE FIXED FAILED THIS JUST DOES NOT HAPPEN Now we did repair a pipe for you 3 months ago there is no way we can warranty this the only way we would be if the tech did not glue it. THIS JUST DOES NOT HAPPEN !! LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR IF ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS FIX A BROKEN PIPE THEN JUST TO KEEP A CUSTOMER HAPPY I WOULD DO IT FREE. HOWEVER A MOWER OR CAR SOMETHING HEAVY HIT THIS PIPE AND BROKE THIS. THIS IS NOW NOT A SIMPLE PIPE REPAIR IN ORDER TO FIX IS WE HAVE TO REBUILD THE MANIFOLD FOR YOUR VALVES THIS IS LIKE A $400 JOB I am truly sorry you don't understand this but this is not our fault and neither can we occur the cost of replacing all your valves and solenoids . the original job we did for you was only $100 If you would like to meet I will be glad to come out see if we can agree on something that makes you happy. I am on vacation until august 1 . Here is my personal phone number 239-246-2658"
Will call them in the future.
"ONCE AGAIN THIS COMPANY WILL NOT BE HELD HOSTAGE BY SOMEONE WHO CALLS IN FOR SERVICE SCHEDULES A APPT AND WILL NOT PAY FOR 6 MONTHS . FIRST OFF THE SERVICE TECH WHO WAS OUT THERE WAS 53 YEARS OLD HARDLY A KID. HE WAS THERE 30 MINUTES DOING A TUNE UP WE HAVE GPS TO PROVE IT !!!! WE GAVE YOU A PRICE TO DO THE REPAIRS YOU COULD NOT AFFORD IT AND WE LEFT YOU THE TUNE UP/ SERVICE CALL CHARGE . FOR 6 MONTHS YOU NEVER WOULD RESPOND TO CALLS OR INVOICES . HOWEVER ONCE WE FILED A 10 DAY NOTICE YOU CAME OUT OF KNOW WHERE . FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS ?? YOU ALSO ARE USING A FICITIOUS NAME YOUR REAL IS MELINDA LOPEZ AND WHEN WE CALL YOU, YOU WOULD TELL US WE HAD THE WRONG HOUSE . WE DID NOTHING WRONG !!!! OUR NAME AND SERVICE HAS BEEN TARNISHED BY PEOPLE LIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU WANT TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET OUT OF PAYING YOUR BILL PERIOD !!! FYI YOU NEVER TALKED TO ME THATS A LIE AND YOU ONLY EVER TALKED TO OUR COLLECTIONS DEPT . WE HAVE WON THE ANGIES LIST SUPER SERVICE AWARD EVERY YEAR SINCE 2009 NOW WE WILL NOT WIN BECAUSE I PUT MY FOOT DOWN ON PEOPLE LIKE YOU PLAY GAMES TO GET OUT PAYING FOR A SERVICE PROVIDED . PLEASE READ ALL THE GOOD WRITE UPS ON US PRIOR TO THE CUSTOMERS WHO SIMPLY REFUSE TO PAY FOR A SERVICE . SINCERLY JEFF BENDER"
Don't use this company they are absolutely horrible to deal with.
I won't write out a long boring story, so I will just give you the cliff notes. I asked for a free estimate to have work done. A guy shows up, parks on my lawn, and then throws his cigarette butt on my lawn. That was before he didn't shake my hand. He then turns on the system, throws marker flags all over the place, and then criticizes every aspect of the way the original sprinklers were setup using profanity.
A free service call turns into a $70 bill although I repeatedly disputed and contacted them explaining that there was no service rendered. After a year of no contact from them and intermittent invoices, they send me a letter with intent to lien on my property. Yes, for $70 they are that hard up. It was a scare tactic for me to pay the bill, but I didn't sign anything, nor would it hold up in small claims course.
I tried to settle with them and say you know what, fine, I will pay for the service call. They wouldn't even do that so I just paid the full bill because I don't have time to deal with this anymore. It was a really terrible experience dealing with the people at the office too.
Be careful when dealing with this company people of SWFL...whatever decoy name they use this year. Scotland Yard, Affordable Sprinklers, Jeff Bender, who knows what their name is, but they will take your money for doing nothing.
Here you go you shysters, you won! You made $70 off me by throwing some flags in my yard. You have to love Angie's list, and not only that, old school word of mouth goes a long way.
"1. LET'S GET THE STORY STRAIGHT ...You wrote a NSF CHECK .... Therefore $35.99 TUNE UP / SERVICE CALL AND BANK FEES FOR BAD CHECK . PRETTY SIMPLE 2. I HAVE YOUR RECORDED MESSAGE ASKING FOR A $35.99 SPRINKLER TUNE UP YOU NEEDED HEADS ADJUSTED AND HAD SEVERAL BROKEN HEADS .. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO HEAR IT ???? 3. WE PROVIDED A SERVICE AND SPENT TIME AT YOUR PROPERTY TO GO OVER YOUR SYSTEM WE DID GIVE YOU A ESTIMATE FOR REPAIRS. WE ADJUSTED YOUR HEADS , CHECK FOR LEAKS AND BROKEN HEADS , SET TIME TO CODER SET EACH ZONE FOR RUN TIMES , CLEANED FILTER , UNCLOG COUPLE HEADS AND DIAGNOSED YOUR VALVES AND SOLENOIDS . HOW DO YOU THINK WE CAN DO THIS FOR FREE ???? 4. PAUL WAS THE TECH WHO WAS THERE HE DOES NOT SMOKE ...... 5. I HAVE A LETTER FROM YOU THAT SAYS WHEN YOU GOT HOME YOU SEEN THAT NO WORK WAS PERFORMED ... HOW IS IT THAT THE TECH DID NOT SHAKE YOUR HAND AND WAS SMOKING ???? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE LETTER ?? STRIKES ME FUNNY AT THE END OF THE YEAR THE CUSTOMERS WHO OWE US MONEY AND WE THREATEN THEM WITH COLLECTIONS AND NEVER RESPOND TO US UNTIL THIS TIME COME OUT OF THE WOOD WORK AND TRY TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO RUIN OUR REPUTATION .. IN CLOSING I HAVE YOUR VOICE MAIL ASKING FOR A SPRINKLER TUNE UP FOR $35.99 AND YOU HAD A COUPON FOR IT .. YOUR CHECK WAS NSF ... YES I OWN 3 OTHER COMPANIES 3 DIFFER FOR THAT MATTER ONE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER AND ON OUR INVOICE IT SHOWS ALL 3 NAMES OF EACH NOBODY IS HIDING OR SCAMMING . I OWN THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES : AFFORDABLE SPRINKLERS BY JEFF BENDER SCOTLAND YARD PEST CONTROL AND SHUR SHOT POOL SERIVCE NEITHER HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER EXCEPT THE OWNER ... THIS COMPANY WILL NOT BE HELD HOSTAGE BY SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET OUT OF PAYING FOR A SERVICE PERIOD !!!!!!!"
I call to ask for a proposal to do the work as I had seen their trucks I my neighborhood. Jeff arrived about two hours later and we reviewed the existing system and what changes needed to be made. He was here approximately 3-45 minutes. I later received the proposal and an invoice for 35.99 in the mail. No mention had been made of a charge for an estimate.
His estimate was fairly priced, but since I was not aware they would charge for the estimate I was hesitant to use them as I might expect other unexpected charges.
"(Member name removed) , I am sorry you are unhappy however we provided a sprinkler tune up we had to go through the system to make adjustments and check for leaks and breaks etc to see how we could improve your system . That took about a hour $35.99 was just that to go through the system and that bill was left with you back in July . We had no clue you were not happy until we called you for the money .... Once we did everything we could to your system to improve what you have we left you a estimate on what it would take to improve it or repair . Obviously if we spent a hour there we did provide a service . We cannot go through a system and do the adjustments a check for the all the things we did for free . However since you are unhappy with this charge I am willing to CREDIT the charge towards and of your repairs if you call me . Thank you Jeff Bender ."
In response to their response which to me was absolutely ridiculous!
It's so frustrating that the company won't talk to me personally or take responsibility for selling me something that NEVER WORKED CORRECTLY! There were eight different people on numerous occasions who came to my house from the period of time of May 2013 I'm till May 2014. My system has been disabled since May 2014. The last word I heard was the new pump needed a part which had been ordered and electrical needed to be changed from 110 to 220. The electrical was then disconnected and nobody called me since. When I called Boots to find out what was going on BECAUSE nobody from the office would call me back he apologized and said he no longer works for Jeff Bender he was fired over stolen checks and that he could not help me until I no longer have a contract with them. I NEVER PAID ANY EMPLOYEE UNDER THE TABLE AND I DON'T APPRECIATE BEING ACCUSED OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS JEFF BENDER! All of your employees, including Boots we're here under the name of Jeff Bender sprinklers trying to fix the problems from Paul, Tyler, Frado and Spike. I also think it's interesting that four of his workers that were at my house are no longer with his company why because they were incompetent I don't know or was it just the company that was incompetent? One thing I do know for sure is I was the only person constant through the more than 30 service calls they say they had at my house they had over eight different workers that came over with a serious lack of communication to the office so I find it very interesting that Jeff Bender could know exactly what went down when he never even contact me personally! Bottom line is they NEVER DID A BUCKET TEST WHEN THEY QUOTED THE INSTALLATION so they had no idea what kind of pump and how many lines that the well could manage! This whole event has been extremely exhausting for me in all my time and money, I have all the documentation to back up this information and have been calling them on a weekly basis for almost a year!
"The customer has since Dec 27th sent me a letter to the fact that she clearly stated she is happy with the pump she has now and is willing to pay her past due balance and has admitted to the fact that there was a unlicensed contractor (boots) who changed her electrical from 110 to 220 on the weekend . She also has apologized for all of this . She has requested that we come back and hook up a switch for the pump and for now since she cannot afford to fix her electric she would like to plug in the pump to a extension cord then she will pay us and sign off and retrack her letter to angies list saying she was happy . However we cannot plug in the pump into a extension cord as it will catch on fire . Once again we have gone above and beyond to make her happy but simply we cannot control mother nature and well going dry ."
They had their staff Horticulturist contact me the next day to arrange a visit
Follow up for appointment was great and right on the dot Jerry showed up
He walked my yard and gave me his thoughts on treatment and options
His experience and demeanor made me a believer right away - and I signed up on the spot
He then treated my outside for insects and explained what would happen next
I'd recommend these folks to anyone for their promptness and communication as well as experience in lawn/ palms/ shuddery and home treatments
If he had been on time or called it would have been an A event.
Note this was an irrigation call, not pest control or fertilizing!
"We pride ourselves on being on time and the techs are suppose to call if running late and for that matter early . I sincerely apologize for the ball being dropped . I have checked into this and the office failed to put a phone number on the work order it was human error which rarely happens however the tech should have called the office and asked for your number . We will be having a meeting this afternoon to prevent this from happening again . Please accept my apology and your next tune up will be on the house.."
"the yard was all weeds when we started this is why you were putting in irrigation in first place we have pictures of your lawn .. First the job was not as expected the whole lawn front yard was full of roots . True we had a employee walk of the job and quit but it was due to the difficulty created by the roots . THERE WAS NO SINK HOLE IN GARAGE AND WATER WAS NOT CUT !!! We did find where we had cut the septic line that were hidden in the roots .We were unable to fix the septic line because the supply store was closed Friday night so we could not get parts . We were there first thing Saturday morn to repair it .No other company was hired to do this repair we fixed it free . The yard was tore up because of all the roots we had to chain saw and hand chop for a few days in order to lay the lines for irrigation .Granted the job did not go as planned /hoped but we stuck to our estimate even though it tooks us 3 times as long and 4 times the man power . We even gave you 6 months of free lawn care for the inconvenience . All in all we did all we could as a company to make you happy everything was totally out of our control there was no way we could predict that the lawn was full of old oak tree roots ... In parting when we gave you the free lawn care for 6 months you were understanding now that the free service is up you right a bad review on us . We aim and strive to please everyone no matter what it takes .."
"Very sorry about the truck he did have a tie rod break on him im glad you were taking care of and will use us again ."
"Thank you [member name removed] we love our customers and appreciate you biz."
"I want to personally apologize for the the tech missing one of the heads that needed to be capped it was human error . If there is anything we can to do to make it up to you free service call or tune up it will be at no charge . We strive for perfection the tech that was out there is a very good tech and has been with us a long time it was a over sight as I said . We will do whatever it takes to make sure you are totally happy ."
Licensing
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