Stadden Landscape Management

From the very beginning I felt ripped off and regretted having hired this firm and especially having signed a year-long contract. Since I was paying a huge amount of money, I expected the work would be done. It wasn't always done and I certainly didn't get my money's worth. When I complained, I got absolutely no satisfaction whatsoever. Last summer (2008) there were two periods of over 3 weeks each when nothing was done. He said his workers didn't feel the grass was long enough to mow. I told him even if they didn't think the sunny front yard looked long enough to mow, the shady back yard had grass growing at least 6-8" and I really needed that to be cut because that's where I spend all my time. He wouldn't mow until the entire yard needed to be mowed. I asked if his workers could do weeding or trimming in place of mowing since I was paying for their services ... absolutely not. Everything is extra. Last fall I know they raked twice, but I never saw additional evidence raking was done. Leaves were not removed from the cellar window wells or from the gutters. As far as I know, no fall fertilizing was done - I never saw evidence of fertilizer pellets and I take my dog outdoors several times a day. They were also supposed to warn me when they did fertilize because of my dog. I was never reimbursed for this pre-paid service either. For 2.5 months since the snow melted, I've been waiting for Stadden to clean up the winter debris, do at least 1 grass mowing and fertilizing. They've done nothing. In my 12th monthly invoice, I was told they assumed I wanted to renew my annual contract at the same rate. With my final payment of $335 I wrote a letter saying under no circumstances did I want to renew my contract. A week later Stadden left a phone message. I returned his call leaving him a message saying I needed him to finish what I had paid for. Nothing happened for 2+ weeks. Yesterday, 5/13/09, I left him a message saying I needed everything finished ASAP so I could have a new person start my yard work and that I couldn't pay him for work which I had already pre-paid Stadden. Stadden finally called me back at work yesterday and said as far as he was concerned his work was done at the end of the plowing season and that it was time for me to go back and read my contract again. I told him it was not time for me to re-read my contract, but that it was time for me to go to the Better Business Bureau and I hung up. In just 1 day, yesterday, 5/13, my new gardener cleaned all the winter debris, hauled it away and mowed my lawn...charging only a mere fraction of what Stadden charged. I'm thrilled and know I will never get trapped in a horrible situation like that again! I wish Angie's List had plowing & landscaping services listed for my area last year when I had to find someone. I love this service and had fantastic experiences using it to find a roofer and a house painter last summer.