ADVANTAGE LAWN & LANDSCAPING

First off, I should note that the company was so busy that they could not schedule me until 3 weeks from the time I paid $239 for the 6 hour "special" on Angie's list. Provider's "foreman" walked the property with me and I showed him where I wanted him to concentrate removal of ivy and weeds. I asked for some leaf debris to be removed, and I asked for one small coniferous shrub to be trimmed. They were contracted for 6 labor hours. I also said I wanted the lawn mowed. The mowing of the front lawn is very important to me because my home owners' association will ask Baltimore City to fine me if I don't mow the lawn. This mowing would take a skilled mower less than one hour, leaving 5 hours for weeding and trimming. The terms of the contract specifically stated that mowing was an option, and that removal of debris from the property (as opposed to leaving it in bags for city removal) would be extra. My first shock was that the foreman told me that lawn mowing was the job of a different crew. He did not know if they would be avaialble and this decsision was up to the owner, who was not reachable. I also had not been able to make contact with Dan Trupia, the owner, but I assumed that once he was informed that my most urgent need was mowing, he would send the crew. When I returned several hours later, some weeding and ivy removal had been done, but there was no mowing performed, and minimal removal of leaf debris. It was impossible to know how much work they had done, because there were no bags left for disposal. if any were generated, they were removed by the crew. This was listed as costing extra, and I did not want it done that way. The City will remove my debris bags on a regular schedule. I followed up with several calls and e-mails to Dan. No one ever picked up at the number listed on the very impressive looking web site. After threatening to report him to Angie's list and the BBB, I got an email saying: "Very surprised and sorry to hear this! I will be asking my crew leader the details in the morning." Needless to say, I never heard back from Dan again, and he has not responded to my follow up calls or emails. This company feels like a front or a scam operation. In fact, I am surprised they even bothered to show up, but I guess that is what keeps them from being arrested and charged outright with fraud. It is exactly the kind of bait-and-switch operation that I had hoped to avoid by using Angie's list. Worse than anything else, it has completely ruined any confidence I might have had in Angie's List as a meaningful referral service. I can do better with my free local community bulletin board recommendations. So I give this comany an "F" but I give Angie's list a "D" for keeping them on their list of providers.