John Fowler Lawnscapes

As a preface, I responded to a glossy flier in my mail box advertising his service. He assessed my lawn and quoted me a price and left a contract in my mail-box for a seven month obligation at his assessed rate. I refused to sign a contract and he agreed to a per-month price plan for service rendered, but insisted that I must sign a contract after the first few trimmings. I should have looked elsewhere at this point, but I gave him an honest chance at my business against my better judgement. Trust your gut on these matters. It was a bad experience. The following is a letter I wrote to him detailing why his services were no longer required: Contract: You ("Lawnscapes by John Fowler") requested a signed seven month contract prior to any services performed based on a price assessed upon inspection of the property. Absolutely no business without substantial capital investment per client (i.e. satellite dishes/decoder boxes, cell phones, etc) asks for a seven month contract, or any contract at all. This sends up a big red flag that your service won't live up to customer expectations and, therefore, requires a contract in order to sustain revenue. A business has to render services or goods in equal proportion to what you ask of you prospective customer in contractual obligation. . A contract without skin risked on your end reeks of scam. It always a bad idea to demand a lengthy contract for 'soft services' (those with no material risk on your side and no significant cost benefit to the customer) unless you know beforehand that you can't meet the basic promises set forth in you business proposal and a short term business model is the only option. Now, imagine going out to eat at a restaurant that just opened up and of which you know nothing about other than that they put an advertisement in your mailbox with a basic menu and prices. After you order is taken, you are presented with a contract stating that you will only eat there for seven months or pay for all meals entailed during that period. What a great deal… "They promise to serve me for seven months and I have to only eat there during that time". Its a laughable FAIL. 2. Quality: You left a large pile of leaves in my yard on the first service. You called and left a voice mail message in regards to methods of disposal, but I wasn’t there and you chose to leave a pile of leaves on my lawn. On your last mowing, after I informed you that I no longer required your service, you failed to cut the back yard in entirety. I paid you in full anyway. Also, the aeration was poor in density. It looked hasty in application, as barely any surface area was punctured. Also, you told me that you were going to call me with a quote. You did not, and proceeded to perform the task with no price agreed upon. Also, I did not ask for seeding or fertilizer service, but you performed it, again with no price agreed upon. The seeding and fertilization performed was sparse at best, and without straw, had no chance of germination after the first rain. I would have requested straw and specified seed type if we had discussed anything other than aeration, but we did not. FAIL. 3. Communication: You told me that you were going to call me with a quote for aeration. . You did not, and proceeded to perform the task with no price agreed upon. Also, I did not ask for seeding or fertilizer service, but you performed it, again with no price agreed upon. This took place two weeks after we spoke of the service. During which time I scheduled East TN Lawn-care, the company fertilizing my lawn, to perform the service, as you never followed up on my query. I cancelled their appointment, but only because I was home when you showed up. If not, I would have had duplicate services performed. FAIL. 4. Common Sense: You mowed my lawn a week after the first visit when it did not need mowing. You and your employee had already started by the time I saw you and you asked if it was alright, basically acknowledging that it wasn’t needed, as it was not…..you'd just just mowed seven days before and there was barely any late March growth . I assume that you performed this unnecessary mowing so that you could finish the month's 2-cutting duty within the last half of the month. Two weeks later, you mowed my lawn after it was only 3 days from my own cutting on the final visit. My lawn was embarrassingly over grown prior to your visit and I mowed it myself, assuming that you would notice and wait until a later date to cut it if you showed up shortly thereafter. You showed up three days later, and commenced to perform one of two monthly cuttings despite the fact that it did not need mowing. When I informed you that it 'doesn't need cutting', you replied; 'now it doesn’t because I just cut it'. Add "smartass" and/or "d******" to the list. Your choice. My lawn was 3- days from an aggressive 'fresh-cut' when you mowed last, and even onions and broad-leaf's weren't present due to the chemicals regularly applied. You should have called or delayed the ciutting, but you decided mow air and hoped for the best. Had you come a few days earlier, when you were actually needed, you would have found gobs of spring growth to cut. You elected to trim about one centimeter of growth from a freshly mowed lawn and then proceeded to act like you couldn’t tell the difference between a freshly mowed lawn and one which required cutting. So, you're a 'lawn care professional' by trade and you cant assess the length of grass in a lawn? EPIC FAIL. If you wish to make a living in an industry populated with countless teenagers using their dad's new lawn mowers and enjoying vast amounts of spare time for schedule flexibility/customer attention, you, frankly, need to get your s*** together. You need to rely more on merit and ditch the contracts. The only thing on which I'd give you a passing grade is your 'friendly attitude' and equipment quality. Anyway, I paid you in full, even though you totally half-assed the last cutting (incomplete back yard mowing, weed eating), ground aeration, seeding, and overall attention to detail. You have a very nice mower and a cordial demeanor, but everything else about your performance is lackluster at best. I now understand why you demand a full season's contract before you perform any work. That business model will be sustainable for about two or three years, regardless of how many slick fliers you post or banners you hang on your trailer. So: (A+) on paperwork, client interaction, and slick advertisement. (F-) on everything else. Good luck with that.