Yardmasters Inc

This is the second time I have used Yardmasters, Inc. The first time (2017, I think) we actually went into the office met the staff (the women, I must preface that) and scheduled and appointment to have someone come out and go over what we wanted to do with our yard. Someone came out within a week or so and did everything we asked. The yard looked great. The price was a little high, but it was our first job and had nothing to go by and it was quite a bit of work so we didn’t think much about it. After three weeks, the plants died, they came back out, put new plants in at no charge and we were happy. Fast forward, we lost everything in the 2021 freeze, I called the office in early July, and was scheduled for mid August. I was like ok. That is quite a while, but I was guessing everyone had the same problem we did. Gentlemen arrives, late, no apologies, I explain what I am looking for, basically same set up, except, we have to add new soil because of root rot (hence the reason we lost the plants). He says, no problem. I give him all of MY information as he will be dealing with me. He says he will have the quote out in a a few days. Cool. One week, two weeks, on the third week I call. The lovely ladies tell me that he indeed sent the quote out, to my husband. Where did he get my husband’s email?? Never followed up with me?? So the lovely ladies send the quote out to me. It is for almost the exact amount of what we paid the first time. Weird.. But, they dis such a great job, I call her and pull the trigger, ANOTHER month to scheduled. Ok. Day of install, everything going great.. Guys leave, I notice the plants look a little like they have been purchased from a clearance rack. Not all, but about half. So I say, let’s give them a little time to see if they perk up. A week goes by, I find out my irrigation line was accidentally cut and so I call, same gentleman says take pictures send to email, if it is determined it is us, we may be able to get someone out there maybe next week…. HUH? I have an invoice for $1500 sitting here and you want me to wait on you, not water me plants, while you determine if you cut the line? So within 5 minutes, lovely ladies call me and within an hour someone is here repairing the line. Thank you sweet lady! So we are watching these plants turn to twigs. I get a call today saying Mrs. Cook, I have an invoice for you not paying for work and I say yes sir, we need to talk about these plants. He immediately says, well take pictures and the owner will determine, but plants are not under warranty. Sir, Lowe’s offers a warranty on their plants. So I call back, tell him invoice is paid in full and we will NEVER do business with Yardmasters, Inc again. I sent pictures of the pathetic plants to the email. This guy is horrible for your company. I don’t know who he is or how he fits in, but he definitely needs training. I am glad to see that you have so many customers that you can treat this poorly and believe they will stay with you….

Everything seemed to go well at first. Randy came out and was punctual, courteous and easy enough to talk to. However, to make a long story short, they didn't fix my drainage issues — not by a long shot. They installed a new bed, dug two holes in the earth, ran some PVC pipe to my fence between my house and my neighbors, put plastic covers over the "drains" and called it done. Well, the water didn't have anywhere to go, and just sat down in the bottom of the drains and/or bubbled up between the two houses and created a swamp on the other side of the fence. Plus the drainage was inadequate. As such, I really couldn't water like I should have and before I knew it, everything they'd planted was dead or dying. I have a neighbor who has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Texas A&M and told me the black mulch they used was of poor quality (dyed black), which may also have contributed to the early demise of my brand new plants. So I basically felt like I took a lighter to $2,200. I called another company, and they came out and fixed my drainage problem by installing seven box drains in my backyard, tieing all my downspouts into it, and running a french drain line all the way to the street. They completely redid the flowerbed area and planted stuff they knew would do well in that shady area under the tree. They used a high quality, black mulch. That was three weeks ago and my drainage problem has been finally solved and the plants are all thriving. I do not believe Yardmasters took the time to really provide a solution for my problem. All the money and time I spent with them was a waste. On that basis, I would not recommend them. Maybe they're okay for very simple, straightforward yard work, I don't know. But they definitely weren't up to the challenge I presented.

unknown

They do a good job.

Very well. So much so, that I've contracted with them to come weekly.

I was disgusted with my company, I've had them for years.

The yard looks great when I get home on Wednesdays and love that my husband isn't slaving away in the summer heat after work anymore.  They do a much better job than we can on our own.  With two little kids it's almost impossible to keep up with yard work.  I don't understand the negative reviews.  If you can do it better, do it yourself.

Terri in the office is great to work with and is very helpful if you need anything.  I highly recommend.

unknown

Yardmasters is a great company. My lawn always looks fantastic, they are very responsive when I need anything extra done, and they even accommodate my pets. Prices are fair and their office staff coild not be more friendly. I highly recommend them.

unknown

They always do good service. They leave the area clean. They do everything they are supposed to. I think that other companies do it a little bit cheaper from what I have heard, but we are okay with the price because we are still using them. We do not have them come on a certain day. We do not have a set time, but as long as the weather is good, they are here when they are supposed to be.  

unknown

I am pleased with that they do but I think they are expensive. The scheduling was good.

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From the very beginning, it was not good.  

2. I don't recall the exact date of my first call to YM, but I spoke to Arnette, explained service I was looking for.  He said he would have someone call me to schedule an appointment.  On February 25th, I made my 2nd call and thru Arnette, or possibly Teri Fuller, an appointment was set for February 28th, for Randy Fuller come give me an estimate.  He showed up and hour early.  Because I was in the middle of something else, I asked him to come back at the originally scheduled time.  When he returned, we walked the yard and I explained what I was looking for and emphasized the main reason I contacted Yardmasters was because they weeded the beds weekly.  He did not take notes, simply walked thru and listened.  He said he would get back to me with an estimate.  By March 7th, I did not have an estimate, phone call from YM or Randy.  3rd call, asked for Randy - he was out.  I asked for Arnette, epxlained Randy had come and promised estimate but I had not received. He put me on hold, came back and said he had found bid and would send over.  I then worked thru Teri Fuller to iron out details and day of service.  Although I wanted service to be done on Fridays, I was told,  "No, our yard crews are only in your neighborhood on Thursdays unless it rains and we are delayed."  I agreed to Thursday service and they were to begin on March 14th.  

Initially, the work was ok.  Nothing extraordinary, but ok.  After they crew left, I noticed they had left the bags of trash on the curb.  Upon inquiring about this with YM, they told me they do not haul the bags off but, for an additional $20/month would do it - I agreed.  The next week, the bags were left again.  Called YM one more time.  In speaking with Teri, she told me Randy had not told the crew this was to be done.  Randy did come by himself and pick up the bags.  
On March 14th, I sent an email asking if they could remove a fountain and brick base from our backyard.  I had also discussed with Randy about having some flowers planted in front.  On the 18th of March, they sent an estimate for flowers - to which I agreed.  As far as the fountain being removed, they would get a bid on that to me later.  They planted 6 flats and hauled away two wheel barrows of dirt.  The day the work was to be done, my husband and I had been gone.  When we pulled up, we both thought they had not come to do the work.  Then, we see tiny flowers had been planted.  It was not at all what I was expecting for the money we agreed to pay.  I asked they take them out. Almost two weeks later, I did receive a bid for removal of the fountain.  I agreed to the fee and they eventually removed the fountain to which I have no complaints except the untimely manner in which it took to provide a bid.  However, this could be out of the norm for YM.
  
On another occasion, I asked Randy to come over, I had several things I wanted done.  Again, he did not take notes. The main job was installing flagstone in the backyard where the fountain had been removed but, included some sprinkler system work, replacing Boxwoods and staking a small flowing bush.  When I did receive the estimate, he quoted for the sprinkler repair and replacing Boxwoods, nothing else.  I called and asked about the flagstone, they sent a revised estimate but again left off staking the bush.  I finally told them to just replace Boxwoods.  When they replaced them, I was shocked at how terribly puny and small they were.  I asked to get bigger ones and they told me there were none available.  I had YM remove them and did not pay for them.  I easily found larger Boxwoods and had them planted by another company.  
 
Over the next weeks, the weeding was done less and less and it seemed blowing the beds & yard was optional.  I called the office and asked they reiterate with the crew this needed to be done, but to no avail.  Although I was paying for grass trimmings to be taken off, there were clumps of grass left throughout the yard week after week, which I suspect were dropped from the enormous mower they used.  The weekly service became more and more sloppy.
At one point, as I entered the back yard through the side gate, I noticed a large paver beside the sidewalk.  Upon further investigation, I realized the paver had been moved from the outdoor grill area and placed there to cover the huge rut they had created over the weeks of driving the huge mower through the gate.   
 
The week of July 4th, the crew came on Wednesday instead of Thursday.  I suspected this was due to a short holiday week, which was fine.  After the crew came on Wednesday two or three other times, I called YM.  They said they would handle and have them come on Thursday.  THE NEXT WEEK, THEY WERE BACK ON WEDNESDAY.  This time when I asked YM, they told me "We run five crews and they follow the same routes every week, when the Wednesday schedule has fewer lawns on it they start on the Thursday morning schedule on Wednesday afternoons"  Which is much different than  "No, our yard crews are only in your neighborhood on Thursdays unless it rains and we are delayed." which is the answer they gave me when I originally asked for Friday service.   When I reminded YM our agreement was for service on Thursdays, they asked if I wanted to discontinue service if they couldn't come on Thursdays.  THIS IS NOT THE BEHAVIOR OF A COMPANY THAT THINKS OF IT'S CUSTOMERS FIRST.  Needless to say, I waited to terminate the service until I found someone else.  The crew continued to come on Wednesdays.  Once I found another yard service and cancelled my service, they then bill me for a full month!  I guess I should not be shocked.    
My observation, they are looking for easy money and are  not focused on getting the job done right or putting the needs and wants of the customer first.
Arnette and Teri were helpful and professional.

They responded promptly to my call and began the service within days.

See above

The service was excellent.  They have cleaned up and hauled off all debris.  My only complaint is
 the cost.  This is the second time we have used them and have been very pleased both times.

They came during the day while I was at work. They cut the yard way too short. Scalded the yard in several places because it was too short. I told them to bag the yard which they did, but there were still grass clumps in the yard. The edges were not cut very well. They didn't weed eat the cracks in the driveway very well as weeds were still popping up.

I don't write long reviews. Either someone I hired did the job well or they didn't. Yardmasters did the job well and I will continue to use them for all my lawn based needs.
They subbed out the palm tree, and if you saw it, you wouldn't blame them. The subs were late and weren't really about communication or chronological specificity, but when it got down to getting the job done, they did it amazingly well. I don't mind waiting for good service so all was well. 
If you can, hire Yardmasters to do your regular lawn maintenance. They are really fun to watch with the amount of work the get done in about 15 minutes or so.
Worth every penny.

They drafted a nice design, were very professional, and showed up on time for work.  Furthermore, they did a great job of implementing the designs.

I have never had any problems with them; they are on time and do a good job.

Hired to do weekly and then biweekly lawn care.  Very responsive both on the phone and by email.  Small company and easy to deal with.  Great customer service.  Work was done professionally and quickly and clean up was good.  Thought it was a little pricey but I am new to the area and after looking around seems that they charged the same or little less than other companies.  Nice job.

I am very pleased with their service.  They are more expensive than the folks that charge $20-$25 per week.  But I feel like I'm getting what I pay for.  They are reliable and show up on the same day each week unless it's raining that day.  On occasion, I've thought they skimped a little on the weeding.  But when I call to report it, they send someone out quickly who takes care of it.  I highly recommend them.

We hired Yardmasters when we anticipated moving out of the country for six months, and needed reliable yard care with electronic billing. They did exactly what they said they would do - cut the grass, trim and blow the clippings away. One of the attractions of this company was they specifically told me they only hire documented workers. We wanted to support local businesses and were willing to do so, even though it's possible to get grass cut for less using illegals. We had a few hiccups such as our citrus trees getting chewed up by the trimmers (so we put up metal cages around the trunks), but that's to be expected.  Communicating with the crew was difficult, but working with the office was simple and easy.