S & S Lawn Service

Service went well.  This is a standard lawn service company at a standard price.

It was $800 for the season. They were horrible. They ruined our lawn. When they came first to cut the lawn, they cut up some of our landscaping. They dug up some of our lawn with their lawn mower, because they had too big a lawn mower for our property. It was uneven. One part of the grass would be really long and the other part would be really short. It was just a nightmare! Then they fertilized and they burnt the lawn. Some of the weeds, like a fungus, came on the lawn. They left a fungus and then they wouldn't return your phone calls. They were bad. It is not brain surgery! It is come and cut the lawn and lay down chemicals. They seemed like a kid in high school who could care less. And you are not going to yell at a kid.

 I spoke to the girl and confirmed that she felt threatened by the man. I got the company's web site address from the side of the truck and called the company on the phone right then. When I asked to speak to the head of the company, the woman refused to give me his name and I was refused access to him. I asked for a return phone call and was told I would get one. No one from S&S called me in the next few days, so I called back. Again the woman who answered the phone refused to tell me the name of the owner of the company and refused to give me any details of how or if the incident had been dealt with. Her attitude was very unhelpful. At that point I gave up trying to communicate with the company.

Even though I was not the direct employer of S&S Lawn Service at the time, I did witness the threatening behavior of one of their employees to a young girl in my neighborhood; and did experience first hand the rude and unhelpful behavior of the company representative on the phone. I still have no idea if my complaint ever even went any further than two conversations with a very rude woman who answered the phone.

Note: I am not sure of the exact date, but do know that this happened in the spring of 2012.

My first service experience began with 2 no shows.  My contract was suppose to begin with a service 4 (core aeration, reseed,

fertilization, broadleaf control Sep 2012.  After 2 no shows it was November 2012 when they wanted to aerate and reseed.  Versus cancelling we agreed to make the contract start with first service in 2013.
First service after I called to complain and ask where they were, was April 2013.  Late for Virginia to be getting the best out of pre-emergent weed control.  My very well maintained lawn (thanks to TruGreen prior season) now looked liked a forest.  After two weeks the product didn't make a dent even in the dandelions.  I saw no evidence of any weed wilting.  I finally hand weeded the major weeds out of my 11,500 foot of lawn thinking this might help the 2nd service get ahead of the problem. I also had to resolve a billing mix-up as they started to claim my first service was actually my second.  I did get resolution on my third phone call.
Second service early summer was fertilization, pre-emergence, broadleaf control and grub proofing.  They finally showed up 24 May for this.  My bigger frustration was I noticed red thread developing and asked for someone to come out and confirm and treat.  I even offered to pay extra.  Bottom line is they kept promising and never showed to even evaluate until the second service.
Between 2nd service and 3rd weeds did not appear to be impacted at all.  I asked for a re-inspection and retreatment .  Promise after promise no one showed.  As a test I went to Home Depot and bought some over the counter Bayer lawn weed spray.  I sprayed many of the troubled areas and saw visible weed wilting within 8 hours just like the product advertised.  Basically, whatever S&S was putting down was so watered down or sparse, it couldn't even compete with a Home Depot product.
Just after the 3rd service, 20 July, Post Emergence, Insect control, Fungus control. I asked if they were going to treat at least the visible areas of the Red Thread again and complained again about no visible impact on the weed control.  They have never come back out to even look at anything and it is now 19 Sep and getting late for the core aeration and reseeding.
Bottom line, I had to go to southern States and buy a commercial product which I used twice with a two week spacing and I now seem to have gotten the upper hand.  My lawn has only survived the S&S Lawn Experience thanks to Southern States and Home depot commercial products which I did the labor to apply.
I've asked to speak to someone in Management at S&S but no one is ever apparently there and no one has ever returned a call.
From what I can tell, they either skimped, watered down, or used inferior products.  I had to supplement everything.  Weed control  Insect control, Grub control, and Fungus control and apply myself.
In prepping for 2014, I had another company evaluate which soil tested several areas.  Their tests showed the yard was under-fertilized.  Another confirmation of product or service deficiency.
I am going back to TruGreen for 2014.  Their product works and they retreat as promised.  Do not be fooled by S&S Lawn Services comprehensive list of services performed.  Not one is of quality to warrant the expense.  Better to do yourself.

2 guys show up and in 1/2 hour or so, they are done, front, back, side, edging and blowing off grass clippings. I live on a side of a rather large hill. I do not have to be at home when they come, but I can always tell they have been there. Perfect height of the grass.

S&S provided services in the spring of 2012. I paid in advance for a year. In the fall they seeded. They also seeded my flower beds. I had excessive grass growing in my flower beds this Spring. I called several times to ask them to correct this problem but no one ever responded.  They did not return this spring, 2013, except the 1st week of March, the day before a predicted snow storm, making the product they applied worthless. I called several times to request service and was told it would be done but never given a date. Since this is a time sensitive service I cancelled the end of April and requested a refund. I have not received a refund to date. No one returns my calls!

S&S Lawn Services Inc. We just started using this company.  I am happy with what they have done so far.  They were just out here last Friday.   They have a reasonably informative website.  They left a package with their quote so you can look over and see everything that they do.  I think the price is reasonable.  It's less than what we paid last year and the year before.  We are not going to use all of the services that they offered because my wife wants to do some of the work herself, like mulching and planting and such.  I should say ourselves.  So far it's just the grass cutting.  I guess punctuality is fine.  I don't know how long it took them, but it was our first visit so.

I have requested a refund.

He replaced our tree, and within a year it had died.  He came out and looked at it, and replaced it with no cost. We would use again in the future.  Any time there is a problem, he came out and fixed it.  There was no complications, and hes very easy to work with, and his prices were very competitive.

I was completely disappointed with S&S Lawn Care's work. They did not arrive on the date promised, the work was horrible (beds did not look edged, mulch was strewn sloppily around, I had to ask them to re-do several very crooked edges) and they destroyed my husband's vegetable garden. They were very unresponsive when I asked them to come back to fix their work and when they finally did come back after a month of phone calls, they did nothing to improve the situation. Overall it was a miserable experience working with S&S, not to mention $500 wasted.