Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Purchased a home in May and my father inlaw had gardeners come out to tend to the yard parts he couldn't. My father inlaw passed in July and the company was notified that same month. In August I came outside to plants in the flower beds all cut off at ground level, to name one of problems. I found the company truck parked at the entrance of the driveway blocking the driveway, with no persons around. Im disabled so I had my roommate find the guys and had them talk to me.

  They stated they had a contract, they only showed part, and they'll move there truck and be right back. I notified them they cut out all the flowers and ferns in the beds that my father inlaw was tending to, they stated it was in the contract. I asked if they were in contact with my father inlaw about what he wanted done in detail. They left, with job half finished, mess all over and then my wife was contacted by the owner. He said that he had a contract with my father inlaw.

  I notified him again, he passed away and I have no knowledge of this contract. I asked why didn't they contact us, he stated no contact information, but called my wife. I told him about the damages and he was courteous to come out and fix it but I had to pay for the services my father inlaw had him do. I have no knowledge of what services he done nor would he give me a copy of the contract, just receipts.

  He then sent me a bill with a different amount of previous services. The only time I have seen them at the property doing work was while my father inlaw was still alive. Garret asked for photos of before and after. I sent him photos that were taken by the real-estate agent back in april/may, the only ones I have.

  We purchased the house in May. He got irrate and told me he was taking legal action and that I had to pay for all the previous work and current work with the removal of plants being my problem. I asked the local police to talk to him about the situation with no response other than another bill from Garrett.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/24/2023

  Good Afternoon,

  In regards to the property mentioned above at *** *** ****** *** ****** ** ******
  
  

  As mentioned we had a signed and dated contract in place with ****** ***** to perform weekly mowing, fertilization treatments and a landscape bed cleanup of overgrown shrubs/perennials. This signed agreement was forwarded to Mr. ******* with our attorney attached and he certainly received it. ****** *****'s daughter called our office in Mid July to let us know her father passed and that she needed to update account information and to see what services we were providing. At no point in time in her voicemail did she terminate services or email our office to terminate services. I called her back the next day and left a follow up voicemail with my condolences and what services we were currently providing. From there I never heard back from her or ***** ******* regarding the contract we had in place for the services we were providing. We were operating in good faith of our service contract agreement to honor that and continue services. As ****** ***** signed on behalf of their estate and we had no way of knowing he was not the actual homeowner.

  ***** and ***** ******* certainly knew we were still providing weekly mowing services and fertilizer services and never called to cancel those services. When we approached their landscape bed cleanup on our schedule we came out to service the property to perform pruning, weeding, etc. The photos they provided were not what the property looked like in May at all as myself and my Operations Manager were on site to give the proposal for this work and the landscape beds were already drastically overgrown and certainly never maintained or cared for in recent history. They photos provided were off a home realtor website (Zillow) that I found online from a previous listing of the home. When our crew was on site Mr. ******* and his roommate were home and our crew knocked on the door more than 4 times to speak with the homeowner.

  Later on while at the property our crew did see Mr. ******* and his roommate out back and they did speak about what he wanted done as part of the cleanup. When I spoke to him later in the day after our crew had left he stated he never saw them and never spoke to them. I did inform him I would be happy to stop out and take a look at the property with him. He and his  wife seemed disinterested in setting up a time to speak with me and said they would rather immediately terminate service, contact the BBB and file a police report. Which they did and the contacting officer (Officer ***** of Newark PD) did call me and stated it was a civil matter and instantly closed the report. I let them know that no invoices had been paid to date for all services rendered and that we would appreciate them closing some of them out before we continued any services or further discussions. I forwarded all invoices over to them and gave them the opportunity to rectify the situation.

  Thank you

  Garrett C****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/31/2023

  I am rejecting this response because: Statements made by the party on meeting me was explained in previous response, first i saw them was in Aug. I did not see the crew till said date. What he stated with ** is what he stated, but it wasn't with me, property owner, and without my knowledge. My wife notified the owner in July that we would contact him later to find out what to do. We didn't hear from him till the complaint I made. He contacted my wife, then retracted and stated he couldn't get ahold of us during that time but performed the work anyway. We didn't know of a contract till I saw the crew on the specified day in Aug.

  Yes, by that time beds were over grown but ** and I set up a plan for the beds. The 6 rose bushes, 4 ferns and 2 hibiscus were cut at ground being well and alive, so those shouldn't have been removed anyway. Unfortunately he passed, I had no contact info nor knew of the company doing work till Aug. What was setup with ** and company was completely unknown to me. As for answering the door, I'm disabled and vet, I don't move much and don't hear well. My roommate was the one that grabbed the crew and I to chat, that's when I was presented with a partial work order.

  The photos that I included and shared with the owner, only one was from the real estate website, the rest were taken from my phone of my property. 

  We had no knowledge that the contract would continue after my father-in-laws passing, and we had no contact information to contact him. We do not have my father-in-laws login information to access the account/contract. 

  I did not reach out to a third party for assistance until after threats were made against me. I contacted law enforcement after continually receiving bills. 

  When I spoke to the crew for the first time, it was because they were blocking my driveway. They showed me a partial work order, and he was only doing what he was told to do. I explained that they had killed the plants in the backyard, and they would move the truck from the driveway, and would be back to clean up. They left and did not return. the owner then called my wife and said he would get in touch with us about damages to the house, and he wanted to come look at them, he said he would be about the next day. I offered to send photos, and sent them. 

  (My father-in-law, **, had stage 4 cancer and he lived with us. The home is mine, not **'s). 

  All of the invoices are in **'s name, I have yet to see the original contract.  

  I would like a legible copy of the contract which ** signed. Thank you.

  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/08/2023

  I am rejecting this response because: At no time when we contacted the company we're we notified of a contract. When they contacted us in July we again weren't notified of a contract. It wasnt until the worker in august stated about a contract being completed I found out about it. We have yet to see the contract, only given receipts and proposals. No binding contract has been presented to me, wife or the response given to bbb as of yet. Also to add ** essig has never owned the property in any way shape or form nor had this authorization over the property. He was moved in by my wife and I for his final days of living. He had no billing or authorization to the house, only his personal property.
  

  Regards,
  ***** *******

  Business Response

  Date: 09/27/2023

  Your desired settlement resolution will be a no from us. You have not paid a single invoice all season but want us to come out to the property for free to "repair damages" that are not real. Your signed proposal agreement for the property states what work was to be completed. Continuous communication through the BBB will not resolve this matter or be responded to going forward. If you would like a resolution to the matter at hand you can call me or my attorney directly.