As promised, here's a review update after using 50K for the entire summer for a total of 12 services. Unfortunately, my experience on the first service was indeed too good to be true. Things started falling apart beginning the next service and at this point, a 2-star rating is already being generous.
TLDR - They are nice guys, extremely professional, but in way over their heads. Poor quality control, multiple property damages, slow service, and they simply don't have enough man power to make it to all of their appointments. Their professionalism is what earned them an extra star.
I waited a few months before writing this review so that I'm not as annoyed at them anymore. I wish them the best of luck. They could be a great lawn company but as of now, I cannot recommend them to anyone.
So where did things fall apart? Well, here are the highlights. This is a prime example of how a small company going way over their head, trying to achieve standards beyond their current capabilities.
QUALITY CONTROL
My instruction was simple. Mow the lawn high at 3.5" and bag the clippings. But since the initial service, the cuts have been all over the place -- as low as 2" and as high as 5" across different areas of the lawn and across services. One service would result in 3 bags of clipping while the next would result in half a bag. I constantly gave them feedback but It literally took them 7 services to start getting the height right. I mean how hard is it to cut evenly?
DAMAGES
We have 2 fruit trees in our backyard and they just keep damaging them. After each service, I would find new cut marks on the trunk, again and again. These are not light cuts. These are deep ones that cause the saps to start flowing out. As a result, our peach tree didn't even produce a single fruit this summer. I kept telling them to be careful but nothing was changed. I eventually gave up. And then, there's the fence. They damaged 2 areas of the fence during one service. I don't even know how. They took responsibility for it but it still took over a month to be fixed.
SCHEDULING
This is such a simple thing but it was ultimately the straw that broke the camel's back. There were a total of 5 services (out of 12) where they just didn't show up. No calls, no voicemails, no texts. Zero communication regarding what's going on. A simple "sorry, we ran late today but we'll come tomorrow" would have sufficed but nope, nothing.
When I finally called them each time, they would say something like "we'll come tomorrow" and oftentimes follow it up with another no-show. There are a few times where a Wednesday service got pushed all the way back to Sunday. This really boggles my mind but it is what it is. Why would you lie to a customer that you would come and not show up? Things come up, I get that, but they clearly have a underlying scheduling issue.
SLOW SERVICE
We have a small 2,000 sqft lawn. Other providers take about 30 mins to complete the job. It took 50K about 75 mins on average (I calculated on a spreadsheet). On 4 services, they took over 1.5 hours (and over 2.5 hours on one of them)! My wife would text me occasionally and ask me why they are still there.
ONLINE SYSTEM
I like how they're using technology to streamline an outdated system of putting cash under the mat. Online payment is great. You get a reminder email 3 days before the service and another 1 day before it. That's all good... if you actually SHOWED UP! Then there are times where there's no reminder and they show up and wonder why the gate is not open.
I've hired 3 other lawn care professionals over the last 2 years. I've *never* had any issues with mowing height, property damage, or scheduling. I guess this is what I get for being cheap and try to save $3 per service... lesson learned.
My wife wanted me to fire them after the 5th service. I gave them chances again and again to get things right. But everyone has their limits and mine was after the 12th service, when they required me to setup automatic payment to continue service. Umm... no. read more