Shortly after I first hired him, Brandon's employee showed up, didn't perform any yard service, and instead cut down a dead tree in between my house and my neighbor's. The removed tree was specifically referenced by Brandon as belonging to my neighbor. As such, I was perplexed that Brandon's employee subsequently cut it down and split. I called Brandon to inquire about the tree and lack of yard service and he seemed confused and irritated that I was bothering him. His employee returned some time later and performed yard service in my backyard but oddly enough did not bother touching the front. The event was unsettling and strange.
When I asked Brandon to stake my rose bush trees in May 2021, his employee missed 2 of them and instead erroneously staked regular rose bushes that grow near the ground with no trunk. Although the remaining 2 rose bush trees were subsequently staked, I was charged an additional $70 plus, with no apology. Again, the situation was bizarre and the staking of the 2 incorrect rose bushes, which grow only a couple of feet off the ground while the stakes are significantly taller, look extremely odd.
It became customary for different, random employees to show up in my yard, without notification or explanation. In addition, the services became noticeably inferior. Bush trimming became non-existent, at $135 per month, mind you. The yard started looking scraggly.
In late April 2021, Brandon performed yard maintenance for my mom's house as well and she experienced even worse service. Beginning in August 2021, Brandon's employee was periodically a no-show, skipped working the backyard and had to be reminded of agreed upon services.
In October 2021, Brandon's employee came less frequently, when I had originally and specifically told him that the majority of services would be needed during the fall. As such, the leaves started falling heavily, amassing a hefty layer across the back yard. When Brandon's employee showed up, he blew the leaves into massive piles and left them. The practice became the norm, as more and more leaves blew into the yard. As a side note, this became the practice at my house as well, during the same period of time. That's right, the leaves were blown into piles and left (they were not picked up and taken away).
During November 2021, the practice of blowing leaves into gargantuan piles continued. I counted over 10 piles of leaves covering my mom's backyard. I spoke with Brandon's employee directly and asked him to pick up the leaf piles, to no avail; he continued to blow leaves into piles at my mom's house. At $125 per month to blow, pile and remove leaves (along with the front yard), we still had to intermittently rake, pile and remove leaves ourselves to compensate for Brandon's insufficient services.
December 2, 2021 was the last day of service, where Brandon's employee blew countless leaves into several massive piles and left them in the backyard, for the final time. Although this nascent practice was performed with increasing frequency and intensity over the fall, the piles left this time were quite extensive in comparison. When the employee left, my mom texted Brandon pictures of the mounds of leaves left behind and pointed out the hazardous piles residing in walkways. In addition, she pointed out the leaves blown up against the fence, in corners and under and against walkways.
Brandon told my mom that his employee was only allowed up to 20 minutes of service and that there would be a "one-time cleanup" for leaf removal. He went on to say that he was very clear about this with my mom's husband when they first met, but he was very ill and terminal at the time. As such, my mom and I discussed ALL of the required yard services and we feel Brandon is very untruthful about this. Brandon went on to tell my mom that he would remove the leaves at $65 an hour, above the monthly rate. My mom felt that Brandon was condescending and "man-splained" to her that his business was suffering due to gas hikes and inflation, which are normal costs of doing business to him and have no bearing on customer service.
On December 6, 2021, I finally fired Brandon as a result of his endless shenanigans and unprofessionalism.
On December 9, 2021, Brandon's employee was a no-show at my mom's house, yet again. My mom inquired about his absence and Brandon stated that he "released" her. No notice was given; he simply stopped servicing. Note that Brandon was pre-paid for services at my mom's house through December 2021.
We simply expected the yard to look decent; not perfect, but tidied up. Such poor services rendered and aforementioned communication from a business, exudes, at a minimum, venality and dishonesty towards a recently widowed senior citizen, dealing with the care and subsequent death of her husband of 48 years.
I seek no remedy other than to warn potential customers of Armstrong Landscape Services. read more
