Federal Landscaping sent out direct mail advertisements in February 2014 touting $20 for townhouse mowing service. Sure, who wouldn't want to save between $5 to $20 that other vendors charge more for, in addition to no contracts and pay as you go plan? After asking a lot of questions to see if there was any catch, I expressed interest in participating in the upcoming mowing season. Their response was that they would be in touch "in a few weeks", so I went ahead and cancelled with my existing mowing service to provide fair notice.
Fast forward to mid April -- because the lawn is already starting to look long, I begin to wonder why Federal hadn't contacted me yet? Typically a vendor should send out information about start dates, schedule, billing info, available services and costs, etc. well in advance, so I inquired about it via email. Federal ignored my questions and merely replied: "Looks like the weather has broken. We'll be out this week." Broken weather due to a single rainy day on 4/15? I then reply: "OK, but that doesn't really answer my question about further information (i.e. mowing schedule, frequency, fertilization plans, etc.). It seems pretty ad hoc and not too organized. I got this kind of info well in advance by my previous service." The owner then felt compelled to say he has an "MBA and a MSIS, and I don't work in ad hoc mod[sic]" and went on about how his other customers weren't ready to start service yet and he won't be pushy about it. Ummm... what? I really didn't know how to respond at that point, but 10 hours later the owner emailed me back at 3:30AM saying, "After giving your emails some further thought, I think it's best if we not move forward with our business relationship."
Let it be known that I currently am not, and have never been, a paying customer of Federal Landscaping. This review merely describes my attempt to become a customer, and the interaction I had with its owner. read more