EXPERIENCE OF AN UNHAPPY CUSTOMER
Before I hired Murillo Landscape, I told the owner Roy the job was primarily to pull weeds and Roy said, "Yes, this is the time of year when you have to pull weeds". I terminated Murillo's services because they would not pull weeds. Roy wrote and said, "I do want to mention that nobody ever asked for 100% weed pulling, so I think they (meaning his crew) just weren't use to that, and wanted to do their regular routine." I don't know what Roy meant by their regular routine, but I will describe what I received and will be paying for.
Day 1. Two men came for an 8 hour day, but only worked 7 hours including a lunch break. I asked them to prune some citrus trees and I had to teach them how to properly prune. They did a good job pruning and a few other tasks. I paid Roy's bill of $500 for two men for 8 hours and not the 7 hours they actually worked.
Day 2. Two men were to work two hours. I asked them to pull weeds and trim a few branches along a fence. I said, "Call my cell if you run out of work." One man trimmed the branches which took half an hour. Then he walked around the yard and driveway with a leaf blower for half an hour. I assumed the other man had been pulling weeds for the first hour. After one hour, I went to see how they were doing and I saw them sitting down. At first they didn't see me, but as I walked up, one guy jumped up and ran off and I never saw him again. After one and a half hours, I went to check on them again, but their truck was gone. They could not have been here more than 1 1/2 hours and not the 2 hours I was paying for. After they left, the yard waste bin was three quarters full of the branches trimmed the first half hour. I did not see any weeds in the bin and I assume none were pulled.
Day 3, The crew arrived 15 minutes late. I asked why they left half an hour early on day 2 and they said they had another job to go to. I said, "If I pay for two hours you are supposed to work two hours. Today, I want you to pull weeds because that is what I hired you to do." One of the men said, "What's a weed?" I replied, "You're supposed to be professional gardeners. You should know which plants are weeds." I then pointed to about 6 weeds, which they pulled. Little did I know those would be the only weeds they would ever pull. I also asked them to trim a 12 ft. by 2 ft. strip of ice plant and to rake a 15 ft. by 15 ft. area of leaves and spread them as mulch. That day, I had a painter painting the outside of my home. After 30 minutes, I see the leaf raker guy is now strolling around with the blower. Leaf blowing went on for 30 minutes and I decided to ask why he was leaf blowing and not pulling weeds, because I wrongly assumed that the leaves were raked up. As I came out of the house, the leaf blower guy is standing 5 feet from the painter blowing dirt into the painter's face and onto the wet paint. I told him to turn the blower off and pull weeds. I apologized to the angry painter who said, "That's why I don't hire helpers. You get guys like that!" The next thing I knew the two yard workers were driving off in their truck. Just another short job of less than 2 hours. They were here three short times, but I was billed for the full time. They did a very small amount of work. The yard waste bin contained the ice plant cut the first half hour, but not a single weed. I now knew that if I was not standing over them then nothing would be done.
I texted Roy, describing the crew's poor performance. Roy said he would come out to get things straight, but after waiting 6 days, I terminated Murillo's services. Roy texted a $360 bill for four hours, but, after I complained they were only here 3 hours and fifteen minutes, he reduced the bill to $300. Therefore, I will be paying for clearing a small strip of ice plant, raking a few leaves, trimming a few small tree branches, and over an hour of leaf blower strolling, but no weeds pulled. In 45 years this is the highest rate, I was ever billed, for yard work and it was the worst service ever.
I have since hired another gardener. Here is what he did in 4 hours. This 60 year old man has only one arm. His other arm is a prosthetic arm. In 4 hours, this man filled two and one quarter yard waste bins with weeds and also raked an area. His fee to accomplish twice as much work was $130. read more