Complain about a product or service

Scotts Lawn Care Products

Timothy of Mooresville , NC October 23, 2009

In Spring 2008, my family lived in a rental property in Mooresville, NC where I first made contact with Scotts Lawn (from a promotional ad by mail). I requested to have someone come out and give us a quote to treat a .43 acre lot (weeding etc0. The quote for the requested treatment went well, however the lawn rep. tried continuously to convince me that the lawn required aeration and lime care. I REFUSED that treatment after receiving a quote of 169.00, but the normal treatments went well.

We later moved to another rental property a few miles away where the property was approximately 1 acre. We received a new quote for weed control etc. and an additional quote for aeration where Joy quoted us at 332. After treating the lawn in September 2009, we received an aeration bill from Scotts Lawn for 1,772 just to aerate. However, the initial aeration quote in August 2009 from "Joy" was 332. We are now receiving harassing phone calls because we are refusing to pay 1,772.00 as that amount was the total amount quoted for all services which included aeration.

There is absolutely no way, we would agree to pay est. 2,000 for aeration (1 acre) on property that we currently rent. however the lawn rep. tried continuously to convince me that the lawn required aeration and lime care. I REFUSED that treatment after receiving a quote of 169.00, but the normal treatments went well. We later moved to another rental property a few miles away where the property was approximately 1 acre. We received a new qote for weed control etc. and an additonal quote for aeration where Joy quoted us at 332.

After treating the lawn in September 2009, we received an aeration bill from Scotts Lawn for 1,772 just to aerate. However, the initial aeration quote in August 2009 from "Joy" was 332. We are now receiving harrassing phone calls because we are refusing to pay 1,772.00 as that amount was the total amount quoted for all services which included aeration. There is absolutely no way, we would agree to pay est. 2,000 for aeration (1 acre) on property that we currently rent.

We've contacted Scotts Lawn Care and advised them of this error in pricing and they insist that we agreed to this price. We've asked repeatedly for them to send us or play back the initial tapped conversation where we supposedly agreed to this price. When we received the confirmation for service call, we repeated the aeration price at 332 and the representative CONFIRMED.

We have since requested that Scotts, discontinue service until this issue gets resolved. I also personally communicated that I would be sending a letter to their corporate office and filing a formal complaint of this bogus scam attempt. We have not received any calls back from Scotts Lawn Care with respect to resolving the error in pricing, but continue to receive billing and calls from credit collections for this outlandish price. Our worst fear is this issue will go unresolved and this bill will be reported to for credit collection. We are in the process of cleaning credit to purchase our own home and this bill will pose a huge problem if not resolved. Please help!

Jeffrey of Columbus, OH October 7, 2009

After two years with another lawn company,I switched to Scott's two years ago. Being reasonable, I allowed Scott's the first year just to bring my lawn up to speed. This second year I was very disappointed, i.e. weeds (more than a few) growning randomly in my front and back yard and bare spots. My "Lawn Care Specialist" explained my lawn was aerated and overseeded incorrectly the year before (by Scott's), consequently they would do it properly for free this year. As aeration time approaches, Scott's quoted me 120.00 and shows no record of my "Lawn Care Specialists" assertion. Given my disappointment with my lawn, I called and Scott's immediately sent out a guy to look over my lawn. He agreed things needed cleaned up and promised to do a good job. Little did I know this "good job" he promised was simply me throwing more money away to fix their negligence. Expecting my lawn to be made right per their "Satisfaction Guranteed Policy", I was surprised to see a bill. I contact Scott's in writing, asked them to stop all work on my lawn until they provided me with a plan showing what is their responsiblity to fix and what is my responsiblity to pay for. They were not to do ANYTHING until I received a detailed plan. Guess what? Yup, I received another 44 treatment. Since then, I've paid both bills...I want nothing for free. But besides my complaint here, I will follow up with the Better Business Bureau.

Steve of North Prairie, WI October 7, 2009

Please be aware of the Scott's Lawn Care season-to-season contract scam. In fine print on the bottom of the contract, it states (paraphrased) that for the convenience of their constomer the contract will extend from season to season. Now you would think that would mean from spring, to summer to fall. The convenience being the customer would have uninterupted sevvice. This season to season really means year to year and if you do not oontact in writing they will continue to service your lawn if you want them to or not.

After the first application this year I called and left a voice mail message stating I did not want service. When the second application was applied, I called and spoke with the branch manager and he said your contract is renewed every year unless we are notified. I told him that I did call after the first application, and he said he had no record of my voice mail so the second application was applied. I told him that I wanted to discontue the service and he told me to go on the website and provide a written request to discontinue the service, but that I would have to pay for the second application.

After getting a harrassing call from their collection agency (American Profit Recovery) I made the payment. I called the corporate office and expressed my dissapointment regarding the season to season contract, and the scam to make me pay for the second application as well as the harrassing collection agency. I told her that I would never use Scotts again, and I would inform my neighbors of the lack of professionalism provided by the branch and the collection agency. The 200 has been paid, and Scott's is out of my world for good

Deborah of Lincoln, RI September 17, 2009

Came across this site in trying to get information - Had to smirk when reading ALL THE COMPLAINTS about Scott's products - but not surprised. I found out a long time ago that Scott's products are worthless and you WILL THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY.

Linda of Howell, NJ September 14, 2009

Called company for an estimate of service needed for my lawn. Rep came out on 9/11/09 a day over here in Howell, NJ where it rained quite heavily. The Rep never left his truck except to drop off the written estimate where it listed all the weeds and problems with my lawn ( which by the way is presently under the care of my present private landscaper). When I called back to speak with rep and pointed out how amazed I was that he saw all these problems without gewtting out of his truck, an exchange of words took place and he ended the conversation with me by saying:"I must be the type of customer that needs to have her hands held". CAN YOU BELEIVE THE COJONES!!! Hence, I've tried writing to the company. Let's see whjat response I get.

alan of hamilton, OH September 11, 2009

Used them for 3 years and each year they kept promising to get rid of crabgrass/foxtail. After three years it's as bad as it ever was. The final straw was when one of them came out to treat weeds about 1/2 hour before it started raining all day long. Needless to say there were weeds all over yard next weeks. I finally cancelled service, refused to pay and did it myself. The CS person would not let me cancel and said they could come out and treat weeds. I said they already had their chance and failed. Then she asked what they could do to keep my business. I said come out to dig up weeds and plant new grass, they refused. This all started when i put Scotts seed in the areas I am now currently having problems with. The Pennington Premium grass seed I planted in other parts of yard 3 years earlier is great and have no problems with it.

Roger of Louisville, KY September 1, 2009

I have a lawn full of Bermuda and Crab grasses. I've done everything from two full kills added dirt and endless amount of Scott seeds, fertilizer and other products. It's been a full year and I'm down to very little grass, lot's of Bermuda and crab grass plenty of bare spots but zero success with the products that I purchased from the Scott's product line.

I'm convinced these were faulty products wrapped in a nice package. I'll never use Scott products in the future. I'm on a limited income and spending the amount of money on these faulty products has made me frustrated and still have a ugly yard with bare spots and Bermuda and crab grasses along with lot's of other pest weeds.

Melanie of mendon, MA August 19, 2009

I did not have any lawn care done, I had an issue with a driver when I followed him he eneded in Southboro, Mass. at Scott's Lawn Care. I callecthe number to tell her I had a complaint with the Southboro office and she refused to put me through and demanding I give her my name and address and raising her voice to me with no respect for me at all. I wanted to speak with a supervisor not a receptionist, she wouldn't have it. I feel you should look into this matter before she treats any potential customers this way.

Rudy of Moore, OK August 19, 2009

I bought Scotts Top Soil and it stated that it had no wood in the ingredients. It had about 40% wood in the top soil, very little dirt or peat moss. I will never buy Scott's products again. They misrepresent and are higher than products that do the same thing at a cheaper price.

Sheryl of Fort Worth, TX August 12, 2009

I had a rep come out for an estimate & I had told the initial contact that I had "baby" zoysia sod (put down mid April this year)& no problem. The sales rep also said no problem & the est. was based upon 8001 sf. Also told him that I wanted to be notified when by the tech, he came & went without notifying me he was here, I watched him from my office window; never saw him in the sod. Claims he put fertilizer on the zoysia, but you only use products for zoysia, if he didn't know I had this type of grass, how do I know he used the right chemicals & dosage?

He left the invoice and where the comments can be written, he wrote, "We can't treat weeds in the dark green rye or it will kill it." That tells me he don't know nothing. We don't have rye in the middle of summer in 100+ temps. Called the rep immediately, which called the tech, who called me. I told them that they were through, if they can't follow simple instructions, then I don't need the headache & PAY for it.

Called yesterday morning, Tues. Aug 11th, spoke to Jessica, relayed my unhappiness & that I wanted to speak to a mgr. by days end. Got a call from the tech at 4:55 pm & he said that they have a few products for zoysia. Told him no & that I wanted to speak to the mgr., he checked & the mgr. was on a call. Told him the same thing, mgr. call by days end or I would call corporate. This afternoon, hadn't received a call so I went online for corp., what a waste of time, when you enter your zip code, it sends you to the local office.

Guess who I spoke to-Jessica again, told her, I want the mgr. on the line. Came on the line (he thought he was being sneaky, he put me on speaker phone-does he really think I'm stupid?), didn't say hello, so I said hello and he answered, but didn't identify himself, so I asked him. Told him of the issues & he wanted to come out & see what the problem is, told him I was through with Scott’s, if I have this much trouble in the first visit, I’m not wasting my time or money. He's "adjusting" my bill by 1/3. Big deal. But the way I look at it, I will be sure to tell all of my friends & associates of the service that I received.

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