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TruGreen ChemLawn - Unauthorized Services

TruGreen ChemLawn • New Jersey Sues TruGreen Chemlawn --- Consumer Complaints • Too Much Service • Not Enough Service • Pricing • Happy Insider • Unhappy Ex-Insider --- • What You Can Do

See our "What You Can Do" section to avoid situations like those described below.

Raymond of Tallahassee FL (5/4/05):
We had a contract with TruGreen for our fertilizing and lawn pest control for a year. We began to notice that our lawn was thinning and beginning to die. I called an independant contractor to come look at my lawn and he said it appeared to have been sprayed with too many chemicals. I immediately called TruGreen and advised them what the lawn man had said and their reply was that it just needs to be aerated.

The complete lawn eventually did die and I lost both my front and back yard grass and a lot of topsoil due to the rain run off. I called TruGreen back and cancelled my contract and told them that we did not wish to be contacted by them again. They kept calling (at night) to set up our next appointment for treatment.

Finally after being told never to contact us again, they sent a truck and a workman who sprayed our bushes without our knowledge. We found his sign in our front yard when we got home from work. I immediately called TruGreen and the woman I spoke with acknowledged that we had indeed canceled our contract a full year before this latest incident and that there was a note in our file not to have any further contact with us. I sent the local office a formal letter of complaint regarding the actions taken by the company and said that any further contact would be considered harassment and that legal action would ensue if it continued. I also told them that if there was any damage caused by their illegal spraying, legal action to reclaim damages would also ensue.

This was approximately 2 months ago, March 11, 2005. Yesterday, 4 May 2005, I received a letter from the company TruGreen, requesting that we contact them to reestablish our contract and that we would receive a discount to do so. I can't believe they are persisting like this.

We had to completely re-sod our front and back yards and add topsoil. The cost was in excess of $5,000.

David of Parrish FL (4/27/05):
My wife and I contacted TruGreen Chemlawn to eradicate a Cinch Bug problem we were having. Our lawn was serviced several times and when we decided we no longer wished to have our lawn treated, the problems began. We began receiving phone calls asking us how they could get our business back. When they met with negative results from myself, they began asking to speak with my wife. When they called and my wife answered, she asked that they no longer call us ever again ... to which the manager said "Fine" and hung up on her.

We would have let it go at that ... until I received another phone call from the manager today asking me how TruGreen could get my business back again! I told them I would NEVER hire them again because of many reasons, the least of which is that THEY DON'T LISTEN TO THEIR CUSTOMER! Let's face it, if you are hiring a company, the least they can do is listen to you and do as you ask.

Linda of Graham WA (1/15/05):
I have really HAD IT with this company. Last spring I paid them over $400 for four or five treatments to my lawn spaced over a six-week period. They said my weeds would die and my lawn would be looking great which is what I wanted for my daughter's baby shower in Aug. I was out of town part of the summer and when I returned, my grass was dead but the weeds were still thriving. I complained to the Branch Manager who turned me over to the Operations Manager. He came by and looked at my lawn and agreed that the weeds should have been gone. He assured me he would treat my lawn and make it up to me.

Nothing happened. When I got calls to have this and that done in the fall, I said, No thank you, don't even call me again. This is January and last week I find a flag in my lawn that it has been treated by TruGreen. I called them and asked them to explain. She tells me that the contract AUTOMATICALLY renews each year! WHAT? I was never told that. I only agreed to pay for what I was SUPPOSED to get! Today I got the bill in the mail. I told her I will NOT pay them another dime. They have not kept their word and given me my money's worth.

Michele of Alpharetta GA (11/3/04):
TruGreen came on my property and put an application on after I cancelled. When I called to complain, the woman I spoke to said I cancelled after the application was applied. She basically called me a liar. They forwarded my account to a collections agency which is now harrassing me.

Marcia of Orlando FL (10/21/04):
I told them on approximately 5 occasions that my lawn did not need eight treatments per year and that they were to call me before each treatment. They called on 2 occasions, but after that, they started treating the lawn monthly. I called them again, on several occasions complaining about a $36.00 bill. My complaints fell on deaf ears. I have received 4 bills this month already. They have been trying to intimidate me with these bills but I will complain and complain until this intimidation stops.

Jill of Piscataway NJ (3/26/04):
We have been dealing with Chemlawn for over a year. They preyed on our elderly aunt who lived in New Haven CT. She has a very very tiny lawn with a big tree in the front. They called and she agreed to the service. After paying $200, we told Chemlawn not to call our Aunt again. And that we would not pay for any more service. I have power of Attorney and paid her bills. They continued to call and treat her lawn. We refused to pay the bill.

Then on Feb 2 she died tragically in a house fire. Her house was destroyed. Imagine our anger when Chemlawn called us to find out if we wanted to continue Service. My husband was so upset and asked Darrel if he had crossed the Police Tape to apply the chemicals on the lawn. He wanted to know why they were still calling us after we had repeatedly told them to cancel service and stop calling. It seems like ChemLawn preys on the elderly and takes advantage of them. They should be investigated.

Debra of Canton MI (3/15/04):
In January we talked to Jason and thought the offer sounded good, and were ready to accept, but when the secretary called back to conferm she gave different offer than Jason had, my husband said no he did not want the service, Jason called back that night and my husband was very mad and told him absolutley no to the service, we talked to them again a month or so later and again said no to the service, Well they came out anyway when we were not home and applyed some spray last week around March 11th, and billed us $30 and put the contract in my name -- I never even talked to them.

I called and they said they had a phone recording of my husband excepting the service but no record of the other phone calles that went on that night in January and my husband talked back and forth with Jason about 3 or 4 times. How do they get away with forcing people to have their service?

We contracted with another service and have to worry that they will put something on our lawn too and kill it with a double aplication. Hopfully we will catch them and let them know we have something on already, and I have to worry about being harrassed for the $30 from Chemlawn.

Sharla of Brighton CO (3/5/04):
I contracted for service for 2003. After all my applications had been applied I received a call from someone in their organization wanting to know if I wanted a special winter treatment to which I replied no, that I was done with Trugreen Chemlawn and would not be using their company anymore. He then told me that he couldn't guarantee that my lawn would even make it through the winter or come out nice next year if I didn't continue their service to which I replied again, that I was done with their company.

2/23/04 I noticed someone in my backyard, when I got closer I realized it was a Trugreen employee applying fertilizer to my lawn. I stopped him and said that I did not recontract with the company for this year to which he replyed that I needed to call the office to cancel my service. I told him that I had cancelled last fall and he again said that I needed to call the office and then he continued to apply the fertilizer. I called Trugreen the next day and told them I needed this service stopped and that I had verbally cancelled with someone last fall. She said that they just automatically restart service each year and wanted to know who I was going to be using to take care of my lawn. I told her that I did not authorization any new service for the year 2004 and they were not authorized to even be on my property to which she replied that they had clearance to come on my property last year so they just showed up and went to work.

I sent the $44.00 bill back to TruGreen with a letter stating that I had verbally cancelled my service last year and that I would not pay this bill for services that I did not contract for or authorize. I received a phone call today from a Shannon in the TruGreen office informing me that it was too bad that I didn't want the service that I was going to have to pay for it. When I told her that I had cancelled with someone over the phone last year she wanted to know the cancellation number, which they did not give me. She then wanted to know why I didn't stop the employee from applying the application to my yard and I told her that I had but because he said my service hadn't been cancelled, he just kept going even when I told him I hadn't recontracted with them for service in 2004.

Kenneth of Nashville TN (2/26/04):
At the start of Jan.2003. Trugreen Chemlawn sent me a letter stating lawn service would begin in 2003. I accepted service for 3 session. Then they called want to do shrub sessions. At first I said yes, but the next day I called spoke to a Vickie and said I declined. I payed for the services rendered, even receiving a refund for early payment. In June of 2003, a tech comes to my home for spraying. I say no service was approved by me. In July, 2003 I receive a bill for $200 stating sessions for lawn service and shrubs. I have called the office and talked to Vickie and Manager. They refused to be reasonable and stated "do what you have to and we will to". Now a collection agency has contacted me for the $200.

Scott of Methuen MA writes (5/22/03):
Told Chemlawn to cancel my appointment. They came anyway. Called to tell them not to come again until I authorized them personally to come. They came again without my authorization. Received bill for $60.00 and called office to complain. Trish told me through her supervisor that she would cancel my account and I would not be billed again. Told Trish, in no uncertain terms, to never send anyone from Chemlawn to my house again. Received cancelation letter two days later.

Four days after receiving cancelation letter they came to my house again to treat my lawn. My wife saw them in process and told them to get off our property. They left. My wife called me at work to advise me of the situation. I called Chemlawn and spoke to Mike (Supervisor) and explained the situation. He said it was a follow-up to the original call that I cancelled. I told him that I told Trish to make sure no one from Chemlawn ever come to my house again. He said it was standard practice to re-treat lawn. He said I still owed Chemlawn $60.00 and if I didn't pay in 60 days I would be reported to the credit bureau.

Wilson of Los Angeles (5/10/03):
On February 6, 2003 I sent a Certified (STOP NOTICE) letter requesting lawn services at my home be discontinued immediately, because our lawn and some shrubs had been damaged. Prior to writing this certified letter we had sent other letters and made several telephone calls to TruGreen ChemLawn requesting services be discontinued.

On May 9, 2003 I received a bill in the amount of $79.00, for lawn services they claim was performed on 4/30/03. The services performed was without my knowledge and without my approval. I consider the services a violation of a STOP NOTICE and a clear incident of trespassing on private property.

Colleen of Waldorf MD (5/2/03):
I pulled up to my house to find a Trugreen Chemlawn technician spraying my lawn. When I asked who authorized the service, the technician pointed across the asphalt pavement to my neighbor on the other side of the street and said "He paid for it".

I brought my groceries (in my arms) and went in to put them down, and call my husband to ask if he had spoken with our neighbor to have this done and authorized treatment. My daughter has a skin disease and her skin falls off when exposed to chemicals. I thought that because the technician was spraying the lawn that technology had come out with an organic treatment. I couldn't get through to my husband.

I went outside to tell the technician to stop spraying (until I could find out what was being sprayed) but he had left. I called Trugreen and asked who authorized treatment. The man said the technicans have not come back in from the road so he did not have information. He looked my address up and said my house was treated on 3/13/03 and was scheduled for another treatment this week, they may have come out today. I asked how the treatment was paid for on 3/13/03 and today, he said he didn't know.

I explained the technician had left no notice at my door for this treatment or a posted yard sign warning normally left by companies telling of the chemicals used. He said that was not their policy. I explained I had a daughter with a skin disease and how could the company spray without authorization from the owner of the house? He said he would have a Field Supervisor call first thing Monday morning to discuss. Shouldn't the company have the permission of the OWNER to spray and leave WARNING that this was done?

My daughter broke out terribly last month and I now believe it was from the unauthorized treatment of the lawn requested by a neighbor on 3/13/03. I spent an hour washing down the lawn today (5/2/03) to dilute the chemicals, but believe she will have adverse reactions because my windows were open while the technician was spraying.

Colleen should send a certified letter to the company, telling them they do not have permission to enter her property and that any further lawn treatments will be treated as trespassing. If her daughter's condition worsens, she should retain an attorney and sue the company.

Michael of Adamsville, AL (2/5/03):
On Monday 2-3-03 when I got home from work, I found a sign in my yard that said that Trugreen Chemlawn had applied a treatment. I knew that there must have been a mistake, because I treat my own lawn and had not ordered anything from Trugreen Chemlawn.

When I got into the house I asked my wife if she had ordered anything from them. My wife said that she hadn't talked to anyone, but that when she got home earlier there was an invoice and treatment schedule hanging from the doorknob. The invoice listed the chemicals that they applied and a fee of $50.00. The invoice and the treatmnet schedule were pre-printed with my name, address, and phone.

Treatment was applied to my front and back lawn, my back yard is fenced with my two dogs inside the fence. I immediately called the number listed on the invoice to find out what was going on. The lady that I spoke with initially, refered me to Mr. Duncan. Mr. Duncan informed me that I had ordered the treatment. When I insisted that I hadn't ordered anything, he said that I had and he had a taped conversation to prove it. Of course I told him that I wanted to hear the tape.

Mr. Duncan played the tape and there was a female verifying an order with a male on the tape, and the male agreed with her that he was me and was ordering the servces. I was beginning to get upset! I told Mr. Duncan that the person on the tape wasn't me, and that I had not ordered anything from them. Mr. Duncan told me "I'll have to investigate this further". I am very upset that I am left in a position where I am expected to prove that I didn't order the service.

I am concerned that if I do not pay for this service (even though I did not want it)that I will have a blemish on my credit report. I have excellent credit, and I am planning to purchase a new home in 1-2 years.

Nicklas of Renton WA (1/17/03):
We used TruGreen Chemlawn for Spring through Fall of 2002 to improve our front lawn. They did an acceptable job and we paid them. After their last treatment, we called the company and made sure that our account was closed. They assured us that there would be no more treatments. Today, they returned to the house to treat the lawn. (Thank goodness my wife was home tending a sick child). She asked them to leave and called the company back.

Miraculously, our account had reopened itself and TruGreen had scheduled themselves to come over. So we closed the account again. Now, we are worried. If they perform a service without our presence, we will owe them for the service. How do we stop them? Do we have to see a court injunction to prevent them from setting foot on our lawn?

Twon of Greensboro NC (11/5/02):
Trugreen provided a service that I did not authorize. The service was aeration and seeding. I have only had this company perform an initial service on my lawn, and I was not satisfied with that, so I have not used them again since. I required that they always call and have me confirm when they have scheduled work to be performed on my property (this is in their notes). If they don't get confirmation from me, they don't come out. This has been the norm until recently.

This time they came out and performed work without my permission and are trying to charge me form it. This is unfair to me as a consumer. I have contacted the Branch Manager, Kurt Arthor, and he states that he will not credit me. Instead he has stated to me that they will keep billing me until it eventually goes to a collection agency. That is a threat to my credit.

He stated that they send out some card to confirm that they will be coming out, but I did not receive this card. He stated that sometimes people receive them and sometimes they don't, but they still go ahead and perform the work anyway. The company is charging me $200 for a service I did not authorize. They entered my property without me knowing it and without my permission.

Trent of New Providence NJ (3/21/02):
I contracted with TruGreen last year for lawn service. They sold me six treatments, asserting it would make my lawn look wonderful. Once I had purchased six treatments, they attempted to sell me several additional treatments, saying they were also needed. I purchased a couple of them, even though my lawn looked awful.

One day, I was home when the service person came to fertilize the yard. He had only done a portion of it when it began to rain. He immediately left, after he left a bill. When I called to complain, since TruGreen offers 100% satisfaction guaranteed, they insisted that they had indeed done the whole yard, which was an outrageous lie. When the summer ended, I was happy to cancel my service. They then called my wife and tried to schedule a seeding, saying that I had ordered it, another lie. But that is not my complaint. That was horrible business.

What they now have done is a crime. On February 8, 2002, without my permission, they entered my yard and illegally dumped lime, again without my permission on my yard. Then they left me a bill for $68.45. When I called to complain, they insisted I had ordered this service. But when I asked them to prove it, they backed away and cancelled my "account." However, since then they have sent me 4 bills and called my house 5 times insisting that I pay them for this service. This is absolute harassment.

My wife is 8 months pregnant and we need to relax, but it is impossible when we get called every day asking for our money and continuously receive bills in our mailbox for a service we didn't order.

Ralph of Westtown PA (3/18/02):
After I cancelled services my lawn was treated twice without my approval. I called after each instance to complain as well as to verify the account was cancelled. I am now getting bills and collection notices. I did not sign a contract with this company.

When I call to complain they ask who I spoke to about cancelling. When I give them the info the say they will check into it and call me back. They never call back. I am concerned that this is going to go to a collection agency and possiblly to court.

Barbara of Fair Oaks, CA, writes (4/4/01):
I received unsolicited lawn analysis. TruGreen ChemLawn not only inspected my front yard, but also my back yard without my permission. My name, address and even telephone number was typed (preprinted) on the form. Included in the lawn analysis was a "program estimate" and recommendations on improving my lawn.

Well, this looked so official, I almost sent them a check! Then I thought, hey, I didn't request a lawn analysis! You may laugh at this, but I have a large green rubber snake on my back porch, to keep birds out of the cat food. Well, the day TruGreen came out, the snake was moved onto my front porch.

Consequence? Gee, do I need to lock my gate now? (gate to back yard that is)

If TruGreen's little green men are indeed inviting themselves into people's back yards they could technically be charged with trespassing. Maybe worse, they might eventually blunder into a backyard with something meaner (and livelier) than a rubber snake.

If Barbara wants to press the point, she can send the company a certified letter denying them permission to enter her property ever again. She could also post a small "No Trespassing" sign at her property's entrance.

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