Complaint Review: TruGreen

I wanted to start this by saying full out that i am an employee for this company. I am in customer service and also the Audit process. This year trugreen started adding a $50 initial startup fee for services, because with the first application we do not only come out to treat the lawn, they do an evaluation of the property to asses which materials are needed and which aren't. This would have been explained to your wife when she called to set up services BUT... they do not explain the initial startup fee instead what they do is give you a total for all the services over the year, instead of breaking down what it cost you month by month (this is new company policy). Either way it is not a ripoff, your wife agreed to the costs of services and also gave them the credit card number. If your unhappy with the services then you can call to cancel at any time, it is not a legally binding contract. You can also call your local branch and ask to listen to the audit tape of the sale and hear for yourself what was sold to your wife. We do not try to hide anything from our customers, and it is not the companies fault if unhappy customers choose to preach to the internet instead of just calling in to talk to one of us. 

Let me explain this again TruGreen audits all sales on a recorded phone line, so his wife agreed to the services and signed up for autopay with a credit card. The charge is valid and TruGreen will prove it and his credit card company will not reverse the charge and neither will TruGreen.

I am having a hard time understanding which fee you are complaining about?

Your initial report talks about being charged $50 for an assessment and then based on what you wrote, being charged 7-8 weeks later being charged $72 for another treatment.  Yet in your recent post you said you were charged $50 and $72 two days later?

If you are complaining about the $50 charge, sorry but it sounds like you don't really have a leg to stand on in this case.  Your wife called, they came out, and she signed the receipt for the $50.

Now, if you want to complain about the $72 fee...perhaps you have a valid dispute.  Regardless of if it was 2 days or 7 weeks later if your wife did not sign any agreement to the $72 you should dispute it with your CC as an unauthorized transaction.   But you better do that soon as you are running out of time(if you haven't already).  But before you do that you better double check the receipt and as you say all of the "fine print".  Because "INITIAL STARTUP" sure sounds like you are STARTING Service.  So you might want to double and triple check making sure she didn't sign anything else.

Wow you have 11m worth of lawn according to you and you state you can do it yourself. Weed control fertilizer and guaranteed results all within in $50 and still get subway please tell me your secret. Stop crying about it and next time maybe you and your wife should both be there and discuss it. Just my thoughts

As a TruGreen sales rep I know for the fact that ALL SALES are audited by a customer relations specialist who RECORDS every single call and explains (or at least tries because people interrupt them) the payment method. Your wife agreed to said services and then signed up for auto pay which is taken out after each application. The $50 charge is a one time fee to cover the cost of the Healthy Lawn Analysis so we can customize the program for your lawn. The sales rep. and the customer relations specialist inform all new customers of this charge. I am sorry that you are having a bad experience and do note that this program really does work!

Okay: Your wife made a call. A guy shows up and gives her a bill for 50$ with a card and a website. Later some other guys show up and you get charged 72$ for that. No where in your tale do you say when they got your credit card information. If they billed you, how did they get it in the first place? Did you go to the website to see what you were signing up for?

There's details missing from your story. Companies just can't randomly charge your bank account, you had to give them authorization to charge your account at some point. Why didn't you, well, ASK how much the services cost?

So glad that a pittance of $50 is nothing to you. It is to me. And yeah, as a homeowner three times over, I know a little about the cost of things.

Pardon me for using this website as forum to voice what I think is a RIPOFF.

Because they FAILED to disclose the service.

Thanks for the rebuttal above, but I have every right to call RIPOFF on a 'service' that wasn't fully explained to me. For the record: There was no contract. There was no signing of anything by my wife the one and only time a TG tech showed up.

Here's how it went down, if I can explain myself to you and you can understand it since I am such an illiterate hayseed:

My wife called me one day at work and said she was thinking of calling this company. I said OK, but make sure to get something in writing. A day later, some guy shows up in a TG truck, sprays the yard and hands her a receipt that says IF1 - INITIAL STARTUP 50 with a price of $50. The receipt shows 'products applied,' and as I get home as see the receipt, I figure that $50 was for the 'treatment.' I now know, too late, it was for his apparent 'assessment.'

With the receipt is a pretty little doorknob placard with a phone number and website and some catch phrase about the right services for my lawn at the right time. No contract. No follow-up phone call saying 'Here's what we did to your lawn and here's how much we will collect from you for said service.'

Two days later, my ccard is charged twice. $50. And $72.

Please, enlighten me as to how you would react to this 'service.'

RIPOFF

You said you could have done it yourself but instead you called out a company that specializes in lawn care.  Then you pitch a b***h because they charged you for doing the work you requested and approved. Just how much, exactly, do you think they should charge to drive out to your stucco-and-tar-paper mansion, provide all the materials and equipment, and provide the labor to work on your lawn?

You act like $50 is a lot of money.  Anyone who owns his own home knows that it costs money, especially when you hire others to do things you could do yourself.  Either grow up or move back into your mother's basement.

They offered you a service. The prices were in the contract you signed. Perhaps in the future you should actually read what you are signing and understand the contract. The only problem I see here is you not being literate and agreeing to something you don't understand.