[village dreamer]

I'm a snowbird and my neighbor next door sent me an e-mail with pictures showing me my weed infested lawn, that the "Smart lawn" people are taking care of what I paid for cutting and weeding. I'm not a happy camper, my contract is up in Oct. Thank goodness, time to jump ship, like so many others have done.

[keithwand]

Ours is up in July.
Will cancel in May so they get 2 months of my prepaid $$.
Never again.

[ditka41]

Same thing happened here the last two summers. "Smart" was contracted to care for my neighbor's lawn. During their 5 month absence it was a total blight on the neighborhood with tall weeds, infrequent cutting, no trimming. Just complete neglect! When their weeds started growing progressively further into my lawn, we contacted the property owners and sent photos which shocked them. The owner of "Smart" convinced them it was an oversight, blamed the technician, even though they had several different technicians. "Smart" owner promised to do better in 2014, plus a deep discount. Needless to say, 2014 was just as bad as the previous summer's nightmare. I had to kill their weeds to stop the spread into my lawn again. When the owners returned last fall they finally fired "Smart" (even though they still operate under a different name). The neighbors have now changed lawn care providers and the it looks much better.

Go with ANYBODY other than this outfit, "Smart" and whatever his relative's partner company is called, and you'll have better performance. Obviously, they take advantage of knowing when their customers will be gone for an extended time. My only suggestion is for next-door neighbors to agree to keep an eye on Snowbirds property and be able to contact them when neglect becomes obvious. It benefits the neighborhood and avoids blaming the absent property owners.

[Topspinmo]

Is this standard practice? I brought snowbird house. The land scape was in poor shape. Basically neglect. I figured she lost her mate and was overwhelmed not in the area. After about week or so after I got settled in and started yard work. Guy came by and said I done the yard work for the previous owner would you like to continue the service. I said what did actually do? beings the bushes haven't been trimmed for months. My yard has no grass.
I said no thanks I don't like the wild look.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by village dreamer

I'm not a happy camper, my contract is up in Oct. :

Best advise I've read on this board is never pay in advance, especially lawn care companies. People have paid for a year service and never seen them again.

[Choice Maintenance]

Many previous "service smart" customer have joined Choice Maintenance for mowing, weeding, and shrub trimming. Its a shame that they have gone so down hill since changing from "stellar", they've apparently just grown to quickly and couldn't keep the quality. Our estimates are free and we don't do contracts or advance payments so try us out.

Choice Maintenance

Thanks,
Tate Parada
352-502-2880