Village Palm stinks

[mmac321]

We've used Village Palm a few times and have spent about $12000 with them. We have a smaller (not small)job for them to do. We have described to them what we want and they say they would look into it. We have called and left several messages for Jodi for weeks and have never got a reply. Apparently spending $12000 is not enough money to at least get a return call EVEN IF IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN THEY DON'T WANT THE WORK. DO NOT USE VILLAGE PALM.

[graciegirl]

We've used Village Palm a few times and have spent about $12000 with them. We have a smaller (not small)job for them to do. We have described to them what we want and they say they would look into it. We have called and left several messages for Jodi for weeks and have never got a reply. Apparently spending $12000 is not enough money to at least get a return call EVEN IF IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN THEY DON'T WANT THE WORK. DO NOT USE VILLAGE PALM.



When I read this, I wonder what the rest of the information is. I can't imagine a business held in such high regard by many, would not return calls. Why don't you drive over and talk to them again. What exactly are you asking them to do that they would have to look into it? Perhaps something outside of their usual realm like painting an existing structure or plumbing something not connected to the garden? I am curious. Sometimes no, but we will look into it is a gentle way of saying no.


I have no dog in this fight,never used Village Palm, but many people who I respect have said they had a good experience with them.


WHY don't you drive over and ask them again and then tell us what they said?

[justjim]

I almost always get results from an "eyeball to eyeball" conversation as opposed to a phone conversation. If I don't get results from a personal one on one reasonable conversation, I just move on.

Maybe they have staff/workers on vacation, accident, sick, etc. etc.

OP, I do understand how you feel---not returning my phone call is one of my pet peeves!

[raynan]

WOW....this is the first negative I've heard of with Village Palms but there is always a first time. Call and ask for Wendy and I'm sure she will take care of you or like others say go in person to their place on 466. Wendy is very proud of her business and I'm sure will not be happy to hear of calls not being returned. Good luck and post the results.

[JoMar]

I agree, if you want to correct a problem go see them in person.....after all, why should the vendor have the responsibility to respond to you. My rule, you get one call, then you get a warning call then you get the "you are fired" call with a list of the social media that will advise the "world" my experience (includes facebook, totv and twitter for a start). It is not my obligation to make their business better, it is their requirement. By the way, I have heard other negative comments on Village Palms. I believe some of the issue is taking on too much business, not hiring enough people to support existing customers or having the financial capability to provide the support. Those problems are not limited to one Company, I think it crosses all service companies.

[Callaway Guy]

The OP doesn't want to talk to anyone at Village Palms; instead he/she wants to bash them on TOTV, AND TRY, to keep customers away from them. We recently spent over $14k with them and love our landscaping. We've called them several times after the installation to add a couple of more low cost items and have ALWAYS gotten a return call.

Man/woman up, put your big boy/girl pants on, and drive yourself to their facility on 466 and talk face to face with them.

[MnGirl]

We at Village Palms absolutely pride ourselves getting back to our customers. Why you didn't get a call back, I don't know. I can tell you it is not because we don't want the work, or because of too much work, or not hiring enough people, or any financial capabilities. To say we "stink" as company because of not returning a phone call seems a little harsh. Why don't you stop by and we will get this whole thing settled.

[dbussone]

We at Village Palms absolutely pride ourselves getting back to our customers. Why you didn't get a call back, I don't know. I can tell you it is not because we don't want the work, or because of too much work, or not hiring enough people, or any financial capabilities. To say we "stink" as company because of not returning a phone call seems a little harsh. Why don't you stop by and we will get this whole thing settled.

I enjoy TOTV, but the one fault I find with it is that it is too easy to assassinate a business or a professional in complete anonymity. It is not uncommon to see a tread initiated about a restaurant, physician, or other organization in a manner that offers no constructive criticism or has absolutely no intent to discuss perceived flaws or seek the thoughts of others. Instead the OP just unloads both barrels thoughtlessly. Just IMHO. And MnGirl, I wish you much success.

[jimbo2012]

By the way, I have heard other negative comments on Village Palms.

Agree, just do a search on the forum.

after all, why should the vendor have the responsibility to respond to you. .

Because that's the way business works, can't believe you say that!

But to say drive over to a biz to discuss something should not be required the call should have been returned, but given the possibility the message was lost another call would be reasonable before posting here.

Other than that they are on the expensive side for their work.

[outlaw]

We at Village Palms absolutely pride ourselves getting back to our customers. Why you didn't get a call back, I don't know. I can tell you it is not because we don't want the work, or because of too much work, or not hiring enough people, or any financial capabilities. To say we "stink" as company because of not returning a phone call seems a little harsh. Why don't you stop by and we will get this whole thing settled.

Better yet, why don't you stop by and take care of your customer? You don't return phone calls, and then you tell he/she to drive to your store to clear things up? Unprofessional!

[dbussone]

Better yet, why don't you stop by and take care of your customer? You don't return phone calls, and then you tell he/she to drive to your store to clear things up? Unprofessional!


You are assuming the OP is completely accurate. There are always differing versions and two sides. As someone stated earlier, let's not be so harsh.

[jimbo2012]

Better yet, why don't you stop by and take care of your customer? You don't return phone calls, and then you tell he/she to drive to your store to clear things up?


Unprofessional!

Bingo!

[biker1]

Just some friendly advice. Your post, as written, will not have the desired effect of countering the negative comment written by the original poster. In my opinion, you should have said nothing more than "Oops, we apologize and will drive over to your home to address the issue immediately". The first rule of crisis management is to accept blame and then state what you are going to do to address the situation. In your post, you did not accept responsibility and you put the onus on the customer to come visit you.

We at Village Palms absolutely pride ourselves getting back to our customers. Why you didn't get a call back, I don't know. I can tell you it is not because we don't want the work, or because of too much work, or not hiring enough people, or any financial capabilities. To say we "stink" as company because of not returning a phone call seems a little harsh. Why don't you stop by and we will get this whole thing settled.

[outlaw]

You are assuming the OP is completely accurate. There are always differing versions and two sides. As someone stated earlier, let's not be so harsh.

I'm not assuming anything other than a representative of the company not offering to call the OP immediately, but instead telling the OP to drive over to her/his store to settle things. Based on that alone, I would not do business with that company.

[MnGirl]

So who is mmac???? Difficult to drive to ones home and take care of a problem when you don't know who they are. We are truly sorry for not getting back to you. All I wanted to do is fix the problem, and I felt if I told the OP to call "again" (so I could know who they are) that wouldn't have been the correct answer. So here's my personal cell number 352-459-9416.

[villagetinker]

We've used Village Palm a few times and have spent about $12000 with them. We have a smaller (not small)job for them to do. We have described to them what we want and they say they would look into it. We have called and left several messages for Jodi for weeks and have never got a reply. Apparently spending $12000 is not enough money to at least get a return call EVEN IF IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN THEY DON'T WANT THE WORK. DO NOT USE VILLAGE PALM.

OP, did you try a call back? This could be as simple as the phone number was misunderstood or transcribed wrong. I cannot tell you the number of times someone has called us, and rattled off their phone number so fast that I had to replay the message 3-4 times to get it, or did not include the area code (cell phone), or talked so softly the message and phone number were unintelligible. In any case I was not able to return the call.

[Bonny]

One of my pet peeves on here.... The OP makes a derogatory remark about someone and then never comes back on to tell anyone the results or sometimes, not even tell the whole story. In the meantime, the rest of us rack up about 10 pages speculating and offering all kinds of help to rectify the situation. :confused:

[outlaw]

Lots of attacks toward the OP. Many need to reread the OP comment. Customer spent $12K with this company. Customer discussed smaller job with company. Company said they would think about it. Company never got back with customer. Customer left SEVERAL messages for Jodi. Jodi never contacted the customer. Company rep complains about customer. How about the company rep talk to Jodi and find out who the customer is and look in the $12K job file for this customer's number and call this customer?

[outlaw]

OP, did you try a call back? This could be as simple as the phone number was misunderstood or transcribed wrong. I cannot tell you the number of times someone has called us, and rattled off their phone number so fast that I had to replay the message 3-4 times to get it, or did not include the area code (cell phone), or talked so softly the message and phone number were unintelligible. In any case I was not able to return the call.

OP says they called SEVERAL times.

[dbussone]

I'm not assuming anything other than a representative of the company not offering to call the OP immediately, but instead telling the OP to drive over to her/his store to settle things. Based on that alone, I would not do business with that company.


You assumed that what the OP said about not getting a call back was accurate. What if the OP doesn't have voicemail or gave his/her number off by one digit, or the person taking the message incorrectly wrote down the OP's number. These things have all happened to me at one time or another but I don't recall going off on a rant over it.

[outlaw]

You assumed that what the OP said about not getting a call back was accurate. What if the OP doesn't have voicemail or gave his/her number off by one digit, or the person taking the message incorrectly wrote down the OP's number. These things have all happened to me at one time or another but I don't recall going off on a rant over it.

What if..... the company rep was still unprofessional. Unless this company is completely screwed up, they have a file on this person, and Jodi most likely knows who this is. How about the rep say "I'm terribly sorry for the confusion, and I will get with Jodi this morning and straighten this out."

[jimbo2012]

Maybe they charge so many $12,000 they can't figure it out. :22yikes:


A responsible biz would look in their files under "Tamarind Grove" like it says in OP post

http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/sherlock-holmes.jpg

[Jima64]

One of my pet peeves on here.... The OP makes a derogatory remark about someone and then never comes back on to tell anyone the results or sometimes, not even tell the whole story. In the meantime, the rest of us rack up about 10 pages speculating and offering all kinds of help to rectify the situation. :confused:

I agree with you. Come back on and let us know. If it is resolved the thread can be closed.

[Barefoot]

Post deleted. No need to add my two cents worth.

[RickeyD]

Me thinks Village Palm opened up a can of worms. [emoji218]

[MnGirl]

I am not just a representative for the company, Village Palms, I am the owner. When I see a problem I try to fix it, evidently it was the wrong way to go about it. We will except all blame for not getting back to the customer. We apologize for taking a week and a half, I know there was confusion and phone messages in that time, but the final amount was not given until yesterday. I had no knowledge of your last name until this afternoon.
Your request is not something we typically do, so special attention has to be done for pricing the work. Our work crews are landscapers, they are and should always act professional. They are not allowed to play music, smoke on peoples property, or go shirtless. If our price is more than you budgeted, a lawn care company can do it for less. It is not that we don't want the work, but, we must charge for our time.
Jodi told you that you do not need to remove your mulch to put down Preene. I stand behind her advise, to remove the mulch and put down Preen, and then replace the mulch is overkill.
I have called you and left a message, and left my number here on Talk of the Villages.
I/we are sorry for any and all problems and take full responsibility, I'm looking for what you would like us to do.

[jimbo2012]

If you had taken the time to figure out who your customer was several hours ago you could have avoided all the bad PR.

What will that cost in future biz & good will? hard to say.

I think you have now put the issue to rest.

How much would a good phone system cost in your office compared to over 800 people reading this thread about your customer service.

Mngirl,

Also why don't you use your name when you post?

[Callaway Guy]

I am not just a representative for the company, Village Palms, I am the owner. When I see a problem I try to fix it, evidently it was the wrong way to go about it. We will except all blame for not getting back to the customer. We apologize for taking a week and a half, I know there was confusion and phone messages in that time, but the final amount was not given until yesterday. I had no knowledge of your last name until this afternoon.
Your request is not something we typically do, so special attention has to be done for pricing the work. Our work crews are landscapers, they are and should always act professional. They are not allowed to play music, smoke on peoples property, or go shirtless. If our price is more than you budgeted, a lawn care company can do it for less. It is not that we don't want the work, but, we must charge for our time.
Jodi told you that you do not need to remove your mulch to put down Preene. I stand behind her advise, to remove the mulch and put down Preen, and then replace the mulch is overkill.
I have called you and left a message, and left my number here on Talk of the Villages.
I/we are sorry for any and all problems and take full responsibility, I'm looking for what you would like us to do.

And there you are - the story behind the bashing; all because of the removal of mulch and preening. Something they don't even do. Why didn't you call your lawn care company, OP? Because they wanted to charge you too much?!?!?!?! Unbelievable, some people.

[dewilson58]

I am not just a representative for the company, Village Palms, I am the owner. When I see a problem I try to fix it, evidently it was the wrong way to go about it. We will except all blame for not getting back to the customer. We apologize for taking a week and a half, I know there was confusion and phone messages in that time, but the final amount was not given until yesterday. I had no knowledge of your last name until this afternoon.
Your request is not something we typically do, so special attention has to be done for pricing the work. Our work crews are landscapers, they are and should always act professional. They are not allowed to play music, smoke on peoples property, or go shirtless. If our price is more than you budgeted, a lawn care company can do it for less. It is not that we don't want the work, but, we must charge for our time.
Jodi told you that you do not need to remove your mulch to put down Preene. I stand behind her advise, to remove the mulch and put down Preen, and then replace the mulch is overkill.
I have called you and left a message, and left my number here on Talk of the Villages.
I/we are sorry for any and all problems and take full responsibility, I'm looking for what you would like us to do.


:eclipsee_gold_cup:

[Bogie Shooter]

And there you are - the story behind the bashing; all because of the removal of mulch and preening. Something they don't even do. Why didn't you call your lawn care company, OP? Because they wanted to charge you too much?!?!?!?! Unbelievable, some people.

I agree. All that bashing from people that didn't have a clue.

[JoMar]

Agree, just do a search on the forum.



Because that's the way business works, can't believe you say that!

But to say drive over to a biz to discuss something should not be required the call should have been returned, but given the possibility the message was lost another call would be reasonable before posting here.

Other than that they are on the expensive side for their work.

That was tongue firmly inserted in cheek. I hate those that post on here bashing vendors since we only get one side. I agree with the second call but if it gets to three calls, for me, I find someone else. So far our vendor selection hasn't gone beyond two calls.

[biker1]

Overall poorly handled by the vendor. The original post by the owner was a perfect example of how not to handle things. I went to many mandatory "charm school" classes to learn how to deal with upset customers.

And there you are - the story behind the bashing; all because of the removal of mulch and preening. Something they don't even do. Why didn't you call your lawn care company, OP? Because they wanted to charge you too much?!?!?!?! Unbelievable, some people.

[mixsonci]

Here we are 4 pages in bashing this company that clearly has a stellar reputation over one tiny fault and the OP can't even bother to weigh in again. To me, enough talk about this OP who opened a can of worms and can't even respond again. OP needs to get a life if she/he gets this upset over this issue when she/he probably should have called her/his lawn company in the first place.