I'm not defending Service Smart because I think their service has gone downhill since they acquired Stellar's customers.
However neither Stellar nor Service Smart ever demanded advance payment from us.
They offered a discount for advance payment, but it was optional.
I'm not sure what they're doing now because we no longer use them.
It looks like a lot of people went for the advance-payment plan that offers a discount, and then regretted it.
Or perhaps SS wasn't clear about the options.

Service smart
 

Bought a new villa over a month ago....signed up with service smart and paid 1yr in full....They have yet to cut my grass....Have called 2x and told I was scheduled the next day...grass so overgrown embarrassing....I signed the contract with owner Roy who I have asked for a return call to no avail....Have lived in the villages over 3 yrs and my first negative post regarding contractors...

There is a lesson in all this; don't pay in advance. Also, don't pay in full until the jobs is 100% complete. I am sorry to hear of your problems. Check your paperwork and see if you can get a refund. If so, drive to their office and don't leave till they cut you a check.

I was fortunate enough to get a refund from Service Smart. They insisted that refunds are not allowed if you ask more than three days following the contract date. I insisted that I was unhappy with their work and had documented everything they had failed to do per the contract, and based on Florida law, I was allowed to cancel and receive a refund. They refused, but my last word to them was that I'd be contacting the authorities. Within two weeks, I received a check--not a full refund--but about 70% of what I had paid.

Yup! you are correct not a name change, just a merge. Kinda like pushing the flush handle, everything merges. Same or bigger results.

A Service Smart manager(?) came to my house a week or so ago and asked for a "second chance" at doing our yard. He offered FREE MOWING FOR A YEAR and a $500 discount off annual maintenance. I declined. As I told him, it's a pretty bad statement on a business when you can't even give your service away for free.

I checked their website this morning and this is what it has:

Site Offline

Site Offline

This website has been disabled for technical reasons. Please contact the site administrator for more information.

Service smart
 

Village resident for 3 yrs...just bought a new villa and hired service smart 1 month ago....great pre paid annual price....they never came once to cut lawn!! I kept calling and they said each time tomorrow....Salesman Roy was at my door with great initial sales pitch..,,Could not get him or anyone to call me back..They promised lawn ( now totally over grown ) would be cut thurs..,,they never showed up ....I called visa card bank and they credited my account and will remove charge paid to service smart...Yesterday at 8 am I called sevice smart to cancel....woman said she could not cancel and someone would call me back...I then told her not to bother as I had account cancelled with credit back to me from my visa account.,,She asked if they agreed to cancel and I said yes..,She basically hung up...1 hour heard my yard being mowed and talked to the lawn cutter.,l told him I had called office and cancelled...He admitted he got a call from the office to immediately cut my lawn and this was not even his route....I called the office and same womapn told me that he was there from previous scheduling...I told her she knew that was not true and that the lawn cutter confirmed he just received the emergency call to cut lawn...She then hung up on me...This is the only contractor in 3 yrs I have ever had a problem with...They are a total fraud with the utmost unethical standards....I have sent formal complaint to the higher ups to put a stop to their business practices....

Their website is still offline. Probably didn't pay the web host.

Who would the "higher ups " be ?