New Residents BEWARE
 

Service Smart has been rebranded as Good Neighbor. Do not EVer Ever sign a long term contract with anybody! If you are tempted to use them, contact seniors against crime, the file is 6 inches thick!

Picture a pile of crap. Their photo accompanies the description.

Are they still around? We were warned about them over two years ago.

When their rep came by in Oct 2016, I just said, "We heard about you guys." Then he left and have never come back.

So many new homes being built and so many gullible new Villagers. Fertile ground for the fraud to continue to grow under a new name.

Very much so, and active in Fenney. I know three people who use them for lawn maintenance and are satisfied with the job they do.

Vipers, is it so hard to run a good, honest, reputable business? I look to T & D Pools, Investment Painting Contractors, Ryan O'Cull for garage doors, Chuck Farrell for Air Conditioning, off the top of my head and so many other vendors who have stood the test of time and who get flooded with positive reviews. I'm sure the energy expenditure to screw your customers is probably the same as the energy to provide good, reliable service.

Just remember -- Karma is a 5-letter word that starts with B!

Having a 6 inch thick file on one company that has been around for years doesn't say much for Seniors vs Crime. They may be good at collecting information, but I think their overall effectiveness is questionable.

I know dozens of people that paid them up front and have rarely seen them since. All of the yellow lawns in Fenney and DeSoto are maintained by either Service Smart or no one at all, both being equal. Beware, do your homework. And thanks OP for letting us know their new name.

I don't use SS, and can only speak to the people I know/work for and their level of care.

Thank you, OP, for posting the name change.

How in the world are the able to keep getting away with this... There has to be a way to let the new villagers know what kind of people they are! Why can't The Villages warn people about them! This is the 4th company this guy has started he has to have taken millions from people by now how is he not in jail and his sales guy should be right there with him he has been with him since the beginning.

Seniors vs Crime has an office in The Villages, is authorized and directed by the Florida Attorney General, and spent $366K of taxpayer money in 2017. According to one poster, they have a 6 inch thick file on Service Smart. So, what are they doing with my tax money?

How can this in any way be the responsibility of The Villages??

This is something I wanted to say for 4 1/2 years now. Thanks for posting!

Apparently, they spend part of their time measuring the size of their files.

My personal experience with this company... I signed on with them the week I moved in (early Nov). All the reps from the different companies stopped in and I went with them because the "sales guy" gave me a good vibe - softspoken, not pushy, had pages of references. I was in a hurry to get pest control, but my fault for not checking anything as I'm usually very careful, thorough and suspicious in any sales situation. After that the owner came by and brought the wife and I on a tour of several landscaping jobs he did. He seemed to really know his stuff and his jobs looked really good, so we contracted some landscaping through him.

Only after all this did I really come to know the company's reputation. The landscaping turned out great (lots of compliments from neighbors) - workers were great to deal with, but they were tardy on the lawn and pest visits and I had to call the office. They made good on everything but it still really ticked me off I had to do that. Then lately I noticed things seemed to be changing - guys showing up on schedule for lawn and pest. Last week they were here for the lawn and I talked to one of the crew we got to know during the landscaping install and he said the company got sold to a person he named (can't remember) and the old owner was now relegated to just doing the landscaping.

Now this could all be BS, but I will say the people who show up lately know their stuff and appear to be concerned and interested in doing what's right for me.
Would I recommend them right now.. probably not knowing their past history, but they don't appear to be crooks just interested in screwing me as far as I can see... we'll see.

Just thought I would post my personal experience for balance.

Flyguy, they’re always good the first six months. Once they’ve gotten enough contracts, they revert to form. That’s the way they’ve always worked.

What they are doing is warning anyone smart enough to ask them about bad companies. They aren’t law enforcement.

I disagree. That may be what they are "actually" doing, but it is not what they are supposed to be doing. Seniors vs Crime is a program funded by and partnered with the Florida Attorney General. They are supposed to assist local law enforcement and the state Attorney General to prosecute law breakers. That is what the program receives taxpayer money to do.