TruGreen Chemlawn

I work for TruGreen. In training, their saying is "Honor God in all we do." As soon as you get on the floor, the main supervisor told us, "Buyers are liars and don't let them tell you they need to think about an offer! Make them buy it or you're not doing your job." I thought this was terrible. There are no customer service reps everyone, there are only sales reps. The customer service reps you are speaking to are sales reps that will say anything to get you off the phone without doing anything, trust me!

I am currently a TruGreen employee. What you have read and heard is all 100% true. Be careful of the "largest, most trusted name in the business." The staff is so overworked by corporate, and they don't have systems to stop calling people, even after stopping service 15 years ago. If you need lawn care, run and call someone else. You won't get any good service. Trust me!

After my dog was diagnosed with cancer about a month ago, I started doing a lot of research. One of the main causes listed was lawn chemicals. TruGreen and Chemlawn have been doing our yard for years, with the assurance that it's safe for pets after the spray has dried. During my research, I found numerous reports of TruGreen users with dogs affected by cancer. This morning, my second dog, a four-year-old youngster, was diagnosed with advanced cancer and had to be put down. Two dogs diagnosed with cancer in one month? I'm going along with the TruGreen theory!

I have been a Trugreen customer for more than 6 years. I have been doing all that they had recommended for the lawn care and treatments. After all these years, I have realized that my lawn is getting worse. I contacted Trugreen on several occasions and they have not been able to resolve the issue. They do not call back nor do they show up when they are supposed to come in and in fact lied that they were there when I was at home waiting to meet them. Every time I have called them at their local or central office, they would say, "Oh, we are documenting everything that you are saying and I am sorry this happened."

I am tired of their arrogant employees who think and treat you just like numbers. They do not deserve to be in business and their customer service needs a whole lot of improvement and major restructuring. If you as a company can not keep your longterm customers happy, you are not going to last long. I have always been told that a local company does a better job and hence I ended up doing so. I am very frustrated with their no-care attitude. I am never going back to Trugreen again and I have major reservations for referring any one to them. Overall, it's a very poorly functioning company with poor quality employees. Sad!

We are offended and believe the current TruGreen TV ad is inappropriate, when the actor comes out of the front door and says, "What the f... front yard!" This is perfectly clear what word the actor is conveying. Perhaps this four-letter word is used commonly amongst the younger generation. But still, it is not appropriate to use in advertising to the general public. We respectfully request the ad be removed.

TruGreen Chemlawn agreed to apply needed lime according to Agriculture Department soil test recommendations, but they did not. Requirements were 1900 and they only applied 449 and said that's all they were going to apply. I am considering filing for damages as well.

I had TruGreen for many years until they did an unauthorized application and made me pay for it. I paid them so they would not turn me over for collection as they had threatened. I cancelled all service. This year I decided to give them another chance. I phoned to ask if they had the same program I had received several years ago. They said "No, may I have your phone number in case we get cut off." I declined the service and since that day (a week ago), they have called every day at least two times a day. I do not answer the calls nor will I. I then called the home office to complain, they transferred me to the local office who assured me they would take my name off their list. Did they? No, two more calls yesterday. This company is horrible. Never again!

I am a kindergarten teacher and I find your "front yard" commercial offensive. It certainly does not set an appropriate example for children or adults. I will not buy any product or service your company provides. I was pleased to see that there were many others that share my opinion!

When I called the regional office to cancel my service due to an ongoing weed problem that never got resolved, they stated that they did not want me to leave disappointed and said that they would come treat the weeds one last time at no charge. I was sent to a representative to make those arrangements and this person refused to set up a time unless I agreed to a new contract.

My grass went from thoroughbred to inbred in 2 years. I had a beautiful centipede sod lawn planted in 2002 - then TruGreen started spraying for spurge which initially worked well in 2005. Then, over the last 2 years, I have had poor service (no return calls, promises that they will call in 24 hours when they didn't). I called again and was told, "Oh, that is 24 business hours - so that might be 3 days." I never got a call back. Weeds everywhere. Spurge everywhere. The centipede is being overrun by bermuda if not dead-in spots (which will be bermuda in the height of growing season). I just put down a patch of 16 pieces of sod to repair a total burnout in my backyard. My side yard looks like a weed garden. Basically, from what I read, they overdid the fertilizer which gives the advantage to invasive grass and they didn't control my weeds wisely. I sent them a letter cancelling my service since they never answered my call. However, I'd like them to foot some of the bill for replacing my obliterated yard!

My grass went from thoroughbred to inbred in 2 years. I had a beautiful centipede sod lawn planted in 2002 - then TruGreen started spraying for spurge which initially worked well in 2005. Then, over the last 2 years, I have had poor service (no return calls, promises that they will call in 24 hours when they didn't). I called again and was told, "Oh, that is 24 business hours - so that might be 3 days." I never got a call back. Weeds everywhere. Spurge everywhere. The centipede is being overrun by bermuda if not dead-in spots (which will be bermuda in the height of growing season). I just put down a patch of 16 pieces of sod to repair a total burnout in my backyard. My side yard looks like a weed garden. Basically, from what I read, they overdid the fertilizer which gives the advantage to invasive grass and they didn't control my weeds wisely. I sent them a letter cancelling my service since they never answered my call. However, I'd like them to foot some of the bill for replacing my obliterated yard!

I think your TV ad is disgusting. The implication of the wording is an offense to me and my family. Because of that and a former bad experience with your company, I will never use your services!

The "What the front yard?" commercial is very adolescent, unnecessary and offensive. I will never use your service because of that ad. I will encourage my friends and family to look elsewhere for a lawn service.

I will not be using your product any longer. I am furious with your commercial (the F-word). This is not acceptable for children to see this. I thought you were a family-oriented company - apparently not. Who is responsible for this? Did you actually think this was cute? This is just juvenile.

I want the owners of TruGreen to be aware of how inappropriate I think their new commercial is. What on earth are they thinking? This company has a commercial advertising their "weed slayer" that is nasty, foul and disrespectful! TruGreen's newest "weed slayer" commercial includes, "What the f - front yard?" The actor begins to say the F-word and then switches to front yard. This is not enough to cover up what he meant to say. We all know he meant to use the F word. As a parent and woman, I find this type of advertising inappropriate and unnecessary. TruGreen is providing the fodder for our children to have dirty mouths. TruGreen is not a company I care to do business with! They show very poor judgment and disregard for my children and me!

Your TV advertisement has totally turned me off to your product. The homeowner walks out of his house and says "What the ** front lawn." You lead everyone watching to go in their mind to a wrong conclusion. I am offended by this.

I had used Lawn and Turf, a local company on LI for 30 years and was happy dealing with wonderful people. Last year, they sold out to TruGreen. We're OK, not great but OK. This year, however, they turned out to be the worst company I had ever dealt with. My story, I signed a contract but didn't pay in advance (never do that even with incentives) because then they can do whatever. Early blooming and grass getting quite long, so I attempted to call to get the service started. Several times on hold for over 1/2 hour with the same silly typical message (heavy call volume, answering calls as they are received, etc.). Then they automatically transferred the call to another TruGreen location, Dallas, Boston, New Hampshire. I wanted my local service coming from Yaphank, NY.

All these other locations could do is take the info and say "we will have them call you". Guess what? No one ever calls and as a matter of fact, Dallas was rude and obnoxious (Tony). I had it with them and left messages around the country that I am canceling. Finally, I got the phone call and told them they are absolutely the worst. The next day, their van arrived and if I wasn't home, they would have applied their first season application. I told the driver to hit the road and he thoroughly understood and indicated this situation was quite common. I feel better now that I vented and got a good local company who answers his phone, is licensed to do chemicals and is priced right.

We signed up, and paid in full for a full season of service four weeks ago with a promise that our service would start in seven days. We have a major issue with creeping charlie and had some dandelions. They called once to say they had to reschedule for later in the week due to the weather. Well, when I called to find out when they would be there, they said, "No, it would be the next week on Monday," which is today. When I called today, no record of the appointment. Creeping charlie is now 10 feet by 12 feet in the yard, and I just filled an entire garbage bag with dandelions that I pulled myself. Why? Because my dandelions have now spread to all of my neighbor's. TruGreen was supposed to call me back four hours ago to let me know when they would be here. Guess what? Nope. Worst thing is I work at home. I watched the trucks go by my house for three days straight last week. Nice!

Disappointed and angry at customer service practices - I have attempted to talk to someone in management to no avail. Ray, the supervisor, never called me back. I have been told repeatedly someone will call me within 48 hours and no one calls. I have had the service for 8 years, but have never been this unhappy. I also spoke to a woman by the name of Maria.

I was being charged for full lawn care, noticed lawn was looking bad. I watched. Tech was only doing front. And also found out I was being charged for 10,000 sq. ft .yard. Yard is only 8,000 sq. ft. I cancelled the service. Rep talked me back into doing service again. I was told they caught the tech short changing customers. So dumb me gave it a second chance, showed up one week late for my first service, sprayed my neighbor's yard which does not have your service. I walked outside, asked tech if he was here for my yard. He told me no. Five minutes later, he knocked on my door, said he was going to do mine, sprayed my yard down for about ten minutes and charged me $138.95 for analyzing my yard. I did not see it happen. I paid for the service and now keep getting a bill charging me again. I promise I will let everybody I can tell about my experience.and all my neighbors with TruGreen flags in their yard.

I prepaid for the whole season and I have tried to contact and talk to one TruGreen person and for the last week, I called everyday and I got your answering service and I gave them my info and they said someone will call back in 24 hours. Nothing has happened yet. Your company needs to go out of business. I will not renew and if there is a way, I would like to fire you now and get my money back.

I had been a customer of TruGreen for 8 years. This season, I have called many times regarding my lawn service. I got many promises about a service man being in my area, but no one ever showed up. When I called the office, I was told "I'm sorry" and a new date promised for service. At the same time, there was a service truck in the area servicing "new customers."

I asked the service man why he was not doing mine. I am right across the street from the neighbor, who was being serviced. He said he would check on it for me. I did not receive a response. I was promised to have a service man out on 4/19/12. No one showed up. Today, 4/20/12, I cancelled my service (again, the representative said "I'm sorry." This is a definite case of consumer neglect/mistreatment. I do not recommend TruGreen for future customers.

I called to inquire about TruGreen services and asked if someone could make an appointment to talk about my lawn needs. Two days later, I got a voicemail saying that they will be out on Monday to service my lawn and that it's not necessary for anyone to be home. I quickly called back and was told by the first two people that they could not find me in their system. I then warned the rep that if anyone should show up to service my lawn, I would have that person arrested for trespassing. The next person said that they could not contact the local office but would transfer me to a cancellation dept. After being on hold for a long time, I finally spoke to someone who finally found me in their system and said it looked like one of the first people I spoke with had already cancelled my service. What service? I never signed up for service. What a bad way to try to do business.

I have been a customer for over 18 years with ChemLawn/TruGreen. Obviously, I have been satisfied with your service over the years. In late February, I received a call from one of your reps, Mr. ** and he explained that my lawn care would be raised to $73 this coming year, but he assured me that if I was not totally satisfied with the results, TruGreen would make it right. I said, "Okay, you have done a good job over the years, I'll pay the increase." Nowhere in the conversation do I recall an additional charge of $50.00 would apply. I would never agree to that.

After my first application on March 3, I received two invoices for $73.00 and $50.00. The $50.00 charge was for an "Initial Start-up". I have been a customer for 18 years, what's with the Initial nickel dime Start-up fee? I know things are tight in the business world, but do not gauge your faithful customers! I did not agree to this ridiculous Initial Start-up fee and I have no intentions to pay for it. I will continue to pay $73.00 per application and I will expect your continued guarantee.

Furthermore, after receiving the above mentioned invoices, I called the 301/390-1800 number to complain about the charge. I called 5 times and had to leave messages. Your phone system needs to be reviewed, it is not customer-friendly. Of those five calls, I left three messages for Tina ** and she never responded. I await your response.

We hired TruGreen to service our lawn. One lawn service and one tree/shrub service in to it and the phone calls started daily for 2 weeks, constantly trying to up-sell for this service or that service. Fed up with this onslaught of phone calls, I finally called to cancel my service and the customer service agent told me "if you can't handle these calls and are not willing to give us another chance, then no company will be able to satisfy your needs". I should have took the advice of the consumer reviews I saw out there before I picked TruGreen, but I had to learn for myself. Unbelievable!

I was stood up, two days waiting on TruGreen Chemlawn services. I waited all day. No call, nothing from your company.

I need to be home for my first treatment to show TruGreen Chemlawn my plants. The first day, they were a no show, with no call saying that they would not arrive. I took a day of leave from work. On 4/12/2012, for two appointments in a row again they did not show. I have a lot to do on my day off. Again, I had to stay home and not get anything done that I had to do.

I called TruGreen for a price on lawn service. I was called back the next day and given a price. I said no, thanks. I have been getting calls from TruGreen's salespeople every other day since. I keep asking them to stop calling and they keep calling. I just want it to stop. One more time and I'm going to start making me a lot of calls. I have hundreds of free minutes and lots of free time and I will use them.

TruGreen Annual Contract: I have received numerous messages on my answering machine asking that I return my signed annual contract before service can begin. I return each call, wait an unreasonable time on hold each time, and finally reach a representative who guarantees me the contact, which has never been received and will be mailed out. This routine has taken place at least half a dozen times. My last call was taken by Jeff, a manager of sorts at the Orchard Park, New York, office last week. He guaranteed me that he personally would see to it that the contract was sent out the following morning. A week has passed and I still have no contract.

If you want the business, it would seem that someone in the administrative staff would be responsible enough to send out the information I am requesting. There are numerous lawn care services available, so if the business isn't needed, just let me know and I'll find another company.

I would appreciate hearing from you on this.