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TruGreen Chemlawn

TruGreen ChemLawn • New Jersey Sues TruGreen Chemlawn --- Consumer Complaints • Too Much Service • Not Enough Service • Pricing • Happy Insider • Unhappy Ex-Insider --- • What You Can Do

A part of the ServiceMaster empire, TruGreen Chemlawn proclaims that it "will give your lawn the nutrients it needs to produce a thicker, greener carpet of grass." Maybe so, but we hear from many consumers who would give anything to stop TruGreen from showing up again. Then there are those who would like a little more service rather than much less.

A brief sample of representative complaints is below; for more, click on any of the cateogories to the right.

robert of evans, GA July 3, 2009

I tried tru green for 2 years when i was at my other house. I just resooded my lawn with zoysia. so i wanted to look the best. so they came out as i was told. after the second application my grass started dying out. since im new to this. they said give it time it will green out. well i did. well after 2 or 3 more apps. nothing. weeds started to still come out. and they told me they will stop weeds. grass still browning... Come to find out they over did it a burnt my grass. Will never do buisness with them again. Do not recommend..,..,

Mark of Medina, OH July 2, 2009

If these people come to your door, shut the door! High pressure sales people and customer service people make promises that they do not keep. My lawn is pale and weeds are popping up. I call to ask when they are coming out and the lady says that I'm on the schedule in two days, (sure I was!). Two days later, they're a no show and they don't call to let you know that they won't make their visit. Once they get your money, they got what they came for.

dave of Holliston, MA June 10, 2009

TruGreen sprayed my lawn through an account our previous homeowner had. When I told them I didn't know who they were, that we had just purchased our home and that since I didn't ask them to come and it was not my account that I would not be paying for their service and to immediately cease any additional applications. This was in March '09, it is now May and despite numerous conversations with my local branch managers and corporate customer service, I still receive calls weekly attempting to collect the fee for that initial service, including now written threats of damaging my credit with a collection agency and legal action. They are RELENTLESS and one of the least professional organizations I've ever known - Anyone who would consciously choose to do business with this incompetency really needs to rethink their decision.

Sharon of Olathe, KS June 26, 2009

After cancelling our service, they continue to send workers to our home to spray the lawn and leave a bill. We caught them a couple of times and turned them away, but they finally showed up when we were not home. We called and advised we wouldn't be paying the bill. They finally stopped showing up, but are now sending us to collection for 56.99

Chris of Spokane, WA June 26, 2009

Salesperson came to door with lawn service deal. Told him that I normally did it myself but this is going to be a busy summer and I told him I would sign up for 4 treatments + core aeriation. I also told him that I'm not easy to work with and have high expectations. Of course, he said they offer great service. After 5 weeks, no service, no aeriation, nothing. Called the office and told them I wanted my money back. The lady on the phone indicated that I was never scheduled for any service. She talked me into keeping the contract - after haggling, she said they would do the aeriation and lawn application at no charge. I relunctantly agreed. They came out. Aeriation was okay - looked like there were plugs. After two weeks, my lawn still is dried out. I increased my sprinkler time. We've also had lots of rain and little hot weather. I usually buy a bag or two of fertilizer from Home Depot and my lawn looks great. Pretty hideous. I had trouble getting through their phone lines - left a msg. to cancel and to not call me back. If you want the job done right, do it yourself.

John of Sanford, FL June 19, 2009

I fell for the 49 a month we'll make your lawn offer. My lawn remained brown after many bills. When we called to cancel the service they kept sending someone and leaving a bill. However my lawn never looked GREEN. Finally they stopped coming but continued to bill me.

Donna of Owings, MD June 13, 2009

TruGreen called me and asked me who had my lawn service. I sad that I did it myself. They sad that they could do it for me for 48.00 dollars per application and it would be four applications a year. So I said OK. They sad someone would call be back in five to ten minutes to go over the offer. They called me back and I sad OK. They said someone would be out in five to ten days to do the first application for 29.95 . Someone came and said that it would be 210.00 dollars per application. Bottom line is that if there are calling people over the phone and making offers they need to know the size of the property. I talked for someone there and called if they used in internet to get the size of the property before they called to make an offer. There said yes but the girl was new and give me the price for a townhouse and the best they could do for me is 165.00 per application and I said that I would agree to 105.00 per application that it would be half of what they said it would really cost. They would ont agree with that. I would like to know how many people they do this to. They even send me the agreement in writing,offing a discount if you prepay for an annual total of 165.25

Connie of urbana, IL June 11, 2009

I contracted with Tru Green for several years and was fairly satisfied. Then my son bought a home and his yard was a mess. I called and added him to my contract. Without even looking at the lawn Tru Green told me over the phone that what the yard needed was aieration and re-seeding. I questioned this and was told yes with the description I gave of the lawn that was what was needed. I agreed without an analysis and they said they performed the service. After I paid over 100 we saw no change in the lawn. I phoned them and was told they would perform the service again at no charge. Supposedly this was done again, and again we noticed no difference. Then without my authorization they performed a weed control and billed me for it. I told them I would not pay it and they threatened to turn me over to collection. I terminated all agreements with them and paid them just to get them off my back. They continued to harass me and "want me back". They did nothing to appease me regarding the unauthorized charge and never did tell me exactly what the yard needed.

Neil of Willoughby, OH June 9, 2009

I completed the TruGreen survey and explained the problem(s)that I have encounter this year. What bothers me now is that I did the survey with details of my concerns and no one reponded or acknowledged what I reported which leads me to believe that this too will likely be ignored. In short, I reported that I was pleased with the lawn service personnel,in particular John H but not the scheduling and timing of tree and/or lawn services and follow up.

Long time customer going back to Chemlawn who left once because of these scheduling and lack of service concerns but came back when the Todd of several years ago took over and made a big difference in when and how things were handled.

Now, we are back to the 'old Chemlawn' way of doing business and I have tree that were not sprayed with protective and right now my lawn coloring looks bad. I trust in John but it seems he is out of whatever loop it takes to schedule (not over schedule either) to keep customers pleased.

Either business is real good, they are short handed, or just do not have the leadership and competency of SERVICE that I knew in the recent past.

john of dallas, GA May 28, 2009

I currently work for Trugreen Lawncare in Marietta Ga. and am proud to say I truly enjoy my job and really do feel that the service we provide really improves customers lawns. I have seen results with alot of the lawns we treat that have been on the service within the first year and seen the improvement. I agree that sometimes customers are misinformed but that does not make us a bad company. I care about the quality of my work and I think it shows in appearance. I recommend anyone to use Trugreen because they truly do care about their customers(and no I'm not saying this to make us look better because of the complaints on this site). We are more than happy to help the homeowners with any concerns or questions they may have. Give us a try. We'll love you as a customer!

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