We received services from Tru Green. Because of unexpected medical bills etc., we were unable to pay the bill in full. We called the local office and told them our problem and said that we would make monthly payments. We were told that this was acceptable. We then continued to get nasty grams from the billing center. We called the local people repeatedly and were assured that it was okay to make monthly payments. They had some problems with the billing division. Then we received a notice from a collection agency that Tru Green had sent our account to. Don't trust the company. The field people were very nice but the company is not trustworthy. Try to contact the corporate headquarters with a complaint!
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
TruGeen is the worst company I have done business in my estimation. TruGreen raised prices, and when I told them this, I was told I was getting a great price. I disagreed and was told of the great deal I had. At one time, I was told the saving realized was $15.00 to $40.00. When I wanted to get the service paid for, I was told I just didn't have enough services or the right ones. I was a fool to try this service twice!
Weeds and the worst lawn I have ever had. The service managers have done only lip service and no real service! If there was a minus overall service, I would use it.
You, customers, need to stop your whining! Chances are, you don't follow our recommendations! We lawn techs are lucky to get paid minimum wage after working 70 hours a week. We bust our ** for you and we get nothing but grief from you! Why don't you, people, do your share of the yard work? We are just "a tool in your shed" to help, not do it all!
I am a tech for TruGreen. I don't know how I stumbled across this hilarity, but after reading these complaints, I feel I must comment.
I will start off by saying that I agree. TruGreen's billing/sales practices need to be improved. I get complaints daily from customers that billing is a big issue. Incorrect charges, no payments posted, etc. That is definitely the weakness of the company and does need a massive reconstruction. But in regards to sales, it's just that sales. Their job is to sell you things. Just like any other retail store/service you go to. It's your job as a customer to research what you really need. I don't care what industry it is, if you allow the sales guy to decide what you need, they will sell you the world. Is it morally right? No. I see people all the time being sold lime apps/aerations that don't need it. I do feel bad sometimes, but it's a business and as the saying goes "a fool and his money are easily parted".
Now, here is where I will defend my company. While I do not think TruGreen is the best place to work, it is definitely not a shady company that "plants grubs" or weeds in lawns. ROFL. Unfortunately, like with any workplace, there are always a handful of workers who don't give a ** about anyone and hate life. It really sucks if your tech is one of those guys. But likewise, it sucks if your barber is one of those guys, or your plumber or any other service person you pay.
However, personally, I do everything I can to help my customers get a perfect lawn. But much like most of you morons posting on here, 60% of my customers think it's all on us. Like we just show up and turn your dump, crabgrass/weed infested lawn into a golf course with one or 2 treatments. Like we sprinkle magic dust and everything's perfect. If I've been there a few times, there should be zero weeds and a nice dark green lawn. What a joke.
The fact is, the majority of you people crying about weeds and brown grass, are not doing your part. When you get into dumping chemicals on grass, understand your lawn now requires different attention than it did before. The occasional rainstorms do not provide anywhere near the amount of water needed. Consequently, the grass is also more affected by heat therefore you can't mow below 4.5", especially if you don't water at least every other day for 20-30 minutes. This does not mean standing on your porch with a hose. This means either spending the money on in-ground irrigation or dragging sprinklers around the yard.
It's not our problem that you are lazy, don't listen to instructions and have unrealistic expectations. Lawns that are filled with weeds and/or grubs will take at least 2 seasons of treatments combined with you properly and consistently mowing and watering before you will have a nice lawn. It's not rocket science that plants need water, sun and nutrients to grow. When you boost nutrients, but not water, what do you think is going to happen? The weed control needs water to work and weeds thrive off hot, dry areas.
TruGreen is not a magical solution to your piece of ** lawn. It's a tool that, when combined with your efforts (watering/mowing), will help you get results faster than doing it yourself.Again, I know there are some employees that really don't care and do crappy work. But at my branch in Albany, a good 70% of the guys who work here are good, experienced and have the customers' best interest as a priority.
i worked for this company for 3 years had been employee of the month 4 or 5 times, was always in the top ten in earnings and was always one of the best customer retention people at this branch. I also never had any disciplinary action against me. In fact I even flew to Idaho during my vacation to pick up a company truck and drive it to the branch in Washington on my time with no compensation.
But because i was injured on the job and was told by the doctor I would be on light duty for 8 to 10 weeks I was fired -- not laid off not put on disability but fired. The reason I was given was that I couldn't finish my route on a Saturday (aug.30th 2003) due to my wrist injury. I was suspended till Sept 2nd. They made sure I didn't get paid for the holiday and my customer retention bonus for the month of Aug. I went back in on Sept 2nd and was told I was fired for insubordination for refusing to work with an injury even though I had a note from my doctor.
This has caused me to fall way behind on house payments and car payments because i couldnt even get unemployment for five weeks due to the fact the company was fighting me on it. This is a fine way for any company to treat a person that has given their all for the company.
I worked for TruGreen for 3 months. I enjoy dealing with customers, that's my second favorite part of the job. My first of course is to give you a great looking lawn, but not perfect, hardly the case with TruGreen. I have a family, and love being with them. Working six, seven days a week and getting paid 450.00/wk is ridiculous. I had to bring in a certain amount of profit each day to get the weekend off.
TruGreen made it impossible, it got so bad that I hate to admit this, but the applications weren't going down. I hated my self for this, I had to get out of there.
I work now for a mom and pop lawn company. I am so proud to work for them. OUR lawns now look great, I am proud to work for this company, we may be small, but we do HONEST work. I want to say sorry to the customers that I cheated myself. Please forgive me as a person.
I worked for Trugreen and Chemlawn for about 8 years. The problem for the consumer is that Trugreen doesn't tell the customer what all they have in store for them down the road.
First is eight applications a year at 6-8 weeks apart. Well, they are still selling 8 applications in March and Early April. It just ain't possible to get all the chemicals down in time to stop the weeds that late in the year.
Next the customer gets bombarded with a bunch of pitches for tree and shrub service, aerations, grub control and brown patch control. The funny thing is that if you have active grubs or brown patch, they take care of it free of charge.
I understand the customer's frustration when a tech runs across their lawn and is done in 3 minutes. Well, the equipment is set to put out the right amount even though they were only there a short time. If you get a lazy tech who doesn't want to treat your weeds or look for any other signs, you're up a river.
It's easy to push a spreader all day long if that's all you have to do.
It's all about customer expectations. The new sales people have no idea what weeds are what, and what products are used. All the sales people want to do is sell you the most expensive stuff to make your lawn look nice. Once they have your phone number they will call you for the next five years, unless you ask to be taken off their list.
And that's just to sell you new stuff. It doesn't include the number of times they call you for applications, and other efforts to sell you products and services. They call from 9 AM to 9PM and now they are going door to door.
Just beware that the service can be good if you know what you are getting into, and you know what you need to do.
