Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Weed Busters's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Weed Busters

  Pickerington, OH 43147-9340

  
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  Weed Busters

  PO Box 432 Pickerington, OH 43147-0432

  

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I utilized this company's services for the 2022 spring / summer season. Without my authorization, they performed additional services on my property on March 16th. I called them to ensure my service for the year had been cancelled, as I did not inatend to use their services this year to begin with. I was asked to make a payment, and let them know that this service was not requested, and that I did not understand how they could demand payment for a service they performed on their own accord without my consent.
  
  4 months later, on July 18th, I received a voicemail stating my balance would be reported to collections if not resolved within 30 calendar days. I called the company back, restating the fact that I did not request this service, and they're still demanding payment. They stated "We sent you a renewal letter, and you didn't respond so we assumed you wanted your service to continue.
  
  I've retained the initial confirmation sent to me in April of 2022, with no mention of this being a continuous service that transitioned year over year, which I have attached an image of.
  
  On November 17th of 2022, I received an email notice with a Renewal letter stating to pay by December 31st for a 10% discount, but, again there was no mention of a reply being necessary to Cancel service, only that payment must be made to get the discount and renew service. (Image also attached). I did not plan to re use their services, so I did not respond. I did not look for any additional communication from them as it seemed this would end my service.
  
  I now see an email from December 3rd where they conveniently added phrasing stating " Note That OUR Service IS Continuous. WE Will Return Each Year Unless YOU Notify US IN Writing OR BY Phone OF Your Desire TO Discontinue Service."
  
  This was never previously communicated to me, and sent AFTER the initial renewal letter which indicated you must pay for service to continue.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/24/2023

  Dear Mr. ******,
  Thank you for reaching out to us to address your concerns regarding the billing
  for services provided during the 2022-2023 season. We apologize for any
  confusion or inconvenience caused, and we appreciate the opportunity to clarify
  the situation. 

  Upon reviewing the details of your case, we understand that
  there has been a misunderstanding regarding the continuous service agreement
  and the billing process. Allow myself to provide some clarification:

  Our company operates under a continuous service agreement, which
  means that unless we receive explicit communication from our customers to
  discontinue the service, it automatically renews from the following
  year/season. We clearly list this on our terms of service when you sign up and
  we list it on all correspondences to our customers. We go out of our way and
  contact our customers no less than 5 times before we renew a service from one
  season to the next. We give months and months of time for a customer to cancel
  from one season to the next. Our records show that in your case we contacted you 7 times via
  email letting you know the service was renewing for 2023, we also sent one
  before service email the day before your service was scheduled for 2023 and
  called you the day before to let you know we were coming the next day (3-16-23)
  for service.

  It wasn’t until April 7th of 2023 that you contacted us. We then
  informed you on April 7th that we had sent you 7 emails and called you the day
  before and let you know we were coming for service on 3-16-23. Unfortunately
  for whatever reason you decided you wanted to cancel the service after it was
  already performed and that you shouldn’t have to pay for the prior service as
  it wasn't requested by you. You were informed at that time we notified you
  multiple times and we highlighted the terms of service you agreed to when you
  signed up. At that time, we told you had you contacted us prior to the service
  from the 8 notifications we sent you it would have been no problem removing the
  charge had it been our mistake. Unfortunately, in this case you didn't call us
  to cancel the service until after it was performed and for that reason the
  balance is correct.

  At that time, you were told we unfortunately have labor, fuel,
  and materials we cannot recoup if we forego the balance due at this time. For
  that reason, we unfortunately cannot forgive the balance. At that time, you
  told us you wouldn't be paying for the service. At that point we explicitly
  told you when the balance hit 90 days, we would be sending it to a collection’s
  agency. Unfortunately for whatever reason you deemed cancelling the service
  after it was performed as a good enough reason to not pay the balance due. For
  that reason, we have submitted your account for collections. 

  The saddest part of all of this is a simple reply from one of
  our 7 emails saying hey I don't want the service this year or a phone call back
  from our call the day before you were scheduled to our office saying hey I do
  not want your service this year could have avoided all of this. Not once in 8
  different contacts did you let us know of your desire to discontinue the
  service for 2023. I am not sure what else we could have done to have given you
  a more reasonable amount of time to cancel your service. While we do feel for
  this customer, we are out labor, fuel, and materials we won’t recoup and that's
  not right when all the customer had to do is let us know they didn't want the
  service. Especially considering these emails were sent multiple times over a 4-month
  period. This customer had ample time to let us know of his desire to
  discontinue the service and for whatever reason he decided he didn't need to
  let us know he was cancelling service. 

  In reference to the screenshots you have uploaded, while we do
  see you have uploaded two emails we sent you, you haven't uploaded
  the attachments to them which list out your services and the terms.
  If you look at the email that came directly from myself the first paragraph says,
  "updated prepay/renewals for 2023 season are attached to this email."
  Had you have also attached the renewal document you would have seen that is
  clearly states, "Please note that our service is continuous. We will
  return each year unless you notify us in writing or by phone of your desire to
  discontinue service. Again, thank you for the trust you have placed in us, and
  we look forward to seeing you soon!" If you look at the bottom of the
  screenshot you provided you can see the photo/attachment icon. We wish you had
  also included that attachment from that email that outlines everything for
  2023. (I will be uploading that document to BBB for all to view...)

  The second photo you have submitted to this dispute is just a simple thank you notice after you had signed up and had agreed to the terms of
  service???

  We will be uploading as much documentation as BBB will allow us
  to (5). As you can see each of these documents sent to the customer prior to
  the start of the 2023 season clearly states the service will renew for a change
  in service to notify our office via email or phone. Unfortunately, in this case
  I am not sure what more we could have done to have prevented this from
  happening. 

  My hope is that this customer comes to his senses and realizes
  that canceling a service after it has been performed when they were contacted 8
  times letting them know we were coming isn't going to stand. I would much
  prefer to resolve this amicably. Please do the right thing and send in your
  payment so both parties can amicably move on. 

  Best Regards
  **** ********
  President
  Weed Busters Lawn Care

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2023

  Business has made no attempt to resolve complaint, and instead has chosen to shift all of the blame to the customer. I did not sign a contract for the 2023 season. Mr. ******** took it upon himself to render services without receiving approval, and now wants reimbursed for a mistake made entirely on his own. If I agreed to this, where is the signed documentation where I consented to the increased rates for a service period covering 2023? 
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2023

  Mr. ******,

  We notified you 8 times of your upcoming service. We called
  you the day before the service was scheduled. You elected to ignore all
  notifications over a 4-month period. You were free to cancel your service at any
  time during that 4-month period. You chose to call in and cancel your service
  after it had already been performed. Unfortunately, in this instance since the
  service has already been completed there isn’t anything we can do for you to
  forgive the balance. We feel we have gone above and beyond in communicating
  with you. It is unfortunate in this instance you choose to ignore all communications
  from us.

  You are correct you didn’t sign a contract for 2023. You also
  didn’t sign a contract for 2022. We don’t use contracts. We use a continual
  service agreement. You were given at the time of first service a terms of
  service agreement that clearly states, "Please
  note that our service is continuous. We will return each year unless you notify
  us in writing or by phone of your desire to discontinue service. Again, thank
  you for the trust you have placed in us, and we look forward to seeing you
  soon!" This was also communicated on all 8 contacts from us
  leading up to the start of 2023. When you signed up you agreed to those terms
  along with the first payment you had made. That payment made the terms of
  service binding in the state of Ohio. That’s why we send out so many contacts before
  our service renews the following year. We want to make sure we give all
  customers the opportunity to discontinue the service if they wish. It helps us
  avoid situations like this. I am not sure in this instance what more we could
  have done for you.

  We operate just like your cable service, cellular service,
  home utilities, and other service-based companies. Do you also call them the
  month after they have provided service and tell them you are cancelling service
  moving forward but refuse to pay them for the prior month? Your assertions here
  are ridiculous.

  Mr. ******, you for whatever reason ignored all
  communication from us or maybe you simply forgot to call in and cancel the
  service until after it was already performed. Whatever the reason maybe we have
  gone above and beyond to let you know we were coming out for service. You elected
  to ignore all communications from us. For that reason, the balance stands.

  Our system is schedule to turn this over to our collections
  agency ******** ****** ******** on August 1st. If you plan to make a
  payment on this balance due to avoid the collections process and late fees with
  APR, please let me know so I can suspend the submission of your account to
  them. 

  I am truly sorry we couldn't just erase this balance for you. But is this case we have gone above and beyond to notify you of the service renewal and the terms of service that stated the service will renew. We notified you 8 times. All you needed to do was let us know you didn't want the service for 2023. You have got to look at it from our perspective. We have labor, fuel, materials, etc. invested in the service. Please do the right thing and submit your payment so we can avoid the collections process. 

  Best Regards,

  **** ********
  President
  Weed Busters Lawn Care
  ###-###-####

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/26/2023

  Again, the business has made no attempt to resolve this issue. Both responses from the business have clearly indicated that I provided no authorization for this service to be administered during the 2023 calendar year. This business is not operating in good faith, and uses predatory practices to try to force consumers to pay for services they did not request. No response is not an authorization. Not once in my life have I asked someone for something, received no response, and then went along as if their lack of response was an authorization. That risk was taken of Mr ********s own accord, apparently with the hope that they could strong-arm someone into paying for something that was never requested.