Complaints

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:08/30/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 have had weed control services provided by Weed Man of Knoxville since 2020, which included both weed control and fertilization of the yard at almost $1700 a year for the last four years. everything was fine until this year, after the first application which was pushed from April to July due to overseeding, many areas in my yard which were not weeds were killed (fescue grass). I filed a complaint with the company and stated I wished to cancel my services but the gentleman I spoke with asked if they could send someone out to look and if I could send pictures. I agreed as i wanted to hear what they had to say. I did send pictures on Monday August 19th which showed the large areas that were dead following the first application. I received a snarky comment back from **** stating the applications do not kill the grass. That Thursday, august 22, I received a call from ******* at 2:39 PM and a return call at 3:59 PM after he discussed the issues with the owner. I was told by ******* that I would be refunded the cost of the two applications for $376. I have not received any refund and after I called to check on it, the personnel including a manager said they were not aware of any refund to be processed, which occurred on august 29 at 6:06 PM. It was stated, by ******* following his conversation with the owner, that they had several issues similar to mine (killing of grass) recently which is why they were canceling all future applications and refunding me the money. Due to their actions, it will cost over $1000 to rake and seed the areas myself. Desired outcome is for them to honor the suggested and agreed to refund.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/30/2024

  Mr. ******* statement is basically correct.  The refund  is due as promised, which I handled earlier today (8/30) due being on a business trip until late yesterday.  I did not have the opportunity to process the refund because I was out of town. A refund of 376.00 dollars has been process and mailed, check number 4388.   Mr. ******* reference to weeds in the lawn being bad is true.  The lawn has a weed called Dallisgrass, which is a perennial grassy weed which means a pre emergent does not stop the existing plant to return from year to year.  That weed had been identified and referenced the need to address in late summer, then followed by seeding.   In 2021, the first year of service, a fall aeration and premium overseeding was ordered by canceled.  In 2022, it was recommend that Dallisgrass be address and seeding to occur afterwards, but not approved.  Weed Man has never seeded the lawn... Mr. ******* did seed this spring, The weed control program was adjusted accordingly.  The weed control did not kill the grass.  Weed Controls do not do hat.. if that was the case I would have multiple lawns with the same issue.  Just recently, we did have that happen... wrong product on 6 lawns.  The clients called within days, the problem has been address with all clients and everything is now fine.  

  Mr. ******* last weed control was on 6/7/24, over two months later Mr. ******* reaches out about his lawn.  That is when I went to look at the lawn.  Since the 6/7 there was two application completed, hence the refund.  The lawn needs to be worked in a manor to bring it to a positive level for a maintenance service.  My recommendations to Mr. ******* was to sod the lawn next May with Bermuda after having the lawn harley raked.  Prior to that Weed Man has offered to treat the lawn (Dallisgrass, at no cost) with a non selective since there is not a product available on the market to treat in cool (fescue) season grasses.  Bermuda in recommend due to the amount of warm season turf in the lawn currently.  That recommendation is why I am giving the refund... those application are not benefit when the lawn has that much Dallisgrass, bare areas and even erosion on the front slope. 

  in regards to spring seeding is not recommended because the plant is still a juvenile plant going in to the summer months. That requires a lot of watering to keep it alive.  June and the first part of July was dry (drought) and hot, Fescue grass likes temps below 85 (textbook) but with regular irrigation watering I would say 92 degrees.  

  Lastly, **** was not trying to snarky, He was being frank that he didn't see any information and that ******* was off for some surgery. I'm sorry he came across that way.  **** said he would check into, he had no information to talk further about it.   When I returned today and we discussed the call,  I realized I had not entered notes into the system... I had a discussion about the lawn with ******* to coach him through what I saw and what we would do, but on Friday I didn't complete the task I should have. I'm sorry I didn't enter that note. That would have everyone a lot of time. 

   

  ***** *****

  President

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/03/2024

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 22219259, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  Was sold a service that never held up to expectations. Called and complained was told they would come back out for free to remedy the situation. Still the same result. No weeds died . Actually kept getting worse. Called and cancelled my service and they wanted me to continue to pay even though I was unsatisfied with the service. The woman I spoke with pretty much told me tough luck. Now they have had a credit collection company hit my credit .

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/07/2023

  To whom it may concern:

  Mr. ****** complaint has been received and reviewed.  As part of this review, I look into all the history of the account and piece the puzzle together. 

  On 2/17/21,Mr ****** gave permission to Weed Man to provide a quote for lawn care services. That quote was completed the next day with services being ordered on that day. The agreement was for 7 applications, 4 fertilizers and 3 weed controls with free reapplications as needed.
  

  March 30th 2021, Mr. ****** made a phone call to Weed Man and paid his first and only payment for services rendered, the first annual weed control, completed on 3/2/23.  At same time a reapplication was requested and for free of charge a reapplication was completed on 4/2/21. 

  After that Weed Man completed two more services,  the early spring fertilizer and the second annual weed control, 4/23/21 and 5/3/21 respectively. Those are the two services that were placed into collections on 8/19/21. Of course, that was after multiple phone calls to Mr. Delano.  Those calls are attached a word document for review.  Every time, we would leave a voice mail or even be told by Mr. ****** that we had the wrong number. 

  Records indicate, that Mr ****** call our office twice on 3/30/2021 and again on 10/12/21.   Records also indicate that weeds did prevail in his lawn. There are several reasons for that. First year clients often experience more weeds as for there is a seed bank in the soil that must be eliminated.  Some of those can be eliminate easily while other take more time and effort.  A untreated lawn will have thousands of seeds within the soil profile.  

  What may or may not haven been discussed was the proper expectations of the process and timing. Since, it was over two years ago, it's hard for anyone to remember. Of course, if someone had told me tough luck, then I would have done something to speak with management at that point in time. 

  Back to the records which indicate two weed issues.  Mr. ****** had Virginia Buttonweed and Dallisgrass in his lawn.  It was indicated on 5/3/21 and 6/11/21.  Those two weeds are perennial and come back year after year. Pre-emergent is not available for any perennial weed.  Buttonweed takes sequential application for control, which we do often for our clients.  Dallisgrass is treated in late August into September, possibly October. As far as those two weeds are concerned, they are not visible in most cases in February, March and possibly April.
  

  Here is the problem I have.  The account went on hold for payment on 5/4/21.  After two services are completed, the account goes on hold until at least one payment is received.  From that date it looks like Weed Man called Mr. ****** 16 times before being placed in collections. Of course, our policy is to send statements monthly. So, at least 4 statements were mailed before being turned into collections.

  If payment was made, even just one, we would have continued to service Mr. Delano's lawn.  We would have given our best effort to eliminated the Buttonweed and the possibly the Dallisgrass (if Mr. ****** agreed to seeding afterwards due to bare spots created).  Instead, I imagine from reading the account notes, phone calls were dodge to the point the account went to collections as last resort. (see document of phone calls made with date and time recorded).
  

  But what about the second call to Weed Man? It looks to be Mr. ****** may have returned a call or maybe he did call his account status, the problem with that is after collections is initiated we can't accept payment and the collection company then must collect payment,    That may be where Mr. Delano's commit about tough luck statement came from.

  When ever you buy something in this world there is normal a warranty or guarantee.  As part of any business trade, service and payment, the seller provides the service, the buyer pays, as agreed.  In this case, Weed Man didn't continue the agreement because the client didn't do what he needed to do, make payments. When one party stops doing their part, the other part stops. 
  

  I'm glad to work with Mr. ****** but payment should be made for Weed Man's efforts were with the intent to provide excellent care for his lawn. Services were stopped for non payment and his others services canceled on 7/28/21 and the collections process starting in August.
  

  Being placed in collections was warranted but here is my solution to this issue.  Mr ****** pays the outstanding balance to Weed Man directly the 184.00 dollars he never paid for the early spring fertilizer and second annual weed control. Weed Man will then stop the collection process with our collection service, having the collection listed on the credit report. The cost of collection services is already been paid Weed Man. So, the payment of 184.00 will offset Weed Man's business cost.

  Thank you!

  ***** *****
  

   

   

   

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/08/2023

  Mr ****** 

  Who knows what was fully said and done by both parties from something that occurred over two years ago.  
  

  I can tell by your reply you are upset…but why now? You say you tried to cancel multiple times but it doesn’t match the process of handling phone calls from clients, but back then we didn’t record all phone calls like we do now. 

  The one thing I know is if you was calling like you said to cancel then we didn’t escalate the concerns, meaning the quality control manager would have came out to look at the lawn to determine what wasn’t working, then we failed to provide you with a quality service that Weed Man offers. If that’s the case then Weed Man should do something about that.   
  
  If you remove your negative comments from Facebook and never post  anything again, I will have the credit collections from moved. If anything is posted in the future to any website, I would then send the account back to collections. 

  I have owned Weed Man for 18 years and and spent 31 years in this industry.  I have learned a lot through the years and I’m still learning today.  I have learned that people hear what they want to hear, people recall things differently, and you can never make everyone happy.  If we were a scam it would be 18 years of business operation.  
  
  Sorry, I missed your call today. 
  I hope my resolution is acceptable to you. 
  

  ***** *****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/09/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/28/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  It started summer of 2021. After the technician was here, I received a quote that was $200 more than what we agreed on. I called and it was straightened out, but...
  
  Since then, it has been nothing but confusion, miscommunication, billing errors, service errors; the “left hand” doesn’t seem to know what the “right hand” is doing. I can hardly think of one service call that hasn't--in some way--gone wrong. And the techs who come out to do the work are not wholly dependable. I’ve lost count of how many times they didn’t show up because the “seeder broke down." They never could get straight whether they were doing the front, side, or back, and it was ALWAYS the whole yard. I would constantly be charged for what was to be a “redo”; and every time I'd have to call to get it straightened out. They would do weed control when they were supposed to fertilize and vice versa.
  
  *The UPSHOT is this: the seeding and fertilization done in 2021-22 NEVER worked. They agreed to perform a re-do in 2022-23 using better products, indicating the grass would be able to hold moisture better.For one month in the spring of 2023, I was hopeful—my grass looked the best it’s ever looked, though THE BARE SPOTS WERE STILL THERE. After that month, the lawn began to steadily decline, and it is now right back to where it was when I started—brown and bald! Now, I’m advised, “Oh, I’d been meaning to tell you…you have BROWN PATCH DISEASE…and we can address this for three treatments of $193 each. Suddenly I have this disease? My questions is—IF I do—why wasn’t this addressed EARLY ON? Why now? {Documentation included.}
  
  I would like a refund for the amount I paid for seeding and fertilization because, even after two tries, I still have the same pathetic looking lawn. (I have no issue with the weed control.) The amount paid for these services were: $517 for overseeding, plus $61 for fall fertilization, $61 for winter fertilization, and $94 for spring fertilization. Total requested refund: $733.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2023

  Weed Man Knoxville has forth a positive effort to take care of the ***** lawn.  Yes, we have rescheduled seeding services two times. The initial 517 application completed in 2021 (9-12) was redone in 2021 (11/19). In 2022, Weed Man has seeded the lawn on the following days at no cost, 10/17, 10/25,  and 12/22.   In 2023, Weed Man has written off two applications, one weed control (4/3) and one fertilizer (6/15).  Then again in March of this year we hand seeded some areas in the lawn.
  

  For seed to germinate it does take water to germinate. It takes water there after as well as needed based on weather conditions.  For 19 years of operating Weed Man I can think of about 4 or 5 lawns that we have been unable to make a difference on.  This must be one of them.  30 year of turfgrass experience tells me that more is happening here than what was reported.  Could Weed Man have done a better job?  Probably, with communication and setting the correct expectation of client responsibility and what we can as company. 

  A refund for seeding will be given and all future services cancelled. 

  Thank you

  ***** *****
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/08/2023

  On 8/1/23 733.00 dollars in a form of a check (#4108) was mailed.   That was the amount requested, which is for seeding and fertilizer.   I mistype previously and was unable to respond due to travel.  Sorry for the delay.

  ***** *****
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/08/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******** ***