Sunset Lawns of Rockwall TX/Jeremy

$ 35 cash only for bi-​weekly service is what I paid the first guys. I used them for about a year, until we had issues with their tree trimming guy not showing multiple times. There there was a phone call where me and the owner got a little profane about these delays, so I decided to find a more complete landscaping company… mid season.
About a month later I have the tree thing sorted but my lawn looks like the backdrop of a Tarzan movie and I’m getting nastygrams from my HOA. There’s an old man at one of my neighbors houses. He looks at my lawn and charges me double for the first mow, and then used that as the weekly rate. So I bought an overpriced old man.
$ 50 cash for bi-​weekly service is what I paid the old man and later the old man and his son. They were shitty mowers and me and the old man both knew he was sticking it to me. But I felt horrible letting him go to find someone cheaper. So I kept him.
Then, one lucky spring, the old man went AWOL and I ran into Jeremy’s flyer.
Jeremy don’t do the best job in the world, the dudes who come to mow are likely a Jose and not Jeremy. Their mow day is inconsistent, as are the services (sometimes leaf blowing my patio is done, sometimes not for example). But man these guys are cheap.
$ 25 for weekly service is what I pay Jeremy.
So when the old man tried to call me like «Its Miguel, your lawn guy», I’m like «Miguel…my…former…lawn guy». «We’re into summer and you disappeared over a year ago and the new guy is half the price and I can rack up the rewards miles when I use him». And so I let the old man go and I didn’t even feel bad about it. Don’t get an old man, get a Jeremy.

My mother is aging gracefully and I didn’t want her to have to worry about keeping her yard manicured. She already had a yard guy. She had recently gotten a yellow flyer on her doorstep, one of many over time. When I read it, though, I was interested. They could take Visa/​MasterCard which is a major plus for me because I wanted to pay it up for my Mom whenever I got paid every month. In addition, they claimed to be insured and were American owned and operated, a major plus since I am into adding to our homegrown economy and small businesses.
I called him and left a VM. He did return my call and it went fine. We set up for every two weeks and I paid him for 6 weeks up front. He ensured that he would be by Friday or Saturday morning, though he or his trucks ended up coming late Saturday evening the first time. I happened to be gone. Returned. Looked fine.
Rain. Tall grass. Two weeks later. Much needed lawn care. I wait. He does not come by Friday. I wait. He has yet to show up Saturday morning. I call at 10am. VM #1. I wait. I call at 1:30p. Left VM #2. I wait. He finally calls back around 3ish and says he will be by late this afternoon, was backed up because of Memorial Day. Ok. I understand. I wait. 5’o’clock. No show. 5:30p text. Not a call but a text. (Unprofessional-​ism written all over this one)
Text reads:
Sorry we won’t make it today but will in the morning” …hmmmph.
I text back
«Do you have a time frame? I’d like to speak with you in the morning»
He texts:
«10ish. But I don’t mow on that trick. So I won’t be there. I think «suspect»
I text:
«Well then I’d like to speak with you today. Could you call me now?»
He calls me back 7 minutes later like there is no problem. I mean I understand this is lawn care but am I expecting too much. I asked him what should I expect from you, a lawn care provider. I explained that I was disappointed in his inability to communicate. I feel like you should call and let me know when you are going to come and if there is possibly an issue then be proactive and tell me. Don’t have me waiting around all day on you to come through only to not come through at all and then give me a round about (10ish) time frame for the next day. Then he wanted to charge me extra for shrubs. I know the last crew didn’t charge extra for that. It’s not like it needs to be done every time. Maybe once every two months. He felt nor spoke of no remorse thus there was no attempt at recovery. He sarcastically clarified my sentiments that he should hedge my shrubs with the 6-​week pre-​paid package or for the simple fact that you get here when you get here recovery. I mean at least the last crew would call every weekend to confirm if we wanted to get lawn care or not. I feel like his communication was lacking and I had to call him several times before ever getting a return call. Icing on the cake. I asked him for a refund. He flatly says he won’t be able to do that. I said ok, you’ll be by tomorrow at 10am. HE says. Yes and we split.
I feel so disappointed and embarrassed trying to do something kind for my mother by paying for her lawn care. One less worry, right. Her former crew came through and cut our neighbor’s yard while we are still looking like the wilds of Rockwall. That in itself is embarrassing. I almost ran up to the gas station to get some gas and cut it myself. I will give him tomorrow. IF he’s not here by 10:30am, I will. I very well may sue him for my refund because truthfully I do not want his services. He doesn’t make me feel like a valued customer He does not possess good communication nor customer service management skills. I also feel duped because I was trying to contribute to American owned and operated businesses as opposed to the other laborers who flood this industry.
So all in all I cannot wait to be done with this guy, Jeremy from Sunset Lawns of Rockwall. I live and I learn.
End conclusion: This man is more interested in making money than growing and sustaining a business. Maybe he thinks yards are a dime a dozen but then again so are lawn care providers. He should want to capture any new business in such a competitive market that probably thrives on organic growth from advertising and referrals. Ah well.