Progressive Lawn Maintenance And Snow Removal

I would caution anyone about doing business with Progressive Lawn Maintenance. The company owner is not a man of his word - in fact he tells repeated mistruths and promises services he does not deliver on. He broke the conditions of our agreement and has refused to perform outstanding obligations or provide a refund for the services he has not provided. I have been forced to seek renumeration in small claims court.

When we initially hired him, he advised he needed a credit card # for billing purposes. He then advised that he pre-bills for his services. After we raised an issue with him about billing for services not rendered he agreed to only bill our credit card on a weekly basis (after each lawn cutting) – until we were sure of the quality of his work.

However; after cutting our grass for the second time, he billed us for four additional lawn cuttings. plus the two he had done.

Now - on to the quality of work that was performed. The first time he cut our lawn, he left two bags of lawn trimmings on our driveway. Our agreement provided for the removal of all lawn trimmings. We had to phone him to have them picked up. He also tied up some cuttings that were in excess of the miminum pick-up length allowed by the Toronto Sanitation Department. We advised him of this - he did nothing about it. The trimmings are still sitting in my driveway – three weeks later.

The second time he was supposed to cut our lawn (while we were away on vacation), two neighbours and a family member contacted us to advise us the grass was not cut. As we could not independently verify this (we were away) – we had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The third time he cut the grass he did a poor job. Sections of the lawn were missed. I have uploaded pictures taken the day after he cut the grass. You be the judge of the quality of work. He again left two bags of lawn cuttings on our driveway even though our written agreement called for the removal of grass trimmings. When my wife phoned to complain (again), this time he said that it costs him money to get rid of the trimmings; and that he would have to charge us more money to get rid of them, despite the quoted services.

When my wife demanded that he pick up the cuttings, he advised he was getting angry and said he was coming over to our home in five minutes. He then hung up on her. I interpreted this as threatening behaviour and determined I did not want to continue doing business with this company.

When he showed up at the property I met him at the sidewalk and said I no longer wanted to do business with him. I advised that I wasn't looking for a refund for the three times he cut the grass; only to have my credit card credited for the three pre-billed lawn cuttings (something he said he would not do to beging with). At this point he swore at me (can't repeat the words here)and said he would not credit my card. Then; if you can beleive it, he proceeded to call the Police and claim I had physically threatened him. Quite a convenient method of putting the spotlight on somebody else - don't you think?! I did not utter any threat - but instead offered a fair approach to terminating our business relationship. When the Police showed they advised that my only recourse to be reimbursed was to take the matter to small claims court.

Based on his behaviour, business ethics and how confrontational this individual became, we decided to cancel our credit card to ensure no additional fees would be charged against it.

After the incident I did some research. Turns out, the company has an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau and that a number of other complaints have been filed against the compay. This information is available to the public. It's not opinion, but fact.

I also investigated the company address. Why? Each time my wife called this individual at the "office" phone number, the owner answered immediately. Kind of difficult to be providing services when you're tied up at the office all day - right? The address noted on his web site is what is known as a "virtual office". Again, this is not a personal opinion - it's public information.

Google the address and the key words "virtual office" to check for yourself. My sense is that the slick web site and make-believe office are all designed to lure unsuspecting clients.

At the end of it all, we should have done our homework before engaging this company's services. We will never make this mistake again.

UPDATED AUG 11

Thank you Gus for allowing prove just what kind of an individual you are. Folks, please see the attached "PAID" invoice I've posted. It proves he pre-billed us for his services until the end of the August and it also states he will not refund us for the services he has not provided. He has added these comments in the timce since the incident occurred. Do I need to write anything more about the integrity of this individual? Pretty open and shut case in my books.

Time to move on with life.