TruGreen charged for unwanted work

[Steve]

Interesting article. NJ says TruGreen charged for unwanted work TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ** New Jersey's consumer protection agency has accused a lawn care service of charging customers for work that was not requested and misleading customers about prices. The state is seeking restitution for customers as well as monetary penalties from TruGreen ChemLawn in a lawsuit filed late last month and announced Wednesday. "We allege that TruGreen simply did what it wanted to do regardless of what consumers wanted," said Kimberly Ricketts, director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs. "It is unconscionable that consumers who allegedly never authorized lawn treatments were hounded by collection agencies for payment." TruGreen, based in Memphis, Tenn., referred a request for comment to its parent company, ServiceMaster Co., of Downers Grove, Ill., whose brands also include Merry Maids and Terminix. ServiceMaster did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Consumer Affairs said it received 68 complaints from TruGreen Customers from 2000 to 2005. It said TruGreen operates from several locations in New Jersey, including Randolph, Farmingdale, South Plainfield, West Deptford and Upper Saddle River. The agency charged that TruGreen operators quoted a price above the regular price and then offered a "discount" that was equal to the regular price. The company also failed to respond when customers complained or asked to cancel lawn treatments, the agency said in the lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court for Middlesex County in New Brunswick.

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[kc2006]

Lawn care business tips

That happens here all the time. I had 5 customers last year that complained that chemlawn wanted to put down too many application, or they wouldn't allow the customer to cancel. *One of my customers said TGCL said she has grubs and wanted to do 12 applications just for that! *I called the local branch and gave them a piece of my mind about that one.

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[Steve]

I think this is a downfall to a company when they try to milk every last cent from a customer. Sometimes a market just can not bare any more growth with the current services.