ComplaintsforMerle's Garden Ctr

• Initial Complaint

  06/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased a lawn maintenance contract from Merle's Garden Center in March of 2023 (see documents attached). I purchased this contract in March before I knew that our backyard had lots of winter kill due to no snow in the 2022-2023 winter. Two applications were made by the Garden Center. On the second application I requested that no chemicals be applied to the front yard because I had recently planted grass seed to fill in bare spots & did not want pre-emergent applied which would kill the seed. When employees came to apply chems, I talked to them & they made one pass around the back yard with their chemicals. I contacted Chad ***** (manager) on May 24, 2023 requesting the maintenance be cancelled for the rest of the year & requested a refund of the remaining balance of $******. Mr. ***** was very *********** & said he would not be issuing a refund, since I had signed up for the maintenance. Since he would not let me speak, I ended up hanging up on him & I have yet to receive a refund for the rest of the contract. Poor policy & poor customer service from this business.

  Business response

  06/23/2023

  Marilyn ****** contacted us about refunding the amount of a prepaid contract and sent us a check for. Customers are given the option to go month to month or prepay for the year. Customers that choose to prepay are given a discount but that locks the service in for the year. If they are unsure if they want to use the service throughout the year do to an array of reasons such as possibly moving or financial difficulties, they can forgo the discount and pay month to month but can cancel at any time.

  The disagreement with Marilyn is unfortunate, however we are unable to respond to customers threatening our people or the business. Marilyn signed up for our prepaid services that provide customers with additional discounts and service priority privileges that are not given to other customers. The prepay allows us to review the number of prepaids we receive in order to place material orders with suppliers. Accounts where issues arise that are out of our and a customer's control, we are more than happy to see what other services can or maybe should be done in place of the one that was prepaid without penalty. We can also place the account on hold and apply the credit to the following year's services.

  In Marilyn's case she stated to us the reasoning for the refund was not do to our service but rather it was that she doesn't control the weather and she didn't look at how much grass she had in her yard. Marilyn elected to sign up for the prepaid services based on her analysis of her yard and prior to any of our services for the year. She received the benefits and discounts reserved for those priority prepay customers. Since neither of the first two option seems reasonable to Marilyn, we will issue a refund with a penalty to help cover our costs. We will issue a refund of $***.

  Customer response

  06/23/2023

  
  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,
  
  Marilyn ******

*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. ↩