About two weeks ago I got a letter from the company that sprays my lawn and keeps it bug free. The letter said that they had sold their company to Tru-Green Chemlawn.
Now, I've had some experience with Tru-Green Chemlawn in the past. In our old house I used them to spray my front yard and they didn't do good job at all. My father is a licensed horticulturist and for many years owned his own lawn spraying business. Every time my parents came over to visit my father would walk through my front yard and point out all of the problems with the grass that should be taking care of by Tru-Green Chemlawn.
So, when we moved into this house a couple of years ago I went with a small local guy who was recommended to me by the guy who was cutting my grass. I've never had a problem with the service and I've never had a problem with my grass.
The day after I got that letter, the guy who cuts my grass knocked on the front door and told me that he knew about the change. He also said that he had a new guy, small, local, that he was working with. He felt that this guy could do a very good job for me just like the last guy had. Then he said, "if you do decide to cancel with Tru-Green Chemlawn, be careful. I've had other clients tell me that they had canceled, and then the next day, Tru-Green Chemlawn shows up and sprays their yard expecting to get paid."
So, that day I called Tru-Green Chemlawn to cancel my account. The person I spoke with on the phone would not let me get off the phone until I'd spoken with a manager. So I did. I explained that I had bad experiences in the past with his company and I would not be using them. However, I was willing to give his company a second chance if the new guy that I was hiring did a poor job.
The next day, Tru-Green Chemlawn shows up to spray my yard.
Luckily I was home, so I told the guy in the truck that I canceled my account.
Just in case you're keeping score, at this point I've spoken to three different representatives of Tru-Green Chemlawn and I've told each one of them that I wish to cancel my account.
About three days later, the phone rings. It's Tru-Green Chemlawn and they want to know why I canceled my account and if they can persuade me to stay. Needless to say, I got a little irate. I explained to the gentleman on the phone that he was the fourth person I've spoken to from his company. I also explained that I had told the previous three representatives of his company that I would be willing to give Tru-Green Chemlawn another try in the future. I then told him that it was recending that offer and it would be a cold day in hell before I ever gave him my business again.
Tonight, while putting the kids to bed, I missed a phone call. I was expecting a call from one of my clients so I hit redial.
Guess who it was?
