Anyone know of any GOOD lawn care companies in Des Moines?

[elipse]

Long story short. I own a company in DSM - we have about 2 acres of property. For several years we went with one of the biggest lawn care co's in the metro. I was never happy with them (weeds, scalping the grass, blowing grass all over the landscaping, blowing wet grass on to the windows, etc etc) I complained all the time and it never got any better - they would always have a different crew - so even if I bitched to the crew it was a new crew the next time.

So I lost my patience and interviewed several "smaller" co's and finally picked one that promised me the world and gave me all these glowing things about how they do things. At the end of the day - they are even worse than the big company. I have weeds that are 2 feet tall and I take pictures of them and send to the supervisor and the owner and they tell me they will take care of it and never do. Etc. They also give me excuses that "weeds are just hard to keep up with". And the same weeds have been here for weeks.

Does Anyone have any recommendations for me? I would appreciate that you don't give me your relatives or someone "you have heard good things about". I would like to hear from people that have actually had a good experience with a company and why.

Thank you and Go Hawks!

 

[LuteHawk]

First, you need to get a service like Chem-Lawn to
eliminate your weed problem and give you healthy
turf. They usually do four applications a year.

Second, you need to hire some college guys from
Drake University who are looking for part-time jobs.
As college men they will give you quality mowing
You will need to provide the lawn tractors..

 

[elipse]

First, you need to get a service like Chem-Lawn to
eliminate your weed problem and give you healthy
turf. They usually do four applications a year.

Second, you need to hire some college guys from
Drake University who are looking for part-time jobs.
As college men they will give you quality mowing
You will need to provide the lawn tractors..

Thanks Lute ... they do the 4 applications per year - but it is the maintenance in between that they do NOT do. My business is kind of out in the country - so there are a lot of "volunteer weeds" that blow in.

And - we do not own any lawn tractors - and don't want to. The Drake idea - doesn't make any sense to me - because it would be up to me to constantly "re-train" a new group every year.

I am simply looking for someone to do the job I am paying them to do.

 

[I4cy]

Thanks Lute ... they do the 4 applications per year - but it is the maintenance in between that they do NOT do. My business is kind of out in the country - so there are a lot of "volunteer weeds" that blow in.

And - we do not own any lawn tractors - and don't want to. The Drake idea - doesn't make any sense to me - because it would be up to me to constantly "re-train" a new group every year.

I am simply looking for someone to do the job I am paying them to do.

A+,,, for us they came back till problems were solved

 

[Noble Hawk]

Perhaps you have unrealistic expectations for the amount of money you want to pay?

 

[elipse]

Quote:
"Perhaps you have unrealistic expectations for the amount of money you want to pay"?

They told me what they were going to do and what the price would be ..... and they didn't do it.

 

[KennyPowers_96]

Quote:
"Perhaps you have unrealistic expectations for the amount of money you want to pay"?

They told me what they were going to do and what the price would be ..... and they didn't do it.

How far in the country are you? Maybe it isn't cost effective for them to keep up based on distance and the amount of volunteer weeds that continue to blow in?

I don't know much about the lawn care business...but sometimes an account (in general) like yours looks great on paper, but not so much once they know what they are dealing with. I'd mention the issue in the next interview, including explaining that it was still a problem after four treatments and ask them if they know why that would be?

 

[mayorjared]

RJ Lawn Service.

 

[Greenway4Prez]

Did any of these companies do a site visit first? It's really easy to tell someone you can get rid of their weeds over the phone, but with you being in the country, you may have some stuff that they simply can't control.

And ChemLawn is awful. They will telemarket the crap out of you, and the vast majority of their technicians were asking, "Do you want fries with that?" at their previous job.