I hired a national lawn care company to put a new lawn in this past Sept/October. They told me they would cut all the weeds low and then use a piece of equipment called a Harley rake to remove them and then haul away the weeds. Then they were to grade the yard, seed and hydro seed the entire area with the stipulation that if it rained they would hydro seed the yard again. The salesman told me they had a commercial division that would do the work. They contracted it out to a landscape company to do the work. The salesman promised he would not scrape the yard to remove the weeds. They ended up scraping the yard and removing five trucks of loam and weeds. They refused to do the hill in my back yard that was about one-third of the Job. The yard wasn’t hydro seeded again after the rain washed the first seed away. They used my 1200 gallons of my water to hydro seed. The contractor didn’t grade the yard correctly and now I have huge puddles because the rain water will not drain away. They buried a pipe in the front yard that my gutters drain to. The company says they will come back in the spring to fix the problems. They are going to send the same landscaper where they have already paid him. They want me to pay most of the bill for now. I do not trust them and do not know if I even want them back. I want to send them a Chapter 93 letter to protect myself. I’m unsure how I should word the letter where I haven’t paid them any money yet. Do I send the landscape company a letter also? If I don’t have them back I will have to hire a new contractor to correct their mistakes. 1. Deduct for the part of the job that wasn’t completed. 2. Deduct the cost of the water. 3. Replacement of the loam. 4. Cost to fix the entire grade. 5. Cost to seed or hydro seed. Believe or not this could total more than the original contract. Do I have to put an amount in a Chapter 93 letter? This is all so frustrating when all I wanted was for my yard to be done right.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/27/2011 - 13:39
Posted in
Complaint against landscape company in Massachusetts
Depending on the amount of money involved, you should probably discuss the matter with an attorney in Massachusetts who does consumer protection and litigation. Often, a well-worded letter from an attorney will provoke the desired reaction from the business in question and be well worth the few hundred dollars you pay for it. I have not seen the contract or your yard, so what follows is my best guess, perhaps how I would respond if I were a consumer in your shoes. If they have not done the job, have not fulfilled their obligations under the contract, I would not pay them. Take pictures of the mess they made, document ALL of your damages, and send them a letter telling them you will pay them when the work is done. The statute of limitations for a claim under MA 93A is four years, so you will have plenty of time to do a demand letter if that becomes necessary. Because grass is not going to grow in January, you are in an awkward position right now (as you know). But I would insist on a date by which, weather permitting, they will complete the work. And, as discussed above, I would withhold their pay until they do it. Let us know how it turns out.