LawnStarter Lawn Care Service in Grand Rapids

I would rather go out and hand cut my lawn using a pair of scissors than use Lawn Starter again. I initially began using LS last fall and that worked well. The crew came when they said they would and they did a good job. It wasn't until I resumed services--or attempted to--in May (this month) that I ran into problems. As spring rolled in my grass started growing fast. So after a few days I said I should resume services. I did so and scheduled a servicing. It said it wouldn't be till the end of the week which gave my grass the rest of that week to grow. Not ideal but no issues yet. My appointment was scheduled for Friday. Friday came and went and I never heard from anyone. I got back from work late at night and my lawn was the same. I finally contacted someone on Sunday and I was given some excuse about equipment breaking. Ok fine. Things happen I get it. So I was told by the crew I was rescheduled for Monday. Monday came and went and I was messaged telling they weren't able to come out due to "inclement weather." Well, I live here and I can assure you there was not inclement weather. Not even remotely. So I was rescheduled for Tuesday. Tuesday came and went and again got a no-call, no-show. Wednesday morning I called and got a hold of the support line. I was told he got ahold of the crew and that they would be at my house around 4:30 and would message me when they were on their way. Well yet again 4:30 came and went and once again there no call, and no show. So at around 6:30 I called support again and was told they were unable to get ahold of the crew and that the best they could do is just send them another reminder. Meanwhile my grass already had grown like crazy from the week before and now the next week was already over halfway through and still no servicing. They also lied to me when they said I was given a window of Tuesday through Wednesday. The only two pieces of communication I was given say Tuesday, nothing about Wednesday. And either way my service was not completed on either day. So it's now almost another entire week and i still have not had my service completed and can't get ahold of my crew. They have failed miserably to communicate with me, have lied to me, and then gone radio silent. But not before taking my payment. That they were very quick with. There was no delay with that, just following through on the services I scheduled. Absolute scam.

I paid for mowing, edging and trimming. I have two properties that were assigned to a provider. One property the back yard wasn't mowed at all and on both properties no edging of the sidewailks and driveways were done. I called and they came back out to complete the job. The provider who's name is Ryan didn't do anything and marked the job as complete. I called Lawn Starter and they offered me a $15 refund. I refused and told them that on their website it says that if I am not completely satisfied with the results I am entitled to a full refund. I'm still waiting for that refund.

This referral service started out great. But their referred parties do the bait and switch, great job once, then not. Then they next referred provider bails on the last day of their committed deal. Idea is interesting, but they have no controls over whom they send. We had to fire them. P.S., LawnStarter said they would be in-touch, which has not occurred. When I messaged them on their app (there is no support phone number) the auto-response email said I should allow 3 days for a reply. Then I would be 14 days without lawn care. ;-( P.P.S Erin from LawnStarter did ultimately call and offer to personally pick and validate another service provider, but it was past my deadline and I had already moved on. Erin contacted me because of this review, not because of my comments and requests entered into the tool in my attempts at help. I still do not recommend this business since they are acting as a middle broker, but not really engaged in your satisfaction, at least in a timely manner. The service asks immediately after being notified by the provider whether the service was successful or not and offers you the ability to tip, though nothing clear as to whether that actually goes to the service provider. And a dissatisfied report does cause them to ask what you want done, but it does not monitor whether the services were made right and does not provide a vehicle to contact them other than enter a request in the app, which they want 3 days to respond to.

If you are in the Holland area, providers are NOT available. Don't get stuck with a jungle of a yard and a fine from the county, go elsewhere. I have a chronic illness that keeps me from being able to get out and mow consistently. I booked with Lawnstarter, thinking I was covering my bases. I knew I was paying a bit more, but I was fine with that because it was presented as extremely convenient and dependable. This is not so, two missed "appointments" and a phone call that basically said- "if we find someone we can come" -later. I still have a jungle out there. I asked to PAY a premium for someone out of the area to come and mow to avoid the fine. I got a no. When I realized I was getting too frustrated with the poor phone rep who had nothing to do with any of this mess: I asked for a manager, after a hold I was told they were all in meetings.

LawnStarter Lawn Care Service is some sort of nationalized service that contracts to separate individuals to care for your lawn. The people who show up to mow your lawn are not employees of LawnStarter. Their phone customer service requires more information than a health insurer to be able to access the account and all the accessibility of a cable company's customer service. Vanessa was rather rude when sticking to their "policy" and, even after 20 minutes, most of it on hold, even after the call back because they are too busy to answer the phone option, it was a major event to get my account cancelled. When we got a new contractor this year, it was not communicated that they were to only work in our back yard. Thankfully they only blew the leaves from around the $10,000 in landscaping in our front yard and did not mow them down. Of course, leaving the leaf pile in our driveway was by no means an inconvenience. In 2 weeks, the contractor did not receive clarification to not mow our front yard. They also parked their vehicle which was leaking oil in our driveway. If you want detached, non local service, go with LawnStarter.

If I could submit a review for zero stars I would have. When I initially called to start service I requested they quote me for gutter cleanup when they came to mow my lawn. First, they rescheduled my lawn mowing three times before I messaged the crew to say I needed my lawn mowed sooner instead of it getting pushed back every two days. Then, they didn’t even quote me for gutter cleanup when I asked for it. The second time they came out to mow my lawn, they damaged the fence, which is frustrating because I have a dog and my neighbor ha two dogs. The crew didn’t even make me aware of the damage, my neighbor let me know. I called LawnStarter to try and talk to someone and was connected with someone named Athea, who continuously refused to transfer me to anyone else and said I would only be communicated with through email for the damage. I submitted the damage report through the app as instructed and have not received any status update on my report. I’m greatly disappointed in this service due to the unprofessionalism. Additionally, my grass doesn’t even look good. It’s unevenly cut and looks like it was done haphazardly. I would have fared better to hire a neighbor kid.

Issues with customer service only responding to one message extremely unprofessional and only responding the one time. Each message for assistance and or clarification after the one and only time they responded went completely ignored. I paused my service at end of the season, yet the crew was sent over and mowed with no notice or warning for first lawn maintenance of the season. I messaged customer service regarding this as I was not home and was in the hospital when it happened, yet they never replied but continued to send an automated text requesting payment. Had customer service been even remotely helpful I would have continued my service. The only reason I even gave a star was because of how great the crew was that took care of my lawn.

EDIT #2 - I received a reply from the owner of the business 10 months after I posted it. They suggested contacting support, which I did twice already (once on 6/7/2019 and again on 6/10/2019). When I contacted support, both times I included screenshots and photos. I did not post this review until after cancelling my service. EDIT - Looking at my bill, the price for the mow wasn't the whole story. Just like the credit card companies, I see "trust and safety" fees or other things which you would think would be included in the price. Original review: The service was convenient for my first mow. When the person was out to my place I requested a quote to clean up a patch of grass and remove the branches from winter storms. I received a quote and approved it. When the service was completed I found a pile of branches on my driveway. I wasn't happy, so I disputed that the service was completed. LawnStarter sent a second person out to correct the issue. What I received was a new quote to remove the branches that they originally left. I contacted customer service, and they said hauling away debris was a separate fee, but neither quote used those words. In fact, the second quote which was specifically to haul away the debris only used the word "remove". I cancelled my service and am looking for another company.