herbicide spraying of front lawn
I got solicited by weed-a-way (summer 2005?)for herbicide spraying our lawn. I decided to try it as my front lawn was getting too many weeds. They gave me a date that was 2 weeks away and was told that if I wanted to cancel the treatment, I could do so with a phone call. After some research I decided not to use them for spraying (I pulled out the weeds by hand) and canceled the service. The person on the phone was extremely aggressive in trying not to change my mind. I told him that I was looking for "greener" solutions. He told me that the cheap stuff at Canadian tire won't work and that I was just being cheap and making excuses. He told me that I was making the wrong decision. I stuck to my decision and asked him again to cancel the order. I also asked him to get me off his solicitation list. I asked for a confirmation #, he told me that since there wasn't any contract signed, I didn't need a confirmation number, that he had canceled it. A few days later I saw a Weed-a-way truck pull up. He was unrolling his pipes and had just started spraying when I asked him not to spray and that the order was canceled. The guy was very polite and left. He also mentioned that he will talk the guys at the office to see why he was not told of the change. I figured it was a miscommunication. A few days later I was sent an invoice from weed-a-way. I called them up and they insisted that I had not canceled the service and that I should be paying them for the service. I refused to do so. I even spoke to his manager, who told me that I was trying to get a freebie. The story gets worse. They sent a collection agency, and after a few phone calls, I paid up under duress (less interest). Later on I found out that I was not the only victim of this type of behavior. Weed-a-way has sprayed peoples front lawns and send them invoices even without contracts. Most of them have paid up as it is only a $75-150 payment. I live in a very affluent neighborhood of Mississauga and most people wouldn't bother for a few $. I would caution anyone that wants to use their service. I hope this helps others.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $75.00
- Company Response
I'm sorry that you were unhappy with the service you received, but we do in fact give cancellation tracking numbers to all customers who cancel a service. This helps us stay organized and prevents us from servicing a lawn without the request of the owner. The service was actually completed prior to your cancellation, so unfortunately we still expect to be paid for the work rendered prior to your cancellation.