Ever since lawn care service TruGreen bought out his former specialist, Turf Masters and began treating Rich Bates’ lawn, he said, it has been covered in brown patches.
“That’s actual grass, there’s crab grass, and there’s a weed over there,” Bates said as he points to various spots in his lawn. “Those aren’t dying. My grass is dying.”
Bates said he never had issues with his grass in the six years before TruGreen. Today, according to the company, his lawn has rust mold.
It’s a relatively common but persistent lawn disease and can spread in damp conditions or through contamination if someone walks on an infected area.
Because of the timing, Bates believes one of TruGreen’s specialists accidentally spread the rust mold.
“I didn’t have rust mold before (TruGreen) came here,” said Bates. “After you leave, two days later, my yard is changing colors. And now I have rust mold.”
When Bates called TruGreen, an agent denied they caused any damage and said it would go away after continued mowing over time. In the meantime, Bates didn’t think he should have to pay for the lawn protection treatment provided by TruGreen, meant to help his lawn look healthy, when his lawn didn’t look healthy at all.
Local
He requested a refund for the treatment, which the company initially denied but it was a decision the Air Force veteran couldn’t quite accept.
“In the military, my career field was services. We taught customer service. That’s totally the opposite of what you would do,” said Bates.
When NBC Connecticut Responds spoke with TruGreen, an agent told us rust was very prevalent this year and it’s most common in the fall months. The company added:
“While rust does not cause significant long lasting damage to turf, we have agreed to refund all of Mr. Bates’ 2017 services.”
TruGreen also closed Bates’ account.
“And I’m glad they did. I wanted them to anyways. But I want my lawn fixed,” said Bates.
For that, he decided to go with another service and he got $300 back in his pocket to do so.
