Trugreen-Chemlawn

[Turf Cutters]

Just found today from one of my big commercial accounts that Trugreen-Chemlawn shot them a bid for everything at least 50% lower than my bid. I have also contacted my other commercial accounts and have heard the same story. The customer then got five more bids and the bids were real close to mine. He gave me a copy of TG-CL bid to look at. TG-CL stated that subs will be used to do all the work except the chem apps. I am now redoing bids and selling the good points of my service. I can handle the other local companies on biddig jobs but one this big is going to be tuff. Sorry to sound off but this really p****d me off. If anybody has any ideas let me know, thanks.

[Edited by Eric ELM on 02-19-2001 at 07:52 PM]

[Mowman]

ARE THEY CUTTING GRASS NOW? OR DID THEY JUST UNDERBID THE CHEMCIAL PART OF YOUR BID? PLEASE EXPLAIN. I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS CAUSE SO OF MY CUSTOMERS USE THEM AS I DON'T HAVE A APP. LICENCE.
THANKS,
Mowman

[gusbuster]

Both my Uncle and I have gone head to head with this company. You're in the same position that we were in. Do your monthly, and yearly cost. When you go by monthly service charge, they are way, and I mean way under what we ask for a monthly service charge. When you go by what you spent for the year, ends up we were cheaper. Why, they penny this, they penny that.

In my uncles case, the year total number averaged $400 less than 4-season(now Trugreen). In my case,I'm $200 less a month.
Try showing the yearly totals.
John

[dmk395]

Well fellas with capitalism comes competition. Its hard to believe they have beaten your price with such ease, maybe your prices are too high?

[bob]

For those of you who don't know, yes True-Green has entered the landscape end of the business. Their called True-Green Land Care. They started in my area last year. They have keep a low profile. My friend works there and said that they are expanding in different cities across the country.

[thelawnguy]

Scotts (of fertilizer fame) has also entered the mowing biz. Coming to a customer near you this summer!

http://www.scottslawnservice.com/sls_home.cfm

[LJ lawn]

maybe since most big fertilizer co's buy their chemicals in BULK (like tractor trailer loads) it's a little hard to compete.it's also a little hard to compete if they use spray equipment and you only use the grainular.one little bottle of chemical to a 100+ gallon tank of mostly WATER.do the math.no wonder they can charge less.not only that they do it in volume.

[ProScapeOM]

They keep calling me wanting to service my lawn. I keep telling them that I own a lawn maintenance company and to quit calling me. They don't give up. Us little guys are getting squeezed out. Quality will tell over time.

[jrodgers]

Yes True Green is now in Landcare. They just bought out one of the big companies in my area. They are in the top two spots for revenues for 2000(#1 & #2)I think Lawn Apps were first and Landcare was second or vise-vera, almost 1 billion in sales.(900,000 something).

[greengeezer]

Don't let the "big green" intimidate you. Every time they buy a company, they basicly buy the customer lists. There was a reason that those customers were not with them in the first place. When those customers find out that now they're TG/CL customers now they quickly jump ship. While there will always be customers that only care about price, there are lots of customers that have learned from TG/CL that they got what they paid for. Use your smaller size to promote your ablity to personalize service. Enough of the public has been thru the "big green" mill and want that personalized touch. They want the same person/owner doing their lawn each application and are willing to pay for that "service". Use their size against them.

[turfsurfer]

I am expanding into the lawn treatment side myself this year and have been surprised by how many companies are really low-balling their prices. In the case of Tru-Green Chemlawn, i believe you really can use their size and impersonal service against them. Case in point: they started putting down their first fert. and pre-m application in my area the second week of February. Do the math and figure how good that pre-m will still be when the crabgrass starts to germinate around April 15. I believe quality service and educated customers will always be our best defense against the low-ballers.

[GreenQuest Lawn]

alot of business around here comes from tru-brown. lots of VERY mad people. some days tru-brown is my best friend

[WatkinsLawn]

I lost an apartment complex I had for 5 years to TG/CL. It took me 18 months in the begining just to finally start making a profit on that account. I hadn't raised my prices for 3 years because it was a high profile account, I got lots of other business from referrals and they had money trouble. I did excellent work at this place and ALAWYS went the extra mile for them. I was taking care of everything for only $24,500.00 per year and believe me it was a deal. TG/CL said they would do it all for only $18,000.00!!!! I was already giving them a huge break. I couldn't possibly compete with that. The owners were having financial problems and said they didn't have a choice but to go with them.
TG/CL used subs to mow it and the place looks like s***. They have had at least two different mowing companies doing sub work out there and I heard they will have another (3rd) company try it this year.
Get this though... TG/CL actually asked me if I would become one of their subs! The rep. said that they don't take a cut on the mowing. He said they pay the subs whatever it is TG/CL gets paid for the mowing. I don't know if that is true or not but I don't want anything to do with those guys.
I lost that contract the day before it was scheduled to be cut for the first mow that year. I had to lay a guy off over that deal.
TG/CL is a sore subject for me. I could write book on all the negative encounters I've had with them.

[65hoss]

If their lawn cutting gets the same reputation as the chemical spraying then who really cares? They suck and my customers who have used them before all agree. Except for the executive of Servicmaster that I cut his lawn. He doesn't even have his guys cut his own yard, they only spray. Kinda funny don't you think? They may make it a little tougher on commercial accounts for a while, but eventually quality will become important again.

Its really a shame, Truegreen could be an ambasador for our industry. Instead they kick themselves, us, and their customers right in the face.

Good news is: Servicemaster is a publicly traded company. These type of companies can't survive the shareholders long if they don't show a profit in every business venture. Hopefully, it won't be long until it will need to be sold or closed down. You never know, but the cost of cutting grass for them has to be huge.

[GreenQuest Lawn]

check this out http://www.syix.com/emu/html/servicemaster.html

[Skookum]

I use to be a sub for TruGreen ChemLawn. I did mowing on some of their highly visable commercial accounts. I was told they try to match accounts with subs. They paid very well on the ones they offered me and they accepted my bids on properties and used them to set prices on their bids.

TG/CL around here has been doing full service grounds maintenance for a long time. They usually do it all except mow. They do the apps of course. They trim shrubs, mulch, plant flowers, etc.... They have never been cheap though around here. They are very good at charging high on special services that they do not include in the maintenance programs. I picked up two of their accounts a few years later and both said they were tired of paying so much for the extra services that they did not include in the monthly contract price.

Sounds like they are out to BUY business where they do not have an account base already.

[dmk395]

They do alot of fertilizing around here in Massachusetts, and I think they do a terrible job. There is another smaller local company who I usually give the work too, and they always keep the lawn nice and green and growing for me to cut.

[Green Acres]

Just wondering how you guys became a sub for trugreen? Was it worth it? Thanks

[GREG R]

I like that web site on complaints..
Might have to print that off for some of my customers..

[Strawbridge Lawn]

Lawn Doctor is in our area, and is charging customers
$240 for fertilization and weed control services for the year. $340 gets you an core-plug aeration. WOW
I could charge $50.0 less easily, and still make a profit especially on lots with 4-7K SQR FT of turf.
The way I see it you can put down 2 liquid Post emergent broad leaf weed treatments (18.00), 1 or 2 pesticide treatments $20.00, and leave yourself with 60 bucks to fertilize and you spend 100 bucks per year as a consumer for materials.
Charge 15-20 bucks per app for labor (as you cut grass) and you charge 180.00 total, or $210.00 with a core aeration.
Again for smaller lots you can easily undercut them. I love the way they can miraculously green up a Bermuda lawn in the spring. Like its only natural dudes.

[gusbuster]

It's funny that this thread just started. My uncle received a call yesterday from an account that Tru-green under bid my uncle.
The bookkeeper asked the senior property manager why they were paying so much a year for the maintenance. It was a 30% difference from '99(then my uncle) to 2000.
Review of all the invoices, my uncle gave them 23 invoices vs. their 47 invoices. Upon review, stuff my uncle would do as part of the service, they would nickle and dime them.
John

[lawrence stone]

Big green attracts the lowest common denominator when it comes to management.

To run a big green branch (in PA) they have a certified applicator in tree and turf in house by state law.

Now what kind of guy who is a certified applicator will work for big green ALL YEAR and have to eat crap every day from all those dumb arse customers and employees?

[Evan528]

Not True! most of there spray technitions are not even certified! I have talked to several of them.. they admit they dont have pesticide license... the one guy said "ssshhhh dont tell anybody".

[65hoss]

I don't think many of them are certified either. I asked several different crews last year what they were putting down, and they never knew. They always would walk me to the truck and show me the package. Huuummmm...

[thelawnguy]

Here, the law says the co doing an app must supply the cust with a list of what was applied; TG/CL does that but its a preprinted checklist.

Many years ago I applied for a job with them and a condition of employment was that I get my app license. Followed a different career path tho.

[kutnkru]

In our area those that work for Big Brown(i liked that- heh heh), are only allowed to apply fert under the certification of True Green. once employment is over so is their ability to apply chemicals. of course, this seems to be true with many compnaies in our area as well.

I think I will be calling them about the opportunity to sub from them. I didnt realize this was possible- the opportunity to gain their client lists.

Thanks guys.
Kris

[Skookum]

Here in Indiana, all you need is a tech license to work under a Applicator. The tech class is a few hours long followed by a state test. It is basically a safety course. Most of TG/CL's applicators here fall under this type of work setup. The company then just has to pay one person that is truley a licensed applicator.

When those people leave they still hold a Tech License, but it is of course only good under a applicator that holds a Applicators License which in turn is only valid under a Business Pesticide License.

I found that TR/CL here was so short help that they avoided spraying apps by doing straight granular apps of fert only. Which anyone off the street can do since it was not a pesticide. So they would have new hires do granular without any license of any kind. Until they could get them in to take and pass the tech class.

[Skookum]

Being a sub for TG/CL

I was asked to mow some high visability accounts of TG/CL because when the rep walked a few of my accounts, to give me a application price, he seen what type quality of work I was doing. I did not have a license yet of my own so I needed them for my apps since I was leaving my old lawn app company for personal disati. When I met with my rep to dicuss prices on my accounts, he offered me some mowing accounts of thiers. I was told that they just could not find anyone that seemed to want to give a quality cut while maintaining a professional personal cleancut look of themselves or their crews.

If you are interested in subing for them, I would just contact them. They paid well, usually taking my qoute and just adding it to their bid on a property. The few that they already had, that they offerd me, were well in line with my prices at that time of $50.00 per hour. The ones I took at their prices pretty much included driving time as well, so actual work time rate was higher. They also paid on time!

They were not bad to work for at all! I had no problems working for them. In fact it was kind of nice. Just mow and go, no phone calls, no worries. They usually paid for 28 mowings, if over they would pay, if under they would tell me to mow to get my cuts in.

I would not hesitate to mow again for them, but I BURNED that bridge when I took two accounts away from them. Which they would not understand when I told them that they were losing those accounts anyway. One was a account that I had been mowing for TG/CL, but the customer did not know that, and I did not approach the client. The other was a phone call client that called me. Not till after I gave a price did I find out I was bidding against TG/CL as the current LCO. I was even a few dollars higher and I got the account. Both places were tired of TG/CL's high priced added services.

[jimsny]

TG CL Is horrible!!!

I went from Scotts Lawn servicewhich was great to TGCL because they were cheaper. My yard looked horrible and I griped to them. They offered to do my yard for 1/2 price this year but I don't even want them for that!!

I am going beck to scott's over the counter 4 step program.