Susan T.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS: LawnStarter is not to be believed and not to be trusted. My experience has been one issue after another, essentially from day one (but I blew off the red flags) the least of which has been their standard operating procedure for having their "pros" send a message stating "I will be there on XXX date to mow your lawns", followed by no call, no show. That is a deal breaker with me and is EXACTLY why my last lawn guy is no longer my lawn guy.

This is a follow-up to my previous review. I'll recap. The first visit is meant to be $19. I was assured the front and back would be mowed. I explained that I had been abandoned by my last lawn guy and that there were areas of the back lawn that were getting a bit tall. I was assured that the pro would be advised and told not to worry about it. That was a Thursday, a pro was assigned and was supposed to be there on Saturday to mow the lawns. Saturday came and went - no call, no show.
I contacted customer service (via email) and was eventually contacted by the pro. He came out on Sunday, mowed the front lawn but not the back - he just left with zero explanation whatsoever.
Contacted customer service again and received another (oh goodie) email stating that my pro would be back on Monday. That was followed by another no call no show.
Contacted customer service again; got another lovely email at 3 a.m. from the pro. He said the gate was locked and I wasn't home. Trouble with that is that I was working from home all day that day and I had unlocked the gate at 6 a.m. Got another email a minute or two later stating that he couldn't come due to inclement weather. Oh Lord - whatever sticks, I guess.
Contacted customer service again - first "pro" was replaced with a new one. But he can't make it out there until Thursday or Friday. We've had rain and heat and the back lawn's gotten noticeably taller!
Now somewhere in there I'd written my first not very complimentary review of this company on here and was contacted by a very concerned customer support person who left a voicemail asking me to call her direct number. I dialed the number. It was a call center - nothing even remotely direct about it. Got nothing but a recording suggesting I leave a voicemail and will be contacted by the next available representative. Oh and - my call is very important to them.
There have also been emails regarding the fees having been waived altogether accompanied by a load of bull about how important my business is and that this is definitely not the way this experience is supposed to go.
New pro shows up Thursday afternoon and just as I'm beginning to feel a little better and start to believe this might work out, I get this email on Saturday:

LawnStarter
Hi Susie,

The LawnStarter pro who mowed your grass on Thursday, August 24, filed a Long Grass Fee Re
port.

What this means: You will be charged a Long Grass Fee of $26.00, so your total price for this mow
is now $80.99. Click here to revisit the previously accepted Long Grass Policy.

In case you have questions, review the Long Grass Report.

Sincerely,

The LawnStarter Team

Guess who else I got an email from? The call center rep who left me her "direct number." She wants to speak to me. I sent her a reply, and added the "long grass fee email" to my list of grievances.

I am concurrently getting conflicting emails from the 5th customer service rep in a week who has apologized and assured me that my business is VERY important to them. That email has conflicting information in it regarding the charges (also addressing a discounted long grass fee) so I have no idea what amount they are going to debit out of my account but I DO KNOW that they're gonna debit my account - probably on Monday.

If the original email regarding the long grass fee is to be believed, I am being charged $81 for the privilege of having to put up with this crap. In the scenario laid out there, not only did they not waive any fees as another email had said they would, they charged the full price for the mow, completely disregarded the $19 promo fee they were supposed to extend for the first visit and tacked on a $26 long grass fee. This is a SCAM and they make the process so confusing that you end up not sure what the hell is actually even supposed to be happening.
Did I mention there is a three-cut minimum? Also, danger danger - they automatically debit your account, so I'm just hoping that I don't have to cancel my debit card and get a new one, because that is a gigantic PITA.
I quite literally asked that 1. They remove me from their automated system which clearly is ignored by the reps and cannot accommodate non-cookie cutter situations, and
2. That the first two visits (which should have been one but Mr. Pro flaked out on the back lawn) be considered two cuts, and for them to just charge me for all three at once so I can get the hell out of this nightmare. I'm hoping that they can at least do that but I am not at all certain that they have any interest whatsoever in doing the right thing.
I will be almost certainly be reporting them to the BBB.

I first ordered from Haband about 3 years ago. I can tell you that it takes a couple of weeks to get your order, the customer service is so-so at best, the quality and sizing are both extremely inconsistent, some of the items are pretty good quality but some of the items are just straight up garbage (think shoes where the sole separates from the upper after being worn twice; seams just never sewed, seams literally shredded after one wash). The best collection that they had (Salon Studio) has all but disappeared and what's left is largely the same stuff that was there three years ago. There are always items under the heading "New Arrivals" but honestly, nothing to get excited about - it all looks the same.