LawnGuru- Lawn, Snow & Garden 4+

The LawnGuru App saved us so many times during the winter when we had monstrous snowstorms and no snowblower! We set up auto plow service and someone (I assume a Plow Fairy?) came in the middle of the night and plowed our driveway and shoveled our sidewalk! We have weekly mowing service also, but it does come at a hefty cost. (I consider it worth it, since it is not something I can do.)
The minor drawbacks on the app: It is a bit difficult to set the parameters of your property boundaries with the tiny dots and lines if you have bumbling fingers. I would bet even if you are nimble, you would have a bit of a struggle adjusting each tiny line to make sure your sidewalks and driveway are properly outlined and plotted. The good thing is that the customer service is friendly and efficient, and they are willing to help fix your mistakes on the property drawing.
The other drawback is the various other services that the companies claim to offer… I have tried several times to request quotes for services like weed removal— one was $900, and we do not have an extensive weed problem. It seems there was some pricing issues. I don’t think this is LawnGurus fault, but it is an app issue nonetheless.

So I purchased my home as a new construction back in June of 2021 and i had to get new sod and sprinklers down. I had the company that did my sod and sprinklers refer me to two different landscaping companies for my weekly lawn service. When I say they came once and did a terrible job (left dead grass, cut new sod way to low, didn’t clean properly, etc.) it was a nightmare. I then had another company said they would come out and I had to keep reaching out to them only to tell me they were booked and couldn’t help me only to be disappointed again and have grass that was overly needing to be cut.

Then I (my wife) found Lawn Gurus and I could not be happier. Not only did they come in less than 48 hours of my original inquiry, they communicated with me when they would be here. When they got here they were very quick and efficient. Not only that, they did an absolutely amazing job on my lawn that needed some tlc. I would highly recommend their service for any others looking to get their grass cut or any landscaping needs in the future. Needless to say, I’ll be using them every week going forward and if the work continues well, I’ll continue to tip them for their professional services as well!!! A great company that’s on time, fast, efficient and communication is on point. Thank you lawn gurus!! You have certainly earned my business!!!

On paper, it is a great idea to connect service providers with customers in need of lawn care or snow removal. However, there are number of areas that were neglected in practice. First, vetting of service providers is quite poor. The snow removal service that failed to show up for 16 hours after receiving a text message that they are on their way has 4.9 rating. It’s not just about the failure to show but the fact that the provider refuses to respond to messages or answer a call makes the communication mechanism within the app completely useless. The fact that Lawn Guru’s customer service also does not answer is even more frustrating.
Second, to add the insult, they charged $5 for cancellation because it was cancelled “while they were on their way”. This means service providers have no incentive to be responsive to customers since they can easily collect $5 for doing absolutely nothing but to send a text to say they are on their way. In fact, no show would be more profitable since those customers who cancel out of frustration do not get to rate their services. These providers can accept as many jobs as possible and only do a good job on a couple and still maintain a good rating while screwing over all other customers.

In short, this app works well, until it doesn’t. It accommodates those that are out to make a buck through manipulating the structure and this app simply makes money whether there is good service or not.