Weed Man fraudsters... - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

wgauci · 2012-06-01, 08:25 PM

Thought I would share a recent experience and see if anyone has an idea for following this further.

I have been receiving harassing calls from the Weed Man for a few weeks and finally answered and requested ti know why they refuse to use the Do Not Call List. They informed me that they have the right to call because they have a signed form from me requesting a quote for services, so the DNCL didn't apply. Knowing I never would have signed a request for anything from them I insisted that they produce said document as someone was signing my name to documents.

After three days of fighting and being personally assured that my name was off their list, they still called confirming my order for services if you can believe that. I had them actually pull the document out and the lady informed me that it was clearly not my signature and I was assured that they take this very seriously and would look into this. I insisted that they send me this form which I received today. It has a list of houses with names and addressed in my neighbourhood and 4 for the 10 houses have obvious fake signatures that are clearly not even close to the names of the actual people on the list.

So basically they have these door to door representatives knocking on peoples doors and when they don't answer they scribble a name and the poor suckers then have to endure weeks of harassment from the Weed Man sales people because now they have the right to call you as many times and they want.

My question is what more can I do about this. Is this request for a quote a legal document and forging people names illegal? I take this sort of thing very seriously and angers me to no end that these people can get away with this. Any suggestions?

Jase88 · 2012-06-01, 08:31 PM

I would certainly contact the Better Business Bureau.

If they've produced a signature which is not yours, that's a crime. I would contact the police immediately to investigate. It's fraud.

billpaidJr · 2012-06-01, 08:34 PM

yeah these weed man people are known scammers. If you ever have the unfortunate luck of calling them to do anything on you lawn get ready for hell.

google "weedman scam" and see whats out there already.

wgauci · 2012-06-01, 08:38 PM

Yea, I know about a lot the stuff they pull, there was a CBC Marketplace piece on them this year. It just pisses me off that someone can forge peoples names like that.

57 · 2012-06-01, 11:42 PM

Yeah, they were nailed by MarketPlace, but obviously not hard enough to stop. Here's the link:

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/snakeinthegrass/

Note though that there were two sides to some of the stories - in that some of the "complainers" were contract customers...

billpaidJr · 2012-06-02, 08:36 AM

Had a friend that worked temporarily for them...thinking it would be a great summer job taking care of lawns. He said they would have to get up really early so that the homeowners could not be there to refuse the work. They would do it all and then leave the bill in the mailbox. The service was always automatically renewed whether you wanted it or not.

Tanta · 2012-06-02, 02:40 PM

Weedman sometimes gets it right; they continued fertilizing the lawn of deceased persons for two years (the home was empty), even after being contacted multiple times, by the executors to stop the process. Since nothing seem to be resolvable over the phone, the executor showed up at their business unannonced with death certificates in hand. The Weedman employee was very apologetic, and immediately cancelled all owed amounts.

mr weather · 2012-06-04, 08:41 PM

We used Weedman for several years and had no issues. We cancelled earlier this year because we had work done that dramatically reduced the area of our lawn and they complied without any problems.

Are they franchised? I'm wondering if it's some kind of overzealous franchisee involved in these scam stories.

notsure · 2012-06-04, 08:47 PM

Two Weed Man door to door sales people stopped by the house the other day while I was working in the yard. They were very persistent and when they finally understood that no really did mean no, they proceeded to make fun of the fertilizer bags I had in the garage and the tools I was using for my yard work.

No very classy and very unprofessional.

PG44 · 2012-06-05, 10:11 AM

I used Weed Man a couple of years ago after we had some construction done and the lawn needed a boost. They offered a good deal including aeration, so I signed on for one year. They consistently missed doing the back yard for the aeration and all the fertilizer treatments and I always had to call and get them to repeat it (which they did without question). They haven't tried any dirty tricks with me but the phone calls offering their service are getting beyond annoying.

I generally find these lawn services to be overpriced for what they do. They do a quick fly by with some bagged fertilizer, and I still have to pick weeds myself. My favorite is the kid going door to door with an aerator offering to do my lawn for a mere $80!

MrGrinch · 2012-06-05, 04:51 PM

I've used both weedman and greendrop and they both do the same. Each spring I get multiple calls from them asking to renew, and even after saying no they call again and again. Weedman tried to spray one year while I wasn't at home but fortunately I lock all my gates as I have a hotub in the back.

The do not call registry does little in the way of protection as they have the right to market to you as a prior customer (and for 18 months after the business contract). IMO this part of the registry needs to change. If I want to talk to you I'll call you, you don't need to call me thanks...

hamstercaster · 2012-06-07, 08:48 AM

In Gatineau, I get the Weed Man kid doing door to door at least a couple of times per spring and I always greet them with a "I'm not interested". They just turn around and leave. I had been having some harassment calls from Vertdure in Gatineau and the last time they called last year, I was pretty blunt and they got a few choice words from me and they haven't bothered me since. My wife isn't very happy of the tone and words I use on the phone with those companies harassing us but the bottom line is that it usually works and I get rid of them rather quickly as opposed to my wife's milder ways which keeps her hooked on the phone for minutes until they are done or I take the phone away from her and send them "packing" rather abruptly. I'm usually a well mannered and polite person but when a company crosses the line I kind of become the Hulk of expletive language lol.

2012-06-01, 08:25 PM	#1
wgauci Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Windsor ON Cogeco Posts: 1,072	Weed Man fraudsters... Thought I would share a recent experience and see if anyone has an idea for following this further. I have been receiving harassing calls from the Weed Man for a few weeks and finally answered and requested ti know why they refuse to use the Do Not Call List. They informed me that they have the right to call because they have a signed form from me requesting a quote for services, so the DNCL didn't apply. Knowing I never would have signed a request for anything from them I insisted that they produce said document as someone was signing my name to documents. After three days of fighting and being personally assured that my name was off their list, they still called confirming my order for services if you can believe that. I had them actually pull the document out and the lady informed me that it was clearly not my signature and I was assured that they take this very seriously and would look into this. I insisted that they send me this form which I received today. It has a list of houses with names and addressed in my neighbourhood and 4 for the 10 houses have obvious fake signatures that are clearly not even close to the names of the actual people on the list. So basically they have these door to door representatives knocking on peoples doors and when they don't answer they scribble a name and the poor suckers then have to endure weeks of harassment from the Weed Man sales people because now they have the right to call you as many times and they want. My question is what more can I do about this. Is this request for a quote a legal document and forging people names illegal? I take this sort of thing very seriously and angers me to no end that these people can get away with this. Any suggestions? __________________ Aquos LC42D64U Yamaha HTR6080 Emotiva XPA-5 Polk CSiA6 RTiA7's RTiA1's Velodyne DLS4000R Mot. 6416 III PS3 Harmony One

2012-06-01, 08:31 PM	#2
Jase88 Moderator Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Kitchener, ON Posts: 4,104	I would certainly contact the Better Business Bureau. If they've produced a signature which is not yours, that's a crime. I would contact the police immediately to investigate. It's fraud. __________________ DMX 68' tower, HyGain HAM 5 rotator, Antennas Direct 91-XG & C5, Channel Master 7777 preamp, Siemens surge protection

2012-06-01, 08:38 PM	#4
wgauci Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Windsor ON Cogeco Posts: 1,072	Yea, I know about a lot the stuff they pull, there was a CBC Marketplace piece on them this year. It just pisses me off that someone can forge peoples names like that. __________________ Aquos LC42D64U Yamaha HTR6080 Emotiva XPA-5 Polk CSiA6 RTiA7's RTiA1's Velodyne DLS4000R Mot. 6416 III PS3 Harmony One

2012-06-01, 11:42 PM	#5
57 Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Rogers, 8300HD, eHDD, Panasonic TCP65S1, Denon AVR4310Ci; 8300HD, eHDD & Sony KDL40W3000 Posts: 50,293	Yeah, they were nailed by MarketPlace, but obviously not hard enough to stop. Here's the link: http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/snakeinthegrass/ Note though that there were two sides to some of the stories - in that some of the "complainers" were contract customers... __________________ 57's Home Theatre (Latest equipment & photos) 57's Optimization Services (Home Theatre Optimization)

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2012-06-01, 08:34 PM	#3
billpaidJr Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 299	yeah these weed man people are known scammers. If you ever have the unfortunate luck of calling them to do anything on you lawn get ready for hell. google "weedman scam" and see whats out there already.

2012-06-02, 08:36 AM	#6
billpaidJr Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 299	Had a friend that worked temporarily for them...thinking it would be a great summer job taking care of lawns. He said they would have to get up really early so that the homeowners could not be there to refuse the work. They would do it all and then leave the bill in the mailbox. The service was always automatically renewed whether you wanted it or not.

2012-06-02, 02:40 PM	#7
Tanta Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Quebec Posts: 660	Weedman sometimes gets it right; they continued fertilizing the lawn of deceased persons for two years (the home was empty), even after being contacted multiple times, by the executors to stop the process. Since nothing seem to be resolvable over the phone, the executor showed up at their business unannonced with death certificates in hand. The Weedman employee was very apologetic, and immediately cancelled all owed amounts.

2012-06-04, 08:41 PM	#8
mr weather Veteran Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Mississauga, Ontario Posts: 1,950	We used Weedman for several years and had no issues. We cancelled earlier this year because we had work done that dramatically reduced the area of our lawn and they complied without any problems. Are they franchised? I'm wondering if it's some kind of overzealous franchisee involved in these scam stories.

2012-06-04, 08:47 PM	#9
notsure Veteran Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ottawa, ON; OTA, XBMC, ATV Posts: 1,594	Two Weed Man door to door sales people stopped by the house the other day while I was working in the yard. They were very persistent and when they finally understood that no really did mean no, they proceeded to make fun of the fertilizer bags I had in the garage and the tools I was using for my yard work. No very classy and very unprofessional.

2012-06-05, 10:11 AM	#10
PG44 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Guelph, Ontario Posts: 246	I used Weed Man a couple of years ago after we had some construction done and the lawn needed a boost. They offered a good deal including aeration, so I signed on for one year. They consistently missed doing the back yard for the aeration and all the fertilizer treatments and I always had to call and get them to repeat it (which they did without question). They haven't tried any dirty tricks with me but the phone calls offering their service are getting beyond annoying. I generally find these lawn services to be overpriced for what they do. They do a quick fly by with some bagged fertilizer, and I still have to pick weeds myself. My favorite is the kid going door to door with an aerator offering to do my lawn for a mere $80!

2012-06-05, 04:51 PM	#11
MrGrinch Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 873	I've used both weedman and greendrop and they both do the same. Each spring I get multiple calls from them asking to renew, and even after saying no they call again and again. Weedman tried to spray one year while I wasn't at home but fortunately I lock all my gates as I have a hotub in the back. The do not call registry does little in the way of protection as they have the right to market to you as a prior customer (and for 18 months after the business contract). IMO this part of the registry needs to change. If I want to talk to you I'll call you, you don't need to call me thanks...

2012-06-07, 08:48 AM	#12
hamstercaster Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Gatineau, QC Posts: 289	In Gatineau, I get the Weed Man kid doing door to door at least a couple of times per spring and I always greet them with a "I'm not interested". They just turn around and leave. I had been having some harassment calls from Vertdure in Gatineau and the last time they called last year, I was pretty blunt and they got a few choice words from me and they haven't bothered me since. My wife isn't very happy of the tone and words I use on the phone with those companies harassing us but the bottom line is that it usually works and I get rid of them rather quickly as opposed to my wife's milder ways which keeps her hooked on the phone for minutes until they are done or I take the phone away from her and send them "packing" rather abruptly. I'm usually a well mannered and polite person but when a company crosses the line I kind of become the Hulk of expletive language lol.