Ranting about shady landscaping companies after seeing that Peoria IL thread

Came across this Reddit thread where folks in Peoria IL are begging for reputable landscaping companies, and it got me fired up. Half the responses are calling out these fly-by-night outfits that show up with beat-up old Stihl trimmers, mow like crap, and disappear without finishing the edging or weeding. SMH, it's a crap-show out there with companies underbidding on mulch jobs just to get in the door then ghosting. I've been in the game 15 years, and seeing newbies ruin it for all of us pisses me off. Someone in the Lawn Care Professionals Facebook group mentioned the same issue with fake crews using rented Echo blowers for one job and vanishing. Watched a Stanley Dirt Monkey video on how to spot these hacks, and damn if it didn't match. We gotta call this BS out before more homeowners get screwed on their sod installs. Time to stick together and push for better standards.

Vet your crews hard, always check references and run background on the owner before any big mulch or hardscape job.

Spot on, push for licensing proof right away, no excuses.

Same here man, had a buddy lose a ton on a bad sod referral from one of those threads.

This crap is everywhere, even big commercial lots getting half-assed turf jobs that die in a month. Collective rage indeed.

Build a referral network with real pros, skip the shady leads altogether and focus on word-of-mouth from satisfied edging and planting clients.