We make every attempt to communicate via text and/or email if service will be delayed due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. In the event that regular maintenance service must be postponed, we will provide your service on the next possible service day that the weather and schedule allow.  Please understand there can be many customers to reschedule, especially if there has been more than one day's weather delay. Therefore, it will not always be the following day, but will be as close to your regular day as possible. This is to avoid skipping an entire service, in order to keep everyone on schedule, and keep your yard looking great.  

If it is a one-off job that is not part of regular maintenance, or a larger job, it may need to be rescheduled entirely. If this is the case, we'll make contact to reschedule on the earliest possible mutually acceptable day. 

PLEASE NOTE: If, at the customer’s request, an entire maintenance service cycle is skipped, an additional clean-up pricing and scheduling may apply (See paragraphs for Maintenance and Clean-ups for more detail).

• For regular maintenance:  Invoices are sent via email, generally the 1st of the month (or first Monday). We invoice in arrears, meaning your invoice will be for services performed the prior month. Invoices are a "Net 15," meaning they are due 15 days after the date they are sent. (If you have not received your monthly invoice by the 5th, please feel free to reach out to the office!)
• For one-time jobs, such as clean-ups, plant or material installations, etc.: For all jobs over $1000.00, a 50% Deposit is due upon quote acceptance, in order to schedule your job. Invoices for balance due are generally created upon job completion & sent via email. Invoices for one-off jobs are due upon completion of the job, as is industry standard. (Occasionally, they may be included with your regular monthly invoice, depending on when the job is completed. In these cases, the Net 15 due date for maintenance invoices will apply.)

There are several ways to pay. 

You can use the green "Pay Invoice" button at the bottom of your invoice. This takes you to your online customer portal (Client Hub), where you can pay your bill, see your billing and payment history, add payment methods to your wallet for one-click pay or auto-pay, see upcoming visits, make service requests, and more.

You can call and pay by credit card via phone to the office.

AUTO-PAY IS NOW AVAILABLE! If you would like us to run a debit/credit card or ACH automatically, please let the office know and we will get you set up – it’s easy!

1. Log into the Client Hub.

2. Navigate to the Wallet section to input and save your credit/debit card or ACH details.

3. Confirm your interest in activating Auto Pay by sending an email to our office at sunshinelawncare843@gmail.com. (You MUST confirm with our office in order to have Auto-Pay enabled.)

Your payment method will be run at midnight on the last day of the month for service visits completed that month.  Once enrolled, you will automatically receive email receipts for any billed services, with invoices accessible on the Client Hub for your records.

You can write a check to Sunshine Lawn Care, LLC and mail it to 1233 Chuka Ct., Charleston, SC 29412.

• Any account balances 30 days or older may result in $25.00 per month late fees. Services may be suspended at this point until account is brought current. If collections action is required, any collection costs will be the responsibility of the customer. This includes, but is not limited to: late fees; office/administrative fees for time spent on collections; actual costs incurred for certified mailings, court filings, or other collections actions; attorney fees; or any other applicable standard business expense toward collections for services rendered.
• Late fees for ONE-OFF JOBS: Payment is expected upon service completion for one-off or single-visit jobs. If payment has not been received seven (7) calendar days after the job is completed and invoiced, it may be subject to late fees and collections process. The fees for this may vary based on the cost of the job and the expenses incurred by Sunshine Lawn Care, beginning at $25 and up to 20% of the invoiced job amount.

In order for our crews to complete your service visit on your service day, they must have access to all service areas upon which we’ve agreed. This includes fenced-in backyards, gated or locked areas, pets in the yard, vehicles blocking access to areas, and any other restrictions that may prevent them from reaching an agreed service area. Please, do not leave pets unattended in backyard or gated or restricted service areas that crew needs to access. This is a safety issue for crew, as well as for your pet(s). Crew will not enter a yard or area where there is an unattended pet.

*** If crew is unable to access any portion of the agreed service area due to restricted access, we will be unable to service that portion of the property during your service visit. Time constraints, and provision of the best customer service to all scheduled customers, preclude our ability to provide “return visits” for these issues. Therefore, the inaccessible area will have to wait until the next scheduled visit to be serviced.  PLEASE BE AWARE that this could potentially result in additional clean-up labor charge if the area has become too overgrown to perform regular maintenance.

What is included?

Maintenance visits are scheduled and priced on a minimum of bi-weekly (every other week) frequency. Weekly frequency is available for customers who prefer or need that frequency. (This is also offered as a seasonal option, generally March/April - October/November. We change over the “seasonal weeklies” based on the weather – when it cools down and growth slows, we move back to bi-weekly. When it warms up and growth starts increasing again, we bring the seasonal weekly frequency back. Customers are contacted via email for these frequency changes.)

• Basic Maintenance includes mowing, edging, weed-eating as necessary (in lawn/turf areas; excludes inside beds), and blowing off.  
• Full Maintenance includes Basic Maintenance plus weed control in bed areas and/or hedge trimming. Trimming of hedges and bushes is NOT done every visit, as this is not good for your plants! It is done on an as-needed basis. Generally, every 2nd - 3rd visit on a bi-weekly schedule, depending on your plants’ needs. Weed control in beds is handled by a combination of spraying and hand-pulling. Our spray is systemic, and must be applied on the foliage of the weeds and soak in, in order to kill the weed from the roots out. This process can take 2 weeks to kill the weed completely, so please be aware that you will NOT see instant results after your maintenance visit!!! It can take several days for the weeds to begin to yellow, then brown and wilt. 
• Turf weed control (treating of weeds in the grass) is offered as part of our chemical program – not included in regular maintenance. (This is a state licensed service and the maintenance crew does not carry or handle these chemicals.)

Due to time constraints, and to provide the best customer service to ALL our customers, the crew is not able to provide additional services requested by the customer at the time of their service visit. Any additional services needed or desired must be handled by contacting the office prior to your service visit, so that we can schedule accordingly.

• WINTER MOWING: 

It is important to note that, in the Fall and Winter (once the grass has entered dormancy), we will run the mowers with the blades slightly raised so that they do not cut the grass. The mowers act as a mulching blade for the leaves and debris that fall during the winter. They pulverize the leaves into tiny pieces that can then be blown back into the beds to decompose. This has a dual benefit. It protects the dormant turf by keeping the leaves cleared, and the tiny pieces of leaves act as a compost to the beds. This leaf/debris management is performed in place of the grass mowing portion of the warmer months. 

• ACORN MANAGEMENT: 

It is important to be aware that acorns are a part of Fall/Winter life here with all our gorgeous Live Oak trees! Some of these will be addressed when the crew uses our powerful blowers during maintenance visits, but it is not possible to rid the grass of all of them. There is no acorn mitigation available on a general maintenance basis that will achieve this without tearing up the turf. If you feel you have excessive acorns from your trees, please feel free to reach out and we can assess for a customized clean-up solution.

We send out automated visit reminders through our system via email and text prior to each visit reminding customers to please pick up all personal belongings and pet waste prior to your service visit. 

• Personal belongings: The quoted cost for service and time allotted does not allow for crew to pick up personal belongings prior to a maintenance service visit. It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that belongings such as toys, sprinklers, hoses, cords, lawn furniture, etc. are picked up prior to your regular service visit. We cannot be responsible for damages caused to personal belongings that are left in the yard, as they may not be seen.
• Pet waste, in particular, can be a major problem, as the mowers and equipment will get covered in it and throw it back on the crew and around your yard. This creates a safety hazard for the crew and your family, as well as additional labor and clean-up expenses to us. The equipment has to go back in the trailer and the crew has to get back in the truck. Equipment, the interior of the trailer and truck all have to be sanitized when this happens. As such, we do require that pet waste be picked up prior to your regularly scheduled visit. If there is an instance of excessive pet waste:
• 1st time: the office will notify you of the issue upon reviewing crew notes, and the email will inform you that a pet waste clean-up fee of $50 will be applied if it occurs again.
• 2nd time: there will be a $50 pet waste clean-up charge added to the service visit for that day.

• Visits that include anything additional to what is quoted in your maintenance service line item(s) may be considered clean-ups, due to the additional time and labor required. This can include additional debris or leaf clean-up, raking out beds or other larger projects, OR just small additional items such as hedges or weed control if you’re on Basic Maintenance. 
• Initial visits to get the yard ready for maintenance are considered clean-ups.
• If a customer has elected to “skip” maintenance visits, it may be considered a clean-up if it has become overgrown beyond what can be done on a maintenance visit timeframe.
• General post-storm clean-up when we have had large storms often constitutes a clean-up.
• Clean-ups are priced separately, usually at a “per man hour” rate, and may need to be scheduled apart from your regular maintenance day. “Man-hour” means per person, per hour. (Two workers for one half hour equals one man hour. Three workers for 2 hours equals 6 man hours.)

Please be mindful that we keep a full schedule, and each customer on our schedule is planned out in advance with our personnel and resources. If, for any reason, you need to cancel a service, we do require the following notice in order to cancel without a cancellation fee:

• FOR REGULAR MAINTENANCE (SINGLE VISIT): We require 2 business days notice to cancel a maintenance visit. If notice of cancellation is received less than 2 business days prior to the scheduled service day, there will be a $25 cancellation fee for that day’s visit. IF NO CANCELLATION NOTICE IS SENT TO THE OFFICE (or is sent with less than 2 business days notice) AND THE CUSTOMER SENDS THE CREW AWAY AFTER ARRIVAL FOR YOUR REGULAR SERVICE, YOU WILL STILL BE BILLED FOR THAT DAY’S VISIT!
• FOR REGULAR MAINTENANCE (TERMINATION OF SERVICES): We ask for a minimum of one week’s notice to terminate service entirely for a property/customer. If notice is given less than a week prior to your next visit, we will still perform a final visit for you at your scheduled time, for the agreed price, then process the cancellation of your services. We do not require contracts, as we want customers to feel free to cancel if they wish. The flip side of this is that we do need notice to make schedule adjustments, reallocate crew as needed, etc.
• FOR ONE-OFF JOBS: This includes, but is not limited to, installs (sod, plants, etc.), mulch, pinestraw, clean-ups, or any other one-time service that is not a regular maintenance service. A minimum of 3 business days is required to cancel one-off jobs. Often, materials have been ordered. If not canceled within the required notice time, a cancellation fee will be calculated based on fees incurred by us in order to cancel any necessary crew, materials, and/or additional machinery. 

****IF WE CANNOT CANCEL MATERIALS DELIVERY FROM THE SUPPLIER(S), the customer is responsible for the cost of materials and any/all costs incurred by Sunshine Lawn Care, LLC to procure the materials and prepare for the job.

***REFUNDS OF DEPOSITS: If we are able to cancel any orders associated with your job, we will refund 80% of the deposited amount. 20% of the deposit is non-refundable as compensation for the administrative and prep work required for the job and reimbursement for any fees and/or costs incurred by Sunshine Lawn Care.

Please note that we do keep a bi-weekly minimum frequency year round. In this sub-tropical climate, trees drop leaves all winter long, necessitating either regular leaf management (more ideal and cost-effective; keeps up with the leaf-fall and keeps it off the grass), or usually a full leaf clean-up in the Spring. If a customer wishes to stop service for the winter (or for any other period of time), the following disclaimers apply:

We are unable to “pause” service or hold spots, as we do keep a full schedule year-round. We can cancel service with the required notice (see Cancellations above), but we cannot guarantee that a spot will be available in the Spring.

Customers wishing to re-establish service after canceling understand that this will be equivalent to starting a new maintenance. An assessment will need to occur for any initial clean-up required, and a new maintenance quote may be generated based on the current season’s pricing.

While we generally try to provide estimates free of charge for ongoing services and many projects, there are some consulting services that do require fees for new and existing customers. Those include, but are not limited to: landscape design; consulting or advice on turf, plant, or other material issues; service calls to discuss or diagnose concerns related to turf or chemicals; consulting on specialty chemical programs or other projects that the customer will be implementing themselves, but wish to have professional advice. In order to best serve all customers, please try to have information prepared for the time of your consultation or service call. This will assist us in helping you efficiently, and avoid fees for multiple visits.

The chemical program is our service program to provide treatment services to your lawn such as turf weed control, fertilizer, fungicide and insecticide. We base this on Clemson Agricultural guidelines to schedule these treatments. However, we realize each lawn is unique and has unique needs to keep it at its best.

Chemical program treatments are billed on a per-visit basis, so you are paying only when you receive the service, as opposed to a monthly or annual fee.

These products are also available by request as a one-off service for customers not on the Chemical Program, but the per-visit cost is higher since a single batch is required.

An example of a typical Chemical Program for the year could be:

• Pre-emergent weed killer – preventive weed killer; four applications, generally one per season
• Post-emergent weed killer – weed killer for those weeds that still come up (yes, some of those still happen no matter how hard we fight them with pre-emergent – this is a subtropical climate!)
• Fertilizers – as needed, generally March through November
• Fungicide – a minimum of 2 applications per year; usually 4; but as-needed per property and weather
• Insecticide – usually 4 per year on a chemical program. This is also how we treat for moles, by killing their food source. When used in this capacity, it’s generally every 3 months or so.

• It is an unfortunate part of the industry that sometimes damages do occur. Equipment can throw rocks or objects hidden in long grass and, of course, human error exists, too! If you notice damage after your service visit, PLEASE NOTIFY THE OFFICE WITHIN 3 DAYS. If we are not made aware of the damages in a timely manner, we cannot adequately assess what occurred to determine if the damage was caused by our team or equipment. If it is determined that Sunshine Lawn Care crew or equipment caused the damages, we will work with you to find a mutually acceptable remedy as promptly as possible!
• NEW PLANTINGS: It is the customer’s responsibility to notify our office if you have installed new vegetation, plantings, seed, or anything else that may be damaged by our team performing our agreed services. The office needs to be made aware of anything installed after our initial job was quoted – whether ongoing maintenance or one-off – so that we can advise you on how it needs to be marked for our service visit(s), and so that we can properly alert our crew to be aware of the change.  
• OUTDOOR LIGHTS AND DECORATIONS: Please be aware that we cannot be responsible for damages to lights and/or decorations that are in the yard, bushes/shrubs, hedges, trees, or other agreed service areas. This is mostly an issue around the holidays, but some people have year-round or seasonal lights or decorations. Often, these things are well-hidden and not readily visible to crew members – especially cords, which can very easily be cut by trimmers when pruning! It is the responsibility of the customer to make sure these things are moved prior to the scheduled service day in order to avoid potential damage.