As the always sweltering Tucson summer arrives, homeowners may be considering hiring a service to rejuvenate lawns or take care of routine chores like mowing, fertilizing and trimming in the coming months.

Hiring a lawn service can ease the burdens of caring for your yard.  To avoid headaches or misunderstandings, the Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona advises consumers to make sure you and the lawn service have clear, written expectations for what the company will provide for the agreed-upon fees.

“A lush, green lawn can be a source of pride for homeowners,” said Kim States, BBB President. “But if a lawn service fails to mow regularly, leaves a mess or doesn’t do what the homeowner expected, disagreements and complaints often arise. Consumers should get a clear understanding of what services are provided and how much the service will cost in advance.”

One option many southern Arizona consumers may be considering is installing artificial turf in lieu of natural grass. Artificial turf has several advantages over natural grass, but there are also some things consumers should watch out for before having it installed.

“Most of my customers who request estimates from us say that they don’t have time to maintain grass,” said Gabriel Lobato, owner of La Cholla Landscaping in Oro Valley. “You also don’t have the same issues with allergies and wasted water that you get with natural turf.”

When receiving an estimate for artificial turf Lobato warns that some contractors may try to lower their bid by leaving out crucial aspects of the installation process.

“People should really be aware of proper installation,” Lobato told BBB. “Before installation you have to lay down a base of crushed gravel; it gives the turf a smoother feel, and rain passes through it much better.”

Lobato said to also watch out for toxic in-fills, which contractors place in the turf to give it a more realistic look and to safeguard it from the elements. Some in-fills may have chemicals that can seep into (more…)

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning consumers to be on the lookout for a resurgence of the “grandparent scam,” which is again targeting victims in southern Arizona.

The Explorer News is reporting that Oro Valley Police met with a couple that received a phone call from scammers posing as their grandson, who was supposedly in a Canadian jail and needed $2,000 in bail money. The couple said a second man got on the phone claiming to be a police officer; he told the couple that in total they would need to send $4,875 to free their grandson. The couple attempted to wire that amount to Canada, before being told it was a scam by the Western Union attendant.

“Once you send money to Canada, there’s no hope of getting it back,” said Kim States, BBB president. “A good rule of thumb is to never wire money out of the country unless you initiated contact with that relative or friend and you know for a fact they are where they say they are.”

Last year the scam claimed at least one other local victim when 74-year-old Alice Clark answered a call at her Tucson home from someone whom she thought she was her grandson Josh.

“I was just so sure it was him,” said Clark, who tapped into her savings account for $8,000. “He sounded so distressed. He asked me to keep everything confidential because he was embarrassed and didn’t want the family to know what had happened.”

It wasn’t until she didn’t hear back from her grandson that Clark called his home and he surprisingly answered the phone. It was at that moment she knew she had been robbed.

“It was just like somebody threw ice water on me,” she said.

BBB offers the following tips to protect against this scam:

• Don’t fill in the blanks for the caller: In Clark’s example, the scammer asks a leading question “Hello grandma; do you know who this is?”  Ask a lot of questions, and those that have (more…)