Penguin Snow Co.

We purchased a full season of service for $369 in October, 2019. We had contracted Penguin Snow to remove our snow for the 2018-2019 season, and they had done a good job and come after each snowfall in a timely manner. However, this season they have not shown up for any snow removal despite numerous attempts to contact them via phone, text, chat through their website, and e-mail. The e-mails listed on their website did not work and simply resulted in error messages. We did receive a text from them letting us know they were still taking contracts in our area, and that we were welcome to sign up on their website. They ignored our texts requesting service. We ended up purchasing a snowblower to help us do the job we'd paid them to do. We have recently filed an official complaint with the Better Business Bureau and encourage all disgruntled customers who've been ripped off illegally in this manner to do so. Perhaps there is a way the numerous unserved customers can join forces to pursue a lawsuit as well. Any suggestions on that?

This company is run by frauds. I signed up with them for seasonal service for snow removal of my driveway and sidewalk. Out of the 12 snowfalls of 2" or more, they showed up only three times. Never cleaned the sidewalk, did a shoddy job of cleaning the driveway, damaged the grass, the driveway, and garage door. When I called the customer service, no response. They were very quick to enroll and take my credit card number, and gave me a phone number to text any issues I have. So I did text them. The responses say the same thing fifty times: Sorry for the delay, someone will show up within 24 hours. Nobody did. When I texted about the garage door damage, there was no response. Michigan AG: Please lock them up.

I paid for a contract for them to clear any snow more than 2 inches. I got 4 inches, and they didn't show up. They claimed I didn't get enough snow. I paid with a credit card, so I reported it to the bank who issued the card and they got the money back. I think Penguin Snow Removal is an elaborate internet scam!

We paid for a winter snow plow contract. While our neighbors were all getting plowed, by other companies, Penguin never showed up. The only method of contact is via text. I made multiple requests, sent photos of our driveway and eventually asked for my money back. They texted it would be referred to their accounting dept. Now they have just disappeared, not even responding to the Better Business Bureau when I lodged a complaint with them. BEWARE!

They came for the first 2 snowfalls of the year. After that they neglected to plow my driveway at all. They are almost impossible to get a hold of and if you do they seem to delight in giving you the run around. This is literally the worse purchase I have ever made. If this isn't illegal, it is very unethical. These people are crooks don't ever use them and get the word out they are not to be trusted, scumbags.

Their review was so bad they paid people to write fake porch review.
Scam company don't use. Take money and no show

I urge anyone who has not received the service they paid for to submit a fraud report to their state's Attorney Genera office. The more complaints that are received from multiple states, the more likely there will be an investigation into the individual(s) behind this company (and apparently many other unsavory companies as well).

Like everyone else here, I had the experience of Penguin not providing the service that I paid for. They completely stopped responding to my messages. They also charged my credit card in addition to my PayPal account. I filed disputes with them both.

This company is awful! It also changes its refund policy after it missed services. Intentionally lying to customers.

You pay them upfront for seasonal and they do not show up. You cannot phone them, they say text but they do not answer. I can only get a robot on their chat line. No one has got back to me in any form. This is a scam. Do not waste your money

No show and now, no refund, despite it being more than a month of getting the run around. Am engaging my attorney.

Didn't do the first snowfall (my neighbor had to come over and do it). Didn't do the 2nd one until I called (two days later) and they said they had it marked down it was done. Why would I call if it was done. Had to send them a picture showing it wasn't done. Then they came out. 3rd time didn't show, called 24 hours later and they said it was going to snow again the next day so they were just going to wait. Wait! Umm, driveway is full of snow and trying to sell the house. Horrible.

Save yourself the time, money, and headache and use another company- ANY other company! I purchased one credit from Penguin for $99 (so glad I didn't buy a package!) during a particularly heavy snowstorm. I did receive a text informing me that they were swamped but would get to me within 24 hours. Totally understandable. Three days later and still no service or contact. Not acceptable. I had to make other arrangements so I contacted the company for a refund. Three months later and I'm STILL trying to get my money back. I'm going to take another poster's advice and contact the BBB and/or my Attorney General's office, this "company" needs to be shut down!

I filed a lawsuit against Penguin, and they filed a counter-suit against me for suing them. Like other people, I paid the annual price, they failed to show up until I hounded them for almost a day, then they offered me a refund minus $99 for the late plow. Meanwhile, the company we went with after the Penguin nightmare charges me $40 per storm, and is there quickly and often. In their counter-suit, Penguin claims that the industry standard response time is like 24 hours, and the normal price is $99. This is not a legitimate business. These are worse than used-car salesmen trying to rip people off. They have no conscience, and they have no business acumen. They should go to jail.

Stay away! Without wasting anyone time please stay away from this company. We paid for a seasonal package and when we actually had a snow day they did show up. After constant calling, 24 hrs later they said they would clean the snow the following day. At this point it would 48 hrs after snowfall which would be completely useless(we own several rental properties and the snow has to be cleaned promptly. We requested a refund within the 15 window and they still have not responded since they said they would (3-10 business days for response from an account manager). Luckily we only paid for the full seasonal service on one property and the other was just for the plow. Please stay away! This will one of many reviews i plan on leaving on every site possible.

Their plan is to take your money, plow once and never come back again - because their contract states that if they plow once you cannot get a refund. I reported them to the BBB and the State. Contact was Josef Gomez. DO NOT USE THEM!

Got snow last night. I emailed the company to make sure that they were coming, since they hadn't yet come out this year for any previous snowfall. They asked me to send a picture to prove that there was 2 inches of snow. I replied that I was not at home and could not send a picture, but sent a link to the national weather service webpage saying that 3 inches fell in my town. They said their "local sources" reported just a little under 2 inches, so they would not be coming out. In my opinion, this company is good at taking your money, but haven't quite figured out the snow plowing part yet.

Do not purchase service from this company, it's a complete scam. They never show up when you request service and they ignore all refund requests. STAY AWAY from these criminals.

No one showed up to clear the snow. In spite of repeated requests no one showed up. Driveway froze up. DO NOT USE THEM.

We signed up for this company for a seasonal package and paid a premium price for it. We have had to contact them after practically every snowfall, with a couple exceptions to request service, inquire when they're coming, etc, etc. and they NEVER respond to your texts! There is no phone number to actually call them - they request that you text. Their customer "service" is non existent. We had about 6 inches of snow Saturday - it is Tuesday and they never came, despite us sending them 2 texts. They don't even give you the courtesy of a reply. When I contacted them for a refund for missed service, I get an automated reply that they cannot give me a refund due to their policies! What? Their policy states they will give you a $50 credit for missed service. I guess good luck to me trying to get this refund! Very angry with this company! DO NOT USE THEM!

"You texted in towards the end of the day. I think you are lucky to have a company take time out of the evening to text you at 10 PM" This was the response to my text 5 hours earlier.

Their response to missing 50% of the plows this year. "Anything that happened in the past was addressed at those particular times and the remedies were accepted by you" Yes I accepted they did not show, do not refund any $ and would not agree to any refund.

Never showed up... no refunds after a short period of time,,,,,, CONTACT WAS *******@penguinsnowco.com JOSEF GOMEZ.

FROM A RESPONSE EMAIL:

WHERE IS THE REFUND?
STILL WAITING
CALLING BBB and News next.

On Mar 5,2019, at 11:08 AM, Josef Gomez <*******@penguinsnowco.com> wrote:

Yes we will still include you on route. I will submit a $40 credit request to our accounting team.

PRIOR BS RESPONSE

Upon checking on your account, you purchased the service back on 01/12/2019. Please see screenshot. Again for seasonal services, we do not offer refund if you have been a customer longer than 15 days. Also for previous snowfalls our reports indicates that your location received less than 2" of snow that is why we have not send dispatch.

Don't hire Penguin Snow unless you like getting ripped off. I contracted with a business linked to Penguin, Neighborhood Landscapes, for snow removal on two driveways on my residential property and paid them in advance for the season $499.00 to clear both. After the snow on 1/29/19 Penguin came and plowed one driveway and left without doing the second. I called NL within five minutes of the driver leaving and thus began a journey that has involved contacting the State of Michigan, the local police department and
Other orgs because Penguin refused to finish the job per my contract with NL.

I called the number on my NL contract and got no one. I lefta vm message, then texted them per their message and emailed. No one returned any of my inquiries. The next day I called again, left another message and emailed - nothing. Called again and this time pushed "1" for sales versus "2" for support. "Secretary" that answered said she got my emails, but I failed to include my NL contract number so she did nothing my name, address and phone number were on the emails. She then gave me a story about how NL contracted with Penguin Snow Removal for my service and she couldn't help me, but she did promise to "escalate" the issue to the other company I'd never heard of. "Escalate" is their favorite
Word.

I then found the contact info for Penguin Snow and calledthere plus sent a text. No return contact.

I called NL again, got a different person on the phone andhe promised to "escalate" the issue. I then offered to email a photo of the unplowed driveway and was given an email address: *******@penguinsnowco.com. I sent the picture PLUS a picture of my contract showing the second driveway had been contracted for and paid for. Nothing happened.

I managed to find a local number *******122 for Penguin and got someone who sounded suspiciously like the last person I spoke to. It was infuriating: I was given the runaround with stories of how they would have to contact the driver for his side of the story, they would escalate the issue and had a "process". What story, what process? The contract wasn't fulfilled and I had proof. To sum it up, he refused to say he would send someone to fix the non-fulfillment issue and stonewalled me till the end of the call. He probably thought it was funny.

I called again the next day and it was the same thing all over again. It's now 2/2/19 and they still haven't come back out to fulfill the paid in full contract for two driveways.

Here's some info if you've had a similar experience with either of those companies and will be filing a lawsuit, small claims or otherwise like I will, or you'll be contacting local law enforcement for fraud:

Neighborhood Landscapes and Penguin Snow are closely related. NL is run by * and Penguin by *. The two of them have a history of companies together.

Here's the SOM LARA links for the companies if you'd like principal names:

NL: https://cofs.lara.state.mi.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?ID=*******&SEARCH_TYPE=1

Penguin: https://cofs.lara.state.mi.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?ID=*******&SEARCH_TYPE=1

You'll notice both of them use a drop office in Okemos to handle their corporate filings. They use an internet company that charges $49.00 a year for the service. Worth it to them if it's harder for you to find them to sue them.

And don't bother looking for a NL website they had one, but their account was suspended.

Don't bother going to the NL office, they don't have one. The ******* Woodward STE 350 address is a rented mailing address that * uses for several companies: NL and District Landscapes. If you would like to complain to the company renting a mailing address to this sham of a business, you can contact Regus here: *******575 https://www.regus.com/locations/united-states/michigan/bloomfield-hills/michigan-bloomfield-hills-bloomfield-hills

Same thing with Penguin they also use a rental mailing address for several companies: https://www.bizapedia.com/addresses/*******-southfield-rd-ste-170-southfield-mi-*******.html
Click on the address link and you'll find a * company at
The same address.

I went to the NL Woodward Ave location and it's nothing but an empty third floor - no furniture, no people, nothing. NL and * are actively trying to make it as hard as possible for you to find them. Do you really want to pay money to a business that actively hides itself?

*

Notice if you navigate to the NL company info it shows four employees, one of which is in NY and the other in AL. Must be a hell of a commute.

In summary, don't waste your time with either of these inept and shady companies.

*Personal information redacted by admin