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I think that when they complained about the charge for plant replacement you already had lost the opportunity to make things rosy (you may have been able to avoid the hard feelings if you had mentioned the charge before the visit). If you give in, they will push for more freebies (and they did), until you finally have to stand firm. It always happens. And then you're the bad guy. Or you don't give in, explaining it's a standard part of the contract (I hope it is). And you're probably still the bad guy.
We seeded a lawn a few years ago - a terrible downpour a few days later wiped part of it out. We returned a few days after that (after it dried) to repair the work on our dime. The next day it poured again. We fixed it again, on our dime, and again without their demanding we do it for free. The day after we repaired it, we had a third ridiculous downpour that damaged our work. Someone must've had a bad voodoo doll for that lawn seeding or something.
This time, I called and told them they would have to foot the bill on this one. Guess who ended up being the bad guy? That's right. Yours truly. And it was too bad - we did a nifty patio that they loved, and I thought they'd be a great reference for us. But now there was no chance of using them as a reference.
Those are the breaks sometimes.
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