NEED TO KILL 10,000 ft. sq. LAWN OF NON-PAYING CUSTOMER

[GREEN GOBLER]

I have a customer that simply won't pay.

Not can't pay, won't pay last year's bill. I sued him and won and he still won't pay.

He drives a baby blue Bimmer and his wife has a fairly new Mercedes and also they just bought a new Prelude for their stay at home 23 year old son.

I have successfully used Roundup before, to spray obscenities on non-payers lawns in 2ft letters.

But this guy deserves to have his whole lawn poisoned.

Is there any dry-granular product I can drop with a Lesco?

Thanks,

GREEN GOBLER

[Runner]

I'm sorry. Maybe you're kidding, maybe you're not, but I feel that this is NOT an appropriate topic to bring up on this forum. This site is comprised of professionals, and I believe that the administrators intend to keep it that way. If we start bringing up unethical, let alone CRIMINAL activity: and that's exactly what this is, CRIMINAL activity, I don't believe the sponsors would find it in their best interest NOT to advertise here. Other than that, though, welcome to Lawnsite.

[Edited by Runner on 03-31-2001 at 10:29 PM]

[lee b]

Never thought of using round-up to write dirty words before, I bet that really leaves them in a fix. You'd have to kill the rest of the yard to erase it, hmmmm.... Follow thru on all your legal options, maybe you can get a lein on something. Don't go postal yet.Goodluck {and thanks for another devious idea}

[Ssouth]

Although, I don't approve of this type of practice and would never personally do it myself you can buy a product called Pramitol that is a soil sterilant. I would not sugest that you use this product because it will sterilize the soil for up to one year. Hey, that's up to you. Personally, If they do not pay I would dump the equivelant refuse you have gathered off of there property right onto there front lawn. I've never done this but it would make them think about paying for the services they have received in the past and they will have to pay someone else even more to remove it.LOL. Personally, I would just keep sending them a monthly invoice until they pay or threat to go to a collection agency. This normally works for me.
BTW, I was just kidding about the Pramitol. It could cost you alot of money to refurbish the lawn even if they are no- payers.

[GREEN GOBLER]

I'll add a couple Viagra to the Pramitol for a little faster action!

[Mark]

Sorry to hear about your client not paying for your hard earned work. But i would never take that approach, thats totally unprofessional and wrong. Keep it legal, i had one client who never paid me one yr,and what comes around goes around now his yd looks awful. I ended up writing it off on taxes. Again sorry and i personally would take it to my higher power Jesus to put things in perspective. Marks Mowing Service

[AltaLawnCare]

That is one of the many risks of ALL businesses, small sole proprieters feel it the worst.
If possible, try to get something in writing and get it signed, thats usually the only thing which will hold up court.
Try to warn other LCOs in your area of this client.

[captdevo]

You can put a "mechanics lien" on their property.
You'll have to have an attorney draw it up and file it with your county.
Your county will notify him of the lien on his property which will have to be satisfied prior to resale.
Have your attorney include his fees, filing fees and an interest clause also.

If you have already won a suit against them and there is a judgement against him you could have his wages levied. (as long as he is not a Merchant Mariner, they can only be levied for taxes or child support)

I've had to do this a few times, the initial "mechanics lien" always seems to work the quickest!!

Good luck!!

[R&GSweeping]

You know this questions bothers me. As a business owner I assume the risk of having non paying customers. Thats part of doing business. Whether its lawn care, parking lot sweeping, retail, wholesale, medical, or legal. You get the picture. ANY business. AND handling the non payers with tact and professionalism is what seperates the pros from the trunk dwellers especially in the lawn care industry. I keep reading about the professionalism of the industry on this forum. You are only as professional as you appear.

Hey here's a TIP! Do what I do in my computer programming business. Hire someone who knows how to collect a debt. Of course you're not going to colllect 100% but they are professionals at what they do. It waste to much of your energy and resources chasing, worrying, wasting precious time concerning yourself with an outstanding bill. I see people here that are consumed with anger because of someone owing them money. Get over it. The statement "its the principle of the thing" equals PRIDE. And pride is what got the devil kicked out of Heaven. Be careful.

[plow kid]

If your dead set on teaching these people a lesson buy rock salt. About 2-3 bags should do, spread it out and watch it turn brown, then they water the yard to perk it up and it sends more salt into the soil.

I do not condone doing this.

[kutnkru]

I dont know why everyone is so upset??

Isnt it obvious that theres nothing to discuss because you cant kill feet of square lawn, you have to kill square feet of green lawn??

Just my .02
Kris

[lawnman_scott]

I guess you learned the difference between getting a judgement and receiving a judgement. Dump your brush in front of their garage some time and see how they like that. what can they do sue you? lol.

[grassyfras]

why wouldnt you get paid monthly and if they didnt pay the first two months wouldnt you discontionu service sounds liek your faulght not to be personal my 2 cents

[Island Lawn]

Professionalism!
Reputation!

I'm assuming that all the talk about vandalism, ect. is just venting and not ant thing more. Although, Green Gobler admits "I have successfully used Roundup before, to spray obscenities..."

GG, sounds like you got some wrinkles in your business plan you might want to iron out!

You might want to do it BEFORE you go to jail!!!

[Grateful11]

I took $200 in bad checks for a women once. One call from a collection agent guy I know to the womans husband and I had a certified check in 3 days. Other than that write him off as a lose at end of the year and forget about it. He's probably not worth it. How long do you continue to do work for someone without getting paid? In other words how much are we talking about here?

[TALLEY-HOE]

THIS CLIENT MUST OF OWED YOU ALOT OF MONEY TO HAVE SUED THEM. DAMAGE TO HIS PROPERTY IS NOT PROFESSIONAL. I WOULD JUST BUG THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THEM, CERTIFIED LETTERS, PHONE CALLS, ETC. MAYBE THEY WILL GET THE MESSAGE. IF NOT, YOU MAY HAVE TO TAKE AS A LOSS. TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT. GOOD LUCK, WISH YOU THE BEST!!!!!

[DMC300]

Mark has the best solution to your problem,Pray about it.

[Fantasy Lawns]

http://www.madagency.com/
.....get the lien ....charge a resonable interest .... sit and wait ....when he get his yearly property tax bill with that LIEN in print ....he'll wake up ;->

[lawnboy11]

I hear ya buddy, but if you kill their lawn they'll know it was you so take a different approach. I'm all for justice and they deserve to be punished for their crimes. Kill their shrubs one at a time during the year. Inject round-up into their specimen trees. That might be undetectable!
Crush, kill, destroy! Wasn't me.

[Eric ELM]

If you won the case, this must mean the judge ordered him to pay. If he doesn't, let the judge know this and he is in contempt of court. I would think he could face jail time for contempt of court. I am no lawyer, but this is my guess at least. :)

How much money are you talking about here? I only got stiffed one time, now the customer is a stif. He committed suicide, so I just wrote it off at tax time. His house address number was 13, not a lucky number for him or me. ;)

[jrodgers]

How much money are we talking here? I hope it is alot for all this effort. Fill the biggest Super Soaker you can find with Round- Up mixed at high concentration and drive buy and let her rip! Just kidding go the legal route you know you will be better off.

[Albemarle Lawn]

Just go knock on his door from time to time, when you are around.

Call from your cell phone precisely when you knock on the door. When he sees you on the caller ID he will never think its you at the door. SURPRISE!

Call him at work. Call his wife at work. Be polite, but keep bugging. Bug him every time you are mad at your girlfriend, etc. That non-paying customer should be bugged whenever something bugs you!

Keep it Light!

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by theleven
http://www.madagency.com/
.....get the lien ....charge a resonable interest .... sit and wait ....when he get his yearly property tax bill with that LIEN in print ....he'll wake up ;->

Best advise. I had to do this once and it worked like a charm. Someone has already asked, how much are we talking about?

[PetalsandPines]

Plant some Horse Tail in the flower beds... You will have years of enjoyment.

[Twotoros]

Did you do something to make them refuse payment? I once had a 3 month old bill payed by a rubber check. I came so unglued I called them every name in the book , profane and otherwise . If they could have made good I'm sure they would not have after the names and threats I made. Think I may have scared them into moving also. It scared me that I lost it so bad I could have had a heart attack or been arested for threats. LESSON: grin life goes on, but if it might make you feel better get a good book on black magik and have a blast!!!

[Chopper Lover]

Call the courthouse that heard your case and try to contact the your Judge. Judges do not like "contempt" and get really nasty when people do not follow thier orders.

Drag him back into court and he may do jail time AND have to pay.

Mark

[Albemarle Lawn]

Let him call the dopes at TrueGreen/Chemlawn, they will likely sell him an expesive "Snow Mold" treatment or some other B.S.

Drive by at 4AM in an unmarked car with tags covered and BOMBS AWAY!!!


Works great every time!

[PetalsandPines]

GRUBS...IT'S GRUB Damage...you got the spots because of grub damage, you need grub treatment !! haa ha ha.. THIS IS A GOOD TOPIC!!!

[lawnnut]

A guy from Rockford, ILL attempted a hit for $50.00 and
He had to buy gas and travel about 100 miles to do it.

[lawnman_scott]

Call at work if you know where they work, and call after hours and leave a message, then someone will have to give it to them, and everyone there will know. you still wont get the money but everyone will know he doesnt pay his bills.

[jaclawn]

Send them a a collection letter with a coupon. Word it as follows:

In an effort to get you to settle your account promptly, you will be eligable to recieve a free application of Glyphosate on your lawn, if you pay within 10 days. Glyphosate is a herbicide that will reduce the number of weeds in your lawn. As an added bonus, if you settle your account within 5 days, you will recieve an application of Glyphosate in your landscape beds as well as your lawn.

YES!!! I'd like to recieve a free application of Glyphosate on my lawn. I understand that this treatment will reduce the number of weeds in my lawn.
Signature:____________________ Date:__________

[Chopper Lover]

Hehehehe...

What a concept... Getting written permission to kill their lawn! Now that would be SO FUNNY....

Mark

[bob]

Or, you could go the other way and fertilize the snot out of the lawn! Home owner will never be able to keep up with cutting it.

[lee b]

jaclawn, that would be the ultimate revenge - get paid and wreak total destruction, with written permission, you're too much.

[greens1]

Hi,
I would not do anything that could land you in court. The best way to get your revenge is to get your money. Having to write you a check is going to cause this guy more pain than reseeding his lawn, after all he has gone through a great deal of trouble not to pay you. Let your lawyer handle the details, if he is any good he will simply attach his bill to the collection ammount.
Good Luck,
Jim

[1stclasslawns]

If you relly want to get even do it LEGALY AND ETHEICLY!
Go to the prosicuting attorny and have a THEFT OF SERVICES charge placed aginst them. In most states it is illegal to refuse to pay for "services rendered".

It all depends on how "influential" they are most, in that position will loose their jobs if they are convicted of a felony. That depends on how much it was. If the P.A. wont help go to they atterny general of your state.

A property lien is a good way to go too.

Jim

[cmcfalls]

I also took a customer to court and won. They waited to the end but did pay. If they hadnt paid the court said my next step I could take was if they owned any cars I could have the police pick it up and sell at auction for my money. Look into that route first. If killing their grass gets around other potential customers might be reluctant to sign with you.

chuck

[Plowzer]

I had the same situation. I put a lien on the house and it finally sold for $400,000+. The original lawn bill was $150.
After interest and my "lien service fee", it came to $550+
It took a few months but worth the wait i guess. No attorneys! Just go to your County Register of Deeds. My cost was about $10. Those real estate poeple will pay the lien to get that sale! Good luck and be patient.

[jcoat]

WOW! I don't know if this is real, but if so, how did they come to owe so much? I would have stopped the nonpaying insanity before it got out of hand. Also, if you are serious, call the judge for contempt. If the guy IS the judge, file a lien and call it a loss until they try to sell the home... gees... I wouldn't lower myself to their level... that just shows they got to you. Just think of the interest you'll gain on the lien!

[slider53072]

JUST A THOUGHT, WHY ARE U BILLING CUSTOMERS IN 1ST PLACE? MY BUSINESS PHILOSPHY IS SIMPLE U GIVE ME GREEN I GIVE U GREEN

[slider53072]

JUST GOES TO SHOW THE INTELLIGENCE OF A FLATLANDER

[LJ lawn]

about a year ago i helped a friend collect on a 10 year old debt. apparently the guy beat him on a couple of hundered bucks on the sale of a car.after eluding my friend for years he finally got the guys address which i confirmed by looking at the property.since my friend has some good relations with certian people he was able to get this guys bank account #.he then turned it over to the sheriffs office.the sheriff went there 3 times and could'nt find the guy so they LEGALLY accessed this persons bank account and took the money out with interest.i would have payed money to see this guys expression when he got the bank statement.i like the property lein thing also.i seem to remember that chlorine does a hell of a job of burn'n a lawn.

[D-Man]

Be sure and go to the courthouse and file a lein right away. I had a guy into me for $500.00 worth of Landscape work and he kept putting me off. I failed to file the lein within the 90 days of performing the work and he later sold the property. I sued him in small claims court and when I showed up for court there was a check waiting for me. I was very lucky because he had already filed for bankrupcy. He cannot sell the property until the lein is settled, not even 10-20 years later!!! D-Man

http://www.Reasonablelawn.com

[bob]

I won a simular court case. Collecting was a different story. File a form with the court to have his car tagged by the sheriff. If this doesn't work , file to have the possesions in his house tagged by the sheriff. Both of these examples would be under a Judges order. They either pay you, or their stuff will be sold to make good on your account. You'll get your money real quick.

[yardsmith]

Being in tool & die, we have access to all kinds of neat stuff. Best thing we had to impress common folk with was 'Dykem remover'. When you apply "dykem" layout/marking fluid to sheet metal you use 'dykem remover' to remove it. The MSDS on it has a flammability rating of 4 (highest).
Also, when applied & left alone, it will bleach the paint right off of a car or other painted surface. They have 2 kinds of remover now, green label & black label. Black label is the older formula & does as described above. You have to go to a MSC or Enco or Northern tool type company to get it. We used to find bugs crawling across the shop floor & douse them, leave a trail, then light the trail & FOOM! Crispy critters! Loads of fun-impress your friends....
As far as destroying personal property, you didn't hear that from me, cuz I don't do that kind of thing......

[Edited by yardsmith on 04-04-2001 at 12:36 AM]

[mowjoe]

Do something other than hurting there lawn. To odvious. Do not trespass either it can get turned around and hurt you. Try mailing them bills with no stamp or return address, they will have to pay the postage. Hell send it every month. If you plow push a lot of snow into there drivway after there plow guy has done it. Remember stay of there property. Or collect your losses and make it up on the next one.

[qualpro]

Let this be a lesson. GG has not responded since his first post. Maybe he is in jail.

[Eric ELM]

I have had a lot of complaints on this thread. It is not a proffesional thing to do or see on this forum and the original poster has not even responded to all of our questions on how much is owed. I feel it is time to close this and it should of been closed a long time ago. I was waiting for an answer from the thread starter, but we have seen none. As I said in my my post here, he sued and won. The guy should be in contemt of court for not paying since a judge ordered this guy to pay. Court adjourned.