I'M GETTING TICKED!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yardsmith]

I'm thankful for customers who pay my bills, but here in the last 2 weeks I've been getting slammed by ignorance & people who don't think with their brains.<br>Within the last 2 weeks I had a resturant call & cancel service because &quot;his buddy is out of a job & he wants to let him mow the lawn for money&quot;- why not hire him in your $#%@& resturant????????<br>Others have called & have other expenses come up, so guess who gets the cut-me. They want only every other week. Next year I'm raising the price for anyone who pulls that crap with me; cutting more grass for the same price at half the interval, basically more work for half the price.<br>Then today to top it off, one lady calls & since I didn't cut last week (didn't need it, so I let it go until this week) she had it cut last Sat. Now it won't need it until NEXT WEEK, which means I lost 2 weeks income on that.<br>Also I pull up to cut one other that wasn't growing last week, & it was already cut.<br>Come to find out the neighbor did it & he will now be doing it &quot;cause he just retired & needs money&quot;-if you need money, don't retire you %#@$@ ******!!!<br>So now these do-gooders have cost me hundreds of dollars because they wanted to 2nd guess me & think for them selves. With the drought here, that's even less $$ than I'm NOT making lately! The drought is hard enough to feed my family as I have gone full time this year.<br>Anybody else running into this?????????<br>I have to get this off my chest or I'm going to 1)explode, or 2)hit or shoot something (or both :) )<br>I realize now that some can't be trusted to leave things be, & I will have to start implementing addendums & additions to contracts, & start trying to implement residential written contracts.<br>Anyways thanks for the steam letoff.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[KirbysLawn]

Sorry to hear that Smitty. :( I explain in person and in my contract that during drought and slow growth I mow every 10 days but I bill the same. I also point out that during the first part of spring when the grass seems to grow while I watch it, I mow every 5 days if needed, also at the same charge. It balances itself out and when explained like that and shown in writing they understand. I'm mowing weekly now, during June it was DRY and I switched to a 10 day schedule without a single phone call.

[Currier]

Sorry to hear about that treatment. It always amazes me how people will just discard other people without a thought. You might want to consider sending them a note where you can express your dissapointment in their integrity. I had two people drop me a few years ago in a similar situation...&quot;found someone that would do it alot cheaper&quot; (my price was already too low). I can hold my head up when I see them in the neighborhood. I did them right. They never look me in the eye. Bottom line is you have integrity and it caused you a pain in the fanny this time...but you've still got it. They sold theirs for a few bucks a week. Give it time and their slots will be filled with QUALITY people.

[Scag48]

I had a similar problem with one of my lawns. When I showed up to mow, the lawn wasn't very long. I thought someone had mowed it. It turns out that the house-sitter that is there all summer didn't realize that I had to mow it every 2 weeks. Of course when I saw it didn't need it, I left. The sitter calls me and said that she thought it was too tough of a job for me to do, so she umed I gave up. I came back and mowed it. Cleared up the confusion. I mean, what is it with people? Some lady was on the radio this morning and said she wanted her lawn mowed. I called her, told her I couldn't put a bid on it at all 'til I saw it. I also told her to really know what it is worth, I would have to mow it. She also said she had 3 other guys bidding on it so I figured she wanted my bid, then decide who she was gonna have do it. I said I would be by tonight to look at it and give her a rough bid. I showed up about 6:30 to give her my rough bid. She asks me &quot;are you the guy that called me?&quot;. I said yeah and she says, &quot;oh, I already hired some kid down the street.&quot; I was pretty mad when I left. I don't know why she hired somebody after I told her I was going to give her my bid! Weird people live in my town. They would rather have some kid do it for 5 bucks than have me do a better job for a little more plus trimming. I just don't get it!

[yardsmith]

That is one thing that I muddled over today is that we are on the lower end of the totem pole. We provide a service that most every one in decent health can do themselves. Mow grass- big deal. Done it since I was 12.<br>The higher you move up the food chain, the more respect you get (in general) with the general populus.<br>If I was a doctor/ surgeon/ home builder, etc. I would generally command more respect & less flack, because not everyone can do those things. But cutting grass is cutting grass. You & I both know different, but the public still has THAT mindset until we can get in & show them our skills & strut our stuff. Until then, we just cut grass & trim shrubs in their minds eye. And lowballers/ cut throats only add to the problem.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[KirbysLawn]

Smitty, do you promote yourself as &quot;different&quot;? Do you have references, job photos, licenses, certifications, and so on? If so show them why you are different, promote your knowledge, show them photos of your lawns, make sure they know you are serious and top of the line! I try to take extra steps to impress, when I send my invoices I also include a SASE inside for customer convenience and to spped up the payment process. I print all envelopes with my laZer printer and stamps from stamps.com, looks very professionl and much better than handwriting!<p>Every consider a web site? I have got new customers as far away as Ohio! Yep, getting ready to move, looked on Yahoo for &quot;lawn maintenance charlotte&quot; and guess who the ONLY lawn care business too show up was....ME ME ME. I now have a new customer with a 7800 sf lawn for $175.00 a month!<p>I build and design my web site, it cost me around $180.00 a year and pays for it's self every week!<p>Ray<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: KirbysLawn

[Grasscape Inc]

THats why you can't just cut grass. You have got to offer services that most people don't hace a clue as to how to do. Irrigation, etc, etc. If you are in this business full time, you have got to go all the way with it, to make it worth your while.<br><p>----------<br>-Grasscape Mgmt.<br>Http://sites.netscape.net/grasscapeinc/homepage

[MOW ED]

That really sucks and I agree with you. On the other hand I have a few customers that I would like to get rid of but I wouldn't give them to my enemies. Its a game of strategy, I need them to pay the bills, they need my to maintain the lawn. If we don't have to personally interact things are o.k. so I mow when they are not around if I can help it. <p>I hope you find some Good replacement customers out there. Somehow it will work out for the better. Good Luck.

[Charles]

Smitty, welcome to the lawncare unappreciated club. Most of what you are going through we all are going through or will go through. I did what i thought was a great job trimming this womans hedges and even had to use a chain saw. Did i get any thanks that was a great job. Hell no!!! I even gave her a discount for being a regular customer. She thought I had spent an hour doing the job. Even though it took 2 hours and 30 minutes. And she was there watching!!. The woman was only 62 not senile. All she did was whine about the price while sweat poured off of me. I told her up front how much an hour I was going to charge. But this whining bit is part of the customer game to make you feel guilty. I couldnt tell her how pissed off it made me to hear that crap.

[geogunn]

smitty--a couple of years ago I was where you are now. each yard I didn't cut was like yanking money out of my wallet.<p>I wont lie now and say that it doesn't bother me when it happens now because it does. but things are better now. I feel less impact when I loose a job because I often pick up two to replace it.<p>just hang in there the best you can. it will get better.<p>by the way, I never forget when someone treats me like crap. it's very satisfying to turn the tables and tell someone that calls up out of the blue and wants their grass cut, that you are a little too busy to get to them and they ought to have the last guy they used do it. yesssssss!<p>GEO

[thelawnguy]

&quot; She thought I had spent an hour doing the job. Even though it took 2 hours and 30 minutes.&quot;<p>Im not picking on Charles, just happens his quote was handy to use as an example.<p>This is a big reason why you should always price your services by the job, not the hour. It will be in your favor to make a few mistakes by underestimating the time it will take to do a job, and learn from them, than to quote a customer x dollars an hour to trim or whatever. The microscope will be up your butt and the stopwatch in your face every time you price by the hour.<p>If you quote a flat rate price for a job, who cares if it takes you an hour or a day?<p>In this regard, I think the consultant experts are wrong, wrong, wrong to even suggest hourly price quotes. I learned my lessons in this regard early in my business. Never ever will you see me again quote a per hour job.<p>Bill

[Charles]

Bill, I have done it both ways. For my regular customers I charge for the hour. Because I figure after 5 or 10 years(like this customer 10). They should be able to trust me by now. I had to lug the debris accross the street into the wood and I had no idea how long that would take me. My regulars know how fast i work. Anyone else could have made an all day job out of this one.

[Evan528]

i do not charge by the hour and never have. I try to pull in about 40 BUcks per man hour. There is no way i could bill by the hour because my costmers would see 80 per hour for 2 of us and go bazerk! I have gotten experience enough over the years that i can bid acordingly to how many hours it will take and charge from that way. Its not the price that is too high for them its the fact that when they see 80 bucks for one hour work they dont understand.... Also weh you charge by the hour im sure costomers are hanging over making sure thee getting there money worth and no one is stopping for a drink. If im working alone and i bid a shrub trimming job that will take me an hour at 50 dollars that is fine with them because they are just paying for the job that im acomplishing for them not for a plain old hour of work...

[grasskutter]

Ive been in this business to long I think, yesterday a person that I was giving an estimate to( for lawn cutting only) asked me for references, I had had a long day and his attitude really sucked,so I just looked at him and then asked him for a few references to see if he could pay on time, and if he had the funds to pay me. i told him I would be cutting the lawn without him paying for anything in advance,and if he didnt like it i would be the one out of the time and money not him, so if he could just give me a few references I could find out if he could pay. He just stood there kind of shocked, while his wife stood behind him havind a good laugh. Just showed him what life is really like. By the way got his lawen and 6 neighbors lawns after they talked about me.<p>----------<br>grasskutter@cs.com<br>

[Charles]

You Da Man Grasskutter<p><p><p><font size="1">Edited by: Charles

[MOW ED]

I will try that Grasskutter. I'm ready to re-interview a few of my customers.

[lakegastonla]

GRASSCUTTER, that's the damn funniest thing I have seen on here in a WHILE!! u r da man!

[Twotoros]

Smitty, I have been there it is a truely thankless job. I have been undercut 10x this season on secured accts. And to gripe some more how about when the roofers or painters or what have you are there with their crap all over the place and no tells the lawn boy in advance . Just drive on over and waste our time and lose the mow then have to play make up the next time with longer turf. As for every other week mows -Charge 80% more .

[MLS]

Ive been looking for something smart@##ed to say to some of the jerks that we all have to deal with from time to time and I believe Ive found it. thanks grasskutter!!!

[kenneybros]

Thats probably the best COMEBACK ive ever heard.. and the fact that it worked out great makes it even better

[Keith]

Daaaaamn grasskutter....that's hard. You are indeed, da man!

[gene gls]

I switched over to an hourly rate for mowing this year. Its bayback time for me.I have found over the years that some properties change a whole lot in a years time.I have one customer that got real ambisous this year and added ten new obsticales to the lawn for me to mow and trim around or stop and move to mow that spot. She didn't realize how much it would effect my mowing job.When she questioned my charges I explained the problem.It was like talking to a tree and to top it off she is a school teacher. But then again lawn design was definitly not in her teacher training.With a flat rate customers don't care what you have to endure to mow and trim thier lawn but with an hourly rate most will make an effort to make it as easy as possiable for you.In my spring flyer I explained my reasons for the hourly rate.I have another customer with lots of trees that have low limbs.They watched me mow one day and saw what I had to do to mow close to the trees. They came out and trimmed all but two trees,now I don't even have to duck my head.I have a lot less stress mowing now-a days,except for the yards with dog crap.I may end up loosing a couple customers but then again I have to many to service properly.

[Twotoros]

Gene, glad that worked for you .If I tried that there would be sixty-some lawn jobs up for grabs in my town and I would be on the bread line . I find that 90% of all customers that I have encountered are not understanding . They like their flat fee and I knock the damn things out so fast that their caculators overload when figuring my hourly . I bet they all wished I would give them a whole hour .