Got the job, but wrong house.

[Sandgropher]

Got a call to do a quote, just before i arrived the guy rang and left a message to say he wanted to take his kid to the park and how long would i be but as i was driving to his place i checked the message when i got there (5 minites later), i thought he may have gone but i knocked on the door and a lady answered.

I said i have come to give you a price on the lawn, she said o.k how much will it be, $35 was agreeable to her and i proceeded to cut it and it is a regular from now on, when i was nearly finished Greg rang again and asked when i would get there as he is still waiting, this was a puzzle to me and i assured him i am nearly finished mowing it, he said i have not arrived yet, this was an even bigger puzzle, i knock on her door but she has never heard of Greg,,,,,,,it was the right number but wrong street,,Gregs a regular customer to from now on,,,,,,,,,,,,,anyone else got a funny story about mix ups?

[noseha]

you may want to try it again!

[LwnmwrMan22]

Got a call to do a quote, just before i arrived the guy rang and left a message to say he wanted to take his kid to the park and how long would i be but as i was driving to his place i checked the message when i got there (5 minites later), i thought he may have gone but i knocked on the door and a lady answered.

I said i have come to give you a price on the lawn, she said o.k how much will it be, $35 was agreeable to her and i proceeded to cut it and it is a regular from now on, when i was nearly finished Greg rang again and asked when i would get there as he is still waiting, this was a puzzle to me and i assured him i am nearly finished mowing it, he said i have not arrived yet, this was an even bigger puzzle, i knock on her door but she has never heard of Greg,,,,,,,it was the right number but wrong street,,Gregs a regular customer to from now on,,,,,,,,,,,,,anyone else got a funny story about mix ups?

I was delivering firewood a couple years ago, and went up to a house, knocked on the door, and said I'm here with your firewood.

The gal looked at me sort of funny, and said but we just got some firewood last week.

I said "Mark" just called me yesterday and said he needed some wood.

She said, hmph, "Mark" IS my husband, and he usually takes care of that matter, hold on, let me call him.

So while she was calling him, I went back and checked my records, and realized I was in the wrong town. Instead of St. Paul, I needed to be in St. Paul PARK. BUT, here I am, about 15 miles from where I'm supposed to be, and on the same street name, with the same house number on that street, where a guy lives with the same first name AND they burn firewood.

The guys wife and I both got quite a chuckle about all the coincidences with that one.

[jsf343]

Got a call to do a quote, just before i arrived the guy rang and left a message to say he wanted to take his kid to the park and how long would i be but as i was driving to his place i checked the message when i got there (5 minites later), i thought he may have gone but i knocked on the door and a lady answered.

I said i have come to give you a price on the lawn, she said o.k how much will it be, $35 was agreeable to her and i proceeded to cut it and it is a regular from now on, when i was nearly finished Greg rang again and asked when i would get there as he is still waiting, this was a puzzle to me and i assured him i am nearly finished mowing it, he said i have not arrived yet, this was an even bigger puzzle, i knock on her door but she has never heard of Greg,,,,,,,it was the right number but wrong street,,Gregs a regular customer to from now on,,,,,,,,,,,,,anyone else got a funny story about mix ups?


hahahahaha:laugh: Been there done that! I mowed this guys house for 2 weeks after I bought another business out. (it was their old account) finally on the third week this guy comes out in amazement and says "I thought the yard was looking like it had been mowed" turns out right number the real street was 88th COURT not street. A small detail the previous owner left out.
He was thrilled we were taking care of it for him and for FREE!!! arrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!:hammerhead: Oh well!

[fiveoboy01]

Yes, this happened to me about a month ago.

Got a call to mow a property. 1804 Savannah Way. My partner gave the price the night before so I head out to mow it. Can't find the house. I drive UP and DOWN Savannah way about 3 times. Then I see a mailbox that says 1806. Well the direction I was going, the numbers went down. So bam, the next house is 1804.

I mow it, get home, leave the customer a message that it's done and to inform me how many more times they would like it mowed(their mower blew up).

She calls me. "I'm confused, no one has mowed my lawn".

WTF. My partner plainly stated that the house had one strip of grass clearly mowed along the curb. The house I mowed had one strip of grass mowed along the curb, but the rest had clearly not been cut.

The house I mowed WAS INDEED 1804, but the street curved, and turned into a different street. If I would have gone backwards the other way and OPENED MY EYES, I would have seen the correct house with the number on it.

How screwed up is that, two houses within 2 blocks of each other, with the same number, and they BOTH have one strip of grass mowed along the curb and nothing else?

The customer got a good laugh out of it at my expense:)

I sent the homeowner of the "wrong" house a letter of apology with an explanation, along with a 15.00 gift certificate to Pizza Hut. Never heard from them.

[topsites]

Hehehe, only once has this happened, but I know the feeling well :)
See I cut the wrong lawn lol (http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=145426)

[FearThisDeere]

I did this with plowing last year. I got a call to do an estimate for a house that was on a crazy intersection. The guy wasn't home so we did everything over the phone. I quoted him a price of $45 with was fair for the house I thought was his. First storm I showed up and plowed the driveway. I went to knock on the door to introduce myself and an elderly guy was home. He thanked me so much for doin his driveway for him. He said that he had been sick and could not go and snowblow it. I started to get confused. I said, so that is why you called me? He said i din't call you. Well, come to find out, the real house was across the street up a steep grade. I plowed it for the $45 I had quoted the guy when it should have been more like $65. I never told him what had happened. I still helped out the older guy across the street for free. Partially because he was a really nice old guy that was a retired from the Navy and because I could push all the snow from the other driveway down through his and he didn't care. It worked out well in the end.

[Sandgropher]

When i sold a mowing business before which i ran with my father we were doing the job cards for the new owner and we had two houses together one of which we lost monthe before when a new renter move in.

To cut a long story short we gave him the job card for number 31 instead of 33, the job card said mow front and back,clippings on the compost heap, dog is very friendly etc.

It was 1 foot high the dog was attacking him half the time and the guy refused to pay him for the job and told him to get the hell of his property :laugh: whoops a daisy, he found the dog and people at number 33 much friendier when we explained the mix up.

BTW Fiveboy01, thats what happened to me the street curved into another street which i did not realise :hammerhead: :laugh:

[mark12]

I have a buddy building houses.....they had almost everything finished and a guy who had purchased another lot on the street stopped by to chat. He asked my buddy what lots they had...he replied like 31, 32, and this one, lot 34. The guy replies, well I bought lot 35 which is a corner lot. They both look at his lot and relize there is a problem. It didn't take long for them to figure out they had built the house on the wrong lot! Long story short, the guy who surveys the lot totally screwed up. The good news the home buyer didn't care, and the owner of the lot agreed to swap lots. It could have been a huge mess I think. This didn't relate to mowing but I thought it was a funny story about mix ups.

[Sandgropher]

i had a friend that laid some sod in some ones front yard, it was the wrong house and explained the mix up later to the owner and he would come back and remove it, the owner said no stay off my property, he did go back later when the guy was at work and removed it and there was never any trouble later thank god .

[Oxmow]

I did a job for a friend at church early in the summer. Was supposed to mow his mother-in-law's house on hickory street , but instead mowed the one on hickory place. Oh well the guy that was living there showed up and gave me what i would have charged anyway cuz he was moving out that day and now he didn't have to mow.

On a greater scale there's a hotel in Branson Missouri that the front faces a rock cliff because i understand that the guys who poured the foundation set the forms backwards. Rather than tear it all out the just built it facing the cliff.

[lawnwizards]

I sent the homeowner of the "wrong" house a letter of apology with an explanation, along with a 15.00 gift certificate to Pizza Hut. Never heard from them.
screw that, i wouldn't have sent them anything. you already cut their lawn for free. if anything, they should've sent you a check for the cut.

[fiveoboy01]

screw that, i wouldn't have sent them anything. you already cut their lawn for free. if anything, they should've sent you a check for the cut.

Well, I do not agree with that mentality. The way I run my business says everything about who I am and what I'm about. And I believe that was the proper thing to do.

If I was a homeowner, and came home to someone cutting on my property without my permission, I'd be pissed.

Sure, they got a service for free. But it was not a service they asked for.

And I'd never expect someone to pay for a cut if I did it by mistake.

What if(though unlikely) the homeowners happen to own some additional properties? Could it be that they would appreciate my honesty, and mabye even consider calling me next spring? Unlikely yes, but you never know who you're dealing with, and you never know who that person may know.

[LwnmwrMan22]

Well, I do not agree with that mentality. The way I run my business says everything about who I am and what I'm about. And I believe that was the proper thing to do.

If I was a homeowner, and came home to someone cutting on my property without my permission, I'd be pissed.

Sure, they got a service for free. But it was not a service they asked for.

And I'd never expect someone to pay for a cut if I did it by mistake.

What if(though unlikely) the homeowners happen to own some additional properties? Could it be that they would appreciate my honesty, and mabye even consider calling me next spring? Unlikely yes, but you never know who you're dealing with, and you never know who that person may know.

Agree with this principle too. You need to apologize to people, even if you did them a "favor".

The guy might have been looking forward to mowing his grass after a long day at the office.

Technically, you ARE trespassing, so again, an apology is in order.

[Stillwater]

I realise this may be a dead thread but I want to add anyway

The stupid thing I did awhile ago was mowed 1/2 a lawn without turning the blades on, had to do it all over again

[CutNLawns]

you may want to try it again!

And again...and again...and again....

[LB1234]

My brother arrives earlier than me to start preping the mulch beds and installing mulch rings around the front trees. I explained were the house was. I show up 1/2hr later and find him at the wrong house (my fault I said last one on right it was 2ns to last).

Rang doorbell of house and apologized for inconvenience. We installed mulch rings and mulch around three trees b/c of the oops.

Oh well, she laughed and thanked us for the new look.

[mgmlandscaping]

About three years ago I had a few new guys. I was in the back talking to a customer, my foreman was talking to the neighbor and our guys were out cutting. We were in a large development which we had alot of house cluttered together. They did an extra 5 houses that werent on our route that day.... Point of story. Keep an extra eye on your new guys....

[jaybow]

I have a buddy building houses.....they had almost everything finished and a guy who had purchased another lot on the street stopped by to chat. He asked my buddy what lots they had...he replied like 31, 32, and this one, lot 34. The guy replies, well I bought lot 35 which is a corner lot. They both look at his lot and relize there is a problem. It didn't take long for them to figure out they had built the house on the wrong lot! Long story short, the guy who surveys the lot totally screwed up. The good news the home buyer didn't care, and the owner of the lot agreed to swap lots. It could have been a huge mess I think. This didn't relate to mowing but I thought it was a funny story about mix ups.

Man thats enough to make your heart skip beats.

[topsites]

thats enough to make your heart skip beats.

Mine did, many years ago...

Different situation, I had driven my mom's car to the mall to get something.
When I came out, I found the car, unlocked it, got in, and got ready to drive.
Well, the key fit the ignition, but it wouldn't turn the tumbler...
I was like hmmm, it unlocked the door, so it's the right key...?

Then I'm looking around and there were some candy wrappers on the dashboard, and I'm thinking, I thought my mom's car was spotless...
So I get out to look at the license plates, and right then I saw my mom's car about 3 spaces further down (yup, exact same make, model, year and color).

I got back in the wrong car, retrieved the keys from the ignition and locked and closed the door, leaving it just as I had found it, and went on to get in the correct car.

I'm just glad the owners of the wrong car didn't happen to show up about that time, thou.
I'm sure the truth would've eventually come through, but ...
lol