What Would You Do?

[Fox Fire]

Had a first today. A lady calls last week and wants an estimate. So I go by and look , and give her a price. She says her son mowed it a couple days ago, so put her on the schedule for next week. I'm usually in that area on
Thursdays but it rained cats & dogs Thursday. I didn't make it until today. Called her and she says Saturday is fine. I show up this morning and a teenage kid is cutting the grass with a push mower. I knock on the door and she informs me her son needs the extra cash so she doesn't need me this week. I informed her that I own a business and that while I was standing talking to her, I could be elsewhere making money. I told her that I hoped her son needed cash next week, because i wouldn't be back. Told her to have a good day and left. What would you guys have done?

[Allens LawnCare]

Same thing....good for you.

[RedMax Man]

I would have just started mowing beside him or started cutting the back:laugh: j/k

U did the right thing, just move on.

[desii]

You should hire her son (for weekly cuts) and bill her your rate....:)

I agree, you did the right thing; especially since she wasn't even considerate enough to call you and let you know that you didn't need to come by.

[Uranus]

Thumbs up! Doesn't it feel good to be your own boss. You make the rules. I would have done the same thing, get called off 2 weeks in a row. C-ya. Have your kid do it or call someone else.

[topsites]

I just had a similar call... Something about overgrown lawn, yes you know it, end of april spring cleanup, idk... I get out there and the front lawn (which is the nice part) is freshly cut with some homeowner's model but the back lawn (which is a total disaster) hasn't been touched.

I never stopped the truck, just went to the end of the street, turned around and went on to my next scheduled stop. It is frustrating, I'm like why didn't the dude do the hard part, anyone can eat the icing off the cake, but once whoever eats the icing they can eat the rest, too :laugh:

Estimate for 'small tree removal.' Yeah, their tree is small, I should've known. 40-foot 8-inch diameter trunk sapling laid on the ground, I should've checked to see how it 'fell' as I suspect someone took a saw and put one cut into it figuring they'd save money: $200 (and hope pray it weighs less than 3,000 pounds or it takes me 2 trips lol) thou I don't suspect they'll call back.

Had another one wanted an estimate on various things, I get out there and some truck-only with ramps Lco's are doing the work... I got out of the car to get a good look and make sure I had the right address, then got back in and left without another word. I should've known, the customer did mention they wanted one of about every service listed on my ad... It's getting to the point, I only wish when I foresaw this I would just stay home, I could've saved myself some gas and time, but other than that, I think we did the right thing.

I have, just for amusement, when they think I'll do some real crap pita work for the same price as regular, quoted prices in the range of 3x+ normal and higher (I like to say at least double, but really double and double again), thinking in terms of an estimate for 'grass cutting' as they might've been thinking like their turf is so fine but I see it needs an offroad farming tractor ends up being anywhere from 100 - 400 dollars, I usually don't hear much back from this.

[lifetree]

Fox Fire -- Congratulations, you did the right thing.

[Fox Fire]

Thanks for the in-put guys. Makes me feel a little better about what I did. This is my first year, and only part time. The customers are not comming in like I would like, and this didn't help much.

[J&R Landscaping]

Don't let this person get to you. You made the right call and you will get people who want you to cut the grass and who will pay you to do it. Don't get attached to bs pita customers. Its a good thing that this happened early so it will save you time and trouble in the long-run!

[1MajorTom]

you did the right thing. she would have done the same thing again in the near future had you continued to try to service her lawn.

[JeffW0011]

A few weeks ago I get a call from this lady at 4:30 on a Wed afternoon. She wants an estimate on a bi-weekly cut. She wants me to come right away. I tell her I am super busy but I have a cut in her area tomm and I will stop by and give her an estimate and would probably be able to cut her on the spot if we agree on price. I pull into her driveway at 11AM the following morning. Before I even exit my truck she is in the driveway waving me off. I get out and before I say a word she tells me "I already got someone you take to long, when you were not here by 9AM I decided to make other arrangements". I bite my tongue and politely start to ask her what the hell her problem is, before I get a word out I notice her property is a real dump. It was going to need a fairly major spring cleanup to even make it cuttable. I realize this old bat is never going to want to pay what the cut is worth, let alone pay me for a cleanup. I just tell her basically "whatever" but was not rude to her or anything. A week later I am driving by from another cut and there's this teenager out there with a raggedy old Walmart special, wheels falling off and **** and the yard is a total mess. I get home that day and there is a message on my VM from this lady saying that the "person she hired had broke his lawnmower at her house that day.... and he does lousy work anyway" she wants me to come back and give her that estimate. Before I even have a chance to call her back she calls again and wants to know when I can be there. I tell her with great stiffled elation, that the few time slots I had open for the season had been filled (not)!! She cops a halfway attitude about how good help is hard to find. Some people are just not worth it. I have picked up about 6 good customers since I let her slide. Now her **** is about a foot high and no pro wants to screw with her dumbass....Johnny Smith down the street couldn't even cut it with dads lawn mower if he wanted to. Neither can Billy Bob, the 40 year old driving around with a couple 21" pushmowers in the back of his 89 S-10, wearing his cut off jean shorts and wife beater....The old cheap impatient bat is screwed and I love it....

[Midwest Lawn Services]

I had to do the same thing last night. Might make you feel a bit uncomfortable, but when your mowing for bread and butter, you have to weed out the "PITA's"