Tired of neighborhoods full of kids

[Wayne Offiler]

Maybe its just me getting cranky as the hot summer wears on. But seem to have too many customers with lots of kids.
Swing sets, jungle jims, toys scattered around, trampolines, kiddie pools with stuff around plus extension cords and hoses to coil up. Then there's the kids buzzing around. Retired customers are looking better and better.
Anyone actually drop an account, or an area for just being too much of a pain ?

[fivestarlawnken]

Hang in there!!!The season is coming near the end, and raise the price next year to make worth your trouble.I dropped a yard because of tru-green!Thats worse than a neighborhood full of brats!!:angry:

[WLC]

Sounds like a price increase is instore for the beginning of the year on accounts that are requiring more time. Either they pay or string trim around their kiddie pool themselves! I too despise rolling up hoses. 1 a day O.K. , after that it gets old.
Raise your prices and thin em' out!

[Got Grass?]

Set it up in you contract where you will not move odjects only cut arround them. And if you cant cut at all because of whatever (toys, dog poop, kids, fert app.) thay are faced with a charge for showing up, unless you are notified in advance not to cut.
Of cource the sprinkler I would move becasue at last thay water.
Anything else I move as long as its easy to and not to many things.
Watch thoes tennis balls and dog toys fly when you run em over.

[vipermanz]

If the property hails several physical hazards,i'd drop it.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

We've got one like that!

Thank god Matchbox cars aren't made like they used to be.

Dog toys watch em fly.

Tennis balls cut in half well.

Watch out for the old rug dog toys.

Hoses, bought a few over the years.

Nothing like running over a Louiville Slugger

I'n just glad they don't make em toys like they used too.

LGF:blob1:

[vipermanz]

I've been hit in the head with my own tennis balls before.:blob2: :blush: :mad:

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by vipermanz
I've been hit in the head with my own tennis balls before.:blob2: :blush: :mad:

Were you using the mower that goes accross the monitor screen!

LGF:blob1:

[vipermanz]

i wish,,, it would have atleast gone thru the window in front of m then.

I ran over it, it hit a bricked storage shed, bounced back, BAM!, vipermanz's head, choice words are spoken, vipermanz is pi$$#d off, finish the job, go home, grab a coke, sit down, watch raw.

That was my day!

[65hoss]

I had a HUD contract last year. (Don't ever get suckered into that one) We had a yard that was about 3 ft high. The blades hit a 10 speed rim. No damage to mower, but the rim looked like a 1/2 moon when finished. Needless to say I was extremely hot over it.

[HBFOXJr]

Instead of getting mad, why not have a statement in your agreement that the yard is to be free of stuff on mowing day. Sites usually get done the same day except for rain or holidays so people could be trained just like putting out the trash. If not clean they will be charged or skipped and billed double the next cut.

[AltaLawnCare]

I've got one with a swing set, and a hose that is always unrolled and run out in the yard. Every time I mow I have to roll it up, not that much trouble, but aggravating to stop and lose the rhythym of mowing.

[lsylvain]

I don't have much of a problem with kid toys laying around, but I do have a huge problem with kids running around on one of my jobs. It's a 9.5 acre HUD apartment complex with nothing but kids running around all day unattended. I't makes things a lot harder to take care off. I also new this when I started so I made the price worth the trouble. To help make it easier I started taking the time to talk to the kids a little and fool around with them. Them seemed to start respecting me more and steering clear when I am mowing.

[lawnboy82]

i had a place like that in the past- all kids toys and other junk in the yard. i told them that for every toy i have to move is like $5 or something. just a thought- hard to enforce though :(

[Jet boater]

If you have to keep picking stuff up out of these yards, why not just pile it up in front of their garage door or in their driveway. Maybe they would get the point.

[vipermanz]

Originally posted by Jet boater
If you have to keep picking stuff up out of these yards, why not just pile it up in front of their garage door or in their driveway. Maybe they would get the point.

I Would!

[roscioli]

I have a wonderful yard like that... kids toys EVERYWHERE. At least this lady keeps the kids away though. I just pile them all up in a corner, and don't mow there. Screw her. She told me at the beginning of the year just to honk when I arrive, and she will move them. I honk every time, she just says hi, and then goes to the neighbors house for the hour I am there. She will eventually realize that she is losing ball after ball when I run them over, and that there is one certain area near the bulkhead that NEVER gets mowed. I hate people like that, next year its price increase, or mow your own damn lawn. I could understand it if in the beginning of the year I knew that I would be moving them, and priced accordingly, but she just lied about that.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

The same yard I said earlier in the post. The kids have graduated to motor cycles, go-Karts, gas scooters, gas skate boards, and other various toys.

You gota admit they are fun to drive as you are moving them but they can be a pain in the butt when you have to do it every week when it's almost 100 degrees out and that toy is out of gas. (good thing I carry a lot in the truck. seems like they wait for me to fuel them up for them. but I got smart and only put in enough to move and have fun on)

We can't exactly put them in front of the gardge door. But we did try it with the other toys and they would just back over them and go. (must be nice to have the money to replace broken toys all the time) But on the brighter side MY kid has a few tennis balls that have come up missing. But I guess if they don't complain about the ones that are cut in half they wont miss a few more.

Now we have to move them out of the way in my yard DEJAVUE

LGF:blob1:

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Oh Yea almost forgot

I tell them I am color blind and can't see GREEN tennis balls in a GREEN lawn:D

It does work. But i'm kind of surprised they didn't buy another color. LIKE ORANGE, YELLOW, OR something bright

LGF:blob1:

[dhicks]

The only reason that I have dropped an account was because of dog dung at a townhouse property. This lady would not clean it up and neither would I. I went by the house last week and the grass is about 3 feet high. It wont be long before the HOA gets involved.:p

[Jason_S]

We have a poop problem at this one house that we do for free (our sod job with a "deal) The grass was wet so I put up the Velke one day, the lady was watching as I went. I step in poop, and as graphically as possible show the lady what has happened, 2 seconds later, the Velke was down, I had the mower cranked up and raced it out. Then I took their hose, and spreyed off my boots and tires in the front.

After this, there was no poop!


Also, during plowing season, they let their dogs crap on the doorstep instead of going in the snowy yard! WOW!