is it cheaper now?

[bobbygedd]

hello, yes once again, i have a dispute with a customer, but i swear, its not my fualt this time. i cut a rather large property, its all open and straight with only two trees, so wacking is a minimal. the customer had a basketball court put in, and will soon be having a tennis court put in. so, here goes, he wants me to lower my cutting fee cus there is less grass now, i told him actually, i may have to raise the price now, because there are more obsticles, more wacking, etc. who would lower the price? who would raise it? who would keep it the same? who would offer to wax his floors and do his laundry just to keep him happy? thanx

[Esby]

I would either keep it the same or lower it depending on the amount of area that is going to taken over. I ran into a similar sitsuation the other day, except it was the opposite. I cleared a 60*50 area that was simply overgrown grasses. I only raised my price $5 and they were very understanding(its a very large account to begin with). Of course they did get a bill for $60 for clearing it, but thats another story. In your sitsuation, I would not raise it.

[Premo Services]

No way would I lower the price for the cut. It will take longer to do now because you have to trim around the tennis court, and basketball court. In addition you will probally have to blow these off, more time, I don`t know how much, but definetly not lower the price. You know what you are making on the job, so you might have to raise the price for the additional time involved.

[roscioli]

I would probably raise it. Maybe you can do this: Explain to the customer that the new areas will probably add time to your mowing, and that they may have to pay extra, but for this next mowing you are going to charge them the same as usual, but calculate how much extra time you are there (if any), and then raise the price accordingly. Just explain it to them like they are 6 years old, because most people don't have the slightest clue how we charge. HOPEFULLY you charge by time, and not sq foot or something! If they complain, they are the 6 yr old mentality type, DUMP THEM.

[bobbygedd]

yes i charge by time spent(how many obsticles, how much wacking, etc) so i explained to him that more in my way, more wacking, blowing, time spent etc means it cost more, i wasnt even gonna bring it up till he insisted that i lower the fee, so he says, "whats the big deal, 10 min extra, so what" i said if yur boss asked u for 10 min extra a day, that adds up to almost an hour, u would probly want to get paid for it, right? they just dont understand, or maybe they do but just want extra work 4 free.

[Eric ELM]

I mow a lawn for a snow customer when their tractor is broke down. I charge them more than a regular customer since they have a tennis court. Between that court, the house, and a double wide U shaped driveway, they don't have much grass left on this 2 acre lot, but it takes me longer just to mow it than a regular lawn. With a 60" deck, I know it would take me longer to trim around the chain link fence than it would to mow that area. I only mow it when their tractor is broke down, I do not trim it. They do. :D

[Twotoros]

Time yourself,devide $$ by minutes it took. Tell customer you will lower it on new config. if it takes less but make him agree if more time is taken he will allow raise. He will back off or dump you.

[vipermanz]

that kind of stuff will really tick you off!

[Guido]

probobly keep it the same if its only a few minute increase in time.

If anything go up on the price though, not down!!!

Just educate the customer on why it will take longer for less grass. He should understand.

[1MajorTom]

We wouldn't lower the price that's for sure.
Explain to him that the amount of trimming has increased so the price can not be lowered.

We would finish out the season at the same price. Then next year, if you felt it was justified you could raise the price a few dollars. You will have the rest of the season to evaluate your times to see if they have increased any.

[kutnkru]

I would do just TwoToros stated. Figure out what your times are for mowing, trimming and blowing. Then cross reference these to your current times and then see where your at.

When you discuss this with the homeowner you have to let them know that in addition to the extra "line trimming" (whacking doesn't sound approriate LOL), you will have to blow off these newly paved surfaces in addition to the other areas you did before.

If it takes you less time - it shouldnt, then price accordingly. BTW, when you cut for your times cut the property at an anbgle because this will add a little time to your figures for mowing. :)

Good Luck!
Kris

[65hoss]

I had a customer ask me if they put in a pool if the price would go down due to less grass. I said, probably not. Maybe go up due to extra edging and trimming. The cutting isn't the issue, its the trimming and edging. Mowing the space doesn't take much time, but the other things do.

To answer the question, kutnkru is correct. Figure the time so you are armed with the information. Then make your decision about pricing.