Things given to you?

[Got Grass?]

Just wondering if any of your customers ever give you "things"?
I'm not talking about tips or money but actual stuff, for nothing/free.

Been odd day for me. Working on a Sat. catching up from my week in AZ.

One customer gave me his Toro 21 inch bagger/mulcher puch mower today. He said it hasnt been used in over 3 years. Said that becasue I cut his lawn so nice he has no use for it anymore.
Brought it home put in some oil & gas, sharpened the blade, 3 pulls and it started. Works great and may use it as a back up. Also a nice old Ortho seed spreader. Wanted to give me a new eletric blower but I refused.

Another customer today gave me a Swin 10speed, a picture, a suitcase filled with, various A/V cords, old Nitendo games, Nidendo gun, 4 Ping Pong paddles, Car CD adaptors, Calculators, various power & extension cords, CD's & tapes (most my parrents wouldnt even listen to), 100 CD holder, New Sony waterproof Walkman, a plate from Egypt, Ivory camel figures. and otehr stuff.

And another customer is giving me 6 vending machines, the $.25 ones you fill with candy. all I have to do is cut up a old rug to big to put at the curb and throw it at the curb.


Kinda weird. I dunno what I'm gunna do w/ most of this stuff.

[Randy Scott]

Sounds like the one customer saved a trip to the dump!LOL Nintendo stuff, that's worth something, not. I guess the Walkman would be alright to use while cutting.

[E-man]

I had one customer ask me to take anything I wanted out of their shed because they were just going to throw it away.I got a brand new toro snowblower a toro push mower and some electric hedge clippers and trimmers which I gave to family members.I just had a lady who was moving :( give me a nice Jade plant.

[Got Grass?]

I think my little cousin has a old Nitendo to its going there, the walkman dosnt even seem like its been used, I'll use that, The CD Car adaptors are nice becasue the cord on mine is in bad shape, The bike is going to a frined of mine for thier kid. Could prolly sell the Plate and the Ivory on E-bay.

It was mostly thier kids stuff thay left behind when thay moved out. OH yeah I forgot to mention thay may be giving me 3 sets of snow ski's only used twice. Depending on if his wife will let him. Always wanted to go Sking again.

[dhicks]

A Customer has given me a 100 year old tobacco knife that I love, gas cans, a Weed Eater Hedge Trimmer and a few antique garden tools. I'm still waiting for the Mercedes.

[Jusmowin]

I had a long time customer give me a STX38 John Deere tractor, 21 inch Toro sp mower and a weedeater brush cutter. They told me that they were moving and didnt want to take it with them. I got a whole back up set up, but lost some really nice customers. But on the other hand the new owner called me the day after the old owners moved out to start mowing their lawn. Must be a lucky yard!!

[Eric ELM]

I've gotten a few things, but the best was a Sears Tractor. :D

I hauled it out of his garage so he wouldn't fix it up and try mowing his grass again.

[SLS]

Last summer a man next door to a lawn I cut asked me if I wanted another mower..."uh, I guess, I'll come and check it out..."

Fully expecting to find a rusting hulk of junk imagine my surprise when he opened the shed door and there sat a 1978 I.H. Cub Cadet 1000. He said "I didn't like it as much as my little Snapper... its too darn big" It shows a little over 300 hrs on the meter.

A new shifter ($50), battery, and a little maintanance this thing works like new! I'm in the process of giving it a new paint job and a new seat cover.

[KirbysLawn]

Yea, a customer last week gave me a note telling me not to mow the dry dirt areas.:rolleyes:

Thursday a customer just came back from Germany and brought me a bunch of chocolate that I can't read the writing on the wrapper, good stuff!:D

[awm]

wonder what tim german fraulines put inat chocolate.
here sweety ,next thang he knows ,hes married w 3 younguns an dont remember none of it.:D later

[vipermanz]

a 2 gallon gas can

[Guido]

Originally posted by KirbysLawn
Yea, a customer last week gave me a note telling me not to mow the dry dirt areas.:rolleyes:

Thursday a customer just came back from Germany and brought me a bunch of chocolate that I can't read the writing on the wrapper, good stuff!:D

Ray, if you want more, don't forget you have a contact in Germany! ;)

There is some awesome chocolate here.

[John DiMartino]

I had a customer give me his fence recently,he just bought the house,it had a new chain link 6 ft tall,2 gates,one was a 6fter too,about 360 linear feet worth,his wife didnt like it.I have to get it out,and fill the holes with top soil and seed,I need a fence for my kids and dog,so im saving a lot of money here,and he gets it out of his way.

[Richard Martin]

I get a lot of push mowers given to me. The latest is a Lawn Boy Gold Series self propelled that I use now. I decline a lot of stuff like a dehumidifier, a riding tractor etc.

[wallzwallz]

I got a showtime rotissierre oven, new in box from a customer,pretty cool works great but at abut $160 i never would have bought it. Have an auction house we mow,lady tells us anything outside we can have,mostly crap but some antique looking furniture sometimes, I've yet to take anything there though.

[1MajorTom]

Holy cow! We don't get offered anything good.

Here's what we've been given.

A bag of used paperback books and magazines. :laugh:

And one customer works from his home selling stuff. He would give us a few things that he sold.

A golf umbrella, a soap making kit, and a bunch of baby items.


That's it.
:(

[Charles]

I just get offered food. But I turn down that too. I did take up a customer offer to join him and his wife for a cookout. Can you believe that he threw that up to me when I went up on his rate? That cured me from excepting anything. Usually there are strings attached

[A CUT ABOVE]

:D
Had a woman offer to trade me Browning A2000 12 ga. shotgun for about $50 worth of work. She had bought for her recently deceased husband and had no kids to pass it on to. I ended up doing about $100 worth of work and she tried to give me another gun, but I refused.

[Lanelle]

Over the years, the stuff has been too numerous to catelog. Of course, lots of mowers but some of the more interesting items include an Italian accordion, a couple of old treadle sewing machines with iron stands,a couple of gas grills and an American flag that we fly for holidays. If you offer to do light hauling, its amazing the things people will give away and pay you for the service also.

[Premo Services]

:mad: I only seem to get a lot of advice :mad:

The best is how I could benifit by lowering the blades down when I cut the lawn- "looks better", "you won`t have to cut every week, and this would free up time on your schedule for other things".:D

"Go slower the lines will show up way better"!!!

"You will get a better cut if you would sharpen the blades once in a while"

[MATTHEW]

In the last 3 years I have been given 3 push mowers and 2 curve-shaft trimmers. Everything still works, but, man do I hate those curve-shafts! I use them for a spare if mine gives me any trouble.

[jnjnlc]

Not much given to me. I did get tickets to a pro football game once though.

[eslawns]

I had a customer once who held a community garage sale at her house. When I came the following week there was still a bunch of stuff left over. She offered me anything I want free.

I noticed a box of books, and decided to take a look. I came up with a dozen or so books and noticed a box with the Onkyo logo on the outside. It was a tuner, with no amplifier. She saw me pick it up and said she thought there was another box. I looked and there was a high power amp that matched the tuner.

That was June or July of '95. Still going strong, but I gave it to my son so he would leave the stereo in our living room alone.

[Mike (MLC)]

I have only received one thing from a customer and that was a 21" John Deere walkbehind. The lady said that it hadn't worked in about a year. I replaced the spark plug and have been using it ever since. ;)

[LJ lawn]

a couple years ago i was given a nice 24" simplicity snow blower.needed the carb cleaned though, i got it runnin' and sold it.i recently went to a new accounts house for an estimate and the guy was throwing out 2 neon bud signs and 4 mint high-back swivel bar stools-they now reside next to my beer-miester.now if he only had a Guinness sign.

[Dennis Moon]

I have one customer, a elderly widow lady give me 4 tickets to a UT football game and $100. I took the whole family...had great time.

[65hoss]

3 21" pushmowers that I sold.
1 rake I still use.
1 new pellet gun
1 kids bike I gave to a needy family

[Joatmon]

This is kinda cheating...but I helped my soon to be brother-in-law get the LARGE yard at his house ready for the wedding about to be held there between he & my sis. I show up the 2nd or 3rd day & he hands me a Solo backpack sprayer new in the box & a gallon of growth regulator. I later found out he is manager for a chemical company.

[Hoosier Mower]

I've had a spreader, a used weed eater, and a used VCR that they did'nt want given to me, all of this came from the same ederly couple. Now if all of my customers was this good I could do thier yard then sell thier stuff on Ebay..lol.

[plow kid]

the best thing given to me has to be the Honda HR 216 21" wb mower, they said it made a clicking noise, go to sharpen the blase and it is held on only by 1 bolt that is half out!!!

Good little mower now

[Tropical Trim]

I think we should start looking for some retired clients or clients that are at home when we do thier properties. The only thing that we ever got was a cold drink.... which hit the spot! Maybe doing some properties on the weekends might help!

[TGCummings]

Originally posted by 1MajorTom


A bag of used paperback books and magazines. :laugh:

[/B]

As an avid reader, this looked like the most useful thing I've seen given away by a customer.

I once got a bunch of used camping gear from one of my customers, but it's still collecting dust lo these many years. In fact, thinking back, I remember collecting a lot of old stuff customers have given me, only to haul it to the dump some months or years later...

I generally take nothing offered these days. ;)

-TGC

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Well to many to list but here are some
61" tv broke a couple years later
Microwaves
Books
Umbrellas, one was a nice big golf one
Computer
Car
Truck which is still sitting in my driveway
Lawnmowers and other lawn stuff they don't use anymore
Cutting tourch
RAMS tickets
Cards tickets
Blues tickets
Auto Racing tickets
Lights
Frig
Flowers
Gift certificates they wont use
And other things. But it isn't a good year till someone gives me an old lawnmower.