Junk and toys on lawns

[darryl gesner]

I was wondering how you guys handle those customers who always have toys, bikes, hoses and you name it all over the lawn.
I always ask my customers to pick-up before mowing day, but some never do. Do you charge extra for having to stop the mower 20 times? Do you write a clause in your contract? Where do you draw the line?

I'm tired of spending more time cleaning up than mowing.

Thanks

[I MOW ALONE]

just tell them that if they dont pick up then you will have to raise the price time is money

[AK Lawn]

I ask nicely but some just aren;\'t home or just don't i guess iam to nice, i just pick them up

[Brickman]

After asking them nicely, and doing it for a while myself. I will run over and mow a toy that won't hurt the mower. They soon get the point.

I had a appartment complex where some were real bad about not picking up. I would move tons of toys at this one place every week. EVERY WEEK.
Finally I started mowing over small plastic toys. One day the kids mom comes out DEMANDING to know my name, who I worked for, and on and on. She called every body she could think of. She was PISSED. Even called the owner. Owner told her "I told you so" now either keep stuff put away on mowing day or move out. After that no more problems from the renter.

Money does talk, no kidding, I told one home owner to either pick up, or I would charge them. They were terrible, after that stuff stayed picked up and they never mentioned it to me either. I sent them a form letter, so they thought that all my customers got one, that way they wouldn't think I had singled them out.

[Turf Technologies]

We have one customer that we have a problem with dog doo and dog toys.We just call a day or two before, and the toys are picked up, dog doo on the other hand is a mess no matter what.

Other wise charge a clean up fee.

[southside]

If I'm on the mower,anything that won't harm the mower I will
shred and collect (Walker GHS). If I'm on the tractor,ANYTHING
that is left lying around will get mangled. If people are too lazy
to pick up after themselves then they can suffer the consequences.

:blob4:

[LawnLad]

We have some customers that we pick some toys up for here and there. Others abuse it. It's those we ask for their help. We do charge them the hourly bed maintenance price to pick up toys, move patio furniture, etc. Sometimes you can see this type of thing coming when you take on a new customer. I mention it when I start with a customer. The quicker we can cut, the less expensive it will be for them. Let us edge your beds and set them up properly so we don't have to line trim as much, and you weekly service visit will be less expensive. Pick up your toys, and the price will be less. Trim your trees and it will be less since I dont' have to pick up sticks every week.

Dog waste is an entirely different issue - posted on this topic a while back. We charge a "penalty" fee for cleaning up dog debris with a double the normal hourly billing rate. People will start picking up dog waste pretty quickly when they get billed twice.

[mdb landscaping]

I usually just grin and bare it. i had one customer with three dogs who always had like 5 tennis balls in the yard. every week id have to move these damn tennis balls. one week i got a little pissed and shredded the crap out of one of them hoping they would get the point. tennis balls still are there every week though, so i just pick em up and move em.

[TGCummings]

If it's just one or two items, no problem. If it's excessive or recurring, I'll mow around the items to send a message. Generally, after doing that a couple of times, they make a point of moving their stuff. ;)

[AielLandscaping]

when a customer starts service with me they have to sign a form saying they acknowledge the fact that if they don't pick up dog mess or foreign objects that it will be done by us at our hourly rate... however i've found that some people would rather pay the rate to have dog mess cleaned up for them as opposed to picking it up and saving a couple of bucks... i made this stipulation in my agreement so i wouldn't have to deal with animal dookie... i think i'm going to have to make it so it's double the hourly rate or something along those lines...

[proline32]

Recently I had many customers with this issue, I sent them all letters that I will be charging $10.00 extra if I have to pick up toys and dog doo, well after charging them extra a couple of times I now find the yards very clean when I come out.... so it worked. One customer who has three dogs, I just told the guy I was cancelling his account, it's just not worth it.

[summitgroundskeeping]

Summit Grounds Keeping...
after we leave your property it is perfect but you will be charged accordingly. You want the best lawn and don't want to do anything to get it yourself... get your checkbook. I move toys, and all that, but if there is garbage in the yard, I just collect it and at the end of the day toss it in the shop garbage.

Although there was this one yard that had a horrible back lot full of dog crap and toys. One day I got tired of picking up the muddy wet and crapped on dog toys so I just ran them all over and left the remains. I don't do that account any more... hated it.

[Richard Martin]

Just today I found a set of loppers and a small spade laying in the grass. They are now sitting in front of the garage that the homeowner does park in. I hope it's raining when they get home. I have found that leaving items like this where the homeowner parks usually gets their attention.

[Wangel]

You implied that you pickup dog doo? What? You expect a home owner to pickup dog doo in his own yard? Why can't you just mow over it? What is the big deal? If it gets on the tires, it will eventually come off after a bit. If you are concerned with it on your tires, just mow around it, so the tires don't get on it. It sounded like you actually go out in the yard with paper towels cleaning up dog doo! I just mow over it. It's good fertilizer when mushed up. It's the fresh doo doo that will get on the tires, but old doo doo which just get whooshed away. Not that I'm an expert on Dog Doo Doo.

[LawnLad]

"Garden of Woes"

USA today Snapshot from recent day -

People say their biggest garden concerns are:

49% Weeding
28% Mowing
25% Controlling Insects
24% Watering
18% ****CLEANING UP AFTER PETS*****
17% Fertilizing

Can you believe that people are so worried about cleaning up after their own pets it's up there with fertilizing. Does that just tell you how big of a market there is for Pooper Scooper Service! I can just see it - a national "TGCL" of Poopie Scooping. If you read into the poll - there must be that kind of available market. Wow.