do not accuse my neighbor

[bobbygedd]

check this out, did i do a dumb thing? thought i was helping: put a new lawn in in late fall for a customer, lookin better every week, couldnt wait to get there this week to cut, cus i fertilized 3 weeks ago and new this week it would look premo. well, i pull up, and WOW! big brown spots everywhere, the grass is dead! as i looked around, i saw a brown "line", of dead grass , it went from my customers property, right to the nieghbors garage door. now, couldnt help but think someone had a leaky round up container, and left a trail behind them. so i get the customer out and show him, and also show him it leads right to his nieghbors garage door. told him i suspected vandalism, he got mad, told me not to accuse his nieghbor, told me to fix it and send a bill. did i do a dumb thing?

[f350]

you sure did.. you assumed. when you assume it makes an ass out of you and me...

[Bob Minney]

I'm not sure I would have called it vandalism but I would have pointed out what I saw and asked if he knew what had happened. Let him draw his own conclusion. And he wanted a bill for repairs? Makes me curious.

[plymouthvaliant73]

Maybe your customer borrowed something from the neighbor and is now embarrassed by his mistake?

[Richard Martin]

bobbygedd wrote:

told him i suspected vandalism, he got mad, told me not to accuse his nieghbor, told me to fix it and send a bill. did i do a dumb thing?

Interesting. I probably would have asked "What happened to the lawn?". In any case it's obvious that the homeowner knows exactly what happened to the lawn. He's not willing to 'fess up out of embarrassment.

[65hoss]

I would have asked "what happened?" first. Would probably make a great lawnsite story. Never go accusing of criminal activity until you know the facts. Plus, your customer is hiding his own stupid mistakes. Maybe every year you can fix the same problems for him. "Hey Mr. Jones, can I borrow that spray thingy again?" haha

[bubble boy]

i dont think it was an assumption...the evidence is there.


i dont need to put my hand in fire to know its hot...

to me its obvious what happened. spin it politely, but the neighbor is somehow involved. maliciously or not.

[SLS]

Maybe your client needed to borrow some gasoline from his neighbor...and his neighbor (nice fellow that he is) obliged....leaky container and all. :D

[bobbygedd]

yea, i guess u could be right. i did have a guy one time who thought he might spray the 3 dandelions in his yard, with a half gallon of roundup! maybe he borrowed some round up from the nieghbor, never thought of that. but what a freakin mess he made