am i stuck with this property?

[bobbygedd]

one of my new customers has turned out to be a disaster. the guy is really nice, dont complain, and his property is beautiful. when he signed on in march, he said i was a bit expensive could i come down a few bucks, i said sorry, no. so he signed on anyhow and the first couple of trips were great, but now, the "surge growth" is outragous. i have never seen a lawn grow so much in one week. i mean i am triple and quadruple cutting this lawn just to get it to look decent. its taking an hour, it is no way worth my while, i need to get done in 30 min or less. i have never backed out on a customer who was under contract, but i wish like hell i could get out of this one. the contract states"customer can cancell at any time, in writing, with one week notice". but doesnt say anything about me cancelling. what do u all think?

[Currier]

I'd find out who: 1. overfertilized or 2. overwaters and get something done. overfert - your partially stuck but cutting back on the domestic water may help...then again mother nature may stick it to you anyway.

contract wise you have commited to this person, is there any way to cut it at shorter intervals (3-5 days)? If you can get the fertilization deal under control this cutting more than weekly might only be temporary.

[fireball]

see the Primo thread under Pesticide and fertilizer application area

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Tell the guy that you have to cut it twice a week to have it looking up to your standards. If he doesn't go for this, than you have an out. Do you charge per cut or per month? Who fertilized the yard?

LAWNS AND MOWER

[aakin]

When I was looking for a new lawn service a few years ago the prospective lawn service asked who was doing the fertilization. When I told him it was Agriturf he said he would not take us on unless we used him to fertilize because Agriturf was a little nitrogen happy.

Tell your customer about this unusual growth and how it is bad for you because of all of the additional effort but even moreimportantly it is bad for his lawn. Although it may yield a nice green lawn in the short term it is really stressing the lawn and weakening the root system which will make the lawn more prone to disease in the long term. And if that doesn't work give him ample time (3 months notice) to find a new lawn company and cancel the agreement.

[Lawn-Scapes]

Nice guy, doesn't complain, property is beautiful and he paid your price..

I think you should suck it up! :p

Find out what's going on with the outrageous surge growth.. i.e. fert & water.

You cutting it at 4 inches?

How could you not give yourself an out.. written in the contract? Mine states " Either party may terminate this aggreement with a 15 day advance written notice..."

You have been doing this for a while... right?

[HBFOXJr]

Somebody is gonna write a book "The Mis-Adventures of BobbyG", or "How Not to Shoot Your Own Foot in the Lawn Care Business".

Dog Gone it Bobby you dun it agin!

[Richard Martin]

I have a new customer just like this. The first couple of cuts were great. It turned out real nice. Then Mother Nature turned on the heat and the rain and the over fert. kicked in. He has agreed not to put any more fert. down ever. It was the first time he had done it and he got it way wrong. My "contracts" state that I like you and you like me and we'll keep it that way. If either he or I wants out it only takes a phone call.

[Dennis E.]

Any agreement or contract should "swing" both ways. I've always had the 30 day clause in mine,for both the customer and myself.
Ever hear - "CYA"?;)

[Holloway Lawns]

Sounds like the lawn was fertilized too much and or lots of water. As far as the contract mine gives us both a 30 day clause and one for me if payment is not recieved I can cancel any time with out the 30 day notice.

[lamblawnscaping]

I have a customer just like this. The first 4 cuts I just sucked it up. After the 5th cut I had to speak to him. I asked him who fertilized his lawn. He did it himself. I asked him how much fertilizer he put down, he said enough to cover 15,000 square feet. His lawn is 5,000 square feet. He used scotts, probably 20 something N, at 3 times the recommended rate. He told me that was the way he did it and it was his lawn, and the cutting was not his problem. Needless to say I wanted to drop him right then and there, but he is part of a 3 yard stop that makes me 105 dollars in about an hour with 2 guys. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Once it drys up though his lawn will be easy money, so I figure I'll get it back and then some later in the season. If he had been a 1 yard stop he would have been gone though.

My contracts say that I can cancel with 15 days notice and customers can cancel with 30 days notice. I would definately do something similar with yours.

[MWS LAWN]

Bobby,

Try this. I don't know what you are cutting with, but if you can get some gator blades get them. Next if your schedule allows you- cut it in the hottest time of the day. Cut it all first, don't pick a part of the yard and go over it and over it. This is way- even 10 mins. is enough time for the grass to start to dry out and with the gators they will dust it the second pass around. I know this will be a pain for a while, but stick it out the grass will slow down soon. Then you can make some good money on fertilizing it for him in the future.

[bobbygedd]

yea i know, i dun it again. i usually can find my own way out, but this guy is just too nice a person. im cutting at about 3.25 in. i dont know who fertilizes, but its not him, or me. he says he has "someone". i am charging by the cut, not the month. but even if i were charging by the month, i wouldnt want to be there twice a week. dont think he will go for paying me to cut twice a week. and yes, ive been doing this for quite a while, but everytime i leave out any detail, it comes back to bite me. it seems all the lawns here r growing rapidly, some i need to double cut, but this one is just outrageous. we will need to come to an agreement or im in for a long season.

[65hoss]

My opinion is you agreed to it. You had him sign, and you should stick to your word. At the end of the season if it hasn't got better then renegotiate the contract or move on. Until then, bit the bullet and do what you said. But, nothing wrong with explaining to him the problem. If your contract states "as needed" then you can tell him it needs it more than 1 time per week due to excessive growth. If he didn't like that you could move on with a clear conscience.

[MOW ED]

Bobby, I have one like this but just remember that in a couple of months it will be money time for you because it doesn't grow like this forever.
Raise the deck and keep the customer. If he truly is a nice guy, sell him on you doing the applications next season. It is hard to find good customers that are as you described. It isn't his fault that his lawn grows like mad. Just budget a little more time now. It will be brown out time soon enough and his will probably be one of the lawns that keep you going in the summer.
Personally I think it would not be a good idea for you to dump him. Good Luck.

[cantoo]

Find out how much he is paying for the fert job then tell him you will do it for the same price. Next year cut way back on the fert and the saving will even out with the extra time you spend this year. Otherwise you will hate cutting this lawn every time.

[Tony Harrell]

Do you guys remember your FIRST customer? You'd do almost anything just to "be in business" Here's mine; "I want you to cut it with a small mower, I want you to cut it every two weeks, I want you to bag it, oh, and I want you to cut it high". That last part saved me. I did what she asked and told her it would probably need cutting more often in the spring....She called me a week later and it's been weekly ever since. Oh, and did I mention she admitted putting 28-8-8 on her lawn? She's my very best customer now and listens when I give advice. Part of my job is to educate my customers in a way that won't offend them, then they'll listen.

[swn]

I agree with most of the others. Raise your cutting height a little, maybe 3.5" or 4". I have found that if you go back over it again, raise the deck up a little higher. Say if you cut it at 3.5" raise it to 4 or 4.5" when you go back over it. It doesn't take very long to do this. I sure wouldn't go over it 4 times like you said you were.
Also you may try to blow some of the clippings with your blower, this helps also.

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

In real estate, they have disclosure laws. The seller of the house has to state any and all problems with the house. The situation you have falls along the same lines. This new client failed to tell you that the yard had be laced with fertilizer. This could be your out of the contract, or if this guy is as nice as you say he is, he will understand if you cut every 4 or 5 days. Good luck.

LAWNS AND MOWER

[sheppard]

Dear Bobby,

How 'bout a bigger mower?

Cordially,
Sheppard

[bobbygedd]

how big? i have 48s, and a 32, all with 12 hp kawa. i do med to small residentials, one decent size commercial. no problem on the other lawns.

[carlriv]

I have a few lawns that grow extremely fast as well. I have tried to educate the customers on the problems with over fertilizing and over watering to no avail. I would like to find something from a magazine or web page or something that is not me that can explain the problems with too much water and fert. Does anyone know of a book that does a good job of explaining this so my customer will stop?

[bobbygedd]

without trying to insult anyone, i will try to explain it the way i see it. the problem with "educating" customers is that most of them have already formed opinions of people in this field. they think we r uneducated, and incapable of finding and maintaining "a real job" . they have been exposed to dozens of "landscapers" who are a fountain of useless, inacurate information, and alot of them have a bad taste in thier mouth , and are unwilling to hear what u have to say. i beat my head against the wall each season trying to convince people to water properly, and fertilize properly, to keep thier properties in the best condition possible. i have one customer who waters twice a day, for 5 min each session. she puts down turbuilder in april, grubex in may, and by mid july insists that the weed infestation is caused by "my mower carrying seeds from other properties". ive pleaded with this women, and showed her pics of some of our properties where the owners do follow our instructions, these properties are beautiful, but she still wont listen. ive explained that the money she pays us to thatch, and reseed every single fall, could be used to have us fertilize, and keep the lawn weed free, and in good shape all year, she still wont listen. alot of people take advice, but most people dont. if u try "sell" them something that will get them the results they seek, and actually save them money in the long run, they think u r ripping them off. i think i will have a very hard time explaining to someone y it is "in their best interest" to pay us $60 a week to cut their lawn, instead of $30. after all, when they used to do it themselves, they didnt have this problem(of course it took them the better part of a sat afternoon to do it, but heck, even if it took me 2 hrs to cut it, thats still $15 an hour, right? not bad for a misfit who cant even get a real job) sometimes its best to say, heck with it and move on.

[Tony Harrell]

There's always going to be people out there like that and I agree with moving on after you've done your best for them. It's like that in almost any service type business. The difference is you are the boss and you make those decisions instead of being fed **** from a boss about the "customer is always right". Don't get me wrong, I love customers. I just don't love them all. Ya'll know what I mean, I'm sure.-------btw--The expletive deleted from above was not what you think it was, it was c,r,a,p. There's apparently a censor bot and it's OK with me.

[ADMowing]

Bobby --

About your lady who insists on doing it her way and her yard doesn't look up to the same quality as your other lawns -- I'd drop her! Tell her that this just doesn't fit into your idea of what you want your lawns to look like. It is bad advertising for you and she needs to get some scrub to do it 'cause they won't care.

Sorry -- but customers need to respect our experience and understand that we DO have their best interest at heart. If she is so hardheaded, she needs to find someone else.

JMHO

A&D

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Bobby- I can totally relate to uneducated customers. This one guy wanted his chickweed killed on his yard. I explained to him how the pre-emergent works. I applied the premie in late march. Well come late April his chickweed is still there. I explained to him that the premie will kill the seeds of the chickweed so that it can't regerminate. He decides to put down weed and feed himself without telling me. He put down a triple dose! I'm now mowing his yard every 3 days. Maybe he has learned his lesson.

LAWNS AND MOWER