but you werent here

[bobbygedd]

anyone ever been accused of charging for a cut that u didnt do? got into it with a new customer cus she says we werent here on "this day". so i show her my "tracking sheet" which has documented the date, time of arrival, and time of departure, as well as the service provided. she says well u could have written that at any time, how do i know u were really here. i say look, u cant tell whether or not the lawn was cut ? she says well u cant expect people to trust you. i said, well, im supposed to trust you? i cut all month, how do i know u r gonna pay the bill? another pita

[proenterprises]

bobby

i have had this happen, some pita came home ( i left an invioce in her door) and she said I was never their. I showed her all the work and it was clear that the grass had been cut....40.00 down the drain.

I guess you just have to suck these up :rolleyes:

[crazygator]

Bobby,

Sounds like she wants it cut lower.

I had a new customers this year call me. She said "Hey the yard looks great, but when we walked out in it I could not see my feet." I was like HUH?

I had been cutting it at 3.5", so I moved it down to 3" and she has been the very best yet.

It might be her way of asking in a round about way of cutting it shorter.

But then again, with all the rain you cant even tell after 2 days in some places. Maybe you can take a picture of the finished product with someone holding that days paper......:D

[walker-talker]

I had this happen twice last year with the same lady. She did pay and we settled for rather billing monthly, that she would pay at the time of service. When she was not home at the time of service, I would leave a door hanger letting her know that I had been there. We no longer provide service to this client.

MATT

[cos]

This happens alot with the bean counting people of the world. I try all different types of ways to later prove that I was actually there to cut.

[ElephantNest]

Suck it up? No chance.....tell her you have every right to put a lien against her property until services are paid for. Not only will you get your money, she won't try that again with you or any other LCO she feels the need to screw over. I'm in this to make money, $40.00 is $40.00, but mainly it's the principle......suck it up? Not me.

[proenterprises]

Yo Elephant

I didnt want to suck it up either but I didnt really have a choice, Its a lose lose battle. But no I do not serivice that account anymore. 40.00 just isint worth going to war over :rolleyes:

[rodfather]

Hell bobby, that's real easy to fix...don't blow off the driveway or walks. Then they'll know you were there LOL!

[JimLewis]

Bobby,

First of all - ditch that lady. PITA customers just aren't worth it. She'd be gone the second I got her next check if it were my account.

Second, one thing we do that you might consider - in addition to creating a log of your own (as you've already done - smart!) you should also leave a checklist on the client's door. Ours is pretty basic. It has our logo, ph. number, etc. at the top and then says, "We stopped by today and provided the following services." And then there is a list of about 10 or so possible things we could have done. There is a box by each item and my workers just check the boxes next to the work that was performed and leave the checklist on the client's door before they leave. Then you have 3 ways to prove you were there - 1) Your log 2) The checklist you left them and 3) The evidence of your work.

[David Haggerty]

Years ago I cut a factory friday after everyone had gone home. The lawn was so weedy by monday it was 6" high in weeds.
I argued with the owners of this company that I'd mowed.
We compromised on half a payment. I thought this was kind of wierd because I'd either mowed or I hadn't.:rolleyes:

This was some years back. They've since sold the company and retired to Florida.

I still mow that factory's grass.

Dave

[Gene $immons]

tell her you have every right to put a lien against her property until services are paid for.


A lien on a property for $40.00??? Elephant, it costs more than that each year to maintain a lien. LOL

[1MajorTom]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jimlewis

should also leave a checklist on the client's door.
"We stopped by today and provided the following services."

Yes, we do that also.
Ours for mowing says:
(Our Company name) has serviced your lawn (Cut, trim, and blow clippings off of pavement) on (Fill in the date.)
This is NOT a bill. Please retain for your records, and you will receive a bill at the end of every month.
Thank you,
Matt and Jodi

[SWD]

I'll tell you what I have expierenced - PITA customers will always be so. I have had only one customer stated they believed I had not cut when I had - I got so @#$damn mad at their calling me a liar I almost #$%^ a brick.
After that, no more questioning when/what I cut.
No way, no how am I going to take that ****!!!
Yes, they pay on time - even early.

[turfguy]

I have had several customers who have tried to stiff me over the years. NEVER give up your position when you are right. I use a color coded invoice system for bills green= current yellow= 30 days past red= 30+ days past due and we mark on the outside of the envelope "urgent past due invoice enclosed" for both mowing and plowing we keep a weekly time sheet and I print that out on the back of the days weather report. just keep sending those invoices out every month and add the intrest on.
sooner or later they all have payed!

[Turfdude]

Jim or Jodi,

We of course always leave a drop sheet after a lawn application re: product applied, how to water and any applicable notes regarding care or problems after visual inspection. Personally I believe a drop slip for lawn maintenance to be overkill, but would like to see what you guys have done. Are these 4 1/4"X5 1/2" tablets, full sheets or other? Do you have a problem with them getting tossed around in the trucks, sat on, or other? Just curious to see how other pros do this. I personally can not remember the last time someone questioned our service. Thanks for your anticipated response.

[Gene $immons]

I also only leave a drop slip for chemical applications, but this brings up a good subject. How many guys leave a slip for mowing or other maintenance work? I rarely get questioned by a customer regarding if we mowed on a certain date or not. But it has happened.

I agree with Turfguys method. I will send an invoice forever if they owe. I even have a "fake" lawyer letter that I use. That usually does the trick. E-mail me if anyone would like a copy.

[JimLewis]

Are these 4 1/4"X5 1/2" tablets, full sheets or other? Full page black and white papers. Costs me 2 cents each when I copy in bulk (e.g. 2000 or more). I figure I can afford 8-10 cents per month per customer.
Do you have a problem with them getting tossed around in the trucks, sat on, or other? Each crew has a 3 ring binder. Inside are 5 dividers - one for each day of the week. After each binder is a page for every customer. On that page at the top is their name, address, and what type of service we are to do for them. Then below that are several dozen blank lines for the crew to write down what they did each week. We simplify everything. M=mow WB=Weeded Beds SWB=Sprayed Weeds in Beds E=Edge, etc. So on any given line, it might look like this;

5/26/03 - M, E, WB, F
-------------------------------------------------

Then, at the front of this notebook, the guys put about 50 of our 8.5"x11" checklists. When that gets low, they restock in the mornings. These notebooks never get sat on and papers really never fly out - so No, that's not a problem. They just sit on the seat between the two workers.

[kris]

Ours are called site reports ..2 copy half page books ... every customer is left one. They sound much the same as Jim and Jodi use. They also have a section that says "things that need attention” ... great way to up-sell.
Up selling was one reason to use these but the main reason was to always keep in touch with the customer and form a relationship.... At one of our large commercial accounts last year, I had prior knowledge that the onsite property manager was going to a concert I had the foreman write in the site report "have a good time at the concert tonight”. He got a real kick out of that.

[ElephantNest]

Gene Simmons, I merely said "Tell her you have the right...." didn't say do it. When she realizes that this is diferent from not paying a little kid who pulls his mower behind his bike, she may reconsider and do the right thing.

[1MajorTom]

We use these slips for a couple of reasons:
So the customer doesn't forget we were there, so I can add a personal message if I want to, and the main reason was I wasn't sure how they were going to be able to adapt to being changed over to monthly billing. And I thought this little slip might somehow help, and quite honestly, it has worked well. :)

We work for a good portion of elderly people.
When we first started five years ago, we thought we were busy, but heck, we had lots of time to chat with the customers, and a lot of the customers insisted on paying us each and every visit. Now that seems like such a long time ago.
Things have changed. We just can't get as personal with the customers as before, and we had to change so we could get more effecient for the extra accounts we were obtaining.

And since it's just me and Matt, we have a lot of lawns to service each day sometimes into the 20's. Sure the lawns are small, but time is estimated out each day, and there is not a lot of extra time to chat with everyone.
So all customers must now only pay once a month when they get their bill. But I wanted to leave them something which they could track if they wanted to record when their lawn was cut. So that's why I decided to leave those slips.

And like Kris mentioned, I will occasionally wirte something extra on their slip just to let them know I noticed something new in their yard that looks good, or maybe wishing them a Happy Memorial Day, etc.

Also, because as stated many of our customers are older, I didn't want them to forget that we did cut their lawn.

So I went to Staples, bought a couple large packs of brightly colored paper stock. I can't remember how many sheets were in each pack, I believe 500, and I got thick card stock.
I printed them up on the computer, then cut them with a good office paper cutter. I believe I am able to get 5 slips per sheet.

I keep a large tupperware container in the middle of the truck where I keep supplies such as pens, estimate book, rubber bands, a money bag for spare change, cell phone, gum, snacks etc. I rubberband a few hundred of them and they will last me a couple of weeks. They don't get messed up in the container. When we get to the lawn, I drop one off and slide it so it's halfway sticking out of their scrreen door.

Would this work for crews? Well I'm not sure; I guess it would depend upon how detailed oriented the employees were.

We don't leave these same slips for fert, hedges, mulching etc.
These are strictly for the mowing.

[cos]

Originally posted by LandscapeEscape88
Yo Elephant

I didnt want to suck it up either but I didnt really have a choice, Its a lose lose battle. But no I do not serivice that account anymore. 40.00 just isint worth going to war over :rolleyes:

Your gonna get walked all over then. There are alot of people like this out there. I have bumped into soooo many when first starting out. I don't take that type of ****, and I could care less if it was a buck or two. I have people try to cheat me for the sales tax by not including it in the check. I simply bill them again for it. If it ain't paid, I send a statement. I don't walk into a 7-11 and hand them money, minus the sales tax. I don't expect the same.

[cos]

Originally posted by turfguy
I have had several customers who have tried to stiff me over the years. NEVER give up your position when you are right. I use a color coded invoice system for bills green= current yellow= 30 days past red= 30+ days past due and we mark on the outside of the envelope "urgent past due invoice enclosed" for both mowing and plowing we keep a weekly time sheet and I print that out on the back of the days weather report. just keep sending those invoices out every month and add the intrest on.
sooner or later they all have payed!

I love that idea. I am probably going to do that. I will use different color paper. I used to sen the copy of a 3 part invoice as the second bill. Now, I use the printer to make all invoices.

[J&R]

I had this happen to me last year. The PITA said i just cut one time that month I tell i cut every 10 days days you owe me 120.00. She said i will give you 40.00 I tell her i will prove i cut your yard 3 times last month. I go accross the street bring my other coustmer over. he tell her i saw him cutting your yard just after he cut mine. I got my money and she had to find a new LCO.

[cos]

That's awesome, J&R. Not only did you get paid, but you humiliated her in front of her neighbor.

Way to go!!!! LOL

:blob4:

[Tharrell]

Nothing personal but, some of you are jumping through hoops. A simple door hanger that indicates what, where, when will do it. My daddy used to say, "If you think the whole world are thieves, it's because YOU are", meaning the customers questioning you when it's quite apparent that their properties were serviced. I used to spray (pest control) a finance manager for a new car dealers house. Sometimes he was late for our appointment and would give me the cockeye when I'd tell him that I'd already sprayed outside while waiting for him to show up. These people are in a class of their own and I don't give them a second thought anymore.

[Andrew S]

You said in a previous post "I'm not going to chase $40" well what would you do if 10 customers tried to do this?

thats right $400

If you are right always chase the account,especially if it is obvious that you are not going back.

and never be dis respectful it only brings you down to their level

[mr.lawnzap]

put a invoice on her door each time, put them on contracts and you wouldnt get stiffed!

[Gravely_Man]

That is a shame when it gets to this level of a lack of trust. I would go with the service checklist stuck in the door Bobby to avoid further trouble with this customer.

Gravely_Man