Most rediculous customer request or complaint?

[Mowin4cash]

Just wondering what stories we could generate here with those things that happen every once in a while that make use pinch ourselves to make sure we aren't dreaming. I had a customer one time ask me to rake up some magnolia leaves for her. She asked me if there would be a charge, and I said, yes mam, about $25.00 or so. She said, "WHAT, my other lawn service didn't charge anything to clean up under that tree". Needless to say, I did do the leaves and she did pay the extra. I kinda thought, "what have I got myself into". And this was after the first cut where I was too early (10:00 am), too loud, too fast, lines going the wrong way, not cut close enough, etc.

[Keith]

One time this wealthy woman (read $hit don't stink) asked my Dad how much it would cost for regular lawn service. He replied we could probably do it for around $200 a month (1/2 acre on the lake). She replied, &quot;That is out of the question. I was thinking you would work for about $5 an hour.&quot; LOL<br>

[Currier]

I aerated for a lady (regular weekly customer). Soil conditions were perfect. I'm proud of the great plugs the machine pulled...she comes out &quot;My lawn looks terrible. What's wrong with it?&quot; Things went downhill from there :)

[yardsmith]

Had an old lady call this year wanting me to give an estimate on picking up her dog's crap in the yard!<br>1st thought was where's YOUR lawn guy?<br>I didn't want it, so wife's wheels started spinning, & after my input she did it. Wore gloves & baggies & in about 15 min. had $35. Can't beat that even working for GM! Easiest $$ she ever made, & never actually touched it.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[thelawnguy]

There is a company in our area which picks up dog doo they charge $9.50 for 1 day a week for the first dog 4.50 for each additional dog, any customer with a dog now gets the business card of this service. I dont do doo.<p>Bill

[MOW ED]

Funny this came up, a customer was in his garage when I pulled up 2 days ago and said that my string trimmer was putting oil spots on his siding. He said he washed it last week and it is back. I asked him to show me.<br>When I looked I found many little spots where he showed me along with many others all over his siding in places I never trim around. After explaining that my trimmer exhaust points AWAY from his house to start with I proceeded to explain that this is Spider ****. He was dumbfounded and it took alot for me not to have him mow his own lawn.

[Stinger]

Had a customer ask me to mow her lawn at three inches tall and therefore I did. Upon finishing the lawn she comes outside with a ruler and proceeds to measure the height of the grass. Needless to say I don't work for her anymore.<br>Got another one whose favorite warning to my crew is &quot;we're not at war with the grass&quot;!<br>She exclaims this whenever we accidentally hit a bump with the mower and scalp the grass. Last winter installed a lawn dressing soil mix to level out those bumps. Sometimes my guys still laugh when recalling her favorite comment.

[lawnMaster5000]

I have several customers who request bagging. This is crazy. Then a few weeks ago i got a call from a lady that was looking for a new company. She demanded that her lawn be mowed (bag)(very hilly) on friday of every week, no exeptions. I bid high and get the job so its worth the money. Then she inform me that i can not be there after 4:30pm. Its dinner time and cant be disturbed. the next week i come at about 9 am. Needless to say i have a Voicemail waiting when i get in the truck b*&ching me out for mowing too early and waking her family. She doesnt want me there untill after 10:30. It turn out that she wants me to b at her house every Friday between 10:30 am and 4:30pm. This is bull sh!t.

[Guido]

I had my best paying customer, a rich little out lady, ask me one afternoon to change the spikes out of her golf cleats. At first I told her I couldn't, but after she kind of whined and begged, and offered me $50 to do so, I was sitting on her front stoop changing the spikes out!! I really didn't want to sit there and do it because the shoes were probobly 25 years old at least, and I even explained to her its cheaper buying a new pair. But you know the elderly and change are like oil and water!! Anyway, I made $50 in about 20 minutes.<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://communities.msn.com/guidosequipmentpics/&quot;&gt;&quot;Guido&quot;&lt;/a&gt;<br>David M. Famiglietti

[bill phagan]

A few things to consider on the above issues......<p>1. Put it in writing, have them sign.<br>2. Educate your customers and set the precedent up front. Explain why they shouldn't do it and have them relieve you of any liability associated with this ridiculous request.<br>3. Is picking up &quot;Scooter's&quot; poop a profession? Gees, I think we have enough image problems already.<p>Bill Phagan<br>Green Ind Consulting, Inc.<br>bphagan@tampabay.rr.com

[TurfMan]

We have a customer that likes her bahia grass cut real short, when they were away on vacation she ask me if i could dump in the clorine in her pool every week when we came to cut her lawn. So every week for 3 weeks we added her clorine, When she came home she said that her grass wasn't cut the whole time she was gone, She stated that we came and dump the clorine in her pool the day before she arrived home. I explained that we were there every Tuesday and we dumped one bottler per week. then we started to cut her grass, After we were done this lady came out of her house and laid her head down on the grass and pointed to the blades that mower did not cut. I sent a man out with a weed eater and he followed her around clipping off these blades of grass. After it was all said and done, She then requested that we re cut it shorter yet. I lowered the mower as far down as it would go and i started SCALPING. She loved it, Said that was perfect and that is how she wants it cut every week. I sent her a letter with her bill telling her that at the beginning of Aug her account was being raised 20 a month due to the modifacations we had to make to our mower to cut it so short. I am Waiting for her call to Cancel Service. Say A Prayer for me that she calls.

[greenlawncare]

cut her on monday morning at 8am. She'll call then!

[Twotoros]

Had a lady come out as I started work and wanted it cut short . &quot; I can't even see my hoses it is so long .&quot; she says. I mowed it at 2&quot; usually but now had to scalp it . Apparently she needed to see the hoses while seated in her easy chair.

[Charles]

I got a customer who dances on her front porch swating a who knows what. Tells me that the spirits come visit her alot. Says she is in the spirit world. Ask me to take her to the store(I refuse). Of course most of this stops when she gets back on her medications :)

[bill phagan]

WOULD THOSE SPIRITS BE THE JACK DANIELS OR SMIRNOFF VARIETY?

[dhenegar]

I once had a customer come out and complain about leaving grass clipping in the road outside of her house. This was a side street that had minimal traffic. Found out the only place the grass was coming from was from a few blades on my tires. I took a blower and just blew it down the street. Needless to say I don't cut her grass anymore.

[eslawns]

I don't agree with using contracts, so I don't do it. But, I did make up a flyer to tell new clients what we will and won't do. <br>For example:<p>We do NOT...<p>bag clippings. Ever.<br>weed or trim inside beds. Ever<br>mow trash.<br>normally schedule for a particular time. <br>clean gutters.<br>clean up behind pets or children.<br>do anything with or to a pool.<br>pick up cigarette butts or gum.<p>We DO...<p>work FOR our clients.<br>cut every week, weather permitting.<br>provide service which is second to none. <br>provide a detailed invoice, if requested.<br>notify property managers of our arrival.<br>have uniformed crews. <br>want clients to be completely satisfied.<p>There are other thing, but that's the idea. If you are asked to do something you don't want to do, politely say &quot;No.&quot; I realize I'm a little bit picky, but I didn't start my own business so I could put up with more BS. It took a while to get to a point where I felt as though I could tell someone no, but I say it all the time. Life is GOOD! :)

[jaclawn]

Drive me to the store. (little old lady)<br>Install a new fence.<br>Repair rust holes on my car.<br>&quot;Eridicate the vermin livin' under ma porch&quot;<br>Strip the wallpaper from my bathroom.<br>Help me install new siding on my house.<br>Help me install a new kitchen in my house.<br>Teach me how to use this new fangled computer.<br>Clean out my rafters.<br>Move me. &quot;You have all those trucks and trailers that just sit all day.&quot;<br>Move a piano.<br>Tow my boat.<br>Install a new swing set.<br>Assemble my new $29.99 drop spreader.<br>Paint.<br>Look at my air conditioner.<br>Buy me trees and shrubs, cause you can get them real cheap.<br>Call my old lawn service and tell them that their services are no longer needed. (Not kidding)<br>Tear out and haul away my furnace, the HVAC co wants $100 to do it.<br>Take my friend out on a date. (I think this one was a joke)<br>Bury my dead rabbit.<br>Carry my books upstairs.(This guy had a library)<br>Take this old paneling in exchange for one grass cutting. I told her &quot;ma'am, I will have to pay to dispose of that.&quot; She said that she thought I could sell it for about what I charged to cut her lawn.<br>Put my sink back on the wall, it fell off.<br>Customer- What direction are you headed after you leave this neighborhood?<br>Me- Twords XXXX<br>Customer- Could you drop this stuff off at the dry cleaners?<br>Next time you are on your way over, stop at the lumber yard with your truck and pick up all the material I need for the deck I am building.<br>A customer that was cut religiously on Mondays calls on a Sat. night at 9pm, asking me to come first thing tommorow morning. I asked why, and he said that they were having a party on Sun, and that I should have known about it. OOPS, I forgot to call my physic.<br>Don't cut after 5pm.<br>Don't cut on weekends.<br>Don't park your truck in my driveway, you will cause my cement to crack.<br>While you have got the trimmer in your hand, cut that stuff down, pointing to a patch of weeds, 4' high, 150' long, and about 10'wide. It'll only take you a few minutes.<br>Wash my car.<br>Take me to the nursery to pick out flowers.<br>Haul my scrap aluminium siding to the scrap yard. (I made out like a bandit on this one, I agreed to do it for half of the scrap value, not really knowing how much was there. I ended up getting $250 for about 2 hours work.)<br>Bring me any left over landscaping materials that you ever have. (for free)<br>Let my son help you so he can learn how to do things.<br>Only cut every three weeks, I'll do it the first, my son will do it the second, and you can do it every third.<br>Use my Craftsman tractor, it cuts better.<br>Assemble my hammock.<br>Water my flowers every other day while we are on vacation.<br>Let me borrow your trimmer, I have some property I need to clear.<br>Clean out my garage.<p>That is about all I can think of off the top of my head. 11 years of dealing with brain dead people sure do give you more to laugh at than any Chevy Chase movie. I know that there are more, I just can't recall them. If I had written them all down, I could write a book and retire.<p>For the record, I passed on nearly all of the above offers. There were only a few that I actually did.

[Charles]

Jaclawn, looks like we have had some of the same customers lol. It would be funny, if the customer didn't get pissed and act like you hurt their feelings if you don't do this stuff for them.

[Grasshopper]

Mine is similar to Keith's above. A couple weeks ago, I went out to do this estimate. I told the guy 25.00, and told him what it all included (just your everday typical estimate)<br>The guy asked me about how long it would take me to mow it. I told him about 20-30 minutes (by myself). He then says, &quot;Well, that comes out to be a lot more that 5.15 an hour!&quot;. Now come on. That's the stupidestthing I've ever heard. I can't bealive people actually think we would work for minimum wage. I wouldn't even pay employees minimum wage. I'm sure as hell not gonna to be out there sweating my ass off, tearing up my truck and all my thousands of dollars worth of equipment if I'm not going to make at least $50 bucks an hour. Some people are really weird.

[Keith]

My dad had an Indian (not the American type) ask if he could just borrow our equipment. He said no problem, just give me the keys to your convenience store. Goofball.<p>Had a &quot;burnout&quot;, who was shacked of with one of our regular customers, come out and say this: (read in stoner voice) &quot;Hey dude. I think you sprayed my pot plant with that weed killer stuff. I planted a new one, let me show you where it's at.&quot; :)<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Keith

[jaclawn]

More:<br>Watch my kids while I run to the store.<br>Hook your truck to that stump and &quot;pull 'er out&quot;<br>Burn that pile of rubbish in the back yard.<br>Dump my lawn debris in the woods that is not my property.<br>Cut my lawn every week during the worst drought in 60 years. (Non irrigated)<br>Cut my lawn for free one time, and I'll make you a copy of a software program.<br>Don't trim, I like the ragged look.<br>Get my mail.<br>Give me a price quote over the phone, without ever seeing my lawn. I love these, I then ask what they do for a living, and ask for a price on whatever they do. Or, if they say &quot;give me a ballpark&quot; I reply &quot; Wrigley field&quot;.<br>Bill this work at my house to my company address.<br>My lawn only needs cut every three weeks.<br>Don't cut my lawn today, ChemLawn was here three days ago.<br>Only cut the back yard every other time, no one can see back there anyway.<br>Don't put your snowplow all the way down, I don't want my pavement scraped.<br>Biggest lie ever told- We pay our bills the day we recieve them.<br>And, the number one Most rediculous customer request or complaint:<br>Clean my gutters!!! <p>Just kidding on the last one guys, no flames please.

[Stinger]

Amen to that!

[Bassman]

Had a Jamaican lady tell me her most important things in life were GOD and her lawn. Wanted hers cut for $18 every 10 days cause she's on a fixed income. I'm just 3 weeks new full timer and not wanting to turn any work away took the job. She raced around the house looking at every minute I was mowing. Waved her arms and had me shut down my mower at least half a dozen times to point out things she wanted done just so. I spent an hour at what should have been a 20 minute job. I was so angry that I almost had a stroke as I was late for a job that payed me $150 for 3 hours work. Told her she just received $40 worth of work for $18, she said, &quot;Now you don't need to talk to me that way&quot;. When I was leaving a neighbor approached and warned that she is not right in the head and goes through lawn service guys like sh*t thru a goose. Needless to say, I won't be doing her lawn again.<br>Bassman

[yardsmith]

Just remembered another one-<br>Had a new customer this spring that looked like her beehive got a liitle too close to the gas stove (chemo treatment look).<br>Came for the orig. bid, & she told us &quot;I never walk on my grass, only to mow it. I spose I can walk around to look at it with you for the estimate&quot; I'm already thinking<br>'psycho!'. My 4 yr. old son scooped a pc. of thatch in his hand, & &quot;OHH HONEY DON&quot;T TOUCH THAT, PUT THAT BACK! I told her it was thatch & she denied having ANY thatch in her lawn-yeah right there was about 20% of the yard was thatch. Anyways, we come out & it just quit raining. Had to explain would be too long by next week, so we would mow it & clean up any clippings. Needless to say she rubbernecked the whole time we were there. I should've packed up & left halfway thru just to torque her off. Then pissed & moaned 'I don't want any clippings in my flower beds, blah blah blah.' Needless to say that was the 1st & last time we did that nut case.<br>Oh yeah, also forgot the whole time we were there for the bid, she was farting out loud right in front of us. Multiple times. <br>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<p><p><font size="1">Edited by: yardsmith

[mykee]

While I have had y share of nuts I thought I would pass along a couple of good customer stories. 1. I finish cutting first time for a little old lady who had a man friend doing the work up till me who was 90 and she was afraid he was going to stroke out. She brought me my check along with 3 old (but fairly current) Newsweek magazines along with a couple other magazines and for a topper a piece of fresh iced angel food cake wrapped up in tin foil. 2. on a particullarily shitty hedge and brush trimming job including poison ivy on a day around 90 degrees wearing long sleeve shirt etc to prevent the poison ivy when done she asks what did we agree to for today and I reminded her it was $75 she looks at me sweating my a-- off and says I dont think you knew quite what you were getting into so I'll just give you $100. cant beat that with a stick.........

[Toddppm]

This is a recent one , try to forget the rest. Went to look at a tree removal other day, large oak close to the house, bottom of hill in back yard. Haul everything. Took a walk around the tree then looked at the ways to get up the hill, told him $1300. (He's carrying notes)Him: Well i have it figured at $559, 3 guys at $8/hr, accounting for ins,Blah, Blah, Blah.. I said good luck, see you later.

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

Most rediculous request was &quot;can you cut my bushes half off the top and half off the back. As for a complaint I gave a customer a spec sheet with prices details of service and dead line. I did a high grass cut and spring clean up. Told her the price for both again she said I forget I think I left the paper in the house. Needless to say when she got that bill she called me up asking &quot;what kind of business are you ruinning? I'm not paying!!! You didn't do this and you didn't do that. I'm not a rich person!!! I went to her house with the spec sheet and she even showed me hers and the bill. She showed herself who the $#%@#$ was. Everything is always spelled out it has to be!!! ;)<br>Travis AG&G Lawn Maintenance &quot;Where quality and reliable service counts&quot;

[jaclawn]

Tell me what kind of chemicals you would put on this lawn so that I can buy them and put them on myself. I can't remember if it was urea or Glyhposate.

[lawndog]

Had this gal tell me how wonderful I was taking care
of the place but I wasn't mowing short enough.I calmly
inform her that i was mowing as short as I could with all
the swells and dips in the lawn.Then she asks if i could
keep it green without it growing,and this gal is a lawyer.

Then there is the drunk guy who never remembers my name
(but does pay his bill on time) even though he talks to
me each time I'm there,and thinks I know about everything
because he wants to know what I think about, yada......

NO I DO NOT CLEAN OUT GUTTERS.I'm a landscaper not a maid.

[Evrgreen]

No one said the classic"Youre xxx is already paid for,you can't charge for what you already have.Answer,It was never free.buy your own.
I told them you would do it for &7.00 an hour
XWoods said you work for $6.00 an hour-with own equipmenpment.
Use "Their weedeater to cut entire large overgrown yard without my mower to save money.
You said you would fixt the car-Meaning unspecified,hidden damage not included in the original estimate.Note Midas has a very clearly worded contract for people like that.
I (They) can't afford a fair price.Answer"I can't afford to bother,nor will they work for half price or give me free favors.
They say"You don't want to overprice yourself..no,I decide what I want.
Finally,He insisted I couldent take more that X hours,so I told hime I would stop in X hours no matter.I then got my price and time from him.
Most of this is from a so call PHD geologist and his neighbor.

[lawnboy82]

not bad, not bad at all. i think though that my strange requests however are gonna blow all of yours away.
in order of increasing insanity:


1) repossess lawn mower from dead beat customer












2) take 8 live chickens to be slaughtered and then bring us back the meat







and last, but not least...










3) run some guy's wife through a wood chipper
no i did not make any of this stuff up.
first one i tried to do without sucess..
second one i did
third one i passed on for some reason, i wonder why?

[Fine Lines Lawn]

:blob3:
Gentlemen, that was enjoyable reading...
Thanks for the laughter

[Russ]

Neighbor at a house I mow stops me and wants me to water my customers grass before I mow to stop the gass clippings from blowing (she has clothes on the line. Her house and the one I mowing will go for 250K there is a privacy fence between the two houses and she tells me she washes 6 days a week so she wont have to use the dryer. I ask her if she waters before she mows? She tells me her son used to before he moved out. I know her son hes 45. I think I may have moved our sooner.

[KD'sLawns]

Yeah, there are plenty of weirdos out there. I really only have one customer that I do other things for. But, I would do just about anything she wants. I never tell her a price, she tells me and it is usually double what I would do it for. I mow for her every Fri. Two small properties with a 21" that takes me an hour and a half. She pays me 60 bucks a week. Since the beginning of this year, she has paid me 100 bucks a week. Thats a forty dollar tip every week. Like I said, I make it my priority to take care of her.

[awm]

as some know my buisiness target is elderly an disabled.
some things i do for them are silly but it puts there mind at ease.
ive got a couple that fire me every wk. but i know they will
have forgotten by the next wk.another guy comes out and admires my new ztr every wk , hes been doing it since season began and its always (well tell me about your new mower).gotta lovum

[Freetime]

Phone call two weeks ago, “Can you come out and give an estimate to cut our grass (weeds) for about two weeks our mower is broke down”

Me just out of curiosity, “what size is your property”?

Woman “oh it’s about an acre and a half”

m“What size mower do you have?” w “ A 21” wal-mart whatever” yes this was her answer!!

In the same breath she ask, “Do ya’ll fix lawn mowers” I just could not help but laugh.

I laugh every time I think about the call, maybe I should have said “Yes ma’am while one man is mowing I will be putting a short block in your mower and if I finish before my guy does we will only charge half price that way you can save enough to buy a
22” wal-mart mower in cause they cuts faster”


Yes ma’am drain all the water out of your pool and dive right in just be careful in the deep end you might bump your head!
:dizzy:

[Holloway Lawns]

I had an older lady that asked me to change her light bulb in her dinning room she said she could not do it so I said I would well she did try to do it her self because the bulb was broken and I had to use needle nose pliers to unscrew it while doing this the chair that I was standing on well a leg broke and down I went she gripped me out for breaking the chair leg I went and got her a new chair and still changed the light. She was a customer for three years at the time and she died that winter. :angel:

[Alan]

I've got this one ditz that I'm about to cut loose from. Known her for years, she's over-educated and totally out in left field. Last year she bothered me for a half hour about bagging her overfertilized and thick lawn (they have Chemlawn do the fert routine). I told her then that I DO NOT bag! She came out yesterday and we played the same record again, along with a few choruses about the "really big" party she was having today for her 6 yr old. She never fails to annoy me, no clue about anything "real world", very definate thing about being "better" and constantly talking down to us working class bums. I also mow and plow her husbands shop facility, so quite a bit of money involved, but I dislike her so much it would be pleasant to tell her off and dump the work.

Second prize goes to the professor who insisted that we tore up his newly repaved driveway with our plows. I told him it was because his paver had paved OVER a low spot full of dirt and the water got under it and lifted it when it froze. I scoffed up the pieces with all the mud on the underside, just in case he wanted to get ugly about it. He insisted that we were gonna pay for it, never did try to fight us for it though.

[williamslawn]

Customer has me mow her neighbors yard because her leaves blow into my customers yard. Now she wants me to go accros the street and mow because she does not like the pine straw in the other neighbors yard. She pays for all these services but, she will come out and stand in front of the mower until you agree to do these things. Neighbor with leaves will not let us mow her yard anymore. Customer paid someone to cut down tree so no more leaves. Neighbor not happy. glad I did not cut down tree. She would call twice a week during winter to come pick up leaves.

[Bassman]

This may be my shortest post ever. Ditto Eslawns.

[bobbygedd]

i did a small installation for a customer the other day, he sneaked away without paying for it, i called and explained that this is not included in his monthly fee, the payment is due now. he left me the money in the gas grill, along with a note: u must remove the 2 dead trees in my yard, and patch the bare spots with top siol and seed for this money. but there was no extra, u guys have this problem? this guy seems to think if im cutting his lawn, im his slave

[Robert Pruitt]

Have an elderly couple with two dogs wanting me to do the back on thu. front on fri. dogs are getting green feet after having bath on fri. morn. just had to tell them to change the bath day, because i'm not changeing mowing day...LOL.

[Mike (MLC)]

I had this one client that was fine and dandy at first, then started to get a little weird on me. Apparently after the winter months, she started having money problems. I had been cutting her yard every 10 days. She decided that she wanted it done every 2weeks, because of her money situation. I agreed to it. I was cutting her every other Tues. Which, according to my books is every 2wks. When I showed up at her house, to cut it she complained that I was a day early. I was confused because it was Tues. Time to mow. We went round and round what 2weeks was. Her 2 weeks consisted of every 15 days. I tried to explain, the every other Tues thing, but she just though I was nuts. I know she was trying to save money, but one day wasn't going to save her anymore money. It would still somehow be twice a month. Also every 15 days would have screwed up my schedule. Wouldn't know what day she would fall on. One time Tues, next time maybe Fri. Don't have time for that. I told her that if she was going to keep arguing over one day, then maybe she didn't need a lawn service anymore. She backed down then. But, then called a week later and canceled service. Didn't bother me none. She was started to complain way too much on things. Think she was mixing to many meds together.

[Fine Lines Lawn]

:blob3:

Mike, it seems there is never enough Prozac to go around. Perhaps we should all carry a bottle in our trucks to distribute to some of our clients.

[summitgroundskeeping]

Like 2 years ago during the summer I was finishing my route as fast as possible because there was a storm rolling in.
After I get all my stuff put away and I am sitting down eating dinner, I get a phone call. It's one of my clients yelling at me, because I hit 1 stick about 4' long and it got choped into 3 piences and a plastic bag blew into her lawn.
There was a tornado watch in my county for my area during this phone call.
She wanted me to come & remove the debris in her lawn right then. Lets say I didn't renew her contract the next year.

[Skookum]

PROZAC, ZOLOFT, WELLBUTRIN, EFFEXOR, any of these could be reasons for some of these wierd behaviors and requests. My wife took these all, plus more for a two year period. They all made her act like a nut on different issues and things. It was real craziness at times. The only good one was the Wellbutrin, INCREASED SEX DRIVE like you would not believe!

I just took on a yard three weeks ago. It was eight to 12 inches tall. I mowed it and had to even rake alittle. The lady of the house, told me it looked the best it ever had! Next week she commented again on how great it looked. One week later right after the thrid cut, I get a cell phone call from the man of the house who hired me. He explained that the lady of the house called him at work just a screaming that I mowed the lawn too short. He did not have to say too much more, I could tell by his tone that she was on the meds.

[Mowin4cash]

Originally posted by Skookum
PROZAC, ZOLOFT, WELLBUTRIN, EFFEXOR, any of these could be reasons for some of these wierd behaviors and requests. My wife took these all, plus more for a two year period. They all made her act like a nut on different issues and things. It was real craziness at times. The only good one was the Wellbutrin, INCREASED SEX DRIVE like you would not believe!

I just took on a yard three weeks ago. It was eight to 12 inches tall. I mowed it and had to even rake alittle. The lady of the house, told me it looked the best it ever had! Next week she commented again on how great it looked. One week later right after the thrid cut, I get a cell phone call from the man of the house who hired me. He explained that the lady of the house called him at work just a screaming that I mowed the lawn too short. He did not have to say too much more, I could tell by his tone that she was on the meds.


Got any of that Wellbutrin left. I'll pay good money! :blob3:

[Premo Services]

a few years ago I picked up a new customer on a referral and the day that I set to cut the lawn was thurs. I get a page and it is customers wife asking me to come on saturday because the husband cut the grass on wed,I thought no way n sat. and told her I would be there on monday. I get there on monday and the grass has been mowed that morn. I called them and said we really need to find a day so I can cut the lawn, if they even want me to cut it. We decided on thursday,which was 3 days away and guess what he had cut it before I got there.I knocked on the door and tried to settle this misunderstanding .He said he was sorry and I could cut it on friday, i came there expecting to see it cut but to my suprise he actualy let it grow for 4 days. I did the first cut and we talked how much better my stripes looked than his circles, and we agreed that I would do it on thursday. i came there expecting to cut it on thurs.,but guess what he had cut it on wed, just couldn`t wait for me to come and cut it. I was freaking out,knocked on hs door and he said he couldn`t wait but asked if I could cut it anyway because my straight lines looked better than his circles from the crapsman. I said I would cut and make the lines but the chargewould be what we agreed on. From that day on he has let me do the cutting.The first year I took this business it got dry as he!! in july and all the lawns burnt so I didn`t cut the lawn, well this customer calls and asked if i could come on sat and cut it because they liked to see the stripes. I had to cut it on sat. A few weeks later I decided not to do the cut on friday because it had not grown, it was still brown and they paged me on sat morn and asked if i could come and cut it . This was the last sat cut i was going to do, so I decided to cut the grass,dirt when I came on fridays, that was 6 years ago still cut every week and they are soo happy, so am I because we all know how much quicker you can cut stripes in grass that is not growing.

[swn]

Mow money, sounds like that is a good problem! It seems as though everytime I turn around someone is wanting me to mow every 10 days, 12 days, or 2 weeks.
I had a customer tell me the other day that their nephew, who is out of college for the summer, was going to start mowing. This was the third year I would be mowing for them. When I started their lawn was not in very good shape and now I (and they) think it looks great. Anyway, they told me this and then said that I could start back when he goes back to school in August. The sad thing is I will probably start doing mowing it then. I think I will sit by the phone Aug. 1 and wait their until they call.

[Albemarle Lawn]

One insisted me and a helper come in and drink at 1:00 pm on Tuesdays.

Kept asking each time. Got annoying.

KB

[bobbygedd]

k b, and thats not good?

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by greenlawncare
cut her on monday morning at 8am. She'll call then!

TurfMan forget 8am. get there as the sun comes up

LGF:blob1:

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Last week one of my guys got asked to change a light bulb for a fairly attractive lady and got raped. (He is 17yrs old)

Can you mulch my yard? It takes 2 yards and the guy who did it before did it for $40. Yea right wanted triple ground and that was just the cost of materials. Charged him $120

Can you mow my lawn every 2 weeks and fertilize it every 2 weeks. NOT

Can you put a new mailbox in for me?

Can you not park in front of my house?

Do you guy’s cut grass? (We are talking next to truck with mowers on it)

Can you pick my boat up at the Lake of the Ozarks and bring back to St. Louis for me. Here are the keys to the boat and house and a credit card for gas, Turns out to be a 39’ Baja and a nice weekend vacation on their credit card.

Do you guys put on new roofs

Can you watch my dog for a week while we’re on vacation?

Can you cut my grass higher (we were mowing at 4” already)?

Can you mow my lawn with my mower? I don’t want to get Lawn Aids ($50 for 20 min. of work)

Do you want this TV? It wont fit in any rooms in my house. (61” TV and was FREE but broke a year later)

I can’t figure out why my weeds are dead and I keep getting these dead spots in my lawn. (He was using Finaly to kill his weeds)

Do you guy’s paint?

You guy's want a beer? (He had a whole keg for us to drink. Beer rep)

That was a few off the top of my head. But have heard most of what the others said.

LGF

[LAWNGODFATHER]

You guy’s go too fast. You can’t be doing a good job

Those mowers are too big for my lawn. Do you have anything smaller? (A 62K s/ft lawn if they want a push mower they can do it them selves)

I wan my lawn to look like theirs. (over $2,000 and they let me do it)

Want some of this Joint? HELL NO!!!

LGF:blob1:

[Premo Services]

I am glad this came back up. This just happened the other day.
I mow 4 next to each other and the lady of one that I don`t do(Icancelled her for late or not paying her invoices) comes up to me and says" would you be so kind as to blow the gutter along the street and blow the grass out of the trees for me", the lawn guy I have don`t do this.

[chuck bow]

This is got to be one of the best threads yet.Its amazing how stupid people really are,sometimes i dont know how we put up with all the crap we take.Must be the money we make , and people wonder why we charge so much .

[ShortCuts]

:angry:

"Can you make sure you mow around the buttercups"

[Fine Lines Lawn]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
[
Can you pick my boat up at the Lake of the Ozarks and bring back to St. Louis for me. Here are the keys to the boat and house and a credit card for gas, Turns out to be a 39’ Baja and a nice weekend vacation on their credit card.

LGF [/B]

I'll take that request anytime :)

[yardboyltd]

Beggining of this season I had an agreement to mow a newer gas station. $25 for a 40min. job I mowed it two times and showed up for the third and it was already mowed. Hmmmm. I go talk to the manager who told me the kid who mowed it last year mowed it w/o permission, but the clerk paid him because she doesn't know who mows it. Fine, I'll let it slide. I mow it the next time and then I begin to mow the managers yard. The next time I go to the station I'm mowing and this lady comes walking up and starts bi***ing at me about her son is suppose to mow it and has it contracted. She then tells me I'm suppose to present ID before mowing. (Prozac?) I'm thinking okay something is up. I go in and talk to the store clerk to see if they know what is going on. She said something about sharing the mowing duty. I call up the manager and tell him and he says no I'm the only one to mow it.
Next time I show up to mow it's mowed. I've had enough and call the manager and says [B]"Well they're was a mistake on who was suppose to mow the yard so the district manager said the only fair way is for you to mow one week and the other person the other week."[/B}]

Yea Right, this guy just can't say no to anyone and was trying to please both of us and was lying. I stopped mowing the gas station and his yard. Got 3 more yards the next day.

Just yesterday I drove by the gas station and looked like it hadn't been mowed for a few weeks and trimmed the curb for a few months!!

[awm]

in some of the situations mentioned ,the folks are just getting to the point that they are limited mentally. ive got one that fires me about once a month. i know better than to not show up.
last week she met me at the door with a piece of paper.
she had called the ag agent to see if i was in danger mowing at 1 oclock. he also confirmed that it was good to cut the grass at 31/2 inches. so i had been a good boy. ill keep her until some of her family step in. this lady is the caregiver for her older sister beleive it or not. it is a little funny sometimes.later tm

[SLS]

I had one who fired me each time I showed up to mow.

She was very old and lived alone. Her son saw me mowing a lawn just down the street from her house and asked me about mowing hers. We went and looked it over, agreed on a price and schedule, etc.

Every time I showed up she came out and sat on the porch and stared at me for a while and then would walk out into the yard and stand in front of my mower.

Then she would say: "This is the last time you'll be mowing my lawn...my son is going to take care of it from now on". I would reply: "Yes mam" and she would go back to the porch and continue staring.

I called her son the first time this happened and he told me not to worry about it. She had Altzheimers (sp?) and could not remember from one minute to the next.

Every time afterwards I would tell her: "It's OK, I'm doing this for Raymond (her son)" and she would nod approvingly and go back inside. It was unnerving to have this happen each time I cut that lawn though.

Sadly, she passed away this winter but her son still has the house and I still mow it for him until he sells it. I kinda miss having to stop and tell her: "It's OK, Raymond sent me".

I pray that when (or if) I get to be a senior citizen I don't lose my mind like that.

[SLS]

On a lighter, zanier note:

I did have one customer who installed an above-ground pool and had quite a pile of dirt and rock around the area where the pool was put in.

He requested that I take my 60"Lazer and pretend that it was a bulldozer...using the deck to level and grade the pile around the pool! :eek:

What a nut! :D

[vipermanz]

"Can you just trim around the fence only, I'll mow it instead of you"


Let's just say she no longer uses me..

[ronslawncare]

check out these
1.how about we do the work together for a cheaper price.
2.i just want the lawn cut nothing else no weedwacking ,edgeing leave the grass on my driveway thats ok.
3.while your at it can u pick up all my leaves.
4.take my trash out for me to curb or which i usually do most of the time pull my cans in and put them in the back .
5.i have a lady who trys to make me use her hedge cutter each time she says it gets a smoother cut then my echo i said cant be responsible if breaks sorry like the 5th time asking give up already themy come out perfect her husband says.

[Charles]

I have a woman who fires me at least once a year. Usually at the beginning of the season. Then calls me and begs me to come back.
She almost went to far when she poked me in the chest this spring and told me if I cut her grass that day she was going to call the police and have me arrested LOL. I been doing her yard for many years and her son is very nice and says pay her no attention and that she runs him off when he comes to visit sometimes. She pays good and that is a big requirement for me. Kinda of entertaining when she is caught up in the spirit world and is dancing on the front porch. Usually then you know she is off her meds :)

[CLM1103]

I have a customer that wants her yard cut 52 times a year. I have cut it inthe winter with heavy frost on the ground and all you can see are the wheel tracks because the blades dont touch the grass from the last cut. As long as she sees the mower go over her yard she is happy and does'nt mind paying for it.

I also had a customer call last Christmas and ask if I would wrap Christmas lights and garland around her mailbox post. When I went to look, she told me that she never paid anyone over $10.00 per hour to do anything. I agreed, put the garland and lights on her post in about 20 minutes. She came out and told me I did excellent work and gave me a $100.00 bill. Two days later she called me and wanted me to do her neighbors mailbox post because they were out of town and did not decorate. I did it in about 15 minutes and she gave me another $100.00. I can't wait for next Christmas!!

[Eric ELM]

I had a woman call and tell me that I must not of fertilized very good up by the front of her house since their is no grass growing there yet. Duh, up by the front it is all shade and there is no grass growing because of the shade and like fertilizer will make grass appear in dirt without seed. It took some tree trimming, seed and tlc, but there is grass there now. :)

[1MajorTom]

Can you dig a hole so I can bury my cat?

Can you take away this dead rabbit?

Can you fix my screen door?

Can you take away this grass that is piled up in my back yard. My previous lawn company dumped it back there and I want it gone. (We actually did this one the beginning of this season in March). We could not believe the composting grass that was back there. I wish I had it on video camera. We charged her dearly for this, but she was thrilled to pay. We had to make two heaping truckloads to get it out of there. We laughed all the way to our dumping site imagining what other people probably thought of us. I mean all that grass in the middle of March? People had to be wondering where it all came from.
That's ok, it was really worth it for us to do that. She has turned in to a wonderful account.

I'm sure there are probably many more examples I could think of if I put my mind to it, but my brain is tired. :)

[BeerBefore12]

we have alittle old lady that drives to the convienience store at 8 in the morning and gets a case of bud for herself and a case for me and stevo. we came back one afternoon to finish some duties and her and her beloved friend had that mother polished off and was wondering if we still had ours in the cooler. we went to get them another case. these gals were nearing 60 years old. I lovem both.
another man, a retired accountant is so anal he wants us to trim thejohnson weeds down to soil everytime but doesnt believe in scotts trf 2 w/ weed control. hmmmm

[taz72373]

It is strange the things we are asked to do. We are lawn care and/or landscape componies not lawn care and what ever you want me to do service. If we could put up signs with out hurting our bussiness that say you want your house remodeled hire a carpenter. want a pool hire a pool person we mow grass and thats it. Any one that takes the time to clean there pool or watch the kids or any thing else that is not related to lawn care or landscaping is a fool for going to far with it.

Please read the Posting Guidelines

Edited by Eric ELM

[a1 lawncare]

had a elderly man ask me what i would charge him, he said it was to high, he asked what if he helped, i told him i still had a min. just for hauling the equipment. then the crazy old coot ask if i'll rent him a mower as his was down because he had run over a brick, you know i ran a mower rite over. hehehehe.

babysit
clean pool
fix car
paint

you name it someone will ask

things are more like right now than they've ever been

keith

[crazygator]

I had this really nice older couple tell me they were going on vacation for a while and asked if I would mind coming by and picking up their paper and mail each day. Of course I said yes. Well they are my Mom and Dad...... LOL

[65hoss]

I was told that if I worked without my shirt her and some others who were neglected by their husbands would sit around watching me. Don't you hate being a sex object? haha.

Hey, I heard you know a lot about cars, can you ...?

Do you mow lawns? (Mowers on the trailer right beside them)

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Gave a crazy lady an estitmate for lawncare. She agreed to my price and asked if it was okay to pay cash!!!

[vipermanz]

Originally posted by LAWNS AND MOWER
Gave a crazy lady an estitmate for lawncare. She agreed to my price and asked if it was okay to pay cash!!!

Crazy Ladies Totally Reek Of Awesomeness!!!!!

[Got Grass?]

So far this season:

Disabled man (bad legs) stoped me at the gas station asked me to give him estimate, follow him to house to find 3ft high grass in standing water. about 3 acres. Tell him "my mower wont be able to cut it that high". He askes if I could "work for a little while on it and only cut it this time". I tell him "I will work for $75 hr." He tells me "ok 2hrs then". I raised the deck completly and head in. Going full speed I knocked most of it down, Grass wasnt thick at all and was pretty level terain. Left tire marks every where. after 1:45 he tells me "thats good enough, you did a great job" and hands me a check. I ran right to the bank. Then home to change blades. Proved to myself my 52' Lesco 19kaw was a good buy.

Other people:
"Can you caulk this window the pest people told me ants are getting in there?" 2nd floor bathroom wondow.

"Can you flush my guters out with a hose?"

"Do you do painting becasue my bathroom keeps peeling?"

"Can you come give me an estimate?" "Sure where do you live and what do you need done?" "I need my vaulted celing replaced" "Sorry I only do lawn and landscape maint." "Oh but the sign on your truck said celing repair" "No mamm it dosn't"

"Do you do weekly bush trimming?"

"Can you come blow my driveway off, were moving and I dont want to get anything dirty?"

"Can you blow off the driveway, get in the cracks, I dont want to soil my luggage"

"Can you feed my cat while were away this week when your in the area?" I agreed to this one as thay have no family in the area and are right down the road. Thay both had major surgery this year.

"Can you cut my lawn? I pay $10 hr"

[TruGreenDedLawn]

Do my new boobs feel real. It happens more than you think
Can you come back later we have to finish making our movie
What do you think of my new swimsuit
Can you clean the pool for me

I have one person that fires me very time I cut but can't remember 10 min. later. They say " you don't cut low enough" they want it scalped every time I mow it.

Can you come around 3:00pm every week so I don't have to hear the mowers when you cut. Yea right takes 3hrs just to do your lawn alone. 7 acre estate

Can you trim my bushes like in the movie Edward Scissor Hands.
Yea right trim new 1 to 2 foot tall bushes into shapes right.

Can you come on Sunday when no one is home
Can you help gardener with the lawn. He is getting to old. Yea I'll jack up the price too

My most favorite. Do you have to come once a week to cut. you do such a nice job but my lawn doesn't look like it needs to be mowed once a week. I have to tripple cut it and blow on 4" every time I mow it to get it to look like that and they water the hell out of it. Heck I only put down one fert. app on it too. and the rest are Iron apps to keep it real green.

Can you cut it shorter it looks to shaggy after a couple of days. I'm cutting on 3" already you want lower you will see a brown lawn. and mowing it ever week

[kutnkru]

Some friends of ours just bought their first home.

CarolAnn asks "You know those lines you guys put down on the lawns?"

I replied "Yes."

CarolAnn asks "Can I pay you to put those down at our house once a month - I'll pay top dollar for it."

I replied "But that happens when we cut."

CarolAnn says "No, no. I dont want you to cut the lawn - thats Harry's job. I would just like you to put the lines down once a month. You take checks?"

[wrestlingcoach]

need to restart thread

old weird english professor asked us not to mow over the wild flowers, mow around each individual flower that are growing here and there in the middle of the lawn

[impactlandscaping]

I had a lady call once for service at a home for sale. She wasn't happy about the price, but agreed to it. I told her I'd send someone over in the next day or two. We get there, and she proceeds to tell me " your boss wants too much money to mow this lawn. I'll pay you guys half if you want to come back and do it later"..I look at her and say" Sure that will be great, just call the boss and tell him you changed your mind." She then calls my cell phone, on my hip, right in front of her, I smiled when I answered it, & she was instantly sick looking. Part of the reason I hate dealing with realtors........

[bladeheart]

Got a call in June for a little old lady that needed her yard mowed. She casually said that her lawn mowing service just quit one day.... Oh I wish I would have ran when I could have. Red flags were up and I was obviously in another world. sigh.
--ryan