[bobbygedd]

as i grow, and am exposed to more clients, i am getting more and more b.s. this is one many of you have faced. "but, you werent here that week....". get this, i sent a guy a bill for 6 mows. he comes out, and hands me a check for one grasscut. he says i wasn't there the other 5 times. i freaked. i went to the truck, and showed him my record keeping. it took about 25 minutes of arguing, and i think the blood vessels protruding from my neck convinced him to pay. i got paid, retained the client. page 6 of next years contract will state:" RECORD OF SERVICE: record keeping is done in the following manner- your name and address is on our schedule sheet. when we arrive at your property, the date and arrival time is documented next to your name. we then service the property. upon completion, the departure time is then documented, and signed by both myself, and my employee. OUR RECORDS ARE ERROR PROOF. you will be required to pay for each service that you are billed for, there will be no exceptions." ok, let's hear your opinion on this one

 

[1MajorTom]

As your contract grows longer and longer, I think you should give up the idea of regular paper, pretty soon you'll be up to 11 pages.
Heres what you should use. Ever hear of scroll paper? I think your contract should be printed on scroll paper, roll it up with a rubberband, and when the customer opens it up, it will unroll and fall to their feet. Whatcha think?

 

[Rhett]

Holy smokes Bob you have more problems getting paid than anyone I have run across. Only Question I ever have is when there are 5 weeks in the billing cycle. Wife handles that by referring to the calendar. My life is soooo simple. No shovel or anything.

 

[Green-Pro]

1MajorTom

Heres what you should use. Ever hear of scroll paper?

I believe that would be called toilet paper

 

[bobbygedd]

Holy smokes Bob you have more problems getting paid than anyone I have run across. Only Question I ever have is when there are 5 weeks in the billing cycle. Wife handles that by referring to the calendar. My life is soooo simple. No shovel or anything.

you mean you have NEVER had a client dispute a bill, or a service date?

 

[DLS1]

as i grow, and am exposed to more clients, i am getting more and more b.s. this is one many of you have faced. "but, you werent here that week....". get this, i sent a guy a bill for 6 mows. he comes out, and hands me a check for one grasscut. he says i wasn't there the other 5 times. i freaked. i went to the truck, and showed him my record keeping. it took about 25 minutes of arguing, and i think the blood vessels protruding from my neck convinced him to pay. i got paid, retained the client. page 6 of next years contract will state:" RECORD OF SERVICE: record keeping is done in the following manner- your name and address is on our schedule sheet. when we arrive at your property, the date and arrival time is documented next to your name. we then service the property. upon completion, the departure time is then documented, and signed by both myself, and my employee. OUR RECORDS ARE ERROR PROOF. you will be required to pay for each service that you are billed for, there will be no exceptions." ok, let's hear your opinion on this one

Booby it is time for you to go back to being a janitor. 25 minutes of arguing to get paid. Did you stick him with a arguing surcharge.

 

[jim dailey]

you mean you have NEVER had a client dispute a bill, or a service date?

NO...In 16 years of doing this, NO, NO, NO. Not a single instance. What the HELL is the big problem down there? I don't hear the other LCO's from N.J. doing all of the squaking that you are doing. Try a different attitude and mannerism, and see if the problems go away. I will insist to the day that I die that you do not really exist. There is no landscaping business in N.J. that is run by you. There is no one that would ever work for you. Your customers are fictitious, and I really wonder about the family thing. You have quiet the fatasy life, Booby. Keep dreaming it all up. And don't forget, YOU are my idol.

 

[kh5150]

Very very little paper for us...We use Laptops in all the trucks and PDA's for the supervisors. All contracts are 1st approved by the attorney.

:cool2:

 

[bobbygedd]

NO...In 16 years of doing this, NO, NO, NO. Not a single instance. What the HELL is the big problem down there? I don't hear the other LCO's from N.J. doing all of the squaking that you are doing. Try a different attitude and mannerism, and see if the problems go away. I will insist to the day that I die that you do not really exist. There is no landscaping business in N.J. that is run by you. There is no one that would ever work for you. Your customers are fictitious, and I really wonder about the family thing. You have quiet the fatasy life, Booby. Keep dreaming it all up. And don't forget, YOU are my idol.

thank you mr dailey. so then, you don't think other lawnmen show up to a lawn that is freshly watered? you don't think other lawnmen have thier clients say "you weren't here last week?" do you read this site? or just follow mr around? i read it here all the time, they all have the same problems. i don't think they do anything about it, but, they all experience at one time or another, the same issues.

 

[Bulletproof]

Ever hear of scroll paper? I think your contract should be printed on scroll paper, roll it up with a rubberband, and when the customer opens it up, it will unroll and fall to their feet.

LMAO! Even if the customer doesn't appreciate the humor, you'll have a good time doing it!

 

[Mr. Magpie]

NO...In 16 years of doing this, NO, NO, NO. Not a single instance. What the HELL is the big problem down there? I don't hear the other LCO's from N.J. doing all of the squaking that you are doing. Try a different attitude and mannerism, and see if the problems go away. I will insist to the day that I die that you do not really exist. There is no landscaping business in N.J. that is run by you. There is no one that would ever work for you. Your customers are fictitious, and I really wonder about the family thing. You have quiet the fatasy life, Booby. Keep dreaming it all up. And don't forget, YOU are my idol.

Whoa, Jimmy. It is obvious you have had an extraordinary experience in the industry. And it is obvious everyone else's problems have been ignored by you or gone in your ear and out the other. So, I would suggest laying off this guy. *You may have a point about Bob, but it ain't this one.*

 

[yrdandgardenhandyman]

Holy smokes Bob you have more problems getting paid than anyone I have run across. Only Question I ever have is when there are 5 weeks in the billing cycle. Wife handles that by referring to the calendar. My life is soooo simple. No shovel or anything.

Me thinks his clients don't trust him. Hmmmmmmmm. Wonder why.
Fortunately he's got that shovel of persuasion to ensure they don't dump him.

But, I do agree that record keeping is very important but I see no need to put that in a contract. Once you showed you did the work, he should have believed you, judging your character of course, and payed you.

 

[yrdandgardenhandyman]

Whoa, Jimmy. It is obvious you have had an extraordinary experience in the industry. And it is obvious everyone else's problems have been ignored by you or gone in your ear and out the other. So, I would suggest laying off this guy. *You may have a point about Bob, but it ain't this one.*

Go back and read Mr. Gedds past posts then come back and defend him.

 

[C&KLawnCare]

Go back and read Mr. Gedds past posts then come back and defend him

Amen on that and i could think of a few more that falls in the same category TopSneeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzsites

 

[DUSTYCEDAR]

6 pages the office supply is gonna love u

 

[rodfather]

Personally, I would feel intimidated by someone who handed me a 6-page contract to just cut my grass...but that's just me.

 

[bobbygedd]

Personally, I would feel intimidated by someone who handed me a 6-page contract to just cut my grass...but that's just me.

i understand, but how do you adress these issues? they MUST BE adressed. the sprinkler thing for example, how do you adress that? the "you werent here" crap, how do you adress that?

 

[rodfather]

i understand, but how do you adress these issues?

Face to face is how I address them bobby.

I don't want my potential client to feel like they have to hire a Philadelphia attorney to read and understand my contract.

 

[olderthandirt]

i understand, but how do you adress these issues? they MUST BE adressed. the sprinkler thing for example, how do you adress that? the "you werent here" crap, how do you adress that?

I address them verbally when I sign a new client, I always need to know whether they have irrigation, detimines the growth rate, when and how much to fert, where to run an airetor so I don't wipe out the heads etc. And its pretty difficult to not know when they been cut. I won't mow if it does not need it, so thats never been a problem. You just need a short contract that covers your azz, including acts of god and other reasons [custmers negligents, or interuptions of the scheldule] as to why the work could not be completed, and that they are reponsable to pay if they caused the problem. Also a camara with a date imprintor on it is a great way to prove your point. only need to store the pics on your puter for a billing cycle and then you can delete them once paid.

 

[bobbygedd]

Face to face is how I address them bobby.

I don't want my potential client to feel like they have to hire a Philadelphia attorney to read and understand my contract.

the only problem with that is, it's the same as a verbal agreement, and hard to prove in court. i can't make return trips cus they had thier sprinklers on, i can't let 5 weeks of service fees slide because some nutjob thinks i wasn't there, when i was. you are correct, the long contracts are intimidating. but business on a handshake is out of the question. i have never had a hard time getting anyone to sign my 3 pagers, and there is harsh language in them like, "court appearance, collection fees, etc." so i'm not sure if adding 2-3 more pages will drive them off. there are a few ways of looking at it. #1- they may think it's good to have all basis covered, and they are dealing with a real pro. #2- it may scare them. #3- they may be bad clients, and this will weed them out right away.