[General Grounds]

:blob3: have a customer that purchased a second home for resale and the home is a good 2 months away from resale, she signs up for clean-up and mulch about 5 days ago and i tell her i scheduled her for the 9th, at that time wasnt a problem, get a call today saying if i cant do it she find someone else, not sure where the commnication breakdown came, but i seem to be running into many people who seem to think that im on the beach drinkin beers, anyone else see this also, tony


is it december yet??

 

[Mr Lucky]

All the time.... some people think that if they ask me while I am at their neighbors house, I am just supposed to come right over and knock it out right then.
I also have an older customer that will call me and expect me to just come right over at that very moment. When I get there she has about 5 or 6 other things around her house that she wants me to "just look at for her". I have tried to explain that I have a very tight schedule, but she sort of treats me like a school kid doing this after class in the afternoon.
Matter of fact she called me friday afternoon and wanted me to come right over. I told her I would try to get it saturday....well it rained yesterday...maybe monday

 

[bobbygedd]

o yea, alot like that, they want it yesterday

 

[bobbygedd]

o yea, alot like that, they want it yesterday

 

[bobbygedd]

o yea, alot like that, they want it yesterday

 

[crawdad]

bobby, you're stuttering.

Hey, General Grounds, you've only got one customer, and you spend your days waiting for her call, right? Yeah, right.

That's what a lot of them think. It's taken a while, but I've thinned out the ones who call after three days of rain, and say, "It's stopped raining, you can come over now." When it should've been mowed a week ago, but they want to wait, as it "doesn't look bad yet.":nono:
Crawdad

 

[Swampbeast]

I have found that by keeping it on a VERY business like manner, letting them know up front that I dont give a crap about them and thier family, I dont even know the vast majority of my accounts by name, I just assign a number to them and thats how we all remember them. I just want their yard to look good and for thier money to be in my pocket, it USUALLY keeps them from getting to picky and to demanding. I also hand out a paper on the first day we mow, saying basically what will happen if it rains, if a natural disaster hits, and it specifically says that if it rains for several days straight and we cant mow, they will be shoved back as long as it takes until we are back on schedule.
Now, I did say this usually works. It doesnt for two different types of people. The first type is my really old customers, the ones I have had since I was 12 mowing yards with a push mower and a Homelite trimmer and a pushbroom. Those I still keep it on a personal level with, I will call them if it rains for to long, etc.
The other type is the ones that take my paper, wad it up, and toss it in the trash can. Those are the ones I drop ASAP. They are just born to whine. My favorite calls are the ones "Well its raining, why cant you just mow with one of those little mowers?"

But the absolute best, a call I got from a client when it had rained for four days straight, and still pouring when he called and started whining, "Well, why cant you just make it stop raining for a little bit?" Lets see, maybe because I AM NOT GOD!!!! He was dead serious to. He thinks I control the weather. Some people should not be allowed to live I think..... I wanted to say something like "Oh sure, okay, let me call up Jesus real quick and get Him to stop this rain for you. But that will be an extra $40 for all that long distance fees on my phone."

 

[mower_babe]

we have that problem all of the time. I try to politely tell them that I have to go in order of the schedule. doesn't work, but i try.

 

[bobbygedd]

swamp? u have to pay $40 for the call? he gave me a 1-800 number. goes to show ya, its not what you know, its who u know

 

[crawdad]

Well, he's calling from Texas. From here in Tennessee, it's a local call.
Crawdad

 

[Swampbeast]

Har har har.

 

[Gravely_Man]

A lot of customers are like this but I make sure they understand when the job will be done verbally and then give them an estimate or contact for the additional work and it also has the date on it, which I point out again. No I do not like telling customers the same thing several times but I need for them to understand when the work will be done.


Gravely_Man

 

[rodfather]

tony

I think it's the mind set of the NJ/NY people...ain't nobody around here that's "laid back". It's either I wanted it done yesterday or hurry up and wait. People around here with patience? Are you kiddin' me...LMAO. If you can't do things double time, they drop ya like yesterday's newspaper.

And no...it isn't December yet (but I wish it was)

 

[GLAN]

Rodfather

Speaks the truth

 

[General Grounds]

:blob3: rock on rodfather, couldnt have said it better myself.

swamp, i have a weather clause in all my paperwork that goes out, even has a line for them to initial, i guess many think the sweaky wheel gets the oil.

i guess my patients is just wearin thin with stupid people, maybe need to drop like 40 or 50 next year and take it a little easy for a change.

oh well just babblin cya guys, tony

 

[mtdman]

I get the impression that a lot of my customers think I spend most of my day drinking beers, waiting for them to call and remind me I have to mow them. I have one guy that calls every week to remind me to mow him. Usually he calls the day I am going there, so it makes it look like I listened to his message and came right out. I went so far as to show him my schedule list one day, did no good. I don't even listen to his messages anymore, just hit delete when it's him.

As far as rain goes, I make it very clear that when I have a rain day I pick right up where I left off, and everyone that comes after that day will be pushed back. I hand out a sheet of terms at the beginning of the year that explains all that. If customers can't deal with that, they don't stay.

The bottom line is, I have very little patience for stupid people and people who don't have patience with me.

 

[rodfather]

Originally posted by mtdmaster
The bottom line is, I have very little patience for stupid people and people who don't have patience with me.

He he...God, I like that That made my evening, thank you!

 

[General Grounds]

:blob3: MTD, very well said, tony

 

[GLAN]

I think he called himself "stupid".............

 

[tiedeman]

I ran into that problem about 2 weeks back. I just picked up a new account and they wanted me to take over mowing. There were some leaves down by the dock, yes still leaves from last fall, and they ask me to pick them up as well.

Well, usually what we do is when the the mowing crew goes out during the spring & summer all they do is mowing, nothing else. So the leave clean up would be set in the schedule for another day for it didn't interupt our daily itinerary.

Well, I over heard he talking to her mother last week and said, "They already mowed once and they couldn't pick up the leaves, so I picked them up instead."

It kind of upset me because I told her that they would be picked up on a different date. Sometimes you just can't please people at all.