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I wish I had a dollar....

2K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  WJW Lawn 
#1 ·
I was at the gas station friday afternoon filling up the mowers and this guy says, "you probably will not be able to afford to mow if the gas prices keep going up". I wish I had a dollar for everytime I heard that statement while filling up. I turned around and said, sure I will, its called price increase. He got a weird smirk on his face and said "I bet most of your customers will probably only have you mow every 2 weeks then". By then I was done filling up and I just bit my tongue, gas station was too busy for me to speak my mind. People must really think we are dumb and ignorant, I wish that arse would call me for a quote.:hammerhead:
 
#4 ·
I get told that every time I fill up too. I had one guy say I went and filled up my gas can and it cost over $15 and I will go through that in less then a month and I said I go through that much before lunch time today. He said that must be terrible. Then he started on my truck how much gas does that big thing go through and I said oh about $150 to $200 or more a week. He looked horrified.
 
#5 ·
imdawrlus said:
it costs me 5 bucks at the MOST to mow a 50 dollar lawn.....
Oh I know.

But its the mentality of these idiots, they act like we are a charity organization who mows lawns for free. If the cost of fuel is a problem, we can raise prices. I believe its called the trickle down effect. I just get tired of hearing those statements.
 
#6 ·
Oh I can definitely see what you are saying, frustrating to say the least. However, I swear most people seem to be the opposite, they have no clue that this business comes with expenses. I really think they think the mower that is on their lawn didn't cost anything or cost anything to run.:dizzy:
At least that guy was smart enough to know that this biz has expenses. he just didn't know they were displaced to the customer. :)
 
#7 ·
1MajorTom said:
Oh I can definitely see what you are saying, frustrating to say the least. However, I swear most people seem to be the opposite, they have no clue that this business comes with expenses. I really think they think the mower that is on their lawn didn't cost anything or cost anything to run.:dizzy:
At least that guy was smart enough to know that this biz has expenses. he just didn't know they were displaced to the customer. :)
That in itself is an interesting topic. We here in the Rogue Valley have come upon some interesting aspects to vote on this November with new sales taxes for fast food and a water tax. There is also a business tax proposed. This one is interesting because it is suppose to fund police an fire. The thing is, people just don't understand that the price will be passed back to them so they think it is great. Education is key to this.
I would say over 50 percent of my customers are business owners so it is easy to deal with them, however the other 50 percent are hard to educate as to the costs of fuel rising raises more than just fuel itself.
 
#8 ·
If you have very efficient equipment and mow very efficiently then the cost of gas should be a very low percentage. We mow in high gears the homeowners creep along behind theirs stopping every 10 feet to catch their breath or wipe sweat off the face. I sometimes watch because I find it funny when see some homeowner trying to cut off 6+ inches of grass with a mulching mower. They have no idea that just because the cutting height will go as low as 2 inches that they should not be mulching it that low. Never mind all the grass turds seeping out from under the deck:hammerhead: . I bet my mowers use about half the gas as a typical homeowners (low on dirty oil, blade dull as a whiffleball bat, air filter full of dirt, horrible mowing practices). They can only assume we burn as much gas as they would.
 
#10 ·
You know, that statement by that person comes from somewhere. What is the reason? I have some ideas. When I mow, and that's 2 1/2 days a week, some people, but not all treat me different than when I do other maintenance work around sites. It's a very complex set of reasons for people to look down on lawncare, but one of them is the notion that if the school kid can do it, it's an idiot's business that anyone can do. That is one big problem with lawncare... everyone can mow. Not everyone can repair stucco, repair a deck, paint tennis court lines, paint a window, drywall and tape a wall, but everyone, just about can mow. It also doesn't help that prices are so low and that lco's are beating each other on the head to lower the price... I don't think there is an answer, but I definitely feel the "look down" or the "I can do that better than you" attitude everytime me and my guys pick up the mowers. There's a little less attitude when you use the large 6' mowers, as the customers don't have those available to them and it's viewed as more of pro setup... boy, a hard one to figure out that attitude is...
 
#11 ·
DuraCutter said:
You know, that statement by that person comes from somewhere. What is the reason? I have some ideas. When I mow, and that's 2 1/2 days a week, some people, but not all treat me different than when I do other maintenance work around sites. It's a very complex set of reasons for people to look down on lawncare, but one of them is the notion that if the school kid can do it, it's an idiot's business that anyone can do. That is one big problem with lawncare... everyone can mow. Not everyone can repair stucco, repair a deck, paint tennis court lines, paint a window, drywall and tape a wall, but everyone, just about can mow. It also doesn't help that prices are so low and that lco's are beating each other on the head to lower the price... I don't think there is an answer, but I definitely feel the "look down" or the "I can do that better than you" attitude everytime me and my guys pick up the mowers. There's a little less attitude when you use the large 6' mowers, as the customers don't have those available to them and it's viewed as more of pro setup... boy, a hard one to figure out that attitude is...
i agree 100%

thats why i DONT want to cut grass for much longer......

i want do to something else a little less seasonal and a little less effected by the weather, but i dont know what yet....

my dads a carpenter and i've been working on the side with him pretty much all my life, so i have a huge bonus there....i can LEARN just about anything i want to...
 
#12 ·
A good comeback to someone like that is to use food as anology.
I guess you won't get to eat but once a day what with the price of food nowadays huh?
Gas prices were around 99 cents a gallon when I bought this truck and thinking about that is what gets me sometimes but, what can we do? Just live with it.
 
#13 ·
Yep...and arent Grocery prices going up?? I bet some of my customers will starve themselves...lol People act like we get gas for free or something.
 
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