I'm thankful for customers who pay my bills, but here in the last 2 weeks I've been getting slammed by ignorance & people who don't think with their brains.<br>Within the last 2 weeks I had a resturant call & cancel service because "his buddy is out of a job & he wants to let him mow the lawn for money"- why not hire him in your $#%@& resturant????????<br>Others have called & have other expenses come up, so guess who gets the cut-me. They want only every other week. Next year I'm raising the price for anyone who pulls that crap with me; cutting more grass for the same price at half the interval, basically more work for half the price.<br>Then today to top it off, one lady calls & since I didn't cut last week (didn't need it, so I let it go until this week) she had it cut last Sat. Now it won't need it until NEXT WEEK, which means I lost 2 weeks income on that.<br>Also I pull up to cut one other that wasn't growing last week, & it was already cut.<br>Come to find out the neighbor did it & he will now be doing it "cause he just retired & needs money"-if you need money, don't retire you %#@$@ ******!!!<br>So now these do-gooders have cost me hundreds of dollars because they wanted to 2nd guess me & think for them selves. With the drought here, that's even less $$ than I'm NOT making lately! The drought is hard enough to feed my family as I have gone full time this year.<br>Anybody else running into this?????????<br>I have to get this off my chest or I'm going to 1)explode, or 2)hit or shoot something (or both )<br>I realize now that some can't be trusted to leave things be, & I will have to start implementing addendums & additions to contracts, & start trying to implement residential written contracts.<br>Anyways thanks for the steam letoff.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>
Sorry to hear that Smitty. I explain in person and in my contract that during drought and slow growth I mow every 10 days but I bill the same. I also point out that during the first part of spring when the grass seems to grow while I watch it, I mow every 5 days if needed, also at the same charge. It balances itself out and when explained like that and shown in writing they understand. I'm mowing weekly now, during June it was DRY and I switched to a 10 day schedule without a single phone call.
Sorry to hear about that treatment. It always amazes me how people will just discard other people without a thought. You might want to consider sending them a note where you can express your dissapointment in their integrity. I had two people drop me a few years ago in a similar situation..."found someone that would do it alot cheaper" (my price was already too low). I can hold my head up when I see them in the neighborhood. I did them right. They never look me in the eye. Bottom line is you have integrity and it caused you a pain in the fanny this time...but you've still got it. They sold theirs for a few bucks a week. Give it time and their slots will be filled with QUALITY people.
I had a similar problem with one of my lawns. When I showed up to mow, the lawn wasn't very long. I thought someone had mowed it. It turns out that the house-sitter that is there all summer didn't realize that I had to mow it every 2 weeks. Of course when I saw it didn't need it, I left. The sitter calls me and said that she thought it was too tough of a job for me to do, so she umed I gave up. I came back and mowed it. Cleared up the confusion. I mean, what is it with people? Some lady was on the radio this morning and said she wanted her lawn mowed. I called her, told her I couldn't put a bid on it at all 'til I saw it. I also told her to really know what it is worth, I would have to mow it. She also said she had 3 other guys bidding on it so I figured she wanted my bid, then decide who she was gonna have do it. I said I would be by tonight to look at it and give her a rough bid. I showed up about 6:30 to give her my rough bid. She asks me "are you the guy that called me?". I said yeah and she says, "oh, I already hired some kid down the street." I was pretty mad when I left. I don't know why she hired somebody after I told her I was going to give her my bid! Weird people live in my town. They would rather have some kid do it for 5 bucks than have me do a better job for a little more plus trimming. I just don't get it!
That is one thing that I muddled over today is that we are on the lower end of the totem pole. We provide a service that most every one in decent health can do themselves. Mow grass- big deal. Done it since I was 12.<br>The higher you move up the food chain, the more respect you get (in general) with the general populus.<br>If I was a doctor/ surgeon/ home builder, etc. I would generally command more respect & less flack, because not everyone can do those things. But cutting grass is cutting grass. You & I both know different, but the public still has THAT mindset until we can get in & show them our skills & strut our stuff. Until then, we just cut grass & trim shrubs in their minds eye. And lowballers/ cut throats only add to the problem.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>
Smitty, do you promote yourself as "different"? Do you have references, job photos, licenses, certifications, and so on? If so show them why you are different, promote your knowledge, show them photos of your lawns, make sure they know you are serious and top of the line! I try to take extra steps to impress, when I send my invoices I also include a SASE inside for customer convenience and to spped up the payment process. I print all envelopes with my laZer printer and stamps from stamps.com, looks very professionl and much better than handwriting!<p>Every consider a web site? I have got new customers as far away as Ohio! Yep, getting ready to move, looked on Yahoo for "lawn maintenance charlotte" and guess who the ONLY lawn care business too show up was....ME ME ME. I now have a new customer with a 7800 sf lawn for $175.00 a month!<p>I build and design my web site, it cost me around $180.00 a year and pays for it's self every week!<p>Ray<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: KirbysLawn
THats why you can't just cut grass. You have got to offer services that most people don't hace a clue as to how to do. Irrigation, etc, etc. If you are in this business full time, you have got to go all the way with it, to make it worth your while.<br><p>----------<br>-Grasscape Mgmt.<br>Http://sites.netscape.net/grasscapeinc/homepage
That really sucks and I agree with you. On the other hand I have a few customers that I would like to get rid of but I wouldn't give them to my enemies. Its a game of strategy, I need them to pay the bills, they need my to maintain the lawn. If we don't have to personally interact things are o.k. so I mow when they are not around if I can help it. <p>I hope you find some Good replacement customers out there. Somehow it will work out for the better. Good Luck.
Smitty, welcome to the lawncare unappreciated club. Most of what you are going through we all are going through or will go through. I did what i thought was a great job trimming this womans hedges and even had to use a chain saw. Did i get any thanks that was a great job. Hell no!!! I even gave her a discount for being a regular customer. She thought I had spent an hour doing the job. Even though it took 2 hours and 30 minutes. And she was there watching!!. The woman was only 62 not senile. All she did was whine about the price while sweat poured off of me. I told her up front how much an hour I was going to charge. But this whining bit is part of the customer game to make you feel guilty. I couldnt tell her how pissed off it made me to hear that crap.
smitty--a couple of years ago I was where you are now. each yard I didn't cut was like yanking money out of my wallet.<p>I wont lie now and say that it doesn't bother me when it happens now because it does. but things are better now. I feel less impact when I loose a job because I often pick up two to replace it.<p>just hang in there the best you can. it will get better.<p>by the way, I never forget when someone treats me like crap. it's very satisfying to turn the tables and tell someone that calls up out of the blue and wants their grass cut, that you are a little too busy to get to them and they ought to have the last guy they used do it. yesssssss!<p>GEO
