For anyone not familiar, Lawnstarter is a 'tech' company who is looking to simplify lawn mowing. A potential customer goes to their website, enters in their address and information, then gets an instant quote online. If they want to sign up, they enter their credit card number and select the date they want the service to start. Done.
From the contractors side, we get a text alert and email saying a job is available. We log into our account and 'claim' the job. It tells the name, address, date it needs to be done and how much the job pays. So once I claim the job, it goes into a calendar to show me all the jobs I have for the day, as well as a button you can click to optimize your route. As for paying you, it's direct deposit to your back account. To sign up as a contractor, you have to be a legit company (EIN) with proof of insurance. They prescreen you before you can sign up to weed out the fly by nighters. There is a few more bits and pieces, but this is the overall thing in a nutshell.
The major issue I found with them is their relaxed policies. Time and time again I'd talked about policies, but this company has failed in every way. For example:
Q: What if I'm not home?
A: You don't need to be home for us to mow your lawn (though try not to lock us out of the back yard). You'll know your lawn was mowed because we send notifications upon completion (not to mention that you'll notice the immaculate quality of your yard once we're finished).
Try not to lock us out of the back yard??? How about " We can't service your lawn if your fence is locked". The policy for overgrown lawns is crazy too. If the lawn is between 6 inches and a foot, they will pay you double the price of the lawn. Pretty cheap if you ask me. Anything over a foot and they want you to submit a quote to them how much it will be so they can ask the customer. Anytime there is a problem, you can call the 'help desk' and they will talk you through it.
This was my first day and ohhhhh brother was it frustrating. I had 7 lawns, should have taken me 3 hours to do them all. Here is what happened.
Lawn 1. Dog was in the back yard, I called the help desk. They asked if I knocked on the door, I said yes that no one was home. They advised me to try to contact the customer via a chat form on their website, and wait to hear from them. I told the guy no, I'm not waiting, and moving on to the next lawn. This lawn is rescheduled for next week when I'm in the area again.
Lawn 2. I noticed a realtor lock on the door but no For Sale sign. I googled the address, the house is foreclosed and has been for a while. Great, squatters are living in there. They were in the process of removing and replacing the door so the realtor lock wouldn't be there. The grass in the back was over 3' and trees growing. I again called the help desk and told them. The help desk guy kept telling me I get paid extra for mowing overgrown lawns and that I should mow it. I finally told him I will not be taking a $7k machine on a crap property and I refuse to mow it. He said he understood and said he would assign it to another provider and I wouldn't have to deal with it.
Lawn 3. This was overgrown a little over a foot. At this point I was pissed. I've wasted enough time and gas driving around I need to recoup some of my money. I took a picture of the overgrowth so I could get paid double the price. I mowed it, it looked horrible when I finished, but I followed their policies. I would have charged the customer over $200 to clean it up, Lawnstarer paid me about $70 and their policy is not to bag the clippings. Fair enough, I left the hay in the hay field.
Lawn 4. Overgrown in the back yard, I did the same as the previous house. Took a picture and sent it in to get paid double. I mowed it anyway and left the clumps as per policy.
Lawn 5. Too overgrown for me, I sent a picture and told them I wasn't mowing it.
Lawn 6. A little overgrown in the back yard, but I mowed it anyway. Again, clumps were left.
Lawn 7. Too overgrown for me, I sent a picture and told them I wasn't mowing it.
What should have taken me 3 hours took me 6. Of the 7 scheduled lawns I only mowed 3. Between the phone calls with the help desk and walking the properties prior to mowing, it took much longer than I thought it should have. Like Lawn 2 for example, was a townhouse. The front yard was cut, but the back was a jungle. I walked around back before taking any equipment off the truck so I could see the condition before I potentially gave them a free front lawn cut.
My advice for anyone looking to become a contractor with them: don't expect much. The only reason I signed up is because maintenance work is slow and I'm sitting around. I have the equipment to get it done, so why not mow a few. If it continues to be as big of a headache as it was today, I don't think I'll contract for them anymore. Lawnstarter has a lot of learning to do from the mowing side of the business and I don't think they are quite 'there' yet.
From the contractors side, we get a text alert and email saying a job is available. We log into our account and 'claim' the job. It tells the name, address, date it needs to be done and how much the job pays. So once I claim the job, it goes into a calendar to show me all the jobs I have for the day, as well as a button you can click to optimize your route. As for paying you, it's direct deposit to your back account. To sign up as a contractor, you have to be a legit company (EIN) with proof of insurance. They prescreen you before you can sign up to weed out the fly by nighters. There is a few more bits and pieces, but this is the overall thing in a nutshell.
The major issue I found with them is their relaxed policies. Time and time again I'd talked about policies, but this company has failed in every way. For example:
Q: What if I'm not home?
A: You don't need to be home for us to mow your lawn (though try not to lock us out of the back yard). You'll know your lawn was mowed because we send notifications upon completion (not to mention that you'll notice the immaculate quality of your yard once we're finished).
Try not to lock us out of the back yard??? How about " We can't service your lawn if your fence is locked". The policy for overgrown lawns is crazy too. If the lawn is between 6 inches and a foot, they will pay you double the price of the lawn. Pretty cheap if you ask me. Anything over a foot and they want you to submit a quote to them how much it will be so they can ask the customer. Anytime there is a problem, you can call the 'help desk' and they will talk you through it.
This was my first day and ohhhhh brother was it frustrating. I had 7 lawns, should have taken me 3 hours to do them all. Here is what happened.
Lawn 1. Dog was in the back yard, I called the help desk. They asked if I knocked on the door, I said yes that no one was home. They advised me to try to contact the customer via a chat form on their website, and wait to hear from them. I told the guy no, I'm not waiting, and moving on to the next lawn. This lawn is rescheduled for next week when I'm in the area again.
Lawn 2. I noticed a realtor lock on the door but no For Sale sign. I googled the address, the house is foreclosed and has been for a while. Great, squatters are living in there. They were in the process of removing and replacing the door so the realtor lock wouldn't be there. The grass in the back was over 3' and trees growing. I again called the help desk and told them. The help desk guy kept telling me I get paid extra for mowing overgrown lawns and that I should mow it. I finally told him I will not be taking a $7k machine on a crap property and I refuse to mow it. He said he understood and said he would assign it to another provider and I wouldn't have to deal with it.
Lawn 3. This was overgrown a little over a foot. At this point I was pissed. I've wasted enough time and gas driving around I need to recoup some of my money. I took a picture of the overgrowth so I could get paid double the price. I mowed it, it looked horrible when I finished, but I followed their policies. I would have charged the customer over $200 to clean it up, Lawnstarer paid me about $70 and their policy is not to bag the clippings. Fair enough, I left the hay in the hay field.
Lawn 4. Overgrown in the back yard, I did the same as the previous house. Took a picture and sent it in to get paid double. I mowed it anyway and left the clumps as per policy.
Lawn 5. Too overgrown for me, I sent a picture and told them I wasn't mowing it.
Lawn 6. A little overgrown in the back yard, but I mowed it anyway. Again, clumps were left.
Lawn 7. Too overgrown for me, I sent a picture and told them I wasn't mowing it.
What should have taken me 3 hours took me 6. Of the 7 scheduled lawns I only mowed 3. Between the phone calls with the help desk and walking the properties prior to mowing, it took much longer than I thought it should have. Like Lawn 2 for example, was a townhouse. The front yard was cut, but the back was a jungle. I walked around back before taking any equipment off the truck so I could see the condition before I potentially gave them a free front lawn cut.
My advice for anyone looking to become a contractor with them: don't expect much. The only reason I signed up is because maintenance work is slow and I'm sitting around. I have the equipment to get it done, so why not mow a few. If it continues to be as big of a headache as it was today, I don't think I'll contract for them anymore. Lawnstarter has a lot of learning to do from the mowing side of the business and I don't think they are quite 'there' yet.
There was one today for $76 a week, but the property was smaller than one they pay me $60 a week for. 
