It stinks when loyal customers pass away. I know that some of my customers could be dead tomarrow. I'm not out rip off the elderly because they've done so much for us.

 

Make like a duck and let it roll off your back. Some people can't help themselves and are rude to everyone.

 

Yup often the children accuse you of ripping off poor old mom or dad. We Have experienced the same thing several times when older customers pass or the kids start to manage finances.

 

And better yet, half of them probably embezzle money from mom and pops. They think we are bad when we cut them for 120dollars a month and they go use mom and dads money for their own good. Sad society we live in

 

Dont let it bother you, as mentioned above.

 

True to that..it is what it is. I just carry on .

 

Sad thing is my uncle did that 3 years ago when my grandma died. He called me and told me I should have never charged my grandma. I never did charge her but she gave me money anyway for gas etc. He ended up with her whole estate and never gave my mom/ his own sister any of the money. He took money and ran with it. My mom has not heard from him since. It was over 300k worth of money. Crappy lawyer had a very confusing will made up years ago

 

pretty much when someone passes away you can scratch that account off your list. it sucks because older people make the best customers but when they pass away you lose a good customer. the kids don't care about keeping up a yard. they will most likely sale the property rather than take care of it.

 

the kids don't care about keeping up a yard. they will most likely sale the property rather than take care of it.

True that, the sons & daughters of ol Ma & Pa won't take care of it like we do either.. will it get edged? Driveway blown off? Trash can brought up to house?

The lawn pictured is a lawn being taken care of by son of an old lady... I tried to aquire it. She refused however and allows family to butcher it.

 

Don't worry about it,maybe they should have save the relative even more money and mown the lawn themselves amazing how nasty some people get when it comes to a dead persons money.
The person you did the work for was happy to pay you the amount that's all that matters.

 

Yep you got some of their inheritance and it ticked them off. You lost a friend and a customer. You didn't deserve that. Idiots are born every day. Why don't they call the Super market, gas station , power company, phone company etc and tell them how they ripped grandma off?

 

Sounds like they are a candidate for Roundup Icecubes.

 

One thing about this thread: This sort of reaction from surviving family members is common, almost to be expected.

I, too, have received the evil eye from family members of clients.

 

I must not be charging enough, Ive never got a call like that.

That would be a lot to absorb in 1 phone call.

 

We have to charge enough to get through droughts and winter so we can continue to give the grandmas of the world good service. Or else you get this call: Where you been? I was beginning to think your were dead! No it just rained yesterday Grandma. You know you don't like me cutting wet grass.......

 

It's a terrible thing when parents spend their kids inheritance on things that like and make them happy.....

 

Funny story--not related to original post, but to family spending inheritance!!

After my in-laws passed away and house was sold, we gave each of our daughters, son-in-laws, and grandchildren some of the money just to enjoy--spend it like they wanted without having to "justify" it! We all sorta laughed that fil (granddad, great granddad) was probably rolling over in his grave--he was a very frugal man!!

 

Save his phone number and call him at 3:00 am ever morning .

 

Children also don't realize why we charge more for parent's lawns. The grandma comes out and knit picks wanting you to do every little detail that she used to could do after she retired and before health gave way. They totally miss the fact I'm not retired and am having to charge by the minute basically to make a living. My older clients usually are pricier than the next generation down with the same size of yard, but we do more things.

 

I'd say "If your ass wasn't too busy to do it FOR her, she wouldn't have to call me."

It's going to sound like I'm hanging up but.....

 

Had something similar, customer became senile. Sent a monthly bill for services, if he paid it once, he would pay it 15, 20 times a month.

 

I'm guessing what the phone call really translates to is that dear old Mom died and she didn't leave nearly as much money to us deadbeat kids as we thought she would, so it must be the lawn guys fault!

 

If the kids were so worried with moms yard they should have gone there every week and picked up every pine cone and stick for her

 

Every time I get a comment like that from children, neighbors or other buttinski types is jealousy. Then can't afford our luxury services and may even realize we earn a better living than they do and it eats them up. God forbid the filthy lawn apes EARN a decent living in a manner they can't comprehend.

 

I love the grass sprayed down the side of the van.

 

I know right?? And it's a pretty nice neighborhood,, there's a gorgeous house across the street. I'll snap a pic Wednesday. City's been on em several times.

 

i had a customer that passed away last year. one of my best customers. the son was paying me for the last several cuts since my customer was in the hospital. i called him back in the spring to continue this season and he never returned my call. he lived right next door. he never mowed it. my guess he's got a buddy doing it or something. probably much cheaper than i was doing it for. i wasn't overcharging or anything. i was charging $50 and it took 1 hr to mow. i have no idea what he's paying the other person or if he's mowing it himself now or what. sometimes people work out strange deals. maybe a guy at work owed him some money so he's letting him work it off? i dunno. we live in a strange world. :laugh:

 

On the flip side, I have had several of my elderly customers kids take over power of attorney and I now bill them instead of their parent(s). It has worked out well for me and in general has opened up opportunities to add on some services that their parent(s) didn't value enough to have done. It can go either way, you just never know.