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Anyone else have customers that are a PITA? I have this customer (had I should say) who is. And she doesn't want any work done until at least week after it should have been done. She's a dentist and isn't lacking for money but wants more work done than she wants to pay for. Not to mention just being a pain to deal with. She texted Mon and said "Help! My lawn is covered in leaves and pine needles and I need some trimming before Thur heavy trash pickup." I wasn't enthusiastic about working on Christmas but I need the money so I told her I'd come by Tue and check it out.. Sure enough her lawn is a 5" thick blanket of leaves and pine needles and clover and grass growing over the edges. And she wants the needles bagged and set out for trash but the leaves mulched and bagged and placed in the back yard. Not a problem
And she wants the little fenced in area where she plans to keep the leaves cleared of the jungle of vines that have taken over. Well she didn't want it... it was just necessary for me to keep from getting my eyes poked out She had some rotten old fence posts she was going to use for "something." I told her they were rotten and had nails in and she should let the city take them because they were trash and I had to move them anyway because they were trapping pine needles. She reluctantly agreed.
So I do everything I need to do and the place looks great. And it was hard work.
I talked to her today and she says she isn't happy. "The black trash bag is still by the side door and so is the wood and plastic curtain on the patio. And you put those fence posts out for heavy trash. And why didn't you clean the flower beds?" :confused2:
I tell her she instructed me to put the rotten fence posts out. She says yes but only because you insisted.
I explain to her that weeding flower beds is not part of the agreement. I agreed to clean up the leaves and that's what I did. If you want flower beds weeded that's something I can do but it isn't part of lawn maintenance and a price will have to be negotiated.
I explained that nothing was said about a black trash bag or any wood or plastic curtain on the patio. She says "oh I see... I have to tell you about each and every little thing?" :frown:
All this for $150... which will be paid as soon as she has time to write a check.
Sorry... just a little rant :thumbsup:

Hope your not that hungry that you go back for any more work:thumbdown:

mowerman05 said:

Hope your not that hungry that you go back for any more work:thumbdown:

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You read all that?
No, I'm only going back to pick up the check. I told her that she needs to find a new lawn service and wished her good luck finding one that would meet her expectations. I wonder what she'd say if one of her patients said I'll write a check for you when I have the time and call you when it's convenient for you to come by and pick it up lol
I had another woman that wanted me to do her lawn. I did the front and rang the doorbell to get her to unlock the gate to the back yard. She didn't answer the door or the phone. She never answered any calls later. I bet most of us have a story like that.

Mike88se said:

You read all that?
No, I'm only going back to pick up the check. I told her that she needs to find a new lawn service and wished her good luck finding one that would meet her expectations. I wonder what she'd say if one of her patients said I'll write a check for you when I have the time and call you when it's convenient for you to come by and pick it up lol
I had another woman that wanted me to do her lawn. I did the front and rang the doorbell to get her to unlock the gate to the back yard. She didn't answer the door or the phone. She never answered any calls later. I bet most of us have a story like that.

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So what are you going to do if the dentist doesnt pay?

She is not going to pay now that you told her to find a new lawn person.
Time for some roundup balloons.

davbell22602 said:

So what are you going to do if the dentist doesnt pay?

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Carscw said:

She is not going to pay now that you told her to find a new lawn person.
Time for some roundup balloons.

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You guys have even less faith in human nature than I do
I suppose I could make an appt with her to get a cap or crown or something and when she's done tell her I'll write you a check later :laughing:

You didn't give her any reason to pay.... She could not pay you and there's nothing you can do. I am licenced and have an agreement with a local collections agency if I provide proof they asked for the work at what price which I do in form of work orders they sign before and after the work. And pics of every job before and after time stamped. If I give them that info they will buy debt at 20% so ya I still lose money but at least they learn not to cheat the little guy

On the original topic customers like that are more trouble then they are worth I have them we all have had a few and its up to you. Are you desperate enough to let them f you ? Because they will if they can and if you believe they won't you are going to lose in the long run. I generally drop these types of customers I end up losing money if not on the first job then the next one where they won't twice the work done for the same price. Or over time where they ask for one thing extra every once in a while untill you end up doing twice the work for the same. It happens a lot get used to it and don't go back.

I am a small lawn care company, no work orders, no pictures, no signatures, that all takes time just use your gut feeling about being burned. only been took once in about ten years, still mow the neighbor of that person, if I can catch her out mowing I will stop and mow the neighbor because she cant face me. she quits mowing and goes inside its quite funny to watch.:laughing:

In your case I don't know what you can do. For 150 dollars it can cost you more then that to collet it. The advantage in repairs I keep the mower till I see the money. The most I have been burned for so far is 5 dollars because I didn't have any change. That person called me to do more work for them but I am just too busy.

mowerman05 said:

I am a small lawn care company, no work orders, no pictures, no signatures, that all takes time just use your gut feeling about being burned. only been took once in about ten years, still mow the neighbor of that person, if I can catch her out mowing I will stop and mow the neighbor because she cant face me. she quits mowing and goes inside its quite funny to watch.:laughing:

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Thats priceless.:laughing:..:thumbsup:

Unfortunately I've been burned a lot.... It happens but I take my losses and move on or if I can I use my local collections you can make home made work orders that's what I do and they sign agreeing to have the.work done and 2 before and after pics can go a long way

Have you tried sending her a bill in the mail?

We go out and do yard work and if the homeowner is not happy they just don't pay us. But go to a restaurant and the food sucks and the waitress only has two teeth we still have to pay.

I did a lawn for one guy and he asked me if i could sharpen the chain on his chainsaw. i took the bar off and flipped it around, cleaned it up with some wd40 and sharpened the chain. I put the bar on upside down because i figured it had never been used on that side, then when i gave it too him the next day he complained that i put the bar on upside down. he had obviously never read the owners manual for any stihl product because they say in the book that you are supposed to flip the bar around to create even wear after every chain sharpening. he said i was so "incompetent to not pay attention and not go back and do something right the first time and just leave it". i told him that i have lost alot of money by going back and fixing something instead of leaving it. but his wife likes me so much i still cut their grass and plow their driveway in the winter:laughing:

Carscw said:

We go out and do yard work and if the homeowner is not happy they just don't pay us. But go to a restaurant and the food sucks and the waitress only has two teeth we still have to pay.

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Funny that's about it. That's why I do what I do to many people think they don't have to pay us because we can't do anything about it. If I do the work I send a bill if they don't pay I send a second with a 30% late fee if they don't pay I knock on the door then I send a 3 rd bill with notice of collections then I call my place they are called valley empire collections the whole process takes like 4 months I have payment plans and all sorts of optionally before I go to my last resort I try very hard before I just sell it.

One lady I did a month of mowing with a signed agreement was 75$ she had always before and just decided to stop paying me I waited 5 months before selling the debt for 15 dollars she called me after I sold it and asked why I would destroy her credit.for 75$ I asked why didn't you pay me? She didn't answer she just Hung up lost that customer and another customer that was her friend but I don't like getting cheated they are taking food away from my children there is no point in letting people f you .... That's all find a local collection place near you walk into the office and see what you need to do to set up an account and whY information they need

I figured you guys had some stories ;0
I got a snarky little text from the lady this morning about my sarcasm for wishing her good luck finding a suitable lawn service and for my negative attitude. She finished off by saying there is a black bag waiting for me on the side door. Can't wait to see what's in there.

Okay there was no black bag hanging on the side door. After looking around I found a plastic grocery bag that looked like trash that had blown up under some hedges. It had a $150 check inside. I deposited it and if she doesn't put a stop payment on it that's the end of that. She paid with her office acct... tax writeoff I suppose

reynoldston said:

Have you tried sending her a bill in the mail?

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Sorry I missed this. No, didn't send her a bill. I rarely have problem with payment.

Mike88se said:

Okay there was no black bag hanging on the side door. After looking around I found a plastic grocery bag that looked like trash that had blown up under some hedges. It had a $150 check inside. I deposited it and if she doesn't put a stop payment on it that's the end of that. She paid with her office acct... tax writeoff I suppose Sorry I missed this. No, didn't send her a bill. I rarely have problem with payment.

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Well if the check bounces then you can put her jail for writing a bad check.

davbell22602 said:

Well if the check bounces then you can put her jail for writing a bad check.

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I've never had that happen to me lol I think I would be knocking on their door if that happened

davbell22602 said:

Well if the check bounces then you can put her jail for writing a bad check.

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I don't think it will bounce.

exotion said:

I've never had that happen to me lol I think I would be knocking on their door if that happened

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I've worked as a subcontractor in construction. I got a bad check once from a contractor. I called and he said don't worry about it I'll cut you another check I said no lets go to your bank together and you can get some cash to pay me or I'll cash the new check while we're there. I got my money and that was the last work I did for that guy.

Had a customer that I did some repair work for that amounted to $144. Mower than set here for 3 months, customer finally picked it up, and then put a stop payment on the check the next day. filed small claims case against customer. after all said and done, cost customer $336.

ILENGINE said:

Had a customer that I did some repair work for that amounted to $144. Mower than set here for 3 months, customer finally picked it up, and then put a stop payment on the check the next day. filed small claims case against customer. after all said and done, cost customer $336.

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As a repair shop you have a lot more you can do vs us out in the field using a lot of verbal agreements.

davbell22602 said:

Well if the check bounces then you can put her jail for writing a bad check.

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I doubt it. I had a woman, wrote me a check on a closed account. I believe that's a felony. The cop said, "We'd prefer that you handled this yourself."
What?

So, I handled it myself. I showed up at her sister's house, much to her surprise. ( I love internet reverse lookups!)
Her sister told me, "She's bipolar, the doctor says she's not supposed to get upset."
I looked her in the eye and replied, very seriously, "My doctor told me I shouldn't get upset, either, I just want the money she agreed to pay."

I got paid.

Crawdad said:

I doubt it. I had a woman, wrote me a check on a closed account. I believe that's a felony. The cop said, "We'd prefer that you handled this yourself."
What?

So, I handled it myself. I showed up at her sister's house, much to her surprise. ( I love internet reverse lookups!)
Her sister told me, "She's bipolar, the doctor says she's not supposed to get upset."
I looked her in the eye and replied, very seriously, "My doctor told me I shouldn't get upset, either, I just want the money she agreed to pay."

I got paid.

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I actually had to put one my friends in jail for writing me a check on a closed account. Last thing he said was "Do what you gotta do". I went to jail to file warrant. I had to show them that the check was returned though.

In IL most if not all counties, for rubber checks you go to the states attorney office fill out a form, which gets sent to springfield, and they cut you a check for the amount, and the SA files charges against the person, and for restitution.

I end up with a couple of accounts every year that don't pay for whatever reason. I have often thought about starting a website for contractors of all types a kind of reverse Angies list. The site would allow contractors to post non paying customers/addresses which a contractor could then request prepayment before completing work. Of course this probably violates someones rights and the site would need a staff of lawyers but sure would be nice.

fatboy said:

I end up with a couple of accounts every year that don't pay for whatever reason. I have often thought about starting a website for contractors of all types a kind of reverse Angies list. The site would allow contractors to post non paying customers/addresses which a contractor could then request prepayment before completing work. Of course this probably violates someones rights and the site would need a staff of lawyers but sure would be nice.

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That is one of the best ideas I have heard in awhile. I dont see why it would violate any law because it is fair for us to be able to protect ourselves from being cheated just like everyone else.

fatboy said:

I end up with a couple of accounts every year that don't pay for whatever reason. I have often thought about starting a website for contractors of all types a kind of reverse Angies list. The site would allow contractors to post non paying customers/addresses which a contractor could then request prepayment before completing work. Of course this probably violates someones rights and the site would need a staff of lawyers but sure would be nice.

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wjjones said:

That is one of the best ideas I have heard in awhile. I dont see why it would violate any law because it is fair for us to be able to protect ourselves from being cheated just like everyone else.

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Oh I like this idea. I'm thinking that one woman I mentioned up there probably has a new guy cut her grass every time it needs cutting... and none of them get paid.

fatboy said:

I end up with a couple of accounts every year that don't pay for whatever reason. I have often thought about starting a website for contractors of all types a kind of reverse Angies list. The site would allow contractors to post non paying customers/addresses which a contractor could then request prepayment before completing work. Of course this probably violates someones rights and the site would need a staff of lawyers but sure would be nice.

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I like it. :thumbsup:

Whenever I do a job that is not part of a lawn maintenance visit I get half up front then I would only be out part of my labor if they don't pay

i like the ones that cobble there EQ and want u to fix it after they screwed it right and they bitch about the bill .....I am going threw that right now with a snow blower i posted pics of it in the snow blower thread

fatboy said:

I end up with a couple of accounts every year that don't pay for whatever reason. I have often thought about starting a website for contractors of all types a kind of reverse Angies list. The site would allow contractors to post non paying customers/addresses which a contractor could then request prepayment before completing work. Of course this probably violates someones rights and the site would need a staff of lawyers but sure would be nice.

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They can have websites, and talk shyt about us, but we can't do the same.

We need to ask Muhammad if he would add a section for this very purpose. But a site dedicated to it would be better.

wjjones said:

We need to ask Muhammad if he would add a section for this very purpose. But a site dedicated to it would be better.

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It's a good idea but the amount of information we would have to share would give solicitors to much information and people generally don't want their information posted without permission