How would you handle this situation?

[CHEESE2009]

I performed a fall cleanup for a client, she was home while I did it.
She invited me inside of her home and gave me a check for snow removal.

I had just stored my equipment.

She called me just now;

"When are you coming to do the fall cleanup?"

I said, "I had already done it."


She said,
"No, you did the front, not the back".

I responded, "I had done the back".

She said,
"You knew the leaves in the back would fall later on, and that you would come back to do it".

I said, "I had already stored my equipment".

************

The conversation went on, I continued to explain to her how she received a fall cleanup already and that there is nothing I could do.

She kept trying to end the conversation with, "You have to come. OK!"

Last thing I said, "I will see what I can do with the time I have", just to get off the damn phone.

[Dragger]

If she is a good customer I would head back out there to take care of it ,they seem to forget leaves fall for a month or more depending on where your at.
The fact that your doing snow removal for her also can become a pain if you do not return she may find reason to give you a hard time over the snow removal .

[CHEESE2009]

If she is a good customer I would head back out there to take care of it ,they seem to forget leaves fall for a month or more depending on where your at.
The fact that your doing snow removal for her also can become a pain if you do not return she may find reason to give you a hard time over the snow removal .

My brain is killing me.

Pros of doing the fall cleanup again
The customer is happy
The client will hire again
I can sleep easy at night <******

Cons of doing the fall cleanup again
It pisses me off
I had just cleaned/ removed gas from everything
A lot of effort went into the arrangement of storing the equipment
I lose money
The client will always take advantage of me later on
The client has already made things awkward
The client probably wont hire me again

[Dragger]

My brain is killing me.

Pros of doing the fall cleanup again
The customer is happy
The client will hire again
I can sleep easy at night <******

Cons of doing the fall cleanup again
It pisses me off
I had just cleaned/ removed gas from everything
A lot of effort went into the arrangement of storing the equipment
I lose money
The client will always take advantage of me later on
The client has already made things awkward
The client probably wont hire me again

Sucks to be a business owner at times only you can know what you can live and sleep with my friend,

Do what your makes you sleep the best at night

[Ducke]

I would go out and do the Job , But I would also bill her for a second trip out to do the job.
It is extremely easy to loose a customer but very very hard to get them back, also there are hundreds of guys with a pickup and a mower.

I have been packed up since Oct 31 and one of my regulars called last week saying he had sold his house and need the leaves cleaned up again before he could get the new owner to close. So I dug out my gear and went and did the clean up I billed him and he paid plus I now have his new lawn for next season and it is double what he has now. So for a few hours of inconvenience I just scored more Sq FT $$$$ for next season in a new area that I have been trying to break into, Bonus.

Take it on the chin Scott and take care of her it just might pay off later.

[Dragger]

take care of her it just might pay off later.

I like the way that sounds

[CHEESE2009]

How do you lose money for doing the cleanup again?

If my time was free, this is how I would lose money;

I put most of the gas that was in the mowers, in my truck. I will need to purchase more to run the equipment.

The pressure washer used leftover gas to clean my equipment and trailer, which will have to happen again.

The leftover oil that was in the equipment was just run dry before storing. So I now have to go purchase oil minimum 6 per purchase.

The truck also went for a car wash.

More;
The travel fuel to my storage (not my place) to get the equipment
The travel fuel to the job
The travel fuel to the dump
The travel fuel back home (to wash everything)
The travel fuel back to the storage
The travel fuel back home


**********-


The client refuses to pay the cost of a fall cleanup.

[CHEESE2009]

LOL!

Yeah she says she shouldn't have to pay.

I picked up all the leaves in the front and back, which was a lot during my first visit.

She still had a lot of leaves that hadn't fell, and she feels "cheated".

****-

My job isn't to remove every damn leaf from a clients property as they fall, it's a one shot deal. Why don't clients understand this?


Ahaha, I remember she said, "You will have to do it with a rake" once I told her my equipment has been stored.

And the kicker, before that she said, "Back in my day, we used a rake to pick up leaves!"...

[CHEESE2009]

Alright, so I got a call from the man of the house.

I said I would come back if I can get my equipment.

The client pretty much started to nag about time and keep me on the phone.

[CHEESE2009]

Anyone else have clients like this?

"I have a blower, 100 feet of cord"

"Why don't you do it by hand?" ... frig man... lol

[CHEESE2009]

Your feedback made my day!



I hear enough of these stupid complaints that they start to make me question if I am actually wrong! Customers are crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve]

Scott,

The recording actually helped me understand it all better.

I have to say, I hate seeing you having a difficult time with your customers. I want you to enjoy the experience of being a business owner.

Do you think all of this comes down to the fact that the leaf cleanups were free and the customers were taking advantage of it and running with it?

That is why they are calling you to come back again and do it some more?

Where if they had to pay for the first and second visit, it would have changed the way they handled it and what they expected of you?

I know you want to grow but I wonder if there are certain steps you are taking that are actually hurting you and putting you in a position where running a business goes from a joy to becoming a burden. Do you feel as you look back this year operations and promotions could be handled differently next year to alleviate these problem customers?

[CHEESE2009]

This year I threw it in to obtain more clients, but before I could change my mind I was swamped with work.

I have enough clients now, and the promotion will not be available next year. One would think that a client would be more picky about what he/she has to pay for, than something they get for free... not in my case!
**-


As for the clients argument, I have no idea what to do right now. Any suggestions? The more the better!

[JeffK26]

I'm with Mark, give them the snow removal check back...some people just aren't worth it.

[B-2 Lawncare]

You should give up and find a different line of work.