Property Damage

Originally Posted by WorkForMySelf we are talking about a basketball hoop.. in my personal case a fence picket.. not their grandmothers ashes.. its not dishonest to go ahead and replace something somewhat insignificant and either mention it latter or leave a note.. its actually better than waiting for a potential negative reaction. No, we are talking about a client's PROPERTY. Whether it's a $1 solar light from home depot,a $20 basketball hoop or the "grandmother's ashes" it's the PROPERTY of someone that PAYS YOU MONEY to take care of THEIR stuff. The original post stated for the driver to replace the hoop before anyone noticed, IF THAT. That statement means, replace it before anyone notices or don't do anything at all. It simply cannot mean anything else BUT that. You stated one thing, which is dishonest advice. Then try to cover it up by saying you meant to say something else. Based on your original "argument" I am right, but if you want to continue adding things to try to make me wrong, then you're only going to end up agreeing with me. A client pays us to take care of their property. If we damage said property, it is now OUR responsibility to let the client know as soon as possible of the damage. It is not up to us to degrade the customer on being picky, petty or a pain in the ***. Integrity is calling the homeowner immediately letting them know what happened and to get back to you on THEIR time to come to a resolution. It's not taking care of it how you want to and then telling them how you handled the situation because it's good for you. A picky customer is someone that wants you to do more than what the contract states, a petty customer is someone that agrees to the contract and then whines that you don't pick weeds out of their bed, a PITA customer is someone that doesn't pay on time, wants to talk for 2 hours before and after you cut the lawn. A customer that gets property damaged because of the contractor's actions is none of those. He is a customer that wants his sh*t fixed because it is the contractor's fault. It's really quite simple. It may be just a basketball hoop to you, but to him it may 2 hours at the end of the day with his son.....it's 10 days of shooting with his son that is on leave from Iraq..... Don't assume that something insignificant to you is insignificant to others, especially if that other is a client that pays you money to do a job correctly without mistakes.

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Last edited by JeffK26; 06-21-2012 at 10:25 PM.

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by WorkForMySelf Lol if its that important to you to win then, you win. Call everytime you bump the weed eater and damage the grass (cause the edges to retreat from around the house, stone etc) everytime you are fighting with their lousy gate and it sags a little more after you are done boxing with it to get your mower in the back yard (so you can buy a new gate) and let him see the broken picket before you go to homedepot and fix it so he has the option to ask for that whole section to rebuilt because the new picket "wont be weathered and will look different for a few months" lol P.S. if his son is visiting him from Iraq for a few days and the hoop is not an exact match... I think they will still enjoy one anothers company and have a long lasting positive memory. It's not about winning, it's about being right and doing a good job and from this last post, you sir, are not doing it right............. I don't bump my weedeater on the grass, a 12 year old kid MIGHT do that once, then realize it damages the grass, then won't do it again, he'll take the 10 seconds and go to the closest concrete to tap, not hit it. Plus if you're doing it correctly, ya don't have to bump the trimmer for line all that much. If you trim correctly with a weedeater the grass won't retreat from the house, sidewalks or any kind of stonework or retaining walls. The secret on sidewalks is after edging with an edger, you take the weedeater, tilt it on end then run the weedeater where the cord, wire or what ya want to call it is actually running on the edge of the sidewalk rather than in the groove the edger makes, that way erosion doesn't make that groove wider and wider, and wider..... I also don't "box" a gate to open it. After all the customer paid money for that gate, for me to hit it with my mower to keep it open would be the same as some dipwad kid coming along and kick it for no good reason, you seriously hit gates with your mower? seriously? I thought you may be a decent worker and there was a misunderstanding, which happens on forums because font doesn't define the mood, but after reading this last post with the shortcuts you take it's too bad you're not in my area. Bumping gates to open and keep them open, bumping the trimmer in the lawn to get more string trimming to the point grass creeps away from a home or lawn decorations.......yeesh...my clients wouldn't tolerate that after one mowing. Well one of my clients would, but even though they would tolerate it, with me, they don't have to.

[CHEESE2009]

^ boobies.