How to quit my job? LOL

[CHEESE2009]

So the company I'm helping out this winter as I have written about previously, is seriously pathetic. Considering I just spent an hour shoveling one of my lawn service customers driveways, because I got him to hire the company I'm helping out, & they never got the snow on their driveway removed. So I don't know what to do. 1. Send Scott out to check on previously done fall cleanups, some may have a few leaves he could pick up, should be a quick day. WRONG, none of the houses were done. They guys who did the fall cleanup didn't know what they were doing & hid all the leaves in the fence lines or under bushes. It's bad enough they left everything VERY noticeable, though that's what the boss ordered, "just hide the leaves". I was out there for 2 days doing someones work with only a rake & tiny garbage bags. Money I lost: $30.00, I decided this company was stupid & brought my own REAL garbage bags. 2. Order Scott's tractor & have it arrive the day of the snow storm. He'll figure everything out then, like: How to use the trackless while it's broken, & we'll even send him out without a route, we'll just call him every time we figure something out. Oh & if his trackless breaks down, we'll tell him to sit tight because our hands are full. If Scott managed to get a lift back to headquarters by hitching a ride with a co-worker by traveling by foot around the city, we'll send him out to do pickets & not bother retrieving the tractor until the next day. Money I lost: $135.00 considering I only make $15.00 an hour while doing tractor work. And, $25.00 for diesel. 3. Have Scott go out & place pickets, we'll send him all the way across the city to picket one house. Then all 4 of us can the cell phone he's paying for every 10 minutes for him to travel to the other end of the city & back again all night. Maybe we should send him home until we get all the calls for the night & be more organized & efficient when we get a good list ready, nah what are we smart? Money Lost: $30.00, they gave me the truck on EMPTY. ______ So in total, working for this company has cost me $220.00. I'll be expecting them to pay me for the fuel for their equipment which I had bought. Working for a company with the worst service & organization skills every, doesn't cut it for me. Though I gave my word to help them out this winter, but I am willing to quit. How does one go about quitting? Especially if I am a company owner myself? Will this cause them to hold a grudge & try to burn me? What could go wrong? By the way, I didn't receive my payment yet. I believe it's been 3 weeks or so? It's time to quit, I think they are just using me. I've been taking hard looks at their papers, & I was on their list of workers & the next week I saw they had a new list, updated without my name on it. So I can either; a) Tough it out for a bit, gather some valuable information to share with the forum (highly unlikely, I'm sure all of us can live without their tactics). They have 4-5 people on the phone taking calls every day, yet they can't provide service. What's the problem? Well I have figured out they are biting off more then they can chew. Working with other snow removal companies makes it obvious, many owners don't bother answering their phone knowing they are just b.s complaints. Just get the job done. I think I will recommend for their company to get an automated service which can sort out their calls for them to take the important ones. Press: 1 - for complaints 2 - for snow removal quote By doing this, they can eliminate the stress & time wasted with upset customers. 80% of the customer complaints are B.S when your business is good. Though this company has horrible service & will be stuck answering their phones all season. They could have prevented this by not branching out & keeping their routes tight. As a business owner, I try to do my biggest areas first & worry about the small guys later. Example: I'd take care of a street with 10 customers before I go to do the 1 customer. This company has "1 customers" all over the damn city. They waste time & fuel. And all they can say is, "they are not a big concern, if we lost them- we lose them" So how about calling them & telling them you're a dick who won't be providing decent service for them? Stop wasting their time & refer them to someone who can do the job. I can't believe I heard that. They not only saved these customers for last, they actually didn't even BOTHER to do their driveways!!! This makes me so angry. I spoke to many of their customers last night & actually referred them to better companies, explaining it's wise to choose a company that has a good customer base in your area, & that it wasn't a wise choice to choose the company I'm working for. Another customer said, "They haven't shown up all day, the snow started at 9am & it's 7pm" I said, "well personally I wouldn't recommend calling them to complain, the guys on the other end of the phone are hired to say all the right things but aren't able to guarantee anything. If your going to waste your time calling, you mind as well cancel the service considering you already shoveled your own driveway." While leaving the office for the night, a guy approached me to complain about the service. I told him the company has probably done a pass, & that they should be going by to do it again. Then he told me that they NEVER showed up. I said, "If I were you, I'd hire another service, these guys are a joke" He laughed & appreciated my honesty. I told him of another company who charges a little more, but always gets the job done. That the guys there never sleep until the job is done. You always get your moneys worth. Anyway, now I'm their worst employee considering I can't help but tell upset people the truth. This company will not be able to pull themselves together, I can clearly see it. If I believed they would be able to improve themselves, I would tell the customer to chill out, winter just started. But no, these guys are horrible. They can hire 5 people as receptionist, but can't get a mechanic to repair tractors. The usual mechanics are tractor drivers & cannot spare the time. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! ____ As for b) I should just quit. Lol.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Scott you certainly have a lot going on over there. You have a great ability to think things out and speak your mind. I have a view on this I don't want to say yet because I'd like to hear from you ideally what would you like to do?

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Scott,

I know you have said you hate doing snow removal but since you end up having to do it anyway, why don't you just do it yourself? Invest in a snowblower, or whatever you have to do, make your own money. Don't give this company a share of the money that you could be making yourself. Sounds to me like you would be able to use this is a way to create positive contacts for your lawn care business for the spring. I would not necessarily try to do "promotions" at this time as far as saying "hire me to remove your snow, and I will give you a discount on your lawn mowing".

You obviously know the situation better than I do, but would it be possible for you to go to these homes and tell them you will remove their snow for $XX. I am sure you could make more than $15 per hour shoveling snow by hand.

Again, I suggest going it on your own. If you come across jobs to big for you, refer them to a REPUTABLE snow removal company. Consider contacting a reputable company and asking them if they would pay your for referrals.

If none of this is of interest to you, perhaps these reputable companies are hiring? But why work for someone else when you can go it yourself?

This is just my point of view from a land with less than 1" of snow at the moment.... lol

Eli

[CHEESE2009]

It's too late for me to start snow removal for myself, sadly. Next year I will be doing it with a friend who will be hired full time.

He will not be a co-owner, but he's interested in investing into my company & getting some work done.

I picked him up last night & took a drive to a few customers homes just to point out how fast I've grown. Then he said, "I want in".

It's great because our biggest day will be right outside our front doors. He only lives up the street & this is very beneficial to both of us.

Imagine how nice it's going to be to wake up & sit my but on a ride on mower & just get the work done. Lol.

He told me last minute that he would be interested in doing snow removal with me this winter, though it's just too late.

Together we'd have 2 commercial snow blowers & 9 shovels (I have 7 shovels for some odd reason).

Our plan is to generate some income to keep us risk free during the purchases we make in spring.

- Toro's Z Master Z300 Sub Compact Rider 34

___________

Anyway, back to topic. I really don't believe I have a chance in snow removal this late in the season. Lol, 2 days in the season for snow is A LOT.

My area is competition wonderland, & after that snow storm we had, everyone's signed up.

For those who didn't hire a snow removal service for winter, I'm iffy about offering my services. It only means they don't want to pay.

Next year for sure. I just have to find a new job now before I quit this one.

No idea what to do.

I wish I could figure out some other business to start for now, winter is so damn long.

Isn't that kind of like picking up new lawn mowing customers several weeks into the season? I mean, isn't your snow removal season about as long or longer than your lawn mowing season? I think if you keep your eyes, ears, and mind open you are almost sure to get some customers. For example, think about the customers of this so called company that you work for. I am sure there are other flighty companies, similar to this one, that have upset customers. These customers are likely willing to find a new company.

Just my thoughts
Eli

[picframer]

It's never too late, buy a tractor with a blower, bucket or plow and do it yourself, you will make a fortune, we sub ours out, we have around 160 places we look after, I do 16 of them as they are close.

When you have a tractor, all this stuff you do manually will be out the window and you will start making some real cash.

I would never work for another company.

[justin_time]

Originally Posted by BREEZE2009

Anyway, back to topic. I really don't believe I have a chance in snow removal this late in the season. Lol, 2 days in the season for snow is A LOT.

My area is competition wonderland, & after that snow storm we had, everyone's signed up.

For those who didn't hire a snow removal service for winter, I'm iffy about offering my services. It only means they don't want to pay.

Next year for sure. I just have to find a new job now before I quit this one.

No idea what to do.

I wish I could figure out some other business to start for now, winter is so damn long.

Umm why are you repeating the same thing 2x ??

[CHEESE2009]

Originally Posted by justin_time

Umm why are you repeating the same thing 2x ??

I am a robot!

nah, it happens when I post sometimes. No idea why :S

[Steve]

Have you thought more about what you could do to jump on all these winter profit centers?

[picframer]

I really don't understand, if your competition or who you are working for is doing such poor quality work, finding clients should be like picking apples from a tree during apple season, shake the tree and watch the apples fall, snow season hasn't even started in Eastern Canada, last storm I received 39 calls and I don;t even advertise it anywhere or mention it and I am sure there is just as many in the business here as there and we get about the same amount of snow or more.