client had me scalp yard

hi a customer had me scalp their yard friday, i know its a bad idea but i was afraid to say anything. any comments?

[musician/lawnman]

Lawn care business tips

Yeah, Your a proffesional right? "No, Sir I will not do that to your lawn. It will be bad for the health & overall root system of your lawn, not to mention it will look horrible. Your neighbors will be instantly convienced that I have no idea what I am doing if I were to cut it that short." Why did he want it scalped?

__________________
AAA QUALITY CLEAN CUT, LLC.
LAWN CARE & LANDSCAPING
Visit us here:

[majoe7]

Originally Posted by musician/lawnman

Yeah, Your a proffesional right?
"No, Sir I will not do that to your lawn. It will be bad for the health & overall root system of your lawn, not to mention it will look horrible. Your neighbors will be instantly convienced that I have no idea what I am doing if I were to cut it that short."

Why did he want it scalped?

I can agree with Chuck 100 % on this matter. Why would he want this done to his lawn here in hot and drought conditions? Even with all the rain it would shock and ruin his lawn. If he had an issue with insects or a fungus, I would ensure that he has a service for lawn spraying and treatment.

We need more info on why he wanted this done.

I personally will never do this if clients asked me to do it other than for a full replacement of sod. Clients tend to forget that they need a good and regular lawn spraying system in place to have a great looking lawn to go along with our hard work in maintaining their beautiful lawn.

JMO

John

thanx guys
i hated to do it but the customer was very insistent.they felt it was getting too long too fast.

[CHEESE2009]

Customers can be tards.

Don't do anything that can cause your business trouble. What would happen if his grass suddenly stopped growing forever? Tell him it's too risky & that you follow guidelines to ensure his lawn stays healthy. If he has a problem with it, suggest to him that he find another company.

I set a standerd grass length that all of my customers get if they tell me I "need" to change the length. I tell them sorry I can not do that because (whatever).the people's lawn who say thats fine/good grows for an extra month or 2 after everyone elses lawn has died at the end of the year. I also put a lawn sign infront of customers lawns (only people who say its o.k Because it is their yard you cant just stick it their) so if I killed someones lawn because the customer wanted it shorter anyone who drove by would instantly think 'Ill remember not to hire ****** lawn care!'

[picframer]

Originally Posted by xmark lawn

thanx guys
i hated to do it but the customer was very insistent.they felt it was getting too long too fast.

I would never do it, tell the customer it is not something you do, as Chuck mentions it is a really poor reflection on you and your company to neighbours or people driving by that don't know and will never ask what the story is.

The solution to fast growing grass is to simply bag the clippings and then go over the lawn with a sweeper, it will stop fast growing grass in it's tracks.

[XtreemGreen]

Old post.. but o well... I could also depend on the grass type..
There are only 2 typical grasses down here.. St.Augestein and Bahia...

If you scalp Bahia, chances are it will come right back.. St.Aug grass will most likely die...

Hopefully this customer didnt con him into an insurance scandle for a new yard...

[Steve]

Hopefully this customer didnt con him into an insurance scandle for a new yard...

It's amazing when you are getting started in any industry how you just don't know any better and the customers can really push you around. Even to the point of committing insurance fraud as you mentioned above.

I bet we could create quite a long discussion on the things we let customers push us into doing.

[lxarth]

I know this post is months old, but I was just looking through the threads to see what is out there.

I cut grass at 3-inches on all my lawns. Well, the maintained lawns, if it's overgrown I cut as high as my mower will allow. I have had a couple customer tell me to cut it "short, short, short". I tell them I can go as low as 2.5-inches.

But if they were to as me if I can go shorter, I would have to say no. It seems like the same reasoning: "It grows really fast".

I've only scalped a lawn in preperation for dethatching, and boy did it look like crap!

I never thought about an insurance scandle, but watch out!