It’s a no win situation. Next time, just nod, laugh, and change the subject.

I haven't mowed lawns for money since college when I mowed 3 businesses and 4 residential properties. Anything I could mow without harming my lawnmower was runover. Paper and similar items will compost down into soil. For extra money, I would perform additional services (e.g. trim the bushes) but don't recall anybody hiring me to be their outdoor maid.

I mow my own lawn and I'm all about the polished look not productivity so I pick almost everything up. 99% of the trash that ends up on the lawn or landscaping is from:

neighbor kids playing in the street and forgetting their half finished drink or snack, shoes and socks, toys/sporting goods from previous game, etc.

the wind. Contractors including neighbors' landscape crews do a piss poor job of securing their trash and the wind blows out of trailer/truck. Yesterday, it was a giant bundle of balloons that was part of the happy birthday {insert sex trophy name here} display that the genius parents loosely tethered to their lawn despite high winds all weekend.

FWIW I don't mow lawns, I pay to get mine done.

I've used the same crew since 2002. Owner works with his crew, usually 2 helpers and him. He gets paid on time, gets really good tips. I offer them bottled water, gatorade, sodas when/if I'm home.
They are treated very well and respectfully.

They *usually* come on the same day at about the same time. Over the years they've changed around, but the rest of that year they are very true to the usual day/time.

I keep the lawn picked up as best as I can, but this is Oklahoma and the wind blows really hard. Stuff happens.

I always make sure my water hose is coiled up and out of the way. I coil it flat on the ground but it is in an area where they do not mow, in a raised brick flowerbed by the house. They can't even get a mower back there.

Having said all that, twice they have come by a day or 2 earlier than earlier and I had left the water hose out while I did something else.

Came home and found they just grabbed the water hose, all 75 feet of it with a watering wand on the end, and FLUNG it over, in, and on top of my rosebushs and hedge. Blooms and branches broken. Really pissed me off.

We all make mistakes and bad decisions, but there's no point in throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Docking would be wrong, IMO.

I would say IF you want him to police the yard > before or after then have the conversation with the vendor aka grass cutter and discuss and negotiate at necessary.

Maybe their attitude is FU like mark123 or maybe they would listen.
They may or may not want to be compensated but all it takes is to talk.

Just complaining and refusing to pay or docking would be an inappropriate solution that could be easily solved by communication.

.02

The guys I manage do mostly commercial work, and it is usually in our contract whether we are doing cleanup or not. For residential, we try to be clear if cleanup is included or not. Usually it is not as margins already suck and time is money. Residential is more problematic because everyone assumes what you will do and never reads any fine print. Doesn’t really matter what they agreed to. Once they call to complain they have already decided you did the job wrong and they aren’t getting their moneys worth. Yes, I’m generalizing, but folks that complain we aren’t doing stuff right at a residential are most often applying their own standards, not what we proposed.

- Bret

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
… Maybe their attitude is FU like mark123 …

Maybe I’ve given the wrong impression. I definitely don’t give the FU to the customer. I cut a nice lawn, however, 99% of them clean their trash out of the lawn. It’s always the same ones that don’t. TBH, I only have two. One leaves garbage out, the other poop. The neighbors on all sides have no garbage in the lawn so it’s not an accident.

I also don’t pull up to a lawn and think “yippee! I get to chop up garbage today.” I try to avoid it or blow it out of the mowing path but things happen and I do chop up a plastic bottle quite often. It’s not great for the blades.

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
When I mowed for money I kept an ez reacher and a trash bucket on my zero turn's foot well and I picked up paper and trash that makes a big visual mess. Didn't take much extra time and I did not shut down my blades putting extra wear on the clutch.

Even then I’m sure there were times when you didn’t intend to mow that napkin but the vacuum of the deck pulled it in anyway.

Well you should reread your posts then. You actually sound exactly like FU.

Since I've moved back to FL I have hired a lawn/yard guy. Pay a lot of money for lawn, edging, hedges and trees trimmed. I feel for the guy who owns the business. He comes every week and seems to have new guys constantly. They are lazy, complacent, feel like smoking while working in my front and back yard is acceptable, etc. They also have scalped the shit out of my lawn. I have started addressing these issues with the owner. It comes down to its hard to find good help nowadays. The good news is I hired the lawn guy because that is easy. I still can do the work myself.

To the first question, the yard guy should absolutely not run over trash regardless of mark's view on it. I would have fired him the first time he told me he wasn't there to pick up trash. Well no shit. If the yard is covered trash then you have a conversation with the homeowner and discuss expectations. If a piece of trash blows in front of the mowers path and the lazy SOB just runs it over and thinks that is the proper action then fuck him, I will hire someone else or do it myself.

Running over a plastic bottle just because "I'm not a cleanup crew" is a poor rationale. Good luck with that attitude. Start looking for a new crew.

I think it would depend on the situation.

If its obvious debris from the homeowner who choses to ignore it, then run it over. Does the homeowner frequently have crap in their yard?

Was it trash collection day and its obvious the paper had blown away from a trashcan? Then yes, pick it up.

I'd say this can be applied to all businesses and customers as a whole.

If you're shopping for the low price, don't expect above and beyond service. If you're shopping for the best service, don't expect bargain prices. Also not a bad idea to discuss exactly what the service you're purchasing includes ahead of time.

I cut my own grass and have had the conversation with my kids. They aren't paying me, and therefore get no extras from me. If they leave it in the yard it's likely getting mowed (unless it would damage my mower).

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Well you should reread your posts then. You actually sound exactly like FU. …

Not seeing it.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Maybe I’ve given the wrong impression.

I also don’t pull up to a lawn and think “yippee! I get to chop up garbage today.”

Yeah it does sound like it.

Kudos for cutting a good lawn but a business it much more than one act, IMO.

It is a service business after all ~ it might be beneficial to look at it from the customer point of view.
Who knows?
I am just an old-school marketer with old-school ideas of customer satisfaction.

Interesting topic and responses from contractors.

1. When I was in The Corps, plenty of guys paid to mow, blow, land go.

2. We have a lawn guy who’s crew is just him. His business cards say “and sons” on them. When we were interviewing him he said his sons were under 10 years old, but he didn’t want to change the business name later. I was sold right mofo there.

3. There’s never any trash in the lawns of my neighborhood; however if there ever were and a contractor shredded it and blew it all over someone’s yard they would be fired and it’d be posted on the neighborhood Facebook page.

4. That “friends and networking” shit goes both ways.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Maybe I’ve given the wrong impression.

I also don’t pull up to a lawn and think “yippee! I get to chop up garbage today.”

Yeah it does sound like it.

Kudos for cutting a good lawn but a business it much more than one act, IMO.

It is a service business after all ~ it might be beneficial to look at it from the customer point of view.
Who knows?
I am just an old-school marketer with old-school ideas of customer satisfaction.

The one customer with trash in his lawn often tips and gives a pretty hefty year-end bonus. Satisfaction is high if not 100%. I definitely don’t tell him FU.

Well sir, you "not seeing" it doesn't mean much. Obstinate denial aside, its right there. The nice man below your post kindly posted one example. Its your business to handle as you see fit. Just remember though that when life in America returns to normal it becomes real easy to fire the lawn guy and hire another. Enjoy the ride for now because it won't last forever.

Serious question for the masses. Do you guys tip your lawn guy? This is my first time with a lawn guy and never even considered tipping him. As for year end bonuses, well that's just funny right there.

quote:

This is my first time with a lawn guy and never even considered tipping him. As for year end bonuses, well that's just funny right there.

^^^^^^^^^^
No. I tip waiters,valets and barbers. I dont tip my physicians or dentists. If I played golf I would tip my caddy.

Ok good. I was curious because at this rate society will be expecting a tip for everything. I already pay the guy more than I believe he is worth. If it wasn't for my wife I would have fired him already. She is convinced I will also will be lazy, complacent, and generally not very good at yardwork. (smart woman)

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:

Serious question for the masses. Do you guys tip your lawn guy? This is my first time with a lawn guy and never even considered tipping him. As for year end bonuses, well that's just funny right there.

We’ve been using the same lawn guy for at least five years now. He and his crew do a good job and that makes my life easier.
Year end bonus. Yes.
And I just gave him a raise to help offset fuel price increases too.
He hasn’t raised his rates since we started using him.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Well sir, you "not seeing" it doesn't mean much. Obstinate denial aside, its right there. The nice man below your post kindly posted one example. Its your business to handle as you see fit. Just remember though that when life in America returns to normal it becomes real easy to fire the lawn guy and hire another. Enjoy the ride for now because it won't last forever.

32 years was a good run, I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Beanhead:
It’s a no win situation. Next time, just nod, laugh, and change the subject.

This is the only correct answer. Of course, I think the FIL brought it up because PaSig recommended the mowing guy.