Strange customer dilemma regarding lawn service

As others have said, if she wants to impose a change on her neighbours, invite her to have that conversation with them. Anyone she convinces can advise you of their rescheduling request.
 
People are nutty, but I gotta ask. How long are you in the neighborhood? My local guy does about 5 houses around me. Good guy, but his stuff is loud as hell - and after 6 straight hours it gets rough.
 
Chester11 said:
People are nutty, but I gotta ask. How long are you in the neighborhood? My local guy does about 5 houses around me. Good guy, but his stuff is loud as hell - and after 6 straight hours it gets rough.
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2hrs 3 at most if I do something extra then off to another street
 
SammyChevelleTypeS3 said:
I would tell her to do one or two things. #1 SHE has the problem so SHE needs to talk to HER neighbors. #2 If SHE has any problem with #1 SHE would need to find a new lawn person if it were me. Also I would approach the neighbors to let them know right up front that SHE is the instigator in this foolish/selfishness and it has nothing to do with you. I would offer the others to do what they wish me to do for them since they are innocents in this silliness. I would be cautious around this one as SHE sounds like she is missing some marbles and who knows what she is capable of.
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This!
She is making a HER problem YOURS and wants YOU to be possibly seen as the bad guy by changing schedules. She doesn't want to be the problem by offloading it to you and be free and clear.
 
The motor guy said:
I've honestly never had a problem like this with her until this year. She's been very snippy with me the last few times Maybe I need to call her husband and talk to him. He's usually the one I deal with and he's the one who makes sure I get paid
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I can just imagine the poor beaten-down husband... He's patiently waiting for the sweet release of death, either hers or his own, so he finally doesn't have to listen to her henpecking anymore...
 
Sounds like she has her side piece coming by on Friday, and since you frequently deal with the husband she doesn't want you catching her and spilling the beans.
My wife had a landscaping company. If a customer ever threatened her or her partner they were fired as soon as their bill was made current. "I'm sorry we could not meet your expectations, I'd suggest you find another landscaping company."
Alternatively, if you really think she can influence the other customers, you can talk to them, tell them exactly what she said, and ask them if they would prefer another day or would like to stay with Friday. If any want Friday, keep it that day and let her go.
 
The motor guy said:
I have a landscape business and this same customer has always wanted me to come on Fridays, well I also do several adjacent neighbors at the same time. Most everyone wants their property serviced on fridays so it looks good for the weekend and I kind of think the neighbors like to have theirs done at the same time so everyones looks good etc, but I guess she's off on Thursdays and Fridays. idk. What I think is absolutely ridiculous is she wants me to talk to the neighbors to change to a different day of the week. The reason is she's tired of the noise. She was literally fixing to have a total meltdown on me over this. In fact, I think she did. This happened a while back where a neighbor complained about the same kind of the thing and I told the customer and I'm pretty sure the told his neighbor to take a hike lol because when I brought it up to him he goes wait a minute, he's telling MY guy what day he can come??? lol First world problems here....the part that upsets me is how the customer approached me on the subject all out of the blue saying if you show up one more day on this day I'm finding someone else, you need to talk to everyone and get them to have you come on wednesdays instead of Fridays. How do you approach the other customers without throwing her under the bus? I'm not good with subtly and in fact I think in this particular case it needs to be told how it is to the other customers so they understand the situation. There aren't many things that surprise me these days, but this one just blows my mind. The trivial things that people get bent out of shape about. I just hope I don't lose all these customers over this because they may not go along with it. They may just tell her to take a hike lol Honestly the bottom line is what your neighbor does is really none of your business. Why do people buy houses that are literally 8ft apart and then complain about what the neighbors do? My neighbors are like 1500ft down the road. They could be screaming at each other and it's barely audible let alone being able to understand what theyre saying lol It's possible i'm blowing this out of proportion, but honestly it would actually help me out in the end of I could do more earlier in the week so I don't get stuck working the weekend, so other than that customers poor approach, it would actually be a good thing if they changed days.
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Someone like that needs to live rurally -- or on a desolate island.

I'm always amused when people choose to live in close proximity to others then complain about normal, everyday-life type noises from the neighbors.
 
The motor guy said:
I agree, but I see no harm in informing them of the situation. No telling what she'll say to them. Just tell them like it is. She's threatening to fire me if I mow hers or any these yards on our regular mow day. They don't have to switch, but that's what my current situation is.
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The neighbors want no drama. They want to pay money and have a beautiful lawn. Keep doing exactly what you're doing with them. No scheduling, no mentioning of Karen... nothing! If they shoot the breeze with you, and they instigate the conversation, you could ask them what's up with her, is she nuts, you might get some entertaining gossip!

Send Karen a letter saying effective September 15th her rates are going up (by 50%) due to supply chain shortages (LOL) and you appreciate her business. Let her fire you. It can be her poop or get off the pot moment. Oh, and don't jack the rates on the neighbors, let her figure it out, or not.

Aside from that, don't talk to HER unless she talks to you. Just keep showing up when it's convenient for you and billing like you've been doing. It's called "Grey rocking" and is a great way to deal with (ignore) narcissists.
 
It is no more your place to tell your customers when they should have their yard work done than it would be for you to tell them where and when to grocery shop.
This woman cannot legitimately ask you to change everyone else's service schedule to suit her.
I'd laugh at her suggestion and tell her that it is what it is and you're just the lawn guy doing what his customers pay him to do.
 
Well ive talked to the customers. They seem okay with switching days, apparently nobody likes her at all and she complains about everything. I think they kind of understand it's for the purpose of keeping everything civil and I explained I really don't want to get get involved in the neighborhood politics
 
cmarshall78 said:
Drop the customer requesting the changes. She can't be worth all the drama
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You don't drop clients for things like this. Let her / him drop you.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here yet. How close does the Motor-city landscaper come to this woman's street, on other days of the working week? If it's within a mile or-so, then perhaps motor-city landscaper can accommodate her on a different day.
 
Triple_Se7en said:
You don't drop clients for things like this. Let her / him drop you.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here yet. How close does the Motor-city landscaper come to this woman's street, on other days of the working week? If it's within a mile or-so, then perhaps motor-city landscaper can accommodate her on a different day.
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I'd drop them in a heart beat. One customer should dictate how a business is operated.
 
SC Maintenance said:
Unfortunately you have all rewarded her bad behavior.

She is extremely lucky she is not my neighbor :ROFLMAO:
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Who knows. I may just to show back up Friday one day. It's a delicate situation when you have 4 people next to each other. I think the calm and cautious approach communicating with the other customers is the best method. At the time I didn't know nobody cared for her and wasn't sure if telling her to beat it was a a good idea
 
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The motor guy said:
Who knows. I may just to show back up Friday one day. It's a delicate situation when you have 4 people next to each other. I think the calm and cautious approach communicating with the other customers is the best method. At the time I didn't know nobody cared for her and wasn't sure if telling her to beat it was a a good idea
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I didn't really mean you - I meant the neighbors. Your just there a couple hours a week. Who knows what she will demand of them next.
 
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