# A customer issue question



## mmplowing (Sep 20, 2007)

If you guys have a contract with residential customers and in the contract it states 24 hour notice if you are going to clean yourselves out.....what do you do when you drive there and they have done it? I have given a warning already. VERY frustrating!

Thanks!


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Bill them or put them at the end of your run.


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## hydro_37 (Sep 10, 2006)

Like grandview said.. "bill them". Not sure you will get paid and if you do';t then make sure they are the very last one you do or wait for them to call.


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## iceyman (Mar 1, 2007)

drop em and find anothr customer


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## MOWBIZZ (Sep 11, 2007)

mmplowing;474920 said:


> If you guys have a contract with residential customers and in the contract it states 24 hour notice if you are going to clean yourselves out.....what do you do when you drive there and they have done it? I have given a warning already. VERY frustrating!
> 
> Thanks!


Same happened to me last night...my furthest client out to boot...got there and the drive was clean as a whistle...I do her mailbox as well, and that wasn't done...so I calls her this morning and she says " oh...a friend did that last night without telling me..."
I told her I'd have to charge her for the trip out there and for doing the mailbox, and I asked If I should keep coming out...she said yes...go figure..??
Oh by the way, I don't have a contract,per se, but just a written estimate which she accepted...nothing about giving notice if they do it themselves...something to think about next year and for new clients...


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## YardMedic (Nov 29, 2006)

this is actually something I also thought about recently with my own customers (I didn't come up with a solution though!). Fortunately most of my customers are in clusters so there isn't much time lost (though there IS some time lost that irritates me).


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

I bet if there seasonal you don't mine!


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## fordzilla1155 (Jan 10, 2004)

If you forget to put your trash out, does your trashman prorate his bill?


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## Woodland (Sep 17, 2005)

fordzilla1155;475455 said:


> If you forget to put your trash out, does your trashman prorate his bill?


Excellent point. I'll have to remember that since I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to argue with one of my customers when they get their bill this month.

It is a new account this year. A 2 unit apt. bldg. and the first storm the tenant shoveled the drive and one of the walks, I shoveled the other. Then two storms I couldn't plow because there were two cars blocking the driveway. I was told by the landlord when we signed the contract that none of the tenant have vehicles!. Then the last storm (yesterday) was 12" overnight. I showed up and there were no cars around fortunately. So 12" plus the 6" from the last one and 4" the one before that! Plowing that mess made up for the two "free" storms.


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

I had something similar happen last week. A private road I do part of was done when I got there. Turns out a builder was plowing it to get to the site where he was building a house. After I found out the particulars, I billed the customer even though I hadn't actually plowed. When my customer questioned my billing for something I didn't do - my response was that I maintained responsibility for his section of the road that we'd agreed on, I would do any additional plowing that needed to be done (widening, cleaning up etc), I had to go up there to check each time regardless if I plowed or not and that I would be responsible for any potential charges there may be for plowing that section (the builder and I discussed that before I explained to the customer). The customer was losing nothing and I was still responsible for maintaining his section of the road. My unspoken point was that if I could only charge for when I plowed and not knowing if it would be plowed until I got there, why would I go to the time and expense of driving up there if maybe I'd get paid and maybe not?


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## YardMedic (Nov 29, 2006)

With my situation being all in-city, there isn't much excessive travel (and like I said, most of my places are in the same areas I'm already working), BUT.... I can't see anyone "volunteering" to check on properties when there's no guarantee of payment. I did a 1/2 charge for irrigation blowout when a customer had me come over but didn't prepare things for me (and I wasn't able to do the job but was out the cost of my time and HIS portion of the equipment rental while doing multiple properties that day).


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## Gicon (Oct 1, 2005)

My contract states that I can bill if I show up and its done and you didnt call. I have never done this, but it is frustrating. It happens every now and again......I dont want to deal with the customers calling crying so I just eat the loss for the day and look ahead to the next storm.


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## mmplowing (Sep 20, 2007)

Yes that is what I have been doing thus far...just eating the losses. There is one customer that once I get a check from them they will get a call and if this happens again (4th time) then I will be stopping services.


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## mikelawtown (Dec 5, 2004)

I droped a customer that i had for 2 years because when i got there a couple storms ago both cars were in the drive covered with snow, i pushed the end of the driveway and went to get a coffee around the corner and called the customer and said you would have to remove the cars if they wanted the drive done or i would have to come back and charge double. well the lady said well dont you do snow removal?.my husband needs a hand to get the snow off the cars..I said nope and never went back.....prsport


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## Young Pup (Aug 13, 2004)

I put this in this year for my residentials. Might not hold up in court, but at least I have something on paper. On my bills for December I put a reminder on that as well. 


"Also, if you do not need service after a snow event, you must call the above number to let me know. If no call has been received and I come to your home, a service call will be billed at that time. The need for this is to cover labor costs, as well as fuel costs. "


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## YardMedic (Nov 29, 2006)

mikelawtown;477062 said:


> I droped a customer that i had for 2 years because when i got there a couple storms ago both cars were in the drive covered with snow


I HATE having to go back cleaning up where cars were parked.


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## DJ Contracting (Dec 16, 2003)

Young Pup;477089 said:


> I put this in this year for my residentials. Might not hold up in court, but at least I have something on paper. On my bills for December I put a reminder on that as well.
> 
> "Also, if you do not need service after a snow event, you must call the above number to let me know. If no call has been received and I come to your home, a service call will be billed at that time. The need for this is to cover labor costs, as well as fuel costs. "


I like this and wish i had this seeing how i just dropped a customer over the same issue of not being called before we made a trip, she always claimed it was her neighbor so iput in the last invoice that we wil no longer be servicing the account. Well we sent out the last invoice just prior to the last storm to her father who lives in Florida (he pays the bill) and she called me wondering where i was and i told her that i sent a letter to her father and that she should check with her neighbor to see if he could do it.


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## Young Pup (Aug 13, 2004)

DJ Contracting;477125 said:


> I like this and wish i had this seeing how i just dropped a customer over the same issue of not being called before we made a trip, she always claimed it was her neighbor so iput in the last invoice that we wil no longer be servicing the account. Well we sent out the last invoice just prior to the last storm to her father who lives in Florida (he pays the bill) and she called me wondering where i was and i told her that i sent a letter to her father and that she should check with her neighbor to see if he could do it.


Actually got one call for the dec 7 event that they did not want service for that storm. I really think it was because of the service call part.


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

WOW I cant believe the way some of you treat your customers! How far is it between customers.... "I wasted a trip out".... why are your accounts so far apart, and why so upset about loosing 1 charge?


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## Donny O. (Feb 11, 2005)

theplowmeister;477359 said:


> WOW I cant believe the way some of you treat your customers! How far is it between customers.... "I wasted a trip out".... why are your accounts so far apart, and why so upset about loosing 1 charge?


I know i for one live in a somewhat rural area and have a few that are out of the city a bit. my farthest one from my house is about 20+ minutes away depending on weather....yes there are some in between, but you get my point. if I drive all the way out there for nothing that is 40 min wasted....not to mention a few galons of fuel.

I have only actually had this happen with one customer which was not out of my way at all. I think she hired at least 2 of us and said it needed done by a certain time figuring at least one of us would make it on time. I was always there and it would have been clear when she told me, but I only found it unplowed one time and cleared the pile from the street plow one other time. didn't bother calling her back the next year!!


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## merrimacmill (Apr 18, 2007)

I had someone do this last storm. It was 4 inches of snow, and I call and say hey, you need to be plowed? And the guy goes well, no thanks to you I don't. I already shoveled it. You took to long. And I go, well the snow stopped about 15 minutes ago. You said don't plow till the snow stops unless we're getting to much. So I did. And he says, well I shoveled it so just forget it.

jerk.


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## DJ Contracting (Dec 16, 2003)

theplowmeister;477359 said:


> WOW I cant believe the way some of you treat your customers! How far is it between customers.... "I wasted a trip out".... why are your accounts so far apart, and why so upset about loosing 1 charge?


My point is that this has happened the last two years and it has happened on more than one occasion i have plenty of work i don't need to waste time & fuel only to find out that it has been done. These people called me i was not looking for anymore work last year so yeah i can treat them with disrespect if they don't call me, trust me they will find a low-baller and he can deal with them. I have said in the past and i'll say it again i do not like residential because their trigger is to high and if any ware close they complain, i enjoy being out plowing w/ a 1" trigger and salt under that.


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## Young Pup (Aug 13, 2004)

theplowmeister;477359 said:


> WOW I cant believe the way some of you treat your customers! How far is it between customers.... "I wasted a trip out".... why are your accounts so far apart, and why so upset about loosing 1 charge?


I think it it the other way around. It is the way the treat us.They have no respect for our time or trouble of trying to get to their place to do the work. They go out and do it then do not call, why do I even take the time to go by if they are going to do it.


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## mnormington (Dec 18, 2007)

merrimacmill;477449 said:


> I had someone do this last storm. It was 4 inches of snow, and I call and say hey, you need to be plowed? And the guy goes well, no thanks to you I don't. I already shoveled it. You took to long. And I go, well the snow stopped about 15 minutes ago. You said don't plow till the snow stops unless we're getting to much. So I did. And he says, well I shoveled it so just forget it.
> 
> jerk.


It's your fault for not having long-distance telepathy. Haven't you ever heard of the internet? DUH!


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## mnormington (Dec 18, 2007)

Young Pup;477591 said:


> I think it it the other way around. It is the way the treat us.They have no respect for our time or trouble of trying to get to their place to do the work. They go out and do it then do not call, why do I even take the time to go by if they are going to do it.


That's easy.. Because you think you will get paid. Just remember, some people will never be happy no matter what you do. NEVER. It's just a fact of life.

I do my father-in-law's drive for nothing. He fought in WWII and has been pretty much crippled up ever since so I take care of him any way I can. Anyway, sometimes he'll get real impatient and can't wait til my customers have been serviced to have his drive cleared (even though he can't drive) so he'll have my wife's sister come over and shovel it.

I guess it's their fault for being dumb enough to do it. They take care of him cleaning and what-not. I always ask her why she always complains she has too much to do and then shovels when she knows I'll be coming by later in the day to take care of it. Just goofy, but people are goofy. I just brush it off and get on with things. Why stress about people when they won't change? Either don't deal with them or suck it up and move on.


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## Young Pup (Aug 13, 2004)

Two reasons why I go by. 1. I have a agreement with them. I hold to my end of the agreement. 2. Like you said I get paid.

But what is not stopping me from going by and say the heck with you? My reputation is on the line. I can at least say I came but you forgot to call me.Or I can go up and make them feel like a real butt and knock on the door. Oh I see you forgot to cal me, do you want to pay the service charge now or later? By not doing one or two driveways is not going to kill me. But if they all did this my bottom line will take a hit.


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## MOWBIZZ (Sep 11, 2007)

theplowmeister;477359 said:


> WOW I cant believe the way some of you treat your customers! How far is it between customers.... "I wasted a trip out"....  why are your accounts so far apart, and why so upset about loosing 1 charge?


PLowMeister, when you are starting out you have to take the farther out accounts until over time, you can build a tighter route...my route is about 60 miles round trip and quite spread out...the concept is pretty clear to me...get it?


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

I started out once too, I was pretty spread out with 15 miles one end to the other. But starting out I would NEVER do or say anything to upset a customer you never know where you will end up. In my case my plow rout ended up concentrating at the far end, where I now have 96 accounts in 3 miles. about 75% referrals. Would I have gotten them if I was known for charging for plowing when the customer shoveled ? The customer is NOT there for YOUR convenience. I'm not saying it's not APITA grin and say I'll see you next storm. I don't think you will get referrals from somebody you charge when they shoveled their driveway.

My $0.02


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## MOWBIZZ (Sep 11, 2007)

theplowmeister;478147 said:


> I started out once too, I was pretty spread out with 15 miles one end to the other. But starting out I would NEVER do or say anything to upset a customer you never know where you will end up. In my case my plow rout ended up concentrating at the far end, where I now have 96 accounts in 3 miles. about 75% referrals. Would I have gotten them if I was known for charging for plowing when the customer shoveled ? The customer is NOT there for YOUR convenience. I'm not saying it's not APITA grin and say I'll see you next storm. I don't think you will get referrals from somebody you charge when they shoveled their driveway.
> 
> My $0.02


I agree...I was just replying to your question "why are your customer so far apart"


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## dirtmandan2 (Nov 2, 2007)

I'm in the same boat w/ 2 of my driveway customers... half the time i show up and its already done... I do agree that it isnt breaking me that im driving by and not getting paid, however ive turned down at least 15 to 20 calls this fall, telling them I wouldnt have enough time in my schedule to plow them in a timely manner... so im my opinion if they dont call they will be getting billed, last billing this message was sent to them...


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