Thank you for watching and supporting the channel. Please like and subscribe, this allows me to grow and move forward. Your support is appreciated. Take care.👍
The red flag for me Rob is - I’ll have a think about it and I may call you😜😡 on my way to my next customer I’ve already Blocked them😌🤣🤣🤣 have a enjoyable weekend buddy 👌☀️
I've had all that & more. There seems to be a thing with those who are quite well off, yet don't want to pay for gardening work. I think the mindset with them is that they know they could do it themselves because it's not brain surgery, but when they do, they find out why a proper gardener is needed.
I had a guy ring message me on a Thursday and I arranged to go and quote him on the Monday. He then messaged me on the Monday morning to ask what time I would be cutting his grass. I explained quote is today and if accepted I have a slot available Friday. He then messaged me to say thats too long and will look for someone else. I stayed polite and wished him good luck. It’s as if they think you are just sat at home waiting for the phone to ring and don’t have any other regular customers. Nice video mate
I love these videos, they are so relatable. I parted ways with a customer last year after I had been working for them for 12 months, the price had always been £30, then one day I got a message saying the job had to be reduced to £15 because thats what their old lawn guy used to charge. Well where is he now then? He can come and do mine if he likes and save me a job at the weekend 😂
Hi Rob you’ve absolutely hit the nail on the head with this, I’ve had them all same as you, recently had to drop 2 customers for dog mess, I can forgive one or two but these lawns were full of them, no respect so I just won’t bother turning up anymore, I always say when I take on a new customer that I don’t tolerate dog mess but they must think I’m joking
@@ciararespect4296 all the same, any kind of animal mess I don’t tolerate it. I’m there to mow their lawn not pick up after them. And to me it shows a lack of respect for our equipment
That was perfect timing for were we are in the season, brilliant comments as well. It's not just domestics you get in commercial as well. New person comes to the company (normally a small job) and goes on a power trip !! You can just tell by the first conversation and best to put the price up straight away to pay for the agro ! If they go elsewhere it's still a win in my book. Really good Friday post Rob
Hi Rob. I had one years ago and said I have a hedge i want you to cut it takes me 3 hours but as you are a professional it should only take you 1hour. I said no thank you and put the phone down.... When I have seen a potential new customer and agreed the terms I always say " by the way it's 2 sugars white tea or coffee.. If they take that ok I know it's probably going to be fine. Regards Chris.
I run a house removal company and a house clearance company and we get exactly the same. " To be honest with you we haven't got much stuff " is the most common followed by " We're only going up the road/around the corner " Then, when we ask how many bedrooms the house has we get "Technically it's a four bed house but we don't use one of them so it's only a three " 🤔 House clearance people are just as bad " these sofas have hardly been sat on, you could sell them on " as I'm looking at a pair of minging, cat scratched sofas. " this bed's brand new, it's hardly been slept in " well it's not new then is it? plus it looks like a murder scene. " do you collect old fridge freezers and is there a charge?" Is there a charge? though 😆 Nahhhhhhhhh we'll rock up for nowt, pick it up and pay to get rid of it cos we're nice like that.
reminds of a tommy cooper joke . give us a quote to tidy the garden . i said i do it for nothing . the customer reply .is that your cheapest price . keep up the good work on your you tube
Hi rob thanks for this video. I watched a while back. I took a few pointers and ditched a customer of 7 years. I felt obligated to do this garden as it was one of my first, however it is pretty big (full tank on HRX 537) max height setting. Too much fuel, far to travel and physically exhausting, especially when I do the hedges. Above all it wasn't enough money and the customer gave all the signs that they were not going to pay more. Mentally trying to the find the time to fit this one in amongst other smaller jobs was always playing on my mind. Adios!
God how many times have we heard that…my answer to that is always “so where are they now then”….when they reply oh he just stopped coming…I say that’s because he made no money and decided to stop..
Yes, the classic 'my old gardener only charged...!" I always reply "that's why he couldn't afford to keep coming" Thanks for your content Rob, always enjoy watching your vids, didn't realise I wasn't subscribed till this week. I bought the Darlac leaf grabbers based on one of your video recommendations, can't live without them now. Good stuff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m an electrician, love your channel and hearing about your customer experiences. If I walk up to a house and the net curtains are grey and look like they’ve not been opened for ages then I’m already on the back foot and coming up with potential excuses why I can’t do the job they want. Invariably it will be a dirty grotty place to work. I don’t want to be lifting filthy carpets on my hands and knees working in dusty dirty corners! One house with net curtains like this; I walked in through the front door and thought it odd to have a black carpet but each to their own. By the time I got to the end of the hallway to the kitchen (to connect a cooker) I noticed the carpet was actually patterned and coloured! The kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off. I did the job as it was going to be very quick and I was on my way home to get cleaned up anyway. I didn’t accept a cup of tea that he offered either! Keep up the good work and happy mowing.
thats why i don't advertise because i find with word of mouth i avoid a lot of crap. as you tend to find with reccomends they usually have good info about you & want you to do the job 👍
Hi Rob Another great post , honest and funny, thanks. I used to charge by the hour, and gave one customer 3 hours a fortnight. On one visit he told me that there wasn’t much to do in his garden and got me doing a little project in the neighbours garden instead. It was the last time I went. Watch out for em mate, there all over. 😅
This is the main benefit of being self-employed! You have the ability to just say no. I spent all day strimming 3ft high grass, and then mowing it with a walk behind. I'm cream crackered! Was about 2 acres!😢
Nice one Rob, so quite a lot of you videos lately have been about people to avoid, could you do one about customer’s who are a joy to work for and the ones that make you happy
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices Rob man it’s not unfair to give you a bit of feedback, also I am just having a bit of fun with you really do not mean to upset you You have made videos of customers who have treat you badly, customers who got rid of you, because they did not like it when you raised your prices , so it’s not unfair , so for balance let’s have one about your brilliant customer’s is what I was saying
What about a video on interfering people, one of the small gardens i do is a house thats used as a holiday home by the family and neighbour keeps an eye on it , everytime something has grown he tells my dad who lives next door to tell me even though im there regularly for the past 6 years , i also do some flats where residents like to interfere it always seems to be retired guys who are bored
Retirement flats were the first jobs I gave up when I scaled down my business. Nothing but whining old biddies with nothing better to do than moan about trivial things.
Rob,you always brighten up my day even when it’s bad out there and we’ve had plenty of that this year. Can certainly relate to your comments as I get those all the time and guess what? I also bin them off.Customers are always trying to use us as an all inclusive buffet 😋yeah ok me duck good luck with that one. Have a good fella and catch the next instalment 👍🏻😎☀️
The last gardener retired (must be alot of gardeners around as i get one of these a month lol)..and when they tell u how long itl take to do a job. (Doesnt bother me now as i dont charge hourly rate but when i did..)Thats the worst. Or if im doing a clearance 'my husband will be there to help load up' also, if they only want the grass cut once a month during growing season, i work out what itd cost fortnightly and just double it as itl need going over twice
Used to have a customer who whilst knowing for a week or so you were coming on a specified day hadn’t got your money ready so had to mess about going back for it in your own time to eventually get it note the term “used to have “!🫢
A customer I took on start of this year gave me all the red flags but I still stupidly took it on. Only a small lawn front and back under an hour 30 quid I thought. Gave him the price, he tells me his last gardener did it for 10. I says 'oh yeah where is he now then?' he then said something about how he'd tried to steal his phone?? Not really sure what that was about. I said for 30 pound I can guarantee I won't steal your belongings lol. He still tried haggling so I said okay fine 25 fortnightly. We settled on that. Been going to him for a few months and all was ok until last week he sends me a text 'you neednt bother coming to cut the grass tomorrow joe, you're not cutting it short enough I've had to get it cut again'... I was fuming... Not once did he ask me to cut shorter, always said I did a good job which of course I do. if he found someone to do it cheaper he should've said so rather than making me out to be shit lol. I'm very lucky with the rest of my regulars, they're all lovely people.
I went to a job the other day and a young Syrian lad answered the door with his mother behind him I announced I'm the gardener and asked if his father was home he gave me a funny look and closed the door, moments later he answered again and said his dad's on the loo he will be... 15 mins... shut the door and that was that, I got in my van and left. I texted the guy saying if I have time at the end of the day I'll come back, i never did, and it was in one of those areas that should be avoided.
All my customers are on a fortnightly schedule and monthly schedule/ monthly customers get charged a higher set price due to the work required. All customers go to monthly Nov- Feb
I got 1 for you Todo bud will be fun. How about neighbours of the people's garden that you're cutting and the neighbours are giving you grief or watching you like a hawk ready to pounce on you if a little bit of grass goes on there lawn.anything like this happened ?.if so do a video.
Let customer go this week. Second maintenance visit after initial tidy up. Wanted me for an hour an half a fortnight. Beds 2 meters wide did my time weeding one side about 2/3 way up husband paid me and off i went. Then she messaged me later that day askimg why i hadnt weeded entire length of bed. Didnt try to justify it just said your better off finding another gardener. Cheeky moo!
Been following you for a while I've stoped taking people on now as I've been messt about so much as been taking new jobs on as I'm fully boked and then get them ringging saying your taking to long to fit us in etc at the end of day I work on booking in system at the moment I'm trying to get as meany Comercial jobs as this stops getting messed about etc
Nice one Rob, i.m regularly clarted in crap this time of year, my van seat is covered in grass despite brushing meself off at the end of every job, how the strimmings end up on the back of your legs is anyones guess
My personal favourite… I used to pay an alcoholic a fiver to do it. 🙄 What Notts village did you come from? Know wonder you seem a decent chap! Keep the videos coming! 👍
Update on my comment , ive had few problems with interfering people , ive made a rule, i now only deal directly with customer or with head of committees for flats , im no longer taking messages through third parties , i recomend this rule to all gardeners to avoid getting into sticky situations , if anyone asks for something tell them to talk to the owner / committee directly and then wait until its agreed
Some occasional work can help to change the routine but I do I draw the line at those who only want their lawn cut when it suits them regardless of how long the grass is. "Can you cut the grass this afternoon as we have visitors tomorrow morning?" My other gripe is when customers with large gardens refuse to have a garden waste barrel and sort of expect you to take away the clippings from their pyracantha for free. Fortunately 95% of my customers are great.
Apart from all the ones that you mentioned, one of my faves is "Matey down the road charges x amount, can you match his price. When someone says that, I wonder why "Matey Boy down the road is no longer their gardener 🤔
I had one grasscutting customer last year. I'd go in spend 1¼ hours cutting and strimming (that's a 2 man team cutting aprox 800m²) then we'd complete the next ¾ hour with a bit of weeding, all for £xx, and a 30 minute drive from my house, more if the bypass was busy. I go in one time and the grass is cut already. RED FLAG!! They wanted me and my lad to do 2 hours clearing weeds out of rock hard beds. I tried my "The Handy" tiller on it but even it couldn't do it. Broke it! I got a text later that day saying "is that all you got done in 2 hours" RED FLAG #2 They are in the 🗑
I don't know how many takes you did Rob, but did you look out of the window? That green gold is certainly growing! Yep, there is a book full of excuses for getting the work done cheap, But in my book there is just one page it says 'Do you want it done properly?'
Asking rate straight off the bat is a red flag but not a deal breaker for me. One thing I cant deal with is micro management. Say you provide a quote and plan for planting works etc and the customer starts quibbling over little details, that says the customer thinks they know better. Ive rescinded a few quotes for this reason.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices thanks for the reply. Do you have any videos on how to approach commercial clients? I have a few but would like to gain more as I have an employee to support through winter.
One enquiry was " My gardener was not very reliable and made a mess of my garden. Can you do this job for me at his rate of £10 a visit?" My reply " yes, I can certainly ruin your garden at that price". Retired now but still receive calls offering jobs at national minimum pay. Knowledge, experience, qualifications, insurance and quality tools all come at a price. Avoid rough garden/ clearance jobs - there are plenty of nice gardens and wonderful clients out there for the professionally minded gardener.
I get the one i will send you a message when I need you expecting it be the same price 😂😂😂😂😂 just got rid off 3 lately and got another getting rid off as they saying if it's not too much for you😮 or I will do it myself so I say ok you can do it. These people are living in big fancy houses with BMWs on the drive
"How much for an hour?" "Ive only got a small garden" "My grandson was going to do it." "It usually only takes me an hour." "Ive got a mower and strimmer in the shed" "Let me know before you're coming so I can get the dogs in"
not forgetting the "my gardener had to stop due to ill health" , you mean you want to pay single gardener prices on your large land but really it's too much work load and you wore him out :D
Tbf not all the customers know the script. I.e.method of payment, payments deadline, frequency of cuts, what is and isn't included in the quote and need to be educated. But as you said there are the hatdcore mickey takers who are out to make things difficult.
I just dropped a customer expensive property and cars on drive who wanted a hourly rate I started getting anxiety spikes so let them go I cannot survive with these customers.
When the customer is slagging of the last gardener, you can’t please every one ,some people don’t live in the real world, another is you give them a quote and then they say do it and we will see how you get on
Bit off subject for this video mate but could you or anyone reading this recommend a medium priced long reach hedge trimmer… all the ones I’m looking at are £600+
I think you covered all of them there Rob lol it must be the same no matter what part of the country your in, "My old gardener has retired" I've heard that a few times this year hope your well Rob have a greet weekend 👍
Yep, all those, plus people who text you but won't give their name or address, I always suspect it's another gardener trying to find our our rates. That 'what's your hourly rate?' one really winds me up, I always say 'For what? There's a huge difference between an hour gently deadheading roses, and an hour 8 feet up a ladder reducing a leylandii'' They don't get it...
“My old gardener just won £10,000 on the lottery, and has given up gardening” Within 6 months I’d won £10,000 on the lottery and had given up gardening too haha
A big red flag for me is when a person says, "Do it for the right price and it'll be regular work for you! They mean do it cheap, and then you can keep coming back to do it cheap! No thanks!!!
“ now if you give me a great price I will refer you to my family and friends network “ oh so when I did the work for you at that cheap price surprise surprise haven’t heard from anyone since 😂
Can you quote for work in my garden.. We both work so can you come round after 6pm or Sunday morning.... Yeah Right I'll work round you then shall I. Cheers Rob Garry 2CG
Just out of interest do you give an all in price for a lawn cut or do you charge per metre? This week i had the long grass and dog poo job come up on a rented property both the owner and tenant were abrasive from the off and no bin to put the clippings in, so just said because ot the poo i wouldnt do it. then you get well I'll clean it up! Nah 😂😂😂😂
"thats a 120 cackers a week 😅😅"My best one was My old gardener stopped because he wasnt making money out of it , then when I tell em my price they say wow thats exspensive my old man charged me £10
What''s the "polite" way to decline someone as a customer without burning bridges and getting a bad reputation. Can't exactly say "yeah you seem like a headache, and the juice aint worth the squeeze"
"My old gardner was half that price" "I dont pay the green bin fee so you need to take the waste" "I dont want fortnightly cuts, I'll just message you when it's ready" The best one is on a sunday - "Hi i need my grass cutting today, heres my address"
As soon as they say hourly rate, how long do you think it will take you, can you do every 3 or 4 weeks, start trying to haggle the price. It’s a no from me, either do it yourself or get a quote from someone else. Not worth the hassle
Red flags... " I'm a pensioner" so? My price is... X "I'm disabled" sorry to hear that. My price is.....X "I'm on benefits" so? My price is.. X "I'd do it myself but..." So? My price is.. X " I want my lawn cut tomorrow at 9.35am please". Sorry. Fully booked. " You can bring your tools through the house". Sorry. Fully booked.
Do you take cheque's?.. I don't internet bank and I can't get cash. Do you mind if I write the cheque in old English or Latin. Yes I'll scan your £500.00 piece of parchment into my phone then go down town for two hours during a work day just to be told that I need to bring it back to you. Then they get funny when I slap a 20% surcharge on top for the inconvenience. I don't take cheque's 🤬
Thank you for watching and supporting the channel. Please like and subscribe, this allows me to grow and move forward. Your support is appreciated.
Take care.👍
The red flag for me Rob is - I’ll have a think about it and I may call you😜😡 on my way to my next customer I’ve already Blocked them😌🤣🤣🤣 have a enjoyable weekend buddy 👌☀️
Brilliant 🤩
Your so funny about the dogs….120 ca ca’s on the lawn.👍🏻
I've had all that & more. There seems to be a thing with those who are quite well off, yet don't want to pay for gardening work. I think the mindset with them is that they know they could do it themselves because it's not brain surgery, but when they do, they find out why a proper gardener is needed.
I agree. ☝️
I had a guy ring message me on a Thursday and I arranged to go and quote him on the Monday. He then messaged me on the Monday morning to ask what time I would be cutting his grass. I explained quote is today and if accepted I have a slot available Friday. He then messaged me to say thats too long and will look for someone else. I stayed polite and wished him good luck. It’s as if they think you are just sat at home waiting for the phone to ring and don’t have any other regular customers. Nice video mate
Exactly, that is the type of customer who wants it done for 8 quid!
I love these videos, they are so relatable. I parted ways with a customer last year after I had been working for them for 12 months, the price had always been £30, then one day I got a message saying the job had to be reduced to £15 because thats what their old lawn guy used to charge. Well where is he now then? He can come and do mine if he likes and save me a job at the weekend 😂
Love that!
Another brilliant video, Rob! My favourite quote: My gardener 'doesn't do gardening anymore'😂😂
Great video. Keep up the good work.
Hi Rob you’ve absolutely hit the nail on the head with this, I’ve had them all same as you, recently had to drop 2 customers for dog mess, I can forgive one or two but these lawns were full of them, no respect so I just won’t bother turning up anymore, I always say when I take on a new customer that I don’t tolerate dog mess but they must think I’m joking
What about cats mess? I have a nice customer but the neighbors cat keeps sh..ng. On their lawn? About five i have to pick up before i cut???
@@ciararespect4296 all the same, any kind of animal mess I don’t tolerate it. I’m there to mow their lawn not pick up after them. And to me it shows a lack of respect for our equipment
And I understand if it’s not their cat but it’s their lawn so their responsibility not yours
That was perfect timing for were we are in the season, brilliant comments as well. It's not just domestics you get in commercial as well. New person comes to the company (normally a small job) and goes on a power trip !! You can just tell by the first conversation and best to put the price up straight away to pay for the agro ! If they go elsewhere it's still a win in my book.
Really good Friday post Rob
Thanks Rob .👍🏻
Hi Rob.
I had one years ago and said I have a hedge i want you to cut it takes me 3 hours but as you are a professional it should only take you 1hour.
I said no thank you and put the phone down....
When I have seen a potential new customer and agreed the terms I always say " by the way it's 2 sugars white tea or coffee..
If they take that ok I know it's probably going to be fine.
Regards
Chris.
I think that's a bit cheeky tbh
Brilliant Chris.
I get why you say it. Last chance to filter a bad customer.
I run a house removal company and a house clearance company and we get exactly the same. " To be honest with you we haven't got much stuff " is the most common followed by " We're only going up the road/around the corner " Then, when we ask how many bedrooms the house has we get "Technically it's a four bed house but we don't use one of them so it's only a three " 🤔 House clearance people are just as bad " these sofas have hardly been sat on, you could sell them on " as I'm looking at a pair of minging, cat scratched sofas. " this bed's brand new, it's hardly been slept in " well it's not new then is it? plus it looks like a murder scene. " do you collect old fridge freezers and is there a charge?" Is there a charge? though 😆 Nahhhhhhhhh we'll rock up for nowt, pick it up and pay to get rid of it cos we're nice like that.
Brilliant comment, thank you 🙏
reminds of a tommy cooper joke . give us a quote to tidy the garden . i said i do it for nothing . the customer reply .is that your cheapest price . keep up the good work on your you tube
Thanks
Hi rob thanks for this video. I watched a while back. I took a few pointers and ditched a customer of 7 years. I felt obligated to do this garden as it was one of my first, however it is pretty big (full tank on HRX 537) max height setting. Too much fuel, far to travel and physically exhausting, especially when I do the hedges. Above all it wasn't enough money and the customer gave all the signs that they were not going to pay more. Mentally trying to the find the time to fit this one in amongst other smaller jobs was always playing on my mind. Adios!
You did the right thing. We have all been there.
'My old gardener only charged me £10"
God how many times have we heard that…my answer to that is always “so where are they now then”….when they reply oh he just stopped coming…I say that’s because he made no money and decided to stop..
Brilliant
A classic !
And didn’t pay any tax
Yes, the classic 'my old gardener only charged...!" I always reply "that's why he couldn't afford to keep coming"
Thanks for your content Rob, always enjoy watching your vids, didn't realise I wasn't subscribed till this week.
I bought the Darlac leaf grabbers based on one of your video recommendations, can't live without them now.
Good stuff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m an electrician, love your channel and hearing about your customer experiences.
If I walk up to a house and the net curtains are grey and look like they’ve not been opened for ages then I’m already on the back foot and coming up with potential excuses why I can’t do the job they want. Invariably it will be a dirty grotty place to work. I don’t want to be lifting filthy carpets on my hands and knees working in dusty dirty corners! One house with net curtains like this; I walked in through the front door and thought it odd to have a black carpet but each to their own. By the time I got to the end of the hallway to the kitchen (to connect a cooker) I noticed the carpet was actually patterned and coloured! The kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off. I did the job as it was going to be very quick and I was on my way home to get cleaned up anyway. I didn’t accept a cup of tea that he offered either!
Keep up the good work and happy mowing.
Brilliant 🤩
This got a lot of comments from fellow gardeners, rightly so too, your spot on with all these i can relate to every one off them.
Thank you
Remember Rob ……when the green grass needs mowing……keep going
"In Germany they charge max 10 eu/1h."
Cheers from Lithuania. :)
That’s cheap. 😂
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservicesI wonder is it true..?
I'm a window cleaner/exterior cleaner and this is very relatable mate
thats why i don't advertise because i find with word of mouth i avoid a lot of crap. as you tend to find with reccomends they usually have good info about you & want you to do the job 👍
If it works, brilliant.👍🏻
Hi Rob
Another great post , honest and funny, thanks.
I used to charge by the hour, and gave one customer 3 hours a fortnight. On one visit he told me that there wasn’t much to do in his garden and got me doing a little project in the neighbours garden instead. It was the last time I went. Watch out for em mate, there all over. 😅
This is the main benefit of being self-employed! You have the ability to just say no. I spent all day strimming 3ft high grass, and then mowing it with a walk behind. I'm cream crackered! Was about 2 acres!😢
I am not surprised 😳
Great check list. Thanks Rob
Your welcome 🙏
Nice one Rob, so quite a lot of you videos lately have been about people to avoid, could you do one about customer’s who are a joy to work for and the ones that make you happy
That’ll be a short video 🤷🏻♂️
That’s unfair. I have lots of brilliant customers.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices
Rob man it’s not unfair to give you a bit of feedback, also I am just having a bit of fun with you really do not mean to upset you
You have made videos of customers who have treat you badly, customers who got rid of you, because they did not like it when you raised your prices , so it’s not unfair , so for balance let’s have one about your brilliant customer’s is what I was saying
What about a video on interfering people, one of the small gardens i do is a house thats used as a holiday home by the family and neighbour keeps an eye on it , everytime something has grown he tells my dad who lives next door to tell me even though im there regularly for the past 6 years , i also do some flats where residents like to interfere it always seems to be retired guys who are bored
Retirement flats were the first jobs I gave up when I scaled down my business. Nothing but whining old biddies with nothing better to do than moan about trivial things.
Ha ha that did make me chuckle mate....bit like never volunteering in the forces...it never ends well 😂😂
in my industry(window cleaning) red flags are....how much for cash....can you do it on a weekend....we havent seen our windy for months 😮
Brilliant 🤩
Rob,you always brighten up my day even when it’s bad out there and we’ve had plenty of that this year.
Can certainly relate to your comments as I get those all the time and guess what? I also bin them off.Customers are always trying to use us as an all inclusive buffet 😋yeah ok me duck good luck with that one.
Have a good fella and catch the next instalment 👍🏻😎☀️
Cheers Steve.
The last gardener retired (must be alot of gardeners around as i get one of these a month lol)..and when they tell u how long itl take to do a job. (Doesnt bother me now as i dont charge hourly rate but when i did..)Thats the worst. Or if im doing a clearance 'my husband will be there to help load up' also, if they only want the grass cut once a month during growing season, i work out what itd cost fortnightly and just double it as itl need going over twice
I agree with everything you say.
Used to have a customer who whilst knowing for a week or so you were coming on a specified day hadn’t got your money ready so had to mess about going back for it in your own time to eventually get it note the term “used to have “!🫢
I understand 😂
A customer I took on start of this year gave me all the red flags but I still stupidly took it on. Only a small lawn front and back under an hour 30 quid I thought. Gave him the price, he tells me his last gardener did it for 10. I says 'oh yeah where is he now then?' he then said something about how he'd tried to steal his phone?? Not really sure what that was about. I said for 30 pound I can guarantee I won't steal your belongings lol. He still tried haggling so I said okay fine 25 fortnightly. We settled on that. Been going to him for a few months and all was ok until last week he sends me a text 'you neednt bother coming to cut the grass tomorrow joe, you're not cutting it short enough I've had to get it cut again'... I was fuming... Not once did he ask me to cut shorter, always said I did a good job which of course I do. if he found someone to do it cheaper he should've said so rather than making me out to be shit lol. I'm very lucky with the rest of my regulars, they're all lovely people.
That’s annoying. Keep your chin up and replace with better. All the best.
I get “oh as much as that “ while making the sucking eggs noise !
Fantastic I dont think i can add any to this! You have it covered 😅
I went to a job the other day and a young Syrian lad answered the door with his mother behind him I announced I'm the gardener and asked if his father was home he gave me a funny look and closed the door, moments later he answered again and said his dad's on the loo he will be... 15 mins... shut the door and that was that, I got in my van and left. I texted the guy saying if I have time at the end of the day I'll come back, i never did, and it was in one of those areas that should be avoided.
Brilliant 🤩
All my customers are on a fortnightly schedule and monthly schedule/ monthly customers get charged a higher set price due to the work required. All customers go to monthly Nov- Feb
I got 1 for you Todo bud will be fun. How about neighbours of the people's garden that you're cutting and the neighbours are giving you grief or watching you like a hawk ready to pounce on you if a little bit of grass goes on there lawn.anything like this happened ?.if so do a video.
Thanks for that.
Let customer go this week. Second maintenance visit after initial tidy up. Wanted me for an hour an half a fortnight. Beds 2 meters wide did my time weeding one side about 2/3 way up husband paid me and off i went. Then she messaged me later that day askimg why i hadnt weeded entire length of bed. Didnt try to justify it just said your better off finding another gardener. Cheeky moo!
I agree ☝️
Been following you for a while I've stoped taking people on now as I've been messt about so much as been taking new jobs on as I'm fully boked and then get them ringging saying your taking to long to fit us in etc at the end of day I work on booking in system at the moment I'm trying to get as meany Comercial jobs as this stops getting messed about etc
Brilliant. Good luck 🤞
Nice one Rob, i.m regularly clarted in crap this time of year, my van seat is covered in grass despite brushing meself off at the end of every job, how the strimmings end up on the back of your legs is anyones guess
Pleased it’s not just me.
My personal favourite… I used to pay an alcoholic a fiver to do it. 🙄
What Notts village did you come from? Know wonder you seem a decent chap! Keep the videos coming! 👍
Just out side Mansfield.
Update on my comment , ive had few problems with interfering people , ive made a rule, i now only deal directly with customer or with head of committees for flats , im no longer taking messages through third parties , i recomend this rule to all gardeners to avoid getting into sticky situations , if anyone asks for something tell them to talk to the owner / committee directly and then wait until its agreed
Some occasional work can help to change the routine but I do I draw the line at those who only want their lawn cut when it suits them regardless of how long the grass is. "Can you cut the grass this afternoon as we have visitors tomorrow morning?" My other gripe is when customers with large gardens refuse to have a garden waste barrel and sort of expect you to take away the clippings from their pyracantha for free. Fortunately 95% of my customers are great.
I agree with you.
I had one customer who had some carers and she called them her Staff soon sused her out .. Never went back
I agree with you.
Apart from all the ones that you mentioned, one of my faves is
"Matey down the road charges x amount, can you match his price.
When someone says that, I wonder why "Matey Boy down the road is no longer their gardener 🤔
😂
Great video as always rob. #2 is absolutely spot on!
I had one grasscutting customer last year. I'd go in spend 1¼ hours cutting and strimming (that's a 2 man team cutting aprox 800m²) then we'd complete the next ¾ hour with a bit of weeding, all for £xx, and a 30 minute drive from my house, more if the bypass was busy.
I go in one time and the grass is cut already. RED FLAG!!
They wanted me and my lad to do 2 hours clearing weeds out of rock hard beds. I tried my "The Handy" tiller on it but even it couldn't do it. Broke it!
I got a text later that day saying "is that all you got done in 2 hours" RED FLAG #2
They are in the 🗑
Their loss. People are stupid.
My favourites....whilst you're here can you.........🤣...as my mates says job would be brilliant without customers
😂
Just jobs....can you just.
HAHA, yes indeed!!! The best jobs are the ones when the customer isn't home 😆
The trains would run seamlessly if it wasn’t for the bloody punters. Retired driver here.
"can you give me a breakdown of materials and labour"........................."I was going to do it myself BUT..." run for the hills !
I don't know how many takes you did Rob, but did you look out of the window? That green gold is certainly growing! Yep, there is a book full of excuses for getting the work done cheap, But in my book there is just one page it says 'Do you want it done properly?'
Brilliant
Asking rate straight off the bat is a red flag but not a deal breaker for me. One thing I cant deal with is micro management. Say you provide a quote and plan for planting works etc and the customer starts quibbling over little details, that says the customer thinks they know better. Ive rescinded a few quotes for this reason.
I agree , judging the finish half way through.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices thanks for the reply. Do you have any videos on how to approach commercial clients? I have a few but would like to gain more as I have an employee to support through winter.
Leave it with me.👍🏻🥊
One enquiry was " My gardener was not very reliable and made a mess of my garden. Can you do this job for me at his rate of £10 a visit?" My reply " yes, I can certainly ruin your garden at that price". Retired now but still receive calls offering jobs at national minimum pay. Knowledge, experience, qualifications, insurance and quality tools all come at a price. Avoid rough garden/ clearance jobs - there are plenty of nice gardens and wonderful clients out there for the professionally minded gardener.
I get the one i will send you a message when I need you expecting it be the same price 😂😂😂😂😂 just got rid off 3 lately and got another getting rid off as they saying if it's not too much for you😮 or I will do it myself so I say ok you can do it. These people are living in big fancy houses with BMWs on the drive
"How much for an hour?"
"Ive only got a small garden"
"My grandson was going to do it."
"It usually only takes me an hour."
"Ive got a mower and strimmer in the shed"
"Let me know before you're coming so I can get the dogs in"
I don't do quotes on people that ring and say the job will only take you an hour 😮
not forgetting the "my gardener had to stop due to ill health" , you mean you want to pay single gardener prices on your large land but really it's too much work load and you wore him out :D
Tbf not all the customers know the script. I.e.method of payment, payments deadline, frequency of cuts, what is and isn't included in the quote and need to be educated.
But as you said there are the hatdcore mickey takers who are out to make things difficult.
Your right.
Funny as mate! What was the pit Village in Notts you lived at? I grew up in Rainworth.
Ollerton👍🏻
‘I’ve got someone that cuts the grass but just need someone to do the weeding’
Get these all the time!
I just dropped a customer expensive property and cars on drive who wanted a hourly rate I started getting anxiety spikes so let them go I cannot survive with these customers.
I agree with you. I have done the same. 👍🏻🙏
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices Always look for to your videos bud keep up the good work 👍.
How much for cash! Same as for any other form of payment!
😂
When the customer is slagging of the last gardener, you can’t please every one ,some people don’t live in the real world, another is you give them a quote and then they say do it and we will see how you get on
it was mown 2 weeks ago , when theres 2 months growth ……
Heard it. 😂
My question is.. do you enjoy your own garden as much as you did before you started your gardening business? 😃 sorry unrelated question 🌱🌱
Yes I do! Don’t find the time to maintain as I used too. 😂
When customers tell you how long it will take you! And they say it only takes my husband 20 minutes so it will not take you that long 😂😂
Brilliant 🤩
Bit off subject for this video mate but could you or anyone reading this recommend a medium priced long reach hedge trimmer… all the ones I’m looking at are £600+
Check out Mitox 28MT multi tool, comes with attachments including long reach hedge trimmer. Think they’re about £370
I think you covered all of them there Rob lol it must be the same no matter what part of the country your in, "My old gardener has retired" I've heard that a few times this year hope your well Rob have a greet weekend 👍
Thank you Jonny. All the very best to you.
Yep, all those, plus people who text you but won't give their name or address, I always suspect it's another gardener trying to find our our rates. That 'what's your hourly rate?' one really winds me up, I always say 'For what? There's a huge difference between an hour gently deadheading roses, and an hour 8 feet up a ladder reducing a leylandii'' They don't get it...
Very wise
Nice one Mr M .. .. ..
Thank you kindly
"I've got a friend who might be interested too depending what you charge"
"I'll want other work doing too later on"
Neither ever happen.
Regards
Tim
Yep, that's a good 'un. The times I've heard..... "If you can do me a keen rate I can put a load more work your way"! T*sse*s!😡😡😡
Brilliant
I learnt ages ago not to do anything cheap on the potential of future work, it never appears!
“My old gardener just won £10,000 on the lottery, and has given up gardening”
Within 6 months I’d won £10,000 on the lottery and had given up gardening too haha
Brilliant 🤩
A big red flag for me is when a person says, "Do it for the right price and it'll be regular work for you! They mean do it cheap, and then you can keep coming back to do it cheap! No thanks!!!
Love that!
“ now if you give me a great price I will refer you to my family and friends network “ oh so when I did the work for you at that cheap price surprise surprise haven’t heard from anyone since 😂
I love to hear that one. Not!
All the best Geoff. 👍🏻
"But I''ll tell my friends about you!?"
Can you quote for work in my garden.. We both work so can you come round after 6pm or Sunday morning.... Yeah Right I'll work round you then shall I. Cheers Rob Garry 2CG
They want everything
"120 kakas on the lawn" 🤣🤣🤣
😂
I applaud you sir
Thank you .
"It only takes me about 20 minutes, how much would it cost?"
😂 well said Rob
Thank you. 🙏
Just out of interest do you give an all in price for a lawn cut or do you charge per metre? This week i had the long grass and dog poo job come up on a rented property both the owner and tenant were abrasive from the off and no bin to put the clippings in, so just said because ot the poo i wouldnt do it. then you get well I'll clean it up! Nah 😂😂😂😂
Price per lawn.
(Window cleaning) "We'll have the first one, and if it's good we might go monthly".
🙄
"thats a 120 cackers a week 😅😅"My best one was My old gardener stopped because he wasnt making money out of it , then when I tell em my price they say wow thats exspensive my old man charged me £10
Brilliant
A good one is when they say “ you’ve been recommended by a friend “ I’ll reply “ Oh yes who thats ?”
They will reply “ I don’t know “ 🤔
😂
I had one maxwell she wanted me to go around and make some trenches after she cut the grass herself twice after asking me to do it 🤦♂️
When they state come today, I ask them the name of my company. The reply, I do t know
It’s the exact same BS here in the U.S you hit the nail on the head with all of it.
Thank you 🇺🇸
oooh, that didnt take you long!
😂
My last guy charged only 15. Oh yeah? Then where the hell is he 🤣😀
Exactly 👍🏻
What''s the "polite" way to decline someone as a customer without burning bridges and getting a bad reputation. Can't exactly say "yeah you seem like a headache, and the juice aint worth the squeeze"
A nice text message.
Really sorry, due to a change in circumstances etc etc.
'can ya just' 😂 🚩
Exactly.
The folk who haggle I just end up blocking them
Very wise.
"My old gardner was half that price"
"I dont pay the green bin fee so you need to take the waste"
"I dont want fortnightly cuts, I'll just message you when it's ready"
The best one is on a sunday - "Hi i need my grass cutting today, heres my address"
Brilliant, thanks Tom.
"Can you come every 3 weeks instead of fortnightly?"
As soon as they say hourly rate, how long do you think it will take you, can you do every 3 or 4 weeks, start trying to haggle the price. It’s a no from me, either do it yourself or get a quote from someone else. Not worth the hassle
I agree ☝️
Red flags... " I'm a pensioner" so? My price is... X
"I'm disabled" sorry to hear that. My price is.....X
"I'm on benefits" so? My price is.. X
"I'd do it myself but..." So? My price is.. X
" I want my lawn cut tomorrow at 9.35am please". Sorry. Fully booked.
" You can bring your tools through the house". Sorry. Fully booked.
Love it, especially through the house. 🏠 😂
I dont bother to identify bad customers.just the good ones
Easier said than done. 👍🏻
After you’ve given your price: “Can you do for less then if I get you all my friends and neighbours custom too?”
Brilliant
Do you take cheque's?.. I don't internet bank and I can't get cash.
Do you mind if I write the cheque in old English or Latin.
Yes I'll scan your £500.00 piece of parchment into my phone then go down town for two hours during a work day just to be told that I need to bring it back to you.
Then they get funny when I slap a 20% surcharge on top for the inconvenience.
I don't take cheque's 🤬
Very wise.
Can you cut the grass every 4 weeks. Customers who feed the lawn and still only get it cut every fortnight. Fook help me
Made me laugh
If you do me a good job for a good price, I'll pass on loads more work on to you
I like that one. ☝️
Yea the invisible promise 😂