A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall some people

Hi all...
Well I have a story that has me on the fence on what to do ...so what would you do?

I live in a modular park and my step-daughter lives 2 houses down . She's having a rough go at things since she's a single mom of a 2 yr old boy...next wk

So I help her out by taking care of the outside for her.

Our park started to rent places out ...lease to buy a few yrs ago , ..yes it has went down hill since .

Anyways the house in between us was rented out last fall by a older lady and sons, with boyfriend in toe from time to time . They seemed to be nice respectable people , always quiet and seemed to be above the renter trash that seems to flock into rental places....which this place is turning into.

So the 1st mowing im doing the 2 yards and the BF asked how much to do there's.
Being the 1st cutting and it was tall and not knowing just how much it would take to get it under control to maintain, I told him 20 bucks for the 1st cutting and 10 everytime afterwards.
The yards are small and I wasn't really looking to make anything from it , just being nice and figured it would make our little part of the world nicer looking for all of us.

The norm for a yard mow in here ranges from 15-35 dollars per cut by others.

Here's where it turns ....

He agreed to my offer so 1st cutting done ...20 bucks.
WK later I was working on my truck and he stops and said ..when you mow do ours again too , replyed ..no problem.

So the 2nd mow was done and everything was under control far as the yard for not having to rake and stuff.
SO a day later he shows up and asked for change of a 20..sorry I don't I replied. He then says ..I'll see if the girl has it or I'll get it broke down when I go up to the store , I replied ..no problem .

Well it's been 2wks now and no 10 bucks I mowed ours and the daughters last wk before the rain and not theirs this time ... he never said too or mention about the 10 owed and still haven't heard from them .

So it's time to mow again ...dang dandilions lol

Our yards are in good shape to make mowing not such a hassle of wet raking since I kept up on it and played the weather game . Their's ...well tall and wet now and is going to take some work to get it back in shape...mow rake mow .

So here is my ? how do I handle this if they ask for a mowing...baling lol

The 10 bucks owed is not going to put me in the poor house , I just did it for a few pennies for my time and im right there , but what burns me is the point of it all. They have new cars and work , one at the hospital and other is a teacher....so their not all that bad off....I just don't get it with people these days.

Trying to keep things civil and keep peace but Im not going to put extra strain on my stuff for 10 bucks when they think they can cheap out on wanting to keep their yard nice and have me do it when it's in the jungle mode for only 10 bucks....I use a 1/2 gal of gas (full tank) when it's tall like that, I can do ours and the daughters yard with 1 tank when it's kept up ....and save the life of my stuff.

So...If they ask what what should I tell them...I do have a few words at this point but im trying to be nice /fair about it .

OH ...do I need a bigger yard.....like 10 acers to get me away from all these stupid people

where did all the pride and respect go???shezz

Snow

Hi Snow~

I'm so sorry you are in the middle of this. You said it perfectly: "Some People"!

I guess one question is... do you want to do all the work that is now required to get their yard back into shape? Or would you rather not?

If you wouldn't mind doing it, you could approach them with a deal.... "I've noticed your yard has fallen behind & it is going to take some effort to get it back. I know you are both busy w/ your jobs & all, so I thought I could help out. I will whip it back into shape for $X plus the $10 from before but I'll need paid upfront to refill my supplies, etc...."

Thereafter, you maybe could work out a monthly deal & have them pay at the start of the month.

That might work.

That was the perfect answer Merme - I totally agree about getting paid up front!

Yup, or if you'd rather not bother...just say~too many people wanted you to do the same for them and you just don't have the time, sorry but you can't play favorites among your neighbors so you must decline...

That is very tactful and gracious, Tam. Good idea!

Ya..I've done it myself before.

yep, I like tamara's idea--tactful and gracious plus you have that man out of your hair.

Well I mowed today...

Did my yard , she was home , just minded my own biz and gracfully mowed pretty lines in my nice even cut of little spears of nitrogen .

she left , I mowed the daughters dandelion feild on the other side of her, now their yard really looks trashy (6"+ tall ) .

Few hours later were out just strolling around and both of them come home ...nothing said.

Im just going to play it out and see what they do , then make the call . I just want to hear their end ...excuse for non pay of a silly 10 bucks and was blowen off for 2wks over it , not to mention I mowed twice more now and they both have seen me ....think that would jar a memory ??
Then after I hear that I'll decide how to handle cutting their lawn in the future.

I did it to help out since they "don't" have a mower and Im already doing both ends ...why not ....they seemed to be nice people with decent morals .


Look at my perrrty grass

snow

Knock..knock...knock ....guess who?

well he showed up at the door today...with a 20 !
I then replied.. I don't have change, he then said.. no this what I owe and this time(meaning now@6"+ high) .
I then said .."oh".. but... um ,I can't do it for 10 now with it all grown up like that. That's hard on your stuff and takes more work and fuel to get it back into shape... I'll do it for 20 you owe me 10 agian now . :wink:
It all washes the same as if I did it on a normal schedule but I was not going let him think he can get it cut for 10 whenever it got to tall for him !
I'll have to mow twice to get back down to spring levels in some areas and rake.
This is where I could of been a real jerk and said Im getting to busy to do it and be done with it. But im not doing much anyhow while im out of work so I gave him a 2nd chance, it will take a hr or so ...they have been decent neighbors compared to some that we could have.

So that was settled and he said just mow it when you do yours and if I don't catch you when im here .. just go see the girl..that good?..do that way?. "what" I thought to myself lol

No no you guys know when I mow it ..im not chasing around 10 bucks , you see it mowed ..you guys get it to me !

I think he knew where I was going with this as he looked to the ground and said yeah..ok wi'll do that.

SO... we will see ...ahhh I love summer...all kinds come out of the woodwork

snow

Yes, good for you.

sounds like possibly they are good people after all---I wish you luck

Sounds good..hope it all works out.