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You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me!

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Bryce Frazier

Well-known Member
My gosh, I am amazed nearly every day by the people that live among me in this world.... I have a road that I plow snow off of nearby. It is one lane 50 feet above the lake, and it is cliff going up on the right and cliff going down to the lake on the left side. It is about a mile long, not to mention two huge hills I have to go up!

The guy that was plowing it for them retired, so I took over. I called around, and the three local people that are in the area and do snow plowing wanted $75-$100 to do the job, I thought about it for a little while, and decided to charge her $50.
I think that is MORE than reasonable!!

One of the people that lives on this road was doing a contracting project, and I was keeping the road plowed for this guy. So, he calls me last week and asked me to come and plow, I went down there plowed the road (it needed it) and I was working my way down the road towards his house. I have to go PAST this ladys house to get to his, so she came out. We talked for a minute, and I continued on my way. The new owner of the house offered to pay for the road to be completely plowed out TWICE before, so I plowed everyone out. Now I am down here for the third time, and she tells me she doesn't want to be plowed, well, too bad! The road is literally her drive way, so I HAVE to plow around her house in order to open the road, so after some debating she offered to pay for the far half of the road, not sure why!!! So here is the bill I made:

I gave this lady a bill of $50, $35 for plowing and $15 for dog sitting.

I told the owner not to worry about it because he has treated me REALLY well so far, so i figure that the $35 from this lady would cover expenses, while I maintained high customer relations with the new owner.

Sound fair to you? I think so!

So I called the lady today to ask here where my check is, it has been 8 days. She starts in telling me that she doesn't think that her bill should be $35 because she only wanted to pay for part of the road, I replied with the rather smart retort of "well that's only HALF the bill!!"

So long story short, I spent 30 min of my day on the phone haggling over a bill with this lady. She kept offering me $25 for the road, and I finally said don't worry about, but I ain't ever coming down again!!!

She kind of apologized and is bringing a check for $50 to me now, did I do the right thing to stand my ground and get up set, or!?!?!?! Bryce
 
First off you must plow snow as a hobby as $50 is the going rate for a subdivision driveway thats about 4 car lengths around here.In situations where there are multiple houses on the same drive before you plow anything give a price on all the
plowing that needs to be done and then have one person that you deal with and pays you your $$$$.
 
My nephew paid $95.00 to get his driveway plowed last month. They were asking $195.00. I think you may be a little low. His driveway is only wide enough for one car and about 60 feet long.
Hal
 
I plow a few drives also , plus the church parking lot. One neighbor called. Wanted his drive plowed also. About 1/2 mi out of way. I just said yes, and went and done it. Easy job. Came out and shook hand and thanked me and left a $100 bill in .
My hand. So you never know. I
 
I plow a few drives also , plus the church parking lot. One neighbor called. Wanted his drive plowed also. About 1/2 mi out of way. I just said yes, and went and done it. Easy job. Came out and shook hand and thanked me and left a $100 bill in .
My hand. So you never know.
 
Her telling you she dosent want to be plowed kinda sums it up. Before work you have to have a proposal signed . Which she did not nor did you provide. This would spell out the work both parties agreed to. This keeps the courts clear of " I didn't get my money claims" . If it is a choice between a little old lady and a contractor I suppose the little old lady is easier to intmidate into paying than a contractor. For what you charged it was a hobby anyway.
 
Ain't no fun doing this kind of work unless you're making big bucks or you know your work has value, I think you accomplished the later half, good work. As others have said you're a little low on price, heck you're giving them a deal, stand your ground, if they don't like it let them find someone else and once they have to pay the higher price they'll figure out you weren't so bad after all, if they don't you're probably better off without them in your life, I'm thinking about a word that rhymes with rich and witch...you dodged the bullet dude.
 
Basically, I plow the road for $50, then any additional drive way is another $20. She handles the money for the neighbor hood. If you add it all up, every time I plow, each home pays $5 to have the entire road plowed!!!! I think that is WAY MORE than reasonable! I was just shocked to sh!t that she even wanted to fuss about it!
To add too it, I do a very nice, clean, SAFE job. I get all kinds of compliments, and as far as I am concerned, that is why I have a clientele of 50 homes, people trust me to do the best job I am outfitted to do! And to me, that is what counts. Many of you Boy Scouts out there should know:

Do Your Best

Bryce
 
There's a 1/2 mile lane near me with two houses on it.They have been splitting the bill to have it plowed.The guy that lives back the drive called me to have it pushed.When I showed up to plow it the guy at the front part of the drive said he didn't want it plowed.So,i lifted the blade,drove half way back the lane and plowed the back end of the lane.I think the front guy thought I would plow his for free.
 
Some people would b*tch if you hung 'em with a new rope.

I sorta gasped at the $195 above which is insane, but at the other end of the scale, I care take for a house here in town which included keeping it plowed in the winter.

The owner (who just moved into a senior housing project in town) is about to turn 97 and thinks it's still 1950. When she asked me to house sit her empty place I offered to do it for $100 per month, including doing a walk through at least twice a week to make sure the heat was working and dealing with the realtor and folks cleaning the house at.

She gasped at that and after trying to reason with her I finally agreed to do it for $65 a month out of respect for our long friendship.

Then we discussed plowing. She has a loose crushed rock driveway which is a HUGE PITA to plow and she is extremely particular about her lawn. I wound up agreeing to do it for $10 per trip just to avoid doing it for free.

If it was ANYBODY else, I'd have told them to pound sand.
 
I had a landlady like that. On the expense side she had the prices from when her husband passed 25 years earlier etched in stone in her head . . . but on the income side, she was current with the going rate for rent!
 
When I would blow out someone's driveway, I would test them out. When they asked what they owed me, I'd tell them to pay me what they thought it was worth to them. If they gave me just a couple dollars, I took the money and later refused to blow out their driveway again.

I had the only blower on the street; I enjoyed seeing them out there shoveling their own driveway!

One morning I blew out about 14-15 inches of snow for a young couple that had just moved in. That evening after work she came and handed me two $20 bills. I made her take one of the bills back and never worried about her paying me after that.
 
Well least you got paid.
Last year, neighbor across road had a large log on top of two post, and the log spanned across his driveway. The top log was about 12 feet above ground and he had a tall shipment to be delivered.
He came over and asked me if I had time to lower the top log using my backhoe. I lowered the log and later that day, he asked if I could replace it.
Well, he thanked me but didn't mention any pay.
Next time he will get someone else!
 
Funny how that selective memory works, ain't it?

She's selling off a lot of the antiques and collectibles from the house, and I'll be she knows to within a penny what each is worth!
 
I think you were being taken advantage of and were right to protest a bit.

I read somewhere that some people will treat you exactly how you allow them to treat you.
A lifetime of experience has shown that to be very tyrue. :(
 
I drive my tractor 5 miles into town to blow out the MILs drive. I don't charge her or my BIL (bad heart) who is another 1/4 mile. I stop on the way back and knock out the wife's uncle's drive. Good man, retired heavy equipment mechanic. Then I go 1/2 miles past my place to help out a disabled friend. All always offer to pay and I always refuse. I did get a call a couple of weeks ago. On a lake just north of me a guy has been having the lane in front of his lake home plowed because he comes up to ice fish and snowmobile. We had a bad blow and the snow was packed hard. His plow guy couldn't get through the drifts. My nephew does a lake home on the north side of the lake and this fella knows that fella and he called my nephew. Nephew gave him my number. I went and had a look and called him back ant told him I could do it but that I charge 75 an hour with the big tractor for stuff like that from the time I leave to the time I get back. I called the guy when done and told him $125. No problem and I think he will get back to me if it happens again.

Rick
 
My dad had good stories about thawing pipes in the 60s. He helped a gentleman that had a gasoline driven lincoln welder, the common price was $20.

They pulled into a well to do farmstead after being requested to come, got the cables unhooked and ready. The farmer came out and asked how much, $20, it was too much, so they unhooked and started to drive away. The farmer stopped them and asked how much. He replied $30, the farmer told them to leave, then stopped them again, now $40.

The farmers wife told him to stop negotiating, while they could still afford it.
 
We had America's only active 90 and later 100 year old Avon lady. Some of you may remember her two shows on the Johnny Carson show.

She was a hard working, fiesty but totally honest old gal who lived through the depression and worked for every penny she ever had.

By the time she was in her late 80's she no longer trusted herself to drive. Local folks in our small rural community kind of adopted Rosie and went out of their way to help this frugal old soul who never stopped working as long as she lived. The locals, mostly retired folks who volenteered their time to drive Rosie on her Avon rounds, had to chuckle a bit about Rosie's drivers pay. She would not think of asking anyone to serve as her driver for no pay, but she could not comprehend how anyone could be worth more than $1 per hour, so that was the standard for many years. You WOULD be paid immediatly at the end of the day, but only $1 per hour. That was fine with most of the drivers, although a bit of a joke among the locals.

Rosie had a little single car garage built using Avon earnings, to protect her beloved 50 Chevy.

Problem was that Rosie was already in her mid 80's and found it somewhat frightning to back out of her narrow little garage.
Rosie was always a problem solver, she called the carpenter back to install another overhead door in the rear of her little garage. Problem solved, open one to drive in and open the other to drive out . Worked fine, and good for a smile and laugh from her friends.
 
I always say that some people would complain if you gave them the goose that laid the golden egg because they had to feed it.
 
Dick,
I think we must be cut from the same cloth. Although we don"t have snow here in Florida, I"ve learned to take a little payment from folks to see where their heart is, then just do it for free as a neighbor ( mow driveways, clean out their culvert with the loader, etc). I"ve found that if I start for free, I often get taken advantage of. The only payment I accept now is a 12 pack of my favorite libation, cupcakes or pineapple upside down cake!!
 
I fought a guy, tooth and nail, for a $75 bill, this year, for mowing his lawn. (mowed it 5 times, and he paid for 4). Good thing he paid up, I was getting ready to fix him. Had 1 guy owe me $400, over the winter, he calls me up in the spring, want me to cut it again. I told him, sure, you pay last years tab, and I'll start a new tab this spring. On the appointed day, I mowed 2 rounds around the outside of the lawn, and knocked on the front door, got my check, and off to the bank I flew! He called back 2 days later wondering if I had trouble with my mower, I just said I don't have a problem in the world, now!
 
When I plowed snow I had some customers who wanted to pay
by the season. On heavy seasons they won, on light ones I did.
Other customers wanted to pay $xx per plow and I'd better be
there if they had more than xx amount. Still others wanted to
pay per plow but they would call when they needed it done.
All of them worked out, but we always had an agreement up front.
That agreement would be my advice to you.
If she is the one who controls the money for the group, then she's
the only one that should call and tell you to come plow.
If the other guy needs it done, he should call her and have her
call you. Then the two of them can duke it out if they disagree.
Or he can handle the money and make the calls, their choice.
 
I've been blowing the lane across the road. When I was first asked by the house tenants, I said $40, which is quite reasonable, when you consider what they charge in town for a 50' lane. I got over there and blew it out the first time and said $20, because there wasn't much to it. The problem is that the guy that rents the land had a verbal agreement with the house tenants that he would clean the drive. He's never showed up so she asked me to do it. The land renter rents the barn to his cousin(mennonite), who needs to get in everyday to feed the cattle. Sometimes he gets through with his truck, sometimes he has to clean the lane out with a little skid steer, which makes a lot of piles along the lane, which makes huge drifts. So I have to blow these large drifts, all for $20. Worst part is I haven't gotten paid yet.
 
I'd tell the lady that, since she already knows your position, and you already know hers...she can keep her $50, and she can hire someone else next time. No use trying to keep a customer you've already made unhappy.

Cut your losses. If you take the $50, she'll be bitter and hold it against you. If you send her home with her money, you're showing her that some things are more important in life than money.

You don't need her holding a grudge AND remaining a customer. You've already spent another half an hour on the phone over this...what's your time worth, if you had spent that time on a money-making venture? Cut your losses. Tell her to keep her money. And then be done with her.
 
Yup. She won't ever be happy now whatever you do anywhere in sight of her, so don't take or cash he check, just say things are done and you have better use of your time here on out, she can find someone else.

I wonder if perhaps in some way all of us have been in her shoes just to be fair to her? We get tied up in viewing something one way, and we all can miss the bigger picture from time to time.

Doesn't change things or make her right, just maybe makes all of us human is all. ;)

Paul
 
(quoted from post at 22:40:21 03/10/14) I'd tell the lady that, since she already knows your position, and you already know hers...she can keep her $50, and she can hire someone else next time. No use trying to keep a customer you've already made unhappy.

Cut your losses. If you take the $50, she'll be bitter and hold it against you. If you send her home with her money, you're showing her that some things are more important in life than money.

You don't need her holding a grudge AND remaining a customer. You've already spent another half an hour on the phone over this...what's your time worth, if you had spent that time on a money-making venture? Cut your losses. Tell her to keep her money. And then be done with her.
Click to expand...
I would agree 100% if it were just her driveway.
But if I read it right, someone else on the road called him and
asked him to plow it out. That's why I suggested putting it back
on them to let them decide between themselves.
Did I misunderstand that part?
 
Well, thats basically what I told mom I was going to do. Turns out, about 30 min after I posted this, the contract from next door to this lady called me and asked if I had spoken with her earlier? I said yes and asked why??!?! He said the she CALLED HIM and demanded to know how much I charged him so that she could see if I was doing my math right!!! The second I heard that I went up in a ball of fire!

I totally understand what you guys are saying about the bigger picture, I know I have been there, but I think she went a little too far! I am done with her, whether there is a check in the mail box or not, period... If she can't trust me to make her a bill that is correct, then she probably can't trust me to do much of anything else!

The contractor has had some troubles with her already, and he basically shrugged it off, however him and I are really good friends and trust each other..

Thanks for understanding guys! I know it is kind of off topic, so to please those who wouldn't like this post, I was using my 1945 Ford 2n, with DearBorn 19-5 6 foot back blade. The tractor has chains and fluid for added weight, and let me tell ya what, it is quite the plowin foo! Bryce
 
Nope, you are exactly right. Because of the terrain, her house is RIGHT next to the road, literally there is barley enough room for her to pull her car right up next to the house so that others can get by. It is HER land, but everyone else beyond her has to use it. My first beef was that she didn't want to pay for it, so the new owner of the house past her, where the contractor is working, (very rich) just told me to do it, however when I went past her house, rather than cleaning it up all pretty, I just left a big snow berm, and kept on going, she didn't want her house plowed, but the road needed to be plowed.

When I came back out she had moved her car into my way so I couldn't get by and demanded that I clean up around her house and make it all pretty, that usually takes about another good 20 minutes and a lot of "close calls"!!! So after that I was VERY upset, and then she had the nerve to try and $*%& me down $10 afterwords!!!!
 
If there was a next time I would be tempted to start at the back and work out so she couldn't block me in. But that is just the little devil in me that is talking.

However, I have to agree, cut your losses and move on.
 
I believe I would suggest she keep the money and hire someone else. When she hears what they want to do same job you did for $50 she will be calling you for plowing. "Price is now $(insert a HIGHER price)" I did it once when I plowed 30 yrs ago and never had another problem collecting as they knew how much more would cost them if I didn't do it.
 
The guy that called you and asked you to plow the road should have paid the entire amount. The lady that lives there has nothing to do with it. I don't know why you involved her in the subject at all. Contractor calls and asks you to plow. You plow and bill contractor. End of story.
 
(quoted from post at 23:03:04 03/10/14) The guy that called you and asked you to plow the road should have paid the entire amount. The lady that lives there has nothing to do with it. I don't know why you involved her in the subject at all. Contractor calls and asks you to plow. You plow and bill contractor. End of story.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's what I was thinking too. The lady didn't want it plowed, he did, he should foot the bill.

You say the old girl is selling antiques. Is she rich, well to do or another old lady selling off her possessions to make ends meet? That's important to know. If she's got money then maybe she's a bit cheap, but if she doesn't maybe every penny counts.
 
In this situation, I'd shake the hand of my friend at the back of the road,
and tell him, sorry, find someone else.
In a word of mouth business, you can't have her bad mouthing you all around town.

Access right of ways are always tricky.
I need to know the width and no berms outside that width.
With a close house or property, I angle the blade to carefully cut snow away from the property of the other owner, when clearing the right of way.
So when I leave if there was 10" of snow, there still is that on their property, with a sharp knife cut along their side, no berm.
If there is no deeded right of way, and it is actually her property you have to cross......no way would I take the job.
 
(quoted from post at 23:03:04 03/10/14) The guy that called you and asked you to plow the road should have paid the entire amount. The lady that lives there has nothing to do with it. I don't know why you involved her in the subject at all. Contractor calls and asks you to plow. You plow and bill contractor. End of story.
Click to expand...

Except you missed the part where she stopped him and told him she didn't want the road plowed, THEN blocked him in afterward and wouldn't let him leave until he "cleaned up" around her place, THEN tried to short him on an already discounted price.
 
She is a doctor, and her husband works in the oil fields. She drives a brand new Lincoln MKX, and has a VERY large and elaborate home right on the water. 4 stories built over a bank, pretty fancy!!! Sooo, I am pretty sure money isn't really all that big of a problem! Bryce
 
Sometimes you just run into a "toxic customer." Looks like this is one. Better that she bad-mouth you for dropping her than she bad-mouth you over the amount of the bill.
 
100 bucks would about cover the tax on plowing a mile of road around here... LOL

Only way I'd do it for that is if it was just a dusting of snow. Wait until you puck someone's window out with a blower or tear a section of asphalt up... or wreck someone's flower bed. Never mind repairs on your gear.
I charge 120 an hour for an 8' blower on a 100 hp tractor and that's none too much money.

Rod
 
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