New lawn service company
For a while now I have been unhappy with one of the three lawn service companies that we use to maintain the yards of the rental houses.
This lawn service in particular is the worst at customer service not to mention they do a completely half-assed job. Case in point, I drove by the property one time and they had not weed-whacked the grass next to the house in so long that the grass was about three feet high and growing up the side of the house.
When I call to complain, they do not return calls and sometimes, only sometimes, do they actually remedy the problem. Not to mention, the owner, who actually works on the crew, has never so much as come to the door to introduce himself after he bought the lawn service business from my old lawn guy.
If I need to communicate with him, it’s usually by mail and there is no response. If he needs to communicate with his customers he does the following:
If he needs to change his contact phone number (what’s the point?), he will change it on the bill heading and not take the time to write a note or highlight the fact that the number has changed.
If he wants to let his customers know to write checks to him personally rather then to the business name, he has a rubber stamp made and stamps all the invoices before they go out.
There’s something to be said for doing a little public relations sometimes. For instance, in my other job, I do most of my work remotely. My customers are about 100 miles away on average. Yet, about every couple of months, I find a way to stop in to their offices so that they can see my face and interact with me on a personal level. It’s just so that they know who they’re sending their checks to. It makes them feel warm and fuzzy (I think) to see me every so often and so far, it’s worked out OK.
