my experiences

Boit4852

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After retiring in '08 and taking life easy, I began using my knowledge and experience of working on motorcycles to apply to ztr's and any other mowers. Word spread around my rural community as a go-to guy for mower problems. Mostly the info was spread by my elderly uncle who relied on me to keep his Craftsman lawn tractor in good condition. My own ZTR is a 2007 Exmark 46" with a Kawasaki FH580V engine. Word spread around that I was the guy to see about engine tuning and maintenance so I began accepting mower maintenance and repair jobs as long as they didn't involve engine overhauls. In the spring of '18, a friend of my uncle contacted me about his Toro ZTR saying the engine was hard to start and was surging. He wanted a price to do the repair and, STUPID ME, I gave him my standard answer that he could pay for my labor for what he thought was fair. Big mistake on my part!!! So far, everyone I have fixed their mowers have been fair with me, but this guy only gave me $20 for my effort. I didn't complain since it was me who said I would accept whatever he thought was fair. He loaded his ZTR onto his trailer and left. At that time, I learned my lesson to never trust people to be fair and also that I wouldn't work on this guy's machine again. Wouldn't you know it? He called me today wanting me to replace a blade spindle. He was shocked when I quoted a price of $600 for labor UP FRONT and he would have to supply the parts. He exploded at the price and demanded to know why it was so high. I calmly explained that since he was so greedy the last time that I didn't give a damn about doing any work for him so take it or leave it.....CASH ONLY. He hung up on me. My uncle was shocked that his friend was damn cheap and said that I was justified. The guy is a deacon in the amen corner of the local Baptist Church. Go figure.
 

NorthBama

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May 28, 2014
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yes i too have learned that people will take advantage of another person. i think your action was justified
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
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Nov 29, 2014
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We all get that Bolt.
I charge out book hours for repairs mainly to force me to work a bit quicker & more efficiently ( almost works )
And a labour rate about 1/2 that of big box brand name shops.
Still get called a thief at least once a month.
Every one has see Taryl fix worse in less than 1/2 hour on you tube.
Over the years the tightest wallets have been from the religious practicioners.
They are used to people doing things for free or heavily discounted because it is "for the Lord's servant"
I used to do a monestry, they had around $ 300,000 in plant for mowing & maintaining the acres of grass ( which could have been growing food for the poor).
Because they were retired priests most of the gear needed regular work due to misuse.
One day I was presenting my accounts to the scenior who has a guest with him.
The guest berrated me in very "unchristian words" about my duty to support the church, grabbed the invoice & tore it up in front of me.
Just the same, the money appeared in my bank account at the end of the week but they never ever called again.
The last time I went past the 2000 acres of luxurious grasslands there was a team of very expensive contractors mowing it.
Obviously the guest buying his place in heaven.
Mean while several reffugee charities are door knocking for access to to unused land so they can grow food on it.
And people wonder why I have little time for organized religions of any colour.
 

Boit4852

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Interesting update. Here it is the last day of March and El Cheapo called this evening and said he would accept my 'fee' but wanted to have me perform a couple more tasks on his mower and include those in the fee. I replied that with his added task, my labor fee would now be $975 and he would have to supply the parts. He was furious and said he would take his mower somewhere else. I told him that he would be better off doing that. I agree with Bert. Many people who profess to be the most religious are the least trustworthy and most greedy. Now, I get what I quote for labor in cash up front and refund some if they are good people, but I still insist on them supplying the parts. I make them look up the part numbers and buy/order the parts themselves to avoid being blamed for me getting the wrong parts, plus, I refuse to drive distances for parts and not being compensated for expenses related to using my own vehicles. Some will try to use the excuse that they don't have serial or model numbers to locate the correct parts. It boils down to them not wanting to exert any effort on their machines and want me to do EVERYTHING on the cheap. I've even had guys send their attractive wives over dressed revealingly to get me to do more for less. When that happens, I start jacking the price up trying to run them off. I despise manipulators.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
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Nov 29, 2014
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Well Bolt , this is the thing I find really crazy
If I need to get parts that I do not have in stock, I add a $ 20 "Courier Fee" and in some cases add several of them if the customer was demanding a quicker than quoted turn around.
No one ever questions it even when there are multiple ones because parts come from a different supplier.
But if a part is 1¢ higher than the same ( looking) part on ebay they ask me why.
Because mine are quality parts with 12 month warranty is the reply.
 

Boit4852

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Yep. So many people want to 'get over' on us. I have also found that people with good financial means will try to low-ball but if if was done to them, they would cry and raise hell. My Dad had a say; "It depends upon who's ox is being gored". I now know what he meant. What I do now is spend more time talking to a customer about what they want and expect, plus what a reasonable fee/price is for my services. I also state unequivocally that they transport the machine to me and procure the parts themselves. Take it or leave it. About half leave it. I'm retired and work on machines for a side gig so it matters not if I get turned down. Also, I require a deposit now before I accept a job. I accepted a rather small job on a Toro residential mower a few months ago without a deposit. He did provide the parts and it's still here after I completed the work. I assume he has abandoned it. I'll try to sell it late May. He won't answer his phone or my texts. I gave him 10 days via text to pay me and pick it up. He might sue me but I have saved all texts with him. I might just shut this whole thing down. It's getting too frustrating.
 

EricC

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Feb 21, 2019
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It's like that with everything. People want their taxes done for 50 bucks because it only takes 20 minutes for most returns. They should go to school and become and accountant, then they too can do theirs in 20 minutes. They don't know why it costs so much for car repairs because they don't know about overhead and knowledge and what it takes to be able to fix it. They don't like paying for therapy that only takes 20 minutes, but then they don't have the 200K invested in the education either to do it. Every profession deals with it, because everybody wants to keep their money :)

And of course many of us have had to deal with the flip side. Take your 20K mile vehicle in for a warranty check because cooling fans are staying on, batteries are draining daily, lights are flickering and there is a tremendous 18 amp draw on the battery when everything is off and the key is out of the ignition. They tell you it's just a bad battery and that is not a warranty item, BTW, it's 300 dollars to replace the battery so you can start it up and get out of here LOL. Those people exist too, and make others very wary of anything they have done, especially when they don't know a lot about what they need done.
 
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