Lawn Guy Broken Sprinkler
June 30, 2020 1:08 PM   Subscribe

Should I fire my lawn company for accidentally breaking a sprinkler and not showing back up to fix it?

The other day one of the crew members of my lawn care company(small company) accidentally broke a sprinkler with the mower. It was a new guy(a young teenager) who broke it. To be fair it was the kid's first time mowing my lawn. The sprinkler sticks out above ground on the side of the lawn. So if you're not paying close attention I can see how someone might take it out. I was home and right near the window where it happened so when I heard the noise I came right out to see what took place. I tried not to be mad...I know it was an accident. I told the kid it was OK and that everybody makes mistakes. The kid is the the son of the company owner who was not working that day. I probably came off a bit upset but I definitely didn't yell or lose my cool. I just said I would need you guys to pay for the sprinkler and repair it. I'm sure I showed some frustration because it's a pain to fix this particular sprinkler as it's a rotating head. The more senior worker and I talked about it and he said the owner would come later that day to fix it. I'd fix it myself but it's a more complicated fix and I didn't feel I could do it myself. Fast forward a few days and the owner hasn't showed up. I spoke to him on the day it happened and he said he'd be there that day. I followed up the next day and he said he'd be there again. Nothing. A few days later, I had another guy who takes care of some trees who was doing some scheduled work for me fix the sprinkler. At this point I'm considering letting the lawn care guys go because they broke something and didn't follow up to fix it. Was I being unreasonable? Should I let it slide and still keep them considering the price is right and their work is usually good? Or should I fire them and find a new lawn care company? This was 100% an accident...that's not my concern. It's the lack of follow up that rubs me wrong. Any thoughts here are appreciated.
posted by ljs30 to Home & Garden (10 answers total)
 
Fire them! Lawn care folks are occasionally going to break things and making it right is the cost of doing business. Aren't they insured? They might not be bonded but at the very least they should have liability insurance to pay for these kind of accidents (of course, it’s probably cheaper for them to repair it themselves than to file a claim, but the point is running a lawn care business means being prepared to fix property damage).

You don’t sound unreasonable. They said they would pay/do the repair and then bailed on you. I would be letting them know you’re going to be writing about how they handled this situation on Yelp, Google, and Angie's List review as well as warning away neighbors (which might include posting on social media) unless they show up to make things right — since it's already been fixed, they should give you some some free lawn care. I'm not kidding, there’s a lot of options for lawn care out there, you’re allowed to hold them to this standard even if they have good prices.

It’s okay the kid broke the sprinkler, and it sounds like you know that, but of course it’s not okay they dodged your calls and failed to make it right. You shouldn't reward them with your business.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 1:29 PM on June 30, 2020


Everyone has different levels of patience when dealing with a service company, and I am definitely on the more laid-back end of the spectrum, but I think this might be one of those occasions where you are not wrong, but your perception of the grievance may be a little higher than most folks. Yes, they should have followed up sooner, but it seems like the fix was relatively cheap and you were able to make other arrangements without a significant impact to your life. To me, the hassle of finding a new lawn service company would be greater than sticking with the one whose rates and service you otherwise like.

I would be letting them know you’re going to be writing about how they handled this situation on Yelp, Google, and Angie's List review as well as warning away neighbors (which might include posting on social media) unless they show up to make things right

In my opinion this is never a good look.
posted by Think_Long at 1:39 PM on June 30, 2020 [11 favorites]


I would get if fixed however you can, and let it go. The pain and effort it will take you to find a new lawn care company is probably much greater than just remembering that everyone (you included) is under stress, and most people are doing their best. It's a cheap and easy fix, provided it's the head that's broken, and not the pipe. Heads are cheap, and you definitely wouldn't need an insurance claim for that.

Negative reviews right now, for anything but the most egregious things, are really uncool. Don't mess with people's jobs as everyone is struggling to survive.

Recently, I had my own little mini-meltdown at home, when some techs incorrectly installed my dishwasher in a way that would have cost me a lot of time and money (for an electrician) if I didn't have someone on hand who knew what they were doing and could arrange a simple fix after the fact. I had my own personal little hissy fit at home by myself, and then remembered that I am privileged enough to afford to hire people to help me with things that I don't do well. I let it go. Life is a lot for everyone right now.
posted by answergrape at 1:50 PM on June 30, 2020 [5 favorites]


I'm kind of sensitive when it comes to customer service, and have left factual but negative reviews for places before when I felt appropriate (as well as switching companies over bad service), but in this case I, too, would come down on the side of letting it go. The situation sounds frustrating, but you say this lawn company is good in general and that you like their price? I really don't think it'd be worth dropping them over a sprinkler they hadn't fixed over the span of a couple of days (and no, the owner shouldn't have said he'd come out and then not shown up, but I think that's more of an annoyance than an unacceptable situation given the overall lowish stakes here).

I guess maybe the next time you talk to the main guy you can let him know how displeased you were at the lack of follow-up, but that is really the absolute most I would do in this case.
posted by DingoMutt at 3:58 PM on June 30, 2020


Send the lawn care guys a bill for the repair of the sprinkler and a letter stating that you expect them to pay up ASAP. See what happens and take it from there.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 4:10 PM on June 30, 2020


I think it's less about the cost of the repair and more about the communication problems.

With your fallback option being 'I'm going elsewhere' - which you can, of course, do at any time - can you negotiate either a discount or a skipped payment, to reimburse you not so much for the damage You have to pay to repair but also to make up for the crappy treatment? Would you consider that an acceptable outcome? It seems like it costs you nothing to ask.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:32 PM on June 30, 2020


I think you should let this go. You had a faulty head that you were aware of and you should have had it repaired by your irrigation company when they serviced your system this spring. Your mowing company has done a good job of avoiding your ill-adjusted head all season. Maybe the grass was tall enough that the new guy didn’t even see the head. If so, I don’t see how you’d expect him to know it was there and to be responsible for the repair. Mowing companies run on extremely small margins in normal years. This year has been a challenge for all companies and I’m sure the owner is overworked and stretched too thin. Cut him some slack. I’m sure he intended to get to you right away, but unexpected things happen. Yeah, he could have communicated better with you regarding the timing. Sounds like he was trying to take care of it and probably would have the next time he mowed, which in my opinion would be acceptable to save the mow company a trip (and money). But really, you should have a well maintained irrigation system and a yard free of obstructions so this isn’t a problem in the future for whoever is mowing your lawn.
posted by exoticlikeomaha at 6:36 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]


They broke something, said they would fix it, and then gave you the runaround and didn't come to fix it? fired.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 7:06 PM on June 30, 2020


I think you should not fire them and instead let it go. Frustrating, but not a big deal in the scheme of things if their work has otherwise been good.

I think it’s also worth asking yourself what you would be trying to accomplish by firing them. Would you be trying to avoid another accident happening to you in the future? Would you be trying to punish the lawn care company? Would you be trying to motivate them to change their behavior so they don’t make this mistake with another customer? The answer to that question might inform what you should do.
posted by mekily at 9:29 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]


I like to put incidences like this into a baseball analogy. Strike one was the broken sprinkler. Strike two was the lack of follow-up. Give them another strike before calling them out by firing them. You could, of course, research other lawn care companies to see if you are getting the value you believe you are from these guys. And you'll be ready to move on if/when strike three happens.
posted by Gino on the Meta at 12:08 PM on July 1, 2020


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