We have used a lawn maintenance service a few times before. Usually my husband does the yard, but recently his edger broke and he hasn't had time to get it fixed, so last week we called our guy to do the work. Usually he charges $30 (corner lot) but last week he charged us $35, saying they had to work harder because it was really overgrown. Ok that's fine. We called again today (1 week later), and needed the lawn done + some mulch moved from the driveway to our swing set area in the back yard. On the phone he asked how many yards of mulch and I looked on our delivery receipt and it said 4 yards. He said $80 total--for the mowing AND moving mulch together. I clarified by saying $50 for the mulch and $30 for the yard? Total of $80? He said yes. Now, there is a language barrier, he has a HEAVY Mexican accent, but I thought we were pretty clear on this. I made out a check for $80 and taped it to my front door for him and he knocked on the door and said it was $80 to move the mulch PLUS $30 for mowing! Is he CRAZY??? It only took ONE GUY 1 hour to move the mulch! $80 an hour to move the mulch?? Seriously?? I told him NO WAY I would have ever agreed to that! I told him I'm sorry for the miscommunication, but that price is ridiculous! He shrugged & said ok....the work was done, so I guess he didn't feel like arguing about it. Is that price ridiculous? Or is it the norm? I can't see anyone paying that much for that kind of a job!
Thanks to everyone for your input. I do feel as though he was using the language barrier as the reason for the "misunderstanding", and that he was just trying to finagle more out of me after the work was done; especially since he did this to me last week when I had written the check for $30 (like always), and then he knocked on the door saying it was $5 extra for the "extra hard work". Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. :) ETA: We will be using a different person for future yard work; there are a billion different trucks/trailers in our neighborhood on any given day ;)
For the work you describe, the price you paid was fair. I bet the guy was hoping you'd just pay more for the job. He took the money and the job's done. Personally I would get another yard man. There are too many honest ones to put up with shenanigans.
Have ya ever moved mulch? It is hard and it sucks! See I am too cheap to pay the 100 they charge here to move it.
If my mulch guys are desperate they will move it for 80 but it is usually 100 to 150 depending on how much they move.
Well here my boys get $35 for mowing a "regular" lawn. Maybe you had more mulch than you thought you did, and maybe since there is a language barrier he didn't know what words to use to explain it. Who knows, we have paid a lot of money for people to different things in our yard, and digging, and moving dirt or mulch is a hard sweaty job, so I'd say $80 isn't that crazy.
Oops, I see that you did agree on the price first. I'd probably get a new person. I don't think the price is outrageous, but I wouldn't like them changing it after we talked. Maybe just get it in writing first. But I'm all for paying a decent wage for labor that I choose not to do. Whether it's house cleaning or yard work.
(Yeah, $50/hour is $100,000 per year if you can move mulch for 40 hours a week!! I don't know too many who could do that, or who get that kind of consistent hours in the yard work business.)
I have paid a yard service while my husband has been away, and while I feel like they are actively trying to milk me for every dime they can, they wouldn't even approach me with the kind of pricing you're talking about unless they also supplied the mulch. And it was cedar. Perhaps that is where your guy is getting some pricing inconsistencies? In the future, I would get all cost estimates in writing.
It is $40 per hour per man from a professional landscaper.
It is $20 per person from a lawn guy.
What I recently paid:
Yard work labor: 25-35 dollars an hour per person.
Mulch: $48 dollars installed, per cubic yard for materials and labor.
What I've found is the language barrier becomes a reason to ask for more. Its a way to manipulate. Only you can judge if this was the case in this situation. For $50 per hour I'd move mulch. ($50 per hour is $100,000 per year.)
If you are pretty certain you had an agreement and a price, this should make you aware and make you more careful the next time.
Good luck to you and yours.
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