Friday, December 08, 2006

Leaf Grinch

Tis the season for leaves to fall in my neck of the woods. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate leaves? We've got 5 trees in our yard, all huge, and all drop leaves continuously from mid-November through the first of February. And because of the neighborhood rules, not raking/mowing-and-bagging isn't an option. Argh.

Two years ago, this little girl came around and offered to rake our entire yard for $5. We knew her dad, so we hired her (and paid her more than she asked every time, because we acknowledge that raking our yard is more than a $5 job). Then she moved away. Last year Mr. Honey and I had to rake our own leaves, though once or twice we borrowed a neighbor's leaf vacuum. (What a fantastic invention - if only they didn't cost an arm and a leg.)

So this past Sunday, another little neighbor kid knocked on the door, rake in hand, and asked if we needed our leaves picked up. I said, "Absolutely. What do you charge?"

So he told me to name my price. I told him I'd give him $20 to do the job, and he agreed. Mr. Honey stepped outside a short while later, and the kid and his partner asked how much of the yard was ours. Mr. Honey showed them the boundaries and told him to do what he thought was $20 worth of work. The kid and his partner looked around and said, "We'll do the entire yard for $30," and Mr. Honey and I agreed. In retrospect, I realize I should've defined the job in the first place, and never agreed to raise the price. After all, I knew what the job was when I hired them. But I really didn't want to have to rake leaves myself.

Half an hour later, the kid comes back and says he and his partner will be back to finish the job Monday night, because it's getting dark. As we hadn't paid them yet, we agreed that was a good plan.

So Monday, they came back and told Mr. Honey they'd like $20 apiece to finish the job, making it a total of $40. Mr. Honey came in to run it by me, and when he'd finished explaining, I stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Absolutely not," I declared. They'd already raised the price once after telling me I could set the price, and I wasn't going to play games with kids. I can get a professional (with a partner) to do the job for $50 - why would I pay two kids, who aren't edging, sweeping the sidewalk and driveway, and doing all those other little extra things, near professional rates?

So Mr. Honey relates that the wife has put her foot down, and the kids will have to finish the job for the price we'd already agreed on. They worked for another half hour, then quit because it was getting dark.

(BTW, when I say "work" I mean "standing in the yard, sometimes raking, sometimes playing with the rakes and talking on cell phones.)

Tuesday came and went; no rakers.

Wednesday came and went; no rakers.

Thursday morning, I called the professional.

Late Thursday afternoon, just before I left work to head home, Mr. Honey called to report the neighbor kids had come back and were raking again. And we had the pro on the way to give us an estimate on the yard. So when I got home, we paid the kids $20 to go away. Since the time they'd started, more leaves had fallen, and the wind was preparing to blow all the leaves back into the yard. I wasn't going to wait a whole month for my yard to get done. Though it might've been cheaper, since we only would've had to pay then $30 for 3 weeks worth of raking.

Maybe I'm just a leaf grinch. But I think I've learned my lesson. First, the price of kiddie labor has gone up. Second, I won't hire kids again unless I know their parents. And third, sometimes it's easier to just pay the professional in the first place.

Posted by Honey :: 8:45 AM :: 5 Comments:

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