AAA Landscaping Case Study Essay

Based on the information provided in chapter 7 and the information provided in the case, I would say that the owner of AAA Landscaping did not do a good job with handling the situation with Stu Murphy. In the case, it states that Stu had heard about AAA Landscaping through word of mouth advertising from some of his neighbors in his subdivision. He decided to hire AAA to landscape his yard and it was a $1200 service. The landscapers came out and redid the sod in the front yard and trimmed up bushes in Mr. Murphy's yard. The week after AAA did Stu's yard, they received a call from Stu and he let them know that there was unfinished work. Because AAA was tied up in other jobs the owner was not able to send anyone out until later on in the week. The next day Stu called again because the job was still not finished and the owner did not get around to calling Stu back. This went on for another week and finally the owner sent out someone to

finish the job. He did not hear from Stu again so he assumed that the job had been finished and did not bother to call Stu back. The first thing that the owner should have done when he received that call from Stu is apologize, instead he ignored the phone calls. The next thing the owner should have done is take immediate action, but instead it took about two weeks to finish the job at Mr. Murphy's house. After the job was taken care of, the owner should have let Stu know how sorry he was and show him that he does appreciate his business. When everything was taking so long, the company should have offered a discount off of Stu's service or found another way to provide compensation to him for having to wait so long for his services to be completed. Lastly, He should have followed up with Stu Murphy, This shows the customer that you care if the services where done properly and gives the customer time to provide any feedback on the company.
2) In this case, Stu Murphy was looking for a quick and affordable landscape company that could clean up his front yard. He needed to resod his front yard and he wanted some basic maintenance done on the yard such as hedge trimming and tree trimming, hauling away of old decorative logs, and general sprucing up of the front area of the house. He heard about AAA Landscaping and he ended up contracting with them because of their low rates. He wrote them a check for $1200. He wanted his yard finished by the Saturday after they started working on it because he was throwing a party. The last thing in wanted during this case was for the owner to have the small things fixed as soon as possible but the owner hardly paid attention to the phone calls from Stu Murphy.
3) There was a lot that could have been done differently in this case.

The owner could have had the job done correctly the first time and should have double checked everything to make sure it was done on the day his workers finished the job. By doing this he would have prevented a lot of phone calls from Stu and it would have made Stu a lot happier. On the other hand, say if they would have forgotten to do the small things, the owner should have had one of his employees go out to Stu Murphy's house and finish the job the day after he received the phone call. If one of his employees was not able to finish the job then the owner should have gone out to the house and finished the job himself. It is ultimately his job to make sure that all of his customers are satisfied because like stated in the case, his main form of advertisement is word of mouth. After the job was finished, the owner should then call Mr. Murphy or go by his house and make sure that the job was everything the Stu was looking for, even if he does not get a

complaint.
4) I would not be sure that Stu would give a good recommendation in the future to any of his friend, family or neighbors. The service was truly unsatisfactory. If I were Stu, I would most definitely not be recommending any one to contract out with AAA landscaping. Stu Murphy hired AAA Landscaping and expected them to do an excellent job because that is what he heard from his neighbors. When he was not happy with everything that had been done he called the owner and left him several messages on the phone before the owner sent someone out to finish the job. It took over a week longer than it should have for Stu to have his yard done the way he wanted it and for the company to get all of the remaining trash out of his yard. The owner then never did a follow up with Stu Murphy to make sure that everything was completed the way he wanted it. This service shows the complete opposite of how good customer service looks and I am sure that Stu Murphy realizes this. I would not be surprised if Stu turned every person away from AAA Landscaping.