To ask neighbour to pay son more?

[SunIsOutAgain]

My neighbour asked my 14 year old to do some jobs in the garden today. Cutting the lawn, taking back some hedges, tidying etc.

He is fairly competent at these things and it took him 2.5 hours. I would expect an adult could do it in 2, but it wasn't an especially small job.

She gave him £15 and he was a bit disappointed as he was hoping for 20. He said he didn't clarify the pay before starting (obviously an error that we've now discussed for next time).

It was very hot here today, which doesn't change the value of the work but does affect how he felt when he had finished!

Is this a reasonable amount of money? Should i speak to her?

It is for me. 1/2 acre with a Hayter takes me two hours; dh a bit faster.

Gardeners charge massively different prices. My grans gardener is £45 an hour (the last time I heard) and he was by no means the most expensive in her area.

😂 I don't think parents necessarily have to pay their kids for cutting their own grass. But a quid for doing some of the neighbours? That's beyond tight

Your neighbour is a cheeky cow. But he needs to take this as a lesson learnt as people will try and take advantage throughout his life. Talk him through some other basics too - getting it written down, when to ask for payment in advance, saying no to poor deals/crap “customers”.

And if he works for that neighbour again he needs to load his price by 25% 😂

Our neighbour’s 14 yr old is feeding the cat next week for 3 days - she’s getting £10 a day to come in once, clean the bowls and put fresh food and water down and give the cat bit of a fuss, we have a cat flap and the cat poos in my flower bed so not even a litter tray to sort, I’d say even for £20 your son undersold himself!

How else is a 15yr old supposed to earn money? There's no part time work in our area at his age. He has other jobs he does around the house that are not for cash, this is an extra to earn some money for a something he wants for his hobby. We don't cut the grass either so it's a win-win as DS is cheaper than paying someone.

I know a lot of people are saying it's too much, but I do think it's reasonable as it's about half what we usually pay for the job.

It's roughly 10m x 8m, time includes getting all the equipment out the garage (down 12 steps), cleaning up and putting it away again, bagging the garden waste and sweeping up. Strimming the edges etc. we only have a little Flymo and the grass is long just now so it'll need emptied a a lot. It takes about an hour usually but I'm factoring in that a 15yr old doing it for the first time will take a bit longer. He's my son I'm creating a way for him to earn some extra cash, and I've saved a bit by not paying someone to come and do it, it's not that deep.

But it is real-life, I usually pay £40-£60 for the job to be done...
Lots of people on this thread have quoted prices for gardeners at £25+ ph.

Did he use her lawnmower or your one? Who paid for the fuel /electricity?

@NameChangeScot I think it’s fine to do jobs around the house for pocket money, but make sure your son is aware that when he’s old enough to get holiday jobs, he’ll be on half that amount. My son is 17, works in a restaurant and earns less than £8 per hour.

Which is more than the 15 for 2.5 hours

If he had actually done it in two hours then I think £15 was the correct amount - minimum wage for that would have been £16 for a 16 yr old in a ‘real’ job and this was a 14yr old cash in hand pocket money one-off. If the neighbour usually expected it to take two hours herself or employing another gardener (who would be trained, insured etc) then I don’t think she was actually being stingy.

I think it depends on who the neghbiur is and their circumstances. If it is someone elderly, living on state pension, then paying £15 is not being a tightwad.

I’ve just paid a local 14 year old £15 per hour for some odd jobs. (2.5hrs in total.

A schoolgirl helps me in the garden. I pay her £15 an hour.

1. Yes he was underpaid
2. Yes he should learn from this
3. You shouldn’t manage this for him, he should figure this out himself if he’s going to be trying to get work.

Two 14 year olds stopped and offered to clean my car for £25. Took them 2 hours as they were super slow but I gave them 30 as it seemed too cheap. They were on their own and were lovely.

I'd have just given him £20 for it.

People saying a 14yr old should get £15 an hour are crazy though. I don't even get that and I'm a grown adult with bills to pay.

My dd is 15 and she gets £5.60 an hour at her job and she works on a farm.

Where the hell do you live Buckingham palace that was meant to be @missmoneyfairy

I'd praise them for doing it and top up the £5 extra myself if I was that bothered.

Where on earth do you live? You are being ripped off

That’s irrelevant. The price is the price!

Let him handle it, practice in advance what he is going to say.

My reasoning is this: the schoolgirl who helps me in the garden does the same job as an adult so why should she be paid peanuts? £5.60 and hour is exploitation pure and simple.

To your dc

Blimey. Did they valet the inside as well?

I pay £5.00 for a drive through car wash at a local supermarket.

All he needs to do next time is say 'I charge £10 and hour' then she can take it or leave it.