The cat was away and now I'm poocched.

[crew]

Went on a little Ski Junket and in my absence we had a rain/sleet/snow event. My guys did everything right-except for completely missing the three biggest lots we plow for a customer that pays us around 70k per year!!!!!
As the ice was about 3" thick, I salted the crap out of them on friday and attemted to scrape them yesterday. The slush moved ok but the thick ice is bonded to the asphalt.
Any advice on what I might do ( other than pray for sun) to solve this problem. I already have 10 hours and $130 worth of salt that I, in good concience, cannot bill for.

 

[plowking35]

You need to get a deicer that creates its own heat as it melts. Like calcium chloride. Do an application, then plow it, then do another appication and repeeat the process till the customer is happy. Then since some ice might still be present, do an application of mix, at the end. Kiss the customers butt big time, and hope and pray you dont lose the account. Things happen from time to time, but tis how you manage the mistakes that will determine if you keep the account.
Dino

 

[SlimJim Z71]

Wait a minute... Dino, you didn't mention Magic at all in your last post!?!?!? NOT ONCE!!!

Just kiddin...

Crew,

That's very unfortunate. I would call the customer right away, if you havn't already, and explain what happened. Also explain that you're working on making things right, and you will not be billing him. An account like that, you can afford to lose a few hundred on salt.

-Tim

 

[diggerman]

Time for mister road grader.

 

[JCurtis]

You may want to give the customer some kind of rebate or credit, for the mistake of missing them. Its a hard nut to swallow, but if you don't want to lose them it might be worth it.

 

[FIREMAN]

If the ice is in a confined area or not too large in area you can get a scraper for a bobcat/skidloader, this is a rotary device that will eat ice like you wouldn't believe. It's fast but you will need to rent one and be patient, also don't hit the pavement as the tool doesn't know the difference between ice and asphalt.