There’s a new way for area homeowners to get their lawns mowed.
A lawn care app that is expanding across the country is now operating in the region to connect Erie residents in need of lawn maintenance with the right professional.
The app is called Greenpal. The makers call it the “Uber or Door Dash for lawn care,” but without any hidden extra costs.
“It’s the easiest way for homeowners to find, schedule and pay for their lawn care professional,” said Gene Caballero, co-founder of Greenpal. “Homeowners looking for lawn care can visit our website or download the free app. Enter the address of the property they want serviced and the date they want it done.”
Caballero has worked in the lawn care industry for much of his life, along with sales, and with all the apps that help people find services like rides and food, why not an app to help you find lawn care?
“So I was familiar with new technology like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb,” Caballero said. “And if someone were to summon a stranger to pick him up or let a stranger live in his spare bedroom for a weekend for extra money, I would hope he would try to arrange lawn care in the same way. This is how the app was born in 2012.”
Greenpal is Caballero’s app that helps customers find the best lawn care option at the best price with little to no contact, similar to apps like Uber and DoorDash.
More: Ready to plant a wildflower garden? Try using these native plants in northwest Pa.
“Our pricing structure is that the local landscape professionals are the ones submitting the bids,” Caballero said. “Greenpal has no say in pricing whatsoever. Greenpal has no surcharges or convenience fees or anything like that. If you quote $30, then $30 is what you’re going to pay. No surprise pricing on Greenpal’s part.”
How does Greenpal work?
Homeowners looking for lawn care go to Greenpal’s website or download the app, enter the property’s address and select a time.
This alerts the pre-screened sellers in the area that there is a new lawn for them to bid on. These sellers bid on the property based on the Google Street view and the square footage of the property.
The five best bids then go to the homeowner for review. The homeowner can view the supplier’s ratings, reviews, and price and then decide who to work with based on those criteria.
Once the homeowner has received all quotes, he enters credit card information. They only have to pay for the service once it is completed and they are satisfied.
The seller uploads a photo of the completed work, and if the homeowner is satisfied, they can go ahead and pay the seller. If not, he can raise a dispute and that gives the seller 24 hours to come back and fix the problem if that’s the case. An.
The dispute alerts the seller that there is a problem and the seller can contact the homeowner. After they resolve the issue, the homeowner submits payment.
Who can use the Greenpal app?
This app is aimed at large metropolitan areas and suburbs, which is why they decided to launch in Erie.
Caballero told the Times-News that more than 500 homeowners in Erie have already signed up for the app to find lawn care services.
“What we found is that you have the main urban areas and what we’ve helped the most are the people in those suburbs, like those people in smaller cities like Erie,” Caballero said. “We’re in Nashville, but a city that’s doing well is Chattanooga or Knoxville. So it’s not necessarily the largest city, it’s more of a suburb within that state. The demographic group that has grown the fastest is the demographic group above 60.”
He continued: “We’ve seen this shift during the pandemic, where we’re seeing a lot of the older generation using our app, and we were fortunate and very happy that we were able to keep both parties safe. We didn’t design Greenpal to be a truly contactless business, but it is, and we’re very pleased and fortunate that we’ve been able to get through the pandemic and keep people safe and proud.”
Following the data on where homeowners and sellers signed up, Greenpal launched in Erie. The app launched on May 8 and is now accessible to Erie residents.
Become a supplier for Greenpal
How does someone become a provider of this app to help their lawn care business?
The company will guide you through a bidding process, which requires you to submit information and evidence of equipment and previous work.
Caballero said all suppliers must meet the following criteria:
-
be 18 years or older.
-
Make sure you have a valid driver’s license and citizen service number.
-
Make sure you have a valid bank account for payments.
-
Submit images of your previous work.
According to Caballero, there are currently more than 40 vendors in the Erie region that are signed up and approved for the app.
More: Pennsylvania has 124 state parks, here are the 10 with the most visitors
You can learn more about Greenpal by visiting their website, where you can also download their mobile app.
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at nsorensen@gannet.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Landscaping help: Greenpal lawn care app launches in Erie PA
