Ken Lyons began to suspect he was shelling out too much for his weekly lawn maintenance.
At the outset, Lyons — who works as the visuals director at Savinly — was quite happy with the yard care. The person he hired was just launching his landscaping business and had a handful of positive reviews on Nextdoor, the local social platform that links residents with nearby services. So Lyons figured the $200 monthly fee was reasonable for improved results.
During the first couple of visits, the work was indeed better. But after that, the standard slipped and it was no superior to what he’d had previously. It was easier to tolerate a lesser quality of service when he’d only been paying $125 a month.
Rather than catching up with a neighbor at the curb like people might have done in a less digital age, Lyons turned to Nextdoor for guidance. He wanted to survey his neighbors to find out what they were paying. Sure, lot sizes varied, but most yards were roughly comparable.
“What do you pay for lawn service each month? This would include shrub trimming and some weed control in beds,” he posted on Nextdoor. The poll offered four ranges: $100 to $125, $125 to $150, $150 to $175 and more than $175.
Lyons assumed he was spending more than most, but the poll results surprised him. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they paid the lowest bracket, 23 percent paid between $125 and $150 and 8 percent paid between $150 and $175. Nobody reported paying as much as Lyons — 0 percent said they paid over $175.
Armed with that data, Lyons messaged his lawn provider.
“My budget just can’t keep paying $200 a month, and it really is higher than my neighbors are paying,” he wrote. “Can we come down on that?”
The landscaper agreed to drop the rate to $140. The Nextdoor poll trimmed Lyons’s expenses by $60 a month.
He’s kept using the platform for other home-related guidance. After a windstorm in his area lifted shingles, Lyons learned via Nextdoor that several neighbors had been able to get their roofs replaced through insurance claims.
He decided to pursue a claim himself and see whether his policy would cover his roof. He also found a roofing contractor with a mix of positive and negative reviews online. He initially dismissed the bad ones as typical for construction work — someone is almost always dissatisfied. But over the two to three months it took for his claim to be approved, Lyons discovered the company had roughly 50 complaints listed with the Better Business Bureau.
It turned out the outfit had recently moved into his neighborhood and was canvassing for work. They subcontracted out the roofing jobs, and several neighbors who received new roofs already had leaks. Even worse, the company wouldn’t return to repair the problems.
Lyons uncovered all of this through online research. That knowledge helped him secure insurance coverage for his roof and then select a more reputable company to perform the replacement.
He recommends using Nextdoor for services beyond yard work. He sees recommendations for physicians and auto shops, as well as do-it-yourself tips that can save consumers a few hundred dollars.
Now Lyons is convinced of Nextdoor’s value because of his own experiences.
“It told me, ‘Hey this is effective. I can actually do this,’ ” Lyons said. “It’s giving me some power as a consumer to do my own research and not even rely on something like Angie’s List. I can actually just go and get data from my neighbors on what they’re paying.”
Elizabeth Djinis is a contributor at Savinly.
