The Uber for landscaping: App now lets Erie residents book lawn care online

There's a new way for area homeowners to get their lawns mowed.

A lawncare app that is expanding throughout the country is now active in the region to connect Erie residents in need of landscaping services with the right professional.

The app is called Greenpal. Creators are calling it the "Uber or Door Dash for lawncare," but without any hidden upcharges.

“It’s the easiest way for homeowners to find, schedule and pay their lawncare guy,” said Gene Caballero, co-founder of Greenpal. “Homeowners looking for lawncare will go to our website or download the free app, enter in the address of the property they want serviced and the date they want it done.”

Caballero has spent a lot of his life working in the lawncare industry along with sales and has figured with all of the apps out there helping people find services such as rides and food, why not an app to help you find lawncare?

“So I was familiar with new technology like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb,” Caballero said. “And, hey, if someone was going to summon a stranger to pick them up or allow a stranger to live in their extra bedroom for the weekend for extra money, then I would hope they would attempt to get lawncare the same way. That’s how the app came to be in 2012.”

Greenpal is Caballero’s app that allows customers to find the best lawncare option for the best price with little to no contact, similar to apps like Uber and DoorDash.

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"Our pricing structure is the local landscaping professionals are the ones that submits the bids," Caballero said. "Greenpal does not have any say in the pricing. Greenpal does not have any upcharges or any convenience fees or such. If you are quoted $30 then $30 is what you are going to pay. No surprise pricing from the Greenpal side.”

How does Greenpal work?

Homeowners who are looking for lawncare will go to Greenpal’s website or download the app, enter in the address of the property and select a time.

This will alert the prescreened vendors in the area that there's a new lawn for them to bid on. Those vendors bid on the property based on the Google Street area view and the square footage of the property.

The five best bids will then go to the homeowner for review, the homeowner can see the vendors ratings, reviews and price, and then they decide who they want to work with based on those criteria.

Once the homeowner gets all the quotes, they enter credit card information. They will not have to pay for the service until it is complete and they are satisfied.

The vendor will upload a picture of the completed work, and if the homeowner is happy they can proceed and pay the vendor, if not then they can raise a dispute and that gives the vendor 24 hours to come back and fix the problem if there is one.

The dispute alerts the vendor that there is an issue and the vendor can reach out to the homeowner. After they fix it then the homeowner submits payment.

Who can use the Greenpal app

This app is targeted towards major metropolitan areas and suburbs, which is how they decided to launch in Erie.

Caballero told the Times-News that over 500 homeowners in Erie have already signed up on the app to find lawncare services.

"What we found is you have your major metropolitan areas and who we kind of helped the most are the people in those suburbs like those people in smaller cities like in Erie," Caballero said. "We’re in Nashville, but a city that does well is a Chattanooga or a Knoxville. So it’s not necessarily the largest city, it is more of a suburb within that state. The demographic that has grown the fastest is the over 60 demographic."

He continued, "we saw this shift during the pandemic that we’re seeing a lot of the older generation use our app and we were very 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 happy and fortunate that we made it through the pandemic and keeping people safe and proud.”

Following the data as to where homeowners and vendors were signing up made Greenpal launch in Erie. The app launched on May 8 and is now accessible to Erie area residents.

Becoming a vendor for Greenpal

How does one become a vendor for this app to help their lawncare business?

The company will take you through a bidding process which will include you submitting information and proof of equipment and past work.

Caballero said that all vendors must fit the following criteria:

• Be 18 year of age or older.

• Have a valid drivers license and social security number.

• Have a valid bank account for payments.

• Submit images of your previous work.

According to Caballero, there are currently more than 40 vendors that are signed up and approved for the app in the Erie area.

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You can learn more about Greenpal by visiting their website which will also allow you to download their mobile app.

Contact Nicholas Sorensen at nsorensen@gannet.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Landscaping help: Greenpal lawncare app launches in Erie PA