Mowz offers suburban homeowners chance to care for lawn via app
If you dread mowing the lawn or just don't have the time, a new app called Mowz could help relieve you of that summertime chore.
Co-founders William Mahoney of Syracuse, N.Y., and Andrew Englander of New York City created Mowz after they launched another app last year called Plowz, which arranges snow plowing in 20 cities, including the Chicago and suburban market. Mowz has 30 providers available throughout the Chicago suburban area.
"We are signing up more providers in the Chicago region every day as the word spreads," Mahoney said. "We now offer lawn mowing, which includes mowing, edging and blowing. The user can schedule a Mowz on the day they choose and receive a picture of the completed job. The consumer rates their first job and if they are pleased with the work they will be matched with the same provider in the future automatically."
You can schedule to have your own lawn mowed or set up accounts for elderly relatives and friends. Users put in their home address, a description of their lawn, and tap to request service.
The free app is available for iPhone and Android platforms. An app for Kindle is expected "in the future," he said.
The average cost for the job is between $30 and $50, depending on the size of the lawn, the length of grass and how soon it needs to be done, Mahoney said.
"We have a bunch of pricing metrics to compute the cost," he said.
The consumer pays securely with a credit card while using the app. Consumers aren't charged until the order is completed.
It also has 24/7 customer phone support and a fleet of landscapers on standby if your regular provider isn't available. After the first job, consumers can rate the provider. If the provider receives an excellent rating, they will have first dibs on that particular job in the future.
If the provider is not able to get out there at the specific time requested, another provider will be assigned. All providers are insured and have commercial grade equipment, Mahoney said.
Surfing: AT&T said last week it plans to start offering in-flight Wi-Fi services, similar to Itasca-based Gogo Inc.
"In flight Wi-Fi sounded like the best idea since sliced bread, but to-date the service itself has been very poor quality, unreliable and very frustrating. AT&T says they will enter this space with it's planned 4G in-flight broadband service. If it works better than what we have now this would be a very big deal for countless fliers," said independent analyst Jeff Kagan.
• Pelican has a new line of rugged cases for the iPhone 5/5s and Galaxy S5 sold exclusively at AT&T retail stores around the suburbs or at www.att.com/pelican. Pelican ProGear Voyager for the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5/5s is engineered to military standards and made with rigid polycarbonate to safeguard against drops and sharp-edged attacks to the screen. Features include a screen protector and nonslip grip surface for $50. The Pelican ProGear Protector for Galaxy S5 features a shock-deflecting outer shell that saves the device's glass face from direct impact on flat surfaces for $40.
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