collateral damage

[woodchux]

So we were doing a takedown on a medium sized oak today. Dead at least a year or two. Flower beds and bushes below. Anyway about halfway through the tip of the limb we were lowering hung up and the groundman let the butt down fast and when the tip freeed itself, it came crashing down on a small (4'-6' tall) dogwood in the next door neighbors yard. Breaking out a small limb on the dogwood, neighbor standing in the front yard at the time of course. Bad move ,but minimal damage. Anyway within 20 seconds i can hear this jackass hollering at my homeowner that they had better take $300 off the job for his goddam tree. A little while later he is going on about getting quote for digging up this tree and planting a replacement. Now i dont mind paying for any damages i have ever caused but i do not want to pay this guy hundreds of dollars to have the tree dug up. (It was 1 branch knocked off and the tree would be fine). I have no problems with buying him another tree and planting it for him, but should i just pay this guys price to shut him up or what?

 

[tomtrees58]

some times you got to pay bad talker is not good in these times tom trees

 

[Bigus Termitius]

My guess is that he might have been waiting for something to go wrong to raise such a fuss over one limb.

I wouldn't reward it with money....and in no way $300.

I would apologize and ask to prune the branch that was damaged and talk him into understanding that the tree is going to survive, flourish, and have many branches damaged in it's lifetime. There is no sense in killing a perfectly good tree to replant another one that might not fair as well if something should go wrong as a result of this course of action.

Or if need be we can have someone come in and assess the extent of the damages. If it goes this far I might offer $50 for the branch and that is it. He's likely to take it as opposed to going into a great deal of fuss.

Especially if that is what he was after in the first place.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[ASD]

Try to work something out. You did damage his property and hear in CA. he would be entitled to the replacement value of the tree.

 

[reachtreeservi]

I try to allow for things like that in my estimates.
Here's a clause from one about 2 weeks ago:

Because of the close proximity of other trees in the back yard some branches of neighboring trees may be damaged by falling wood in the removal process.
REACH TREE PRO'S will attempt to minimize this damage as much as possible and trim or remove any branches that sustain damage.

If it's in the contract, then a trim is all you have to do.
If the contract specs no damage, and their estimate price reflected that, then you have to pay up.

Here's another CYA clause :

All trees will be cut and removed with no damage to the residence, any constructs, or the adjacent fence,
however the ground and any vegetation in the drop zone will sustain some damage from the falling wood.


That stuff won't help you on this job, without a contract out, whatever it takes to stay out of magistrates court is what will have to happen.

Good luck !

 

[LTREES]

People like that are always looking for something free. 1 st apologize, but if he is an idiot then drop a big piece on it and clean up the whole tree. Accidents happen, if you have to replace the tree you might as well make it up in the time to do the TD. You will NEVER make that man satisfied.

I don't want to sound rude or disrespectful, some times the fast lane is better than the slow lane with all of the bumps and pot holes.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I try to allow for things like that in my estimates.
Here's a clause from one about 2 weeks ago:

Because of the close proximity of other trees in the back yard some branches of neighboring trees may be damaged by falling wood in the removal process.
REACH TREE PRO'S will attempt to minimize this damage as much as possible and trim or remove any branches that sustain damage.

If it's in the contract, then a trim is all you have to do.
If the contract specs no damage, and their estimate price reflected that, then you have to pay up.

Here's another CYA clause :

All trees will be cut and removed with no damage to the residence, any constructs, or the adjacent fence,
however the ground and any vegetation in the drop zone will sustain some damage from the falling wood.


That stuff won't help you on this job, without a contract out, whatever it takes to stay out of magistrates court is what will have to happen.

Good luck !

Your clauses would not hold up in this case since there was encroachment onto the neighbors property, and you had no agreement with him.

One way of looking at it is that you can offer the neighbor cash for the loss in value of the tree. $50-100 sounds fine with one branch.

What I might do is replace the tree (as the posting practitioner stated) and either take the thee myself or offer it to the client who had the removal. If it is small enough, then the stump grinder will make the hole well enough.

I always try to sell a replacement tree anyways.

 

[Dadatwins]

Try to work something out. You did damage his property and hear in CA. he would be entitled to the replacement value of the tree.

This is probably the best solution, bad business getting in an argument over an accident. Hardest part of this business is usually dealing with people like this but they are out there. Apologize for the damage, offer to do some work to make up the difference, or pay enough to get out there. A 4-6' dogwood tree could easily cost $300.00 to install. Bad form to argue with any homeowner especially when you caused the problem, minor as it may seem to you. You work hard for your money and he probably does also. Think about it.

 

[randyg]

Fix It

Prune off the broken limb, rub mud on the wound, and send the limb through the chipper. Was there video? You must confiscate the "un-authorised" video. . . SERIOUSLY I would have wandered over there with my head hung low and begged for mercy. You could have pointed out that you and crew were being careful and going slow, but sometimes the unexpected happens and then we are very thankful that no one got hurt. Get him to aggree that he too is thankful that no-one got hurt by shaking head yes while asking him. Now you are BOTH thankful, right? Then I ask, since your tree sustained damage, what can WE agree on to make it right? You see where I'm goin here? You could be repairing/building a relationship that may last a life time. You don't have to be enemies, you could be FISHIN BUDDIES!!!!

 

[randyg]

By the way, how did you react/what DID you do?

 

[reachtreeservi]

Your clauses would not hold up in this case since there was encroachment onto the neighbors property, and you had no agreement with him.

One way of looking at it is that you can offer the neighbor cash for the loss in value of the tree. $50-100 sounds fine with one branch.

What I might do is replace the tree (as the posting practitioner stated) and either take the thee myself or offer it to the client who had the removal. If it is small enough, then the stump grinder will make the hole well enough.

I always try to sell a replacement tree anyways.

You're right JP, I didn't catch that the broke tree belonged to the neighbor.

At least it was a small tree, I don't see how your liability could be more than the replacement cost.

A little humility and a big check will surely fix everything.....lol

 

[woodchux]

By the way, how did you react/what DID you do?

I kept on working... i'm 45' up in the dead tree and this ahole is threatening the homeowners, like they did it or something. Before i came down out of the tree he had left the scene. But he did manage to create a hostile work environment, and one of the groundmen cut his knee. As soon as the grounder cut himself i came down and was explaining to the homeowner that we needed to get him some stitches and we would not be able to finish the takedown until thursday. While i am talking to them the "neighbor" pulls up, comes over and i try to briefly explain to him that we are sorry, the tree will grow back, what can we do to rectify the situation, etc...All he keeps saying is that there was a branch there before. I tell him we will take care of it. Bring groundman the the urgent care facility and he gets 6 stitches in the knee.
Today the homeowner calls saying that "neighbor" put an estimate in her mailbox. He went to the local mulch yard and got an estimate for $600 trying to claim that the tree is a 3 inch caliper. I went by there this evening and the tree is 1.5 inch.
The neighbor said that he will be out of town this week. I am thinking about just replanting the tree on thursday when we go back to finish the TD.
Somehow i dont think he would be happy with that though...

 

[woodchux]

A little humility and a big check will surely fix everything.....lol

Funny ****...I was hoping for a lot of humility and a little check...
I can pick up the tree for $60

 

[treemandan]

I would drop everything, send everybody to home depot or someplace and have the whole thing fixed before we finished the real job. Then I would tell the guy to stand the %$#@ back, real back!
That's if he kept talking. When that stuff happens, and it does although not to often, it just gets fixed.

 

[treemandan]

I kept on working... i'm 45' up in the dead tree and this ahole is threatening the homeowners, like they did it or something. Before i came down out of the tree he had left the scene. But he did manage to create a hostile work environment, and one of the groundmen cut his knee. As soon as the grounder cut himself i came down and was explaining to the homeowner that we needed to get him some stitches and we would not be able to finish the takedown until thursday. While i am talking to them the "neighbor" pulls up, comes over and i try to briefly explain to him that we are sorry, the tree will grow back, what can we do to rectify the situation, etc...All he keeps saying is that there was a branch there before. I tell him we will take care of it. Bring groundman the the urgent care facility and he gets 6 stitches in the knee.
Today the homeowner calls saying that "neighbor" put an estimate in her mailbox. He went to the local mulch yard and got an estimate for $600 trying to claim that the tree is a 3 inch caliper. I went by there this evening and the tree is 1.5 inch.
The neighbor said that he will be out of town this week. I am thinking about just replanting the tree on thursday when we go back to finish the TD.
Somehow i dont think he would be happy with that though...

That is why I would have just stopped and rectified. This is just a small nuisance ( the damaged tree) . The big nuisnace? The damaged knee.
Any problems on the playing feild require the lead man to step up and if he has to come down then he comes down ( from the tree). You can't let that stuff onto the playing feild, ever.

 

[Jlarnard]

Sounds to me like the neighbors don't get along in the first place.
Not a thing you can do in that case. Settle it as cheap as you can, do the work yourself if he will let you. get pictures, lots of pictures. make sure at least one picture shows size of both wound and diameter of trunk, and height.
And always, always, always talk to neighbors before the job starts, especially if working close to property lines. It helps to know what kind of neighbor you are dealing with, plus it is a chance to sell more work.
Best wishes

 

[SLlandscape]

And always, always, always talk to neighbors before the job starts, especially if working close to property lines. It helps to know what kind of neighbor you are dealing with, plus it is a chance to sell more work.

I agree. Any time I rebuild a fence or cut trees next to an adjacent property, I always notify the neighbors. I try to make face to face contact with the neighbor to better explain what will be happening over the next day or several days. If this fails, I leave a note taped to their front door informing the homeowner as to what work will be done. I also inlcude one of my business cards with the note and ask them to call me to verify they received my message, and if they should have questions. In 4 years time I have only had 2 people complain. No matter how hard you try there's always one neighbor with pms.

 

[teamtree]

Imo....the guy should be able to be in the same position after you did the work as he was before you started.

I know it is a bad thing to have happen but it was your fault. I have paid for many things in the last 10 years that were pretty minor but that is the way it is imo.

I would try to work something out or maybe do some work for him to make up for the damages. But legally, he has a case against you. It sucks...I have been on your end before and that is why I try to get my prices up to cover indicentals.

I have had to pay for rose bushes, azelas, etc. etc.

One of my guys backed into a garage and put a tiny dent in the garage door. I paid them for a new garage door ($450). The job was only $850. They never replaced the door.

Again, be the better man, own up to the mistake and settle up with the guy.

 

[Jlarnard]

Again, be the better man, own up to the mistake and settle up with the guy.

I 100% agree