Cut wrong tree??

[tree MDS]

I like to use ribbon, at least that way if anything changes the ribbon can be removed. Just gotta watch, I've had some slick HO's add ribbon to jobs...

Around here ribbons are like a written invitation for other treeguys to stop by and underbid you. I mean you would like to think if approached, your customer would say "no, thank you, we already have someone".. but that's just not the way it works in the real world. People are cheap (not that I can really blame them).

 

[superjunior]

Around here ribbons are like a written invitation for other treeguys to stop by and underbid you. I mean you would like to think if approached, your customer would say "no, thank you, we already have someone".. but that's just not the way it works in the real world. People are cheap (not that I can really blame them).

this is true, done it myself..

 

[tree MDS]

this is true, done it myself..

I'm surprised you would admit to such a lowly act. Lol.

Not to derail.. but if you got a job big enough to need marking, and it can be seen from the road, it's pretty much gonna be lookin' like a slab of prime rib to another treeguy driving by. I would even worry about the neighbor's, or some friend of the HO's starting with the "Oh, I know someone that cuts trees.. he's real good.. and cheap too", routine. It's just that bad out there these days.

 

[beastmaster]

We do a lot of work "Forest care jobs", a state sponsored program, there is a whole book of rules and regs. One is not to cut down a tree over 12 in. DBH. So when I came across a white fir with a red dot marking it for removal that was over 36 in. I did stop to wonder about it but in my defense it was in a stand of other marked trees for removal.
Found out later the HO had marked the tree him self. I had to go back and find the red dot in a pile of firewood sized logs to save my ass. Darn sneaky home owners.

 

[superjunior]

I'm surprised you would admit to such a lowly act. Lol.

Not to derail.. but if you got a job big enough to need marking, and it can be seen from the road, it's pretty much gonna be lookin' like a slab of prime rib to another treeguy driving by. I would even worry about the neighbor's, or some friend of the HO's starting with the "Oh, I know someone that cuts trees.. he's real good.. and cheap too", routine. It's just that bad out there these days.

LOL, its a dog eat dog world out there.. When I see a bunch of trees tagged, wether they asked for it or not they're getting a free estimate..

 

[tree md]

I have never cut down the wrong tree but I came real close a couple of weeks ago. I had a request for an estimate come in on my email. Customer had included pics of the trees, 2 maples. I went to what I thought was the correct address and wrote an estimate for two maples in front. I got to looking and something just didn't seem right about the trees. For starters they were city trees in the ROW, on the street side of the sidewalk. I remembered that the woman had included a pic in the email so I checked the message again with my iPad. Sure enough, I had misread the email and I was supposed to be over on the next block at the place address instead of avenue... Came really close on that one.

I get the old " you cut down the wrong tree" at least a few times a week by customers trying to pull my chain.

 

[beastmaster]

It all about communication. I removed a big euc in a front yard. I had talk to the HO's wife about a pepper tree beside the house, telling her how nice I could make it look, so when the Man of the house ask me to take care of the pepper tree I said sure. They left for the day, I laced that tree out, a work of art I tell you, when they got home he ask what I was doing? I said trimming the tree, He wanted it removed. I could of had it down in two hours, been trimming it all day for nothing.

 

[superjunior]

It all about communication. I removed a big euc in a front yard. I had talk to the HO's wife about a pepper tree beside the house, telling her how nice I could make it look, so when the Man of the house ask me to take care of the pepper tree I said sure. They left for the day, I laced that tree out, a work of art I tell you, when they got home he ask what I was doing? I said trimming the tree, He wanted it removed. I could of had it down in two hours, been trimming it all day for nothing.

ouch..

 

[HappyTreesLLC]

+1
customer phone description was huge rotten maple tree by driveway. I noted huge rot in 60" @ base maple. 4 hours later it is gone. Only stump with 24" rotten hole. I call him for payment. He came. He looked at hole, looked at me pulled money and says "thank, but it is wrong tree" OMG!!!! :msp_ohmy: then he gave me another check for another tree.
Lucky me.
Since then no mark (tape, paint etc.) - no cut.

 

[chief116]

We had 3 incidents in 2 weeks last summer that led to a company wide meeting / shouting match between the crews and salesmen.

First, the job sheet read "remove 3 pines and 1 maple back left corner of property" We took out the 3 pines and an ugly mulberry behind them that we figured was a mis-identification. Turned out the maple was 40 feet behind that clump of pines. It was at a chinese restaurant bordering a residential neighborhood, they wanted to keep that mulberry for privacy until they replanted. Boss made good on that one.

Second was my doing. I ripped apart a marked norway maple at the right number on the wrong street. Salesman didn't put Place after the address and told me Avenue when i called for clarification. Oops, no charge buddy!

The third was the worst. Salesman wrote "take down large douglas fir" The yard had 2 firs, one 30ft and a 60 ft, and a 60 ft larch. We took down the large douglas fir, packed up and got a call about 40 minutes later asking why the larch was still standing. Headed back to find the homeowner staring at the douglas fir stump near tears because his father had planted one when client was born and the other when clients mother died. We planted a 25 ft american elm for him in that hole, as well as a fair amount of additional freebies.

 

[mattfr12]

We had 3 incidents in 2 weeks last summer that led to a company wide meeting / shouting match between the crews and salesmen.

First, the job sheet read "remove 3 pines and 1 maple back left corner of property" We took out the 3 pines and an ugly mulberry behind them that we figured was a mis-identification. Turned out the maple was 40 feet behind that clump of pines. It was at a chinese restaurant bordering a residential neighborhood, they wanted to keep that mulberry for privacy until they replanted. Boss made good on that one.

Second was my doing. I ripped apart a marked norway maple at the right number on the wrong street. Salesman didn't put Place after the address and told me Avenue when i called for clarification. Oops, no charge buddy!

The third was the worst. Salesman wrote "take down large douglas fir" The yard had 2 firs, one 30ft and a 60 ft, and a 60 ft larch. We took down the large douglas fir, packed up and got a call about 40 minutes later asking why the larch was still standing. Headed back to find the homeowner staring at the douglas fir stump near tears because his father had planted one when client was born and the other when clients mother died. We planted a 25 ft american elm for him in that hole, as well as a fair amount of additional freebies.

Holy crap man. I would be rolling heads that's to much.


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[chief116]

Holy crap man. I would be rolling heads that's to much.

Who do you blame? The BCMA salesman who brings you at least 2 million a year but makes the occasional mistake, or the crew with a combined 75 years experiance that makes you between $4000-$6000 a day?

 

[capetrees]

You blame everyone involved. Mis-communication comes from both ends. Unless there is one tree in the entire yard, exact clarity is always needed. Is it too much to make a call to the salesman to clarify? Is it too much for the salesman, once the job is under contract, to go back and paint the trees to be removed? A tiny bit more effort is usually the answer to most problems. How many years to grow a tree as opposed to how many minutes to clarify?

And to the money aspect of the comparison, one end of the company can't operate without the other similar to a football team. Great quarterbacks can't be great without a great offensive line and great recievers and backs and visa versa. Nobody is more improtant than the other.

 

[chief116]

You blame everyone involved. Mis-communication comes from both ends. Unless there is one tree in the entire yard, exact clarity is always needed. Is it too much to make a call to the salesman to clarify? Is it too much for the salesman, once the job is under contract, to go back and paint the trees to be removed? A tiny bit more effort is usually the answer to most problems. How many years to grow a tree as opposed to how many minutes to clarify?

And to the money aspect of the comparison, one end of the company can't operate without the other similar to a football team. Great quarterbacks can't be great without a great offensive line and great recievers and backs and visa versa. Nobody is more improtant than the other.

Awfully high and mighty for someone that didn't admit what he did to that cherry, aren't you? Mistakes happen, we shouted, yelled, pointed fingers, calmed down and now have a good system in place. A tiny bit more effort? We work our asses off doing exactly what the job sheet says, and if we call with a question, generally its answered with "what does the sheet say, i don't remember every job."

 

[no tree to big]

We had 3 incidents in 2 weeks last summer that led to a company wide meeting / shouting match between the crews and salesmen.

First, the job sheet read "remove 3 pines and 1 maple back left corner of property" We took out the 3 pines and an ugly mulberry behind them that we figured was a mis-identification. Turned out the maple was 40 feet behind that clump of pines. It was at a chinese restaurant bordering a residential neighborhood, they wanted to keep that mulberry for privacy until they replanted. Boss made good on that one.

Second was my doing. I ripped apart a marked norway maple at the right number on the wrong street. Salesman didn't put Place after the address and told me Avenue when i called for clarification. Oops, no charge buddy!

The third was the worst. Salesman wrote "take down large douglas fir" The yard had 2 firs, one 30ft and a 60 ft, and a 60 ft larch. We took down the large douglas fir, packed up and got a call about 40 minutes later asking why the larch was still standing. Headed back to find the homeowner staring at the douglas fir stump near tears because his father had planted one when client was born and the other when clients mother died. We planted a 25 ft american elm for him in that hole, as well as a fair amount of additional freebies.

first incident you'd be fired
second salesman would be fired, was it supposed to be a Norway or something else? depending on tree species you'd be fired too for not double verifying... is the customers phone number on the work order? maybe it pays to check with them on some of the questionable stuff!
third I'd rehire the sales man and fire him again then let the HO kick his arse

 

[capetrees]

Awfully high and mighty for someone that didn't admit what he did to that cherry, aren't you? Mistakes happen, we shouted, yelled, pointed fingers, calmed down and now have a good system in place. A tiny bit more effort? We work our asses off doing exactly what the job sheet says, and if we call with a question, generally its answered with "what does the sheet say, i don't remember every job."

High and mighty? Hardly. What happened with the cherry worked out in the end. Coincidentally, I worked for the person that is in charge of tree removal throughout the same subdivision just last week. Turns out the trees were marked throughout the subdivision for removal and even though I removed the wrong tree for the realtor that made the request, the trees I removed were to be removed anyway. Sure, miscommunication but not a disaster like you have, 3 huge mistakes in 3 weeks compared to one small issue (that turned out not to be one) after doing this work for how many years?
"what does the sheet say, I don't remember every job" is a good system you now have in place? Good luck.

 

[mattfr12]

Who do you blame? The BCMA salesman who brings you at least 2 million a year but makes the occasional mistake, or the crew with a combined 75 years experiance that makes you between $4000-$6000 a day?

Those numbers don't mean much, everyone is replaceable and when employees hear things like that they start to think that they are irreplaceable and can do what they want. thats bad in a lot of ways. I have gotten rid of guys for a lot less that where phenomenal tree guys. show up smelling like booze once is an automatic never coming back. show up late 4 times in one year and its automatic. they get 10 min leeway and all they have to do is call if something is going on.

I guess what I'm saying is things like that can ruin your reputation. and your reputation is what continues to keep you moving forward.

 

[climberjay]

never but I wont say that it will never happen cuzz ive had close calls!

 

[chief116]

Those numbers don't mean much, everyone is replaceable and when employees hear things like that they start to think that they are irreplaceable and can do what they want. thats bad in a lot of ways. I have gotten rid of guys for a lot less that where phenomenal tree guys. show up smelling like booze once is an automatic never coming back. show up late 4 times in one year and its automatic. they get 10 min leeway and all they have to do is call if something is going on.

I guess what I'm saying is things like that can ruin your reputation. and your reputation is what continues to keep you moving forward.

Actually, i've looked at it the opposite way. The numbers may not mean much to you, but the fact that we all still have jobs means to me that the boss trusts us not to make those kind of mistakes again. And we haven't. No one on my crew has a drug or drinking problem, we just made honest mistakes. I applaud you for having standards . We have very similar standards on personal conduct. but what does booze and tardiness have to do with taking down the wrong tree?

High and mighty? Hardly. What happened with the cherry worked out in the end. Coincidentally, I worked for the person that is in charge of tree removal throughout the same subdivision just last week. Turns out the trees were marked throughout the subdivision for removal and even though I removed the wrong tree for the realtor that made the request, the trees I removed were to be removed anyway. Sure, miscommunication but not a disaster like you have, 3 huge mistakes in 3 weeks compared to one small issue (that turned out not to be one) after doing this work for how many years?
"what does the sheet say, I don't remember every job" is a good system you now have in place? Good luck.

Thats funny, cuz all of our mistakes worked out in the end as well. A Norway Maple that was due for removal and took an hour. An ugly mulberry that was also eventually coming down, we just hastened its death. The big one was the douglas fir, and even that worked out. I sprayed his property for winter moth and then also did an IPM for his hemlocks, apples, and a tick spray. Not one client was lost, and we didn't have to be decietful to do it.

 

[treeseer]

A utility foreman flagged a larch for removal in winter, thinking it was dead. That one cost them $1700.00, and that was in 1973 dollars!

Tree ID matters.