Home owner adds 11 trees w/o permission

[cwelvy]

I bid a job a year ago. Dead limb three oaks all over the house and sky lights.
When I am in the top of the trees which were 110 feet tall he asked one of my groundies to take down two medium pines 12-15 inch 55 feet tall. And 9 saplings 3 to 8 inch. chip and cut into firewood.
The job is finished a extra 4 hours and a day later. I charge him an extra 545.00 He calls and complains I refund 10% of total job.
His wife is the president of the Country Club where I work one day a week. And they owned 5 restaurants in the Napa Valley.
I already gave him 1000.00 dollars off the total job. I can't believe this wack. Here is the oaks I did for him......

 

[MuniciPAL]

those pics look good, but i think they need a resize

 

[Husky137]

Who does your groundie get his paycheck from? Remind him of that the next time he starts following homeowner instructions.

Having said that, the "extras" sound like 2 or 3 hours of work tops.

 

[newguy18]

+1.

 

[D Mc]

On our job sheets we have a clause which states our bids are good for 120 days. Anything beyond that is renegotiated if necessary. Certainly any job which comes in a year later should be re-evaluated (and we get those too).

Also as Husky137 said, your grounds person needs to be sure of your policy; does (s)he have the authority to bid additional work? If not, he needs to state that of course he will talk with you when you get out of the tree or within hearing.

We all run into those clients from time to time...chalk it up to experience and be very clear in your communication with your client and your staff.

S Mc
Cert Arb RM-7117A
Wife of D Mc

 

[TDunk]

I've learned one thing over the years. Wether it be working on cars, doing tree work etc........The more money people have, the cheaper they are. I'm not saying your groundie was right by any meens (if i was in your shoes I'd be T.O'd too) but i also have this thought in the back of my head that maybe the homeowner thought he could get a little extra work done for nothing while you were there. My dad owns a garage and you'd be amazed how many people come in with Cadilacs and Lincolns and ????? about spending $20 on a set of wiper blades. They spend 50K on a car but won't but $20 back into it. I'm not saying the guy you did work for is like this, but in the back of your head ya got to wonder why he asked your groundie and not you.

 

[Raneleigh]

If possible, get it in writing. If the owner talkes to my groundies, they know to send them on to me and i always tell them what its going to cost before the work gets done.

I had a large maple, that had 4 - 20" limbs coming out of a short trunk, i was told to do some trimming, (removing limbs overhanging two houses and a shed), had a small crane in, crane operator asks me (with the owner next to me) how much is coming down, owner pipes up and says everything! I told the owner, hey thats going to cost you 'x' amount extra, he said oh, but then told me to get it done.

Just give him a quote so he knows hes not getting it for nothing. You don't speak up and he will figure on getting it included!

my 2 cents...

 

[(WLL)]

wtf!!!!(some place private)to myself

:censored: some times you gotta eat crow. at 1 day a week + more i would brush it off. i WOOD use this as a learning exp and have a talk with my entire team on how this will never happen again. ever! i walk softly with a big stik and seldom yell at others. if you dont like the job, ill take it.
i dont think it is the home owners falt but mor so your green horn

 

[Raneleigh]

Treat the owner fairly but be upfront with them, its not like you are in the business to do free work. The kids need to eat!