Ok...can we talk about property damage on jobs?

[Valandscaper]

I just took 14 trees from a yard And the guy actually said "we'll does the price get cheaper if I don't care if you hit my flower beds?" (The guy had several all through the yard.) turned it into 12 throws or half throws and two rig trees. I did have one throw go funny on me and hit a pice of fence. That's the first real damage I've had, but we are also pretty new.

 

[treebilly]

sorry for legal luck I deal with that stuffn all the time for my "boss" On my "million insured sidework" there is no question. All the risks are spelled out in writing when the estimate is given. bs with lawn damage and other stuff is discussed prior to work ever being done. never had a claim that a little topsoil couldn't fix

 

[Sunrise Guy]

I've had my share of minor mishaps- the most expensive was a wrought Iron fence section that I crushed taking the very last limb out of a large oak removal. The limb was on the opposite side of the fence, as I had rigged out the other side of the tree. Tried to snap cut the last piece, it hit brush first and catapaulted back onto the fence.

The most frustrating was another oak removal, as I dropped the spar onto the ground the butt end severed an underground cable tv line that was less than an inch deep. Customer came out and asked what we did to his tv. Luckily the cable co didn't charge us to repair it.

I think the biggest thing is, when something happens, no matter how minor, immediately notify and apologize to the homeowner. Let them know you will do whatever it takes to make it right again.

Never, ever, ever, try to cover something up as if it didn't happen or you didn't do it.

Pertaining to underground cables, pipes and the like: In my proposal sheet, there's a line that states that we can't be held liable for damage to underground lines we are not made aware of. The client must have these lines marked by the proper companies if we are to avoid them. I've never had an issue with that stuff.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

I used to work with a friend that has his own co. In south pa. This guy is fussy and anal to say the least. Very OCD , best record keeper you ever met, he would take notes on everything and went through one of those high school notebooks a week. He would write down the number that called names and so forth along with the time and duration of the call . He has contracts that he writes everything down and he keeps a hard coppy ,customer gets a coppy,and also scans it to his laptop and added notes as needed to the folder . I don't think this guy sleeps . He bid a job and gave the HO a coppy along with his insurance info and his website so the customer could check up on him, they called him back and said they wanted the work done. He Scedualed the job and when he showed up the customer said they where going with another company. Miffed he went on with his day. A few weeks he gets a call from his insurance company about damage to a house roof. Turns out the HO had someone of Craig's list do the job and the tree set back onto the house. ( they tried to drop the tree between a garage another house)total fail. The guys trying to take down the tree had no insurance , they where doing if for free to get firewood . The shady HO called my buddies insurance and said that he did it and they had the contract . Mu buddy lost his mind.. He ran over to the HO s house and sure enough the tree was laying up against the HO house( this is probably a 750k house ) and to boot he said they where lucky or they would have crushed the garage or neighbors house. The homeowner told my buddy to get off his yard and said they would call the cops if he didn't leave . He went and talked to the neighbors and found out what happened and explained what was going on. The neighbors house that could have gotten hit said the HO was shifty and currently had several law suits against people including him , my buddies insurance was just going to pay the claim because it's cheaper . My buddy lost it, he said your telling me I have to pay my deductible for damage on a job I didn't even do. He spent days on the phone and had to get a lawyer . The day he was said to do this he did 2 other jobs over an hour away. He had receipts where and when he stopped for fuel and had his notes of where he was. He had to threaten to sue his insurance befor they looked into the clame . He won after spending money on a lawyer and blowing up phones for weeks . The real kicker is the HO called him back and said he wanted the tree removed at the first bid price . Some people are just scum

Total scum. I would have needed to be lashed to my trailer, by my crew, to keep from obliterating that lower-than-dirt HO.

 

[The Real McCoy]

In the last year I became more of a manager than a foreman. For almost 14 years I took the crew to the job that I sold and led the team through the job. We had some mishaps and tore a gutter here, cracked some concrete there, rutted the yard over there. It was something that was more rare than common.

Anyway, it seems we are running at 50% lately as far as whether we are damaging something or not. Not sure if I should send the crew out anymore becuase it just creates more work for me. I have to replace a basketball goal, replace some limestone caps on a wall, fix two lights, and level and reseed 3 yards.

How are you guys dealing with this situation?

Anybody offer an incentive for 0 losses? if so...how do you manage it? Does it work?

I own my a tree company part time and work full time for my families business. www.trmmaryland.com in my website. Now lets talk business. It helps to notify the homeowner that anything under or near the tree could be damaged while the tree is being worked on so everything that can be moved they need to move it before or you need to make sure the ground crew does. While doing so, it helps to make a mental inventory of the things you moved just incase something breaks and no one says they did it so you know what the deal is. Sometimes homeowners don't notice something is messed up until after you do the work! and that is no good especially if you didnt make a note of it prior. Another thing is make sure you have insurance because a little screw up here and there could be fixed...but if the homeowner is still pissed off by how long it took to fix or whatever they can sue you...and this is pricey. Also its important to recognize your climbers strenghths and ground crew. If a guy normally drags a ton of brush keep him away if there is fragile stuff or MAKE SURE he understands the **** aint happening. Also alot of mishaps come from laziness... if it happens once you should've learned... if the guys keep messing up and doesn't improve you may want to find the cause as to why they don't care and fix it. That might include telling them to find a new job. My part time business is only one guy...me. So you can do it with one guy but sometimes its so draining.

 

[Valandscaper]

Do you do removals alone?

 

[The Real McCoy]

Yes i have. I just bring a few ropes up with me incase i do need to rope something down because once you lower that line you can't use it again. I've never done a extremely large tree alone. But yep i have done removals alone.

 

[jefflovstrom]

I own my a tree company part time and work full time for my families business. www.trmmaryland.com in my website. Now lets talk business. It helps to notify the homeowner that anything under or near the tree could be damaged while the tree is being worked on so everything that can be moved they need to move it before or you need to make sure the ground crew does. While doing so, it helps to make a mental inventory of the things you moved just incase something breaks and no one says they did it so you know what the deal is. Sometimes homeowners don't notice something is messed up until after you do the work! and that is no good especially if you didnt make a note of it prior. Another thing is make sure you have insurance because a little screw up here and there could be fixed...but if the homeowner is still pissed off by how long it took to fix or whatever they can sue you...and this is pricey. Also its important to recognize your climbers strenghths and ground crew. If a guy normally drags a ton of brush keep him away if there is fragile stuff or MAKE SURE he understands the **** aint happening. Also alot of mishaps come from laziness... if it happens once you should've learned... if the guys keep messing up and doesn't improve you may want to find the cause as to why they don't care and fix it. That might include telling them to find a new job. My part time business is only one guy...me. So you can do it with one guy but sometimes its so draining.

You sound like the real mcCoy,,aggressive and promoting a web site and acting like a boss,,,
Wow, don't get me wrong, I am a nice guy.
Jeff

 

[newsawtooth]

I just bring a few ropes up with me incase i do need to rope something down because once you lower that line you can't use it again.

Amateur.

 

[The Real McCoy]

Glad someone thinks so