problem with customer

[Bigus Termitius]

There are still live Ash trees in Michigan?!

:biggrinbounce2:

Uh...not anymore, that must have been the last one.

 

[ForTheArborist]

I trimmed a ash tree last spring and the customer called me to day stating that i killed the tree. we climed the tree to get to the limbs that wherent able to be reached by ground or from the ladder. has anyone had a tree die from climbing?

the customer gave me five days to respond on what i am going to do

I had to realize myself that the bottom line is not you having to prove it was not your fault, but them having to prove it was your fault. We all know a tree can die from many causes, and sometimes unknown ones. Unless the worker has done something crazy to the tree, there is no way a tree job can come back to bite anyone.

I haven't had any problems myself, but I used to get leery about working for some of these people and them "pop goes the weasel" press a law suit out of the blue. People find stupid little reasons to suit people you know especially where money is tight like around here, and a lot of times they aren't even real reasons to suit people.

 

[NCTREE]

i know a good lawyer who is also one hell of a tree guy, he could probably give you some advice if need be.

 

[Rocko]

Call his bluff,it will cost him a hell of a lot more than $3000.00 to sue you

 

[huskystihl]

I don't climb much but especially no spikes when trimming which is why if the truck can't get in I farm it out. The sweetest little old lady will turn pitbull on you if she sees climbing spikes in her beloved tree. But to agree with some fellow posters it's probably the borer, it's killed millions of trees in the midwest.

 

[pdqdl]

Go knock on his door. Somewhere close to dinnertime. Be sure that you look pretty rough from a hard day at work.

Politely ask him to show you the report, and to kindly explain why he believes that you are at fault. Do your best to be the patient, perfect gentleman. I like to sit down on the steps or some other structure and do something mildly distracting while I let my irate customer tower over me. This puts you in control, because you are not intimidating, nor intimidated.

If he acts reasonable, then you can rationally find a better solution. I invariably keep my customer and make them happy at the same time by using this approach.

This guy is probably a bully, however. His tree is gone, and he is living in a fantasy world where everything bad that happens to him is someone else's fault. By showing up at his door, you remind him that you know where he lives. By being reasonable and polite, you give him an excuse to become reasonable himself.

When the conversation goes downhill from there, you will be able to get right up close in his face. Stand up slowly and carefully; it might help if you flex/stretch your muscles a bit when you do stand up. Very few bullies will stand up to this approach, and he will likely run hide in his house, threatening to call the police to remove you. Just nod in compliance, and look him in the eye and give him your card, stating that his lawyer can mail you anything he wants at this address, adding that "I, however, will come knock on your door when I want to talk to you."

Don't give him anything to be mad at you about, nor say anything that sounds bad when quoted out of context: sometimes folks will pursue a lawsuit just to get even.



If that tree didn't die the first summer after you trimmed it, I don't think very many courts would decide that it was your fault the tree died, even if it really was your fault. Call his bluff, give him nothing of value.

 

[ForTheArborist]

Go knock on his door. Somewhere close to dinnertime. Be sure that you look pretty rough from a hard day at work.

Politely ask him to show you the report, and to kindly explain why he believes that you are at fault. Do your best to be the patient, perfect gentleman. I like to sit down on the steps or some other structure and do something mildly distracting while I let my irate customer tower over me. This puts you in control, because you are not intimidating, nor intimidated.

If he acts reasonable, then you can rationally find a better solution. I invariably keep my customer and make them happy at the same time by using this approach.

This guy is probably a bully, however. His tree is gone, and he is living in a fantasy world where everything bad that happens to him is someone else's fault. By showing up at his door, you remind him that you know where he lives. By being reasonable and polite, you give him an excuse to become reasonable himself.

When the conversation goes downhill from there, you will be able to get right up close in his face. Stand up slowly and carefully; it might help if you flex/stretch your muscles a bit when you do stand up. Very few bullies will stand up to this approach, and he will likely run hide in his house, threatening to call the police to remove you. Just nod in compliance, and look him in the eye and give him your card, stating that his lawyer can mail you anything he wants at this address, adding that "I, however, will come knock on your door when I want to talk to you."

Don't give him anything to be mad at you about, nor say anything that sounds bad when quoted out of context: sometimes folks will pursue a lawsuit just to get even.



If that tree didn't die the first summer after you trimmed it, I don't think very many courts would decide that it was your fault the tree died, even if it really was your fault. Call his bluff, give him nothing of value.

That's a little bit of business 101. Nearly everyone can do business on paper or with the product, but when you learn to emasculate the common bulls of money paper and law literature, you are a complete businessman in any country.

(to OP) Even if he chooses to pursuit you because he can't put an estimate on you, you coax him/his lawyer back to a wide open shot at them with the law book they were holding against you like it was a fun, baseball bat that would have smashed you all up.

I hate crooks. Good luck.

 

[Tree Pig]

That's a little bit of business 101. Nearly everyone can do business on paper or with the product, but when you learn to emasculate the common bulls of money paper and law literature, you are a complete businessman in any country.

(to OP) Even if he chooses to pursuit you because he can't put an estimate on you, you coax him/his lawyer back to a wide open shot at them with the law book they were holding against you like it was a fun, baseball bat that would have smashed you all up.

I hate crooks. Good luck.

WTF did he just say?

 

[tree MDS]

WTF did he just say?

Its the I beam again. lol.

 

[ForTheArborist]

WTF did he just say?

Figures of speech are not universal.

 

[teamtree]

still waiting for a response as to whether he spiked the tree or not

 

[Tree Pig]

still waiting for a response as to whether he spiked the tree or not

Yeah that did go unanswered. Though Im sure spiking it could have invited some infestation, the question is could it do enough damage in a year to cause the failure of the tree? I would still guess there has to be another problem.

 

[ForTheArborist]

still waiting for a response as to whether he spiked the tree or not

I'd kinda think so since he is even worried it in the first first place. What I mean is I'd have to be completely out of my own mind to believe someone could suit me over a tree that all I did was climb and prune. Maybe he topped the thing, so it died, hence they're not going to take anymore.

 

[huskystihl]

Yeah that did go unanswered. Though Im sure spiking it could have invited some infestation, the question is could it do enough damage in a year to cause the failure of the tree? I would still guess there has to be another problem.

Probably not but all it takes is the owner to have seen him take a jump with spikes on and put 2and2 together and there you go. My brat little nephew tried chopping down one of my norwegian maples with a drywall hammer a few years ago and it healed itself but it's not suspect to the ash borer either. If the the guy who taught me to climb caught me trimming with spikes he would have chased me out of the tree with a 660.

 

[treeslayer]

still waiting for a response as to whether he spiked the tree or not

and there's the answer. :hmm3grin2orange:
His lack of an answer, he spiked it. An Ash. And it died.

and it was the WRONG homeowners tree.

 

[treeclimber101]

As a response to the original poster , notify your ins. comp and forget about it , let the HO proof your negligent and guess what its not as easy as he thinks,I don't care if ten "experts" looked at the tree its not as cut and dry as it sounds , anyway even if you lose thats why we have insurance...

 

[pdqdl]

I figured he spiked it too.

But that doesn't change the equation for liability. If it was trimmed last spring, and grew all summer, it would be pretty tough to prove that he killed it, rather than some lightning strike, herbicide application, or simply the disease that afflicted it prior to his visit.

Winter kills a LOT of trees, generally those under stress from the year before. Proving the true extent and cause of the stress would not be predictably worth a lawyers time to chase for a $3000 tree. Chasing ambulances is worth more money.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

WTF did he just say?

Figure it out. It's worth hearing.

 

[pdqdl]

WTF did he just say?

I'm pretty sure that he approved of my comment. I don't think he would have put in that little smiley clapping his hands if he meant otherwise.

FTA needs to probably hone up his communication skills for us folks that don't follow California-speak to well. I was bit confused myself.

I've got this thing going for ol' FTA: I speak up for him every now and then when folks are pickin' on him. I think he has good intentions most of the time, and just needs a nudge sometimes in the right direction.

 

[PaulPollard]

The Emerald Ash Borer came in on a ship from Asia to Detroit in 2002 and has gone viral. They don't leave bore holes but the adults leave D shaped exit holes in spring, a dead or dying upper canopy and splitting bark - that might look like spike rips - are the symptoms. If you peel the bark back you can see the galleries or maybe the white larvae. You can't miss the adults, they are shiny green and don't fly very well. Boring insects usually kill a tree in about 1 or 2 years if infested - you should have no problem telling if this was an EAB infected Ash.

I know a guy who got stuck doing EAB inspection for a whole year.