some people just p!ss me off!

[nytreeman]

I'm sure many have had it happen,people call for a free est.You look at the job,burning fuel using up time,give them a fair price,they tell you then or call you later saying they want it done,you schedule it in,have help lined up,then you get a call back maybe even a day before the job ,saying I hate to do it but....... I got a better price or we changed our mind and were going to wait,and my favorite,my brother said he'd come do it.:bang: :bang: :bang:

 

[nytreeman]

or the kid that mows my lawn said he has a saw and said he can probably get those limbs
!$%#@ !@#$%!!!

 

[diltree]

Have them sign a contract and get a deposit before you put them on the schedule; it serves as a great deterent, and weeds out the indesisive people!

 

[nytreeman]

Yes I do require a deposit if its over so much,sometimes contracts but I usually trust people thinking there word might mean something to them.If I make a verbal agreement to do a job for a price I stick to it ,and sometimes I do wonder what the frig I was thinking when I gave the quote.Job sure looks bigger now. I usually don't collect a deposit til the day we start,oh well can't get em all but I do hate losing what I've got

 

[treeman82]

I did a job a few weeks ago. 2 pine trees in the back yard... I'd done work for the guy in the past, and he had referred me to some of his friends and family. I cut the guy one heck of a deal on these 2 pine trees. One of my friends and I did the job that afternoon, 4 hrs for $500 in green. Took out maybe 6 yards of chips, plus had to dump some wood at the wood place for $25. The guy asks me if I can put this one locust on the ground for him and chip the brush. The thing is behind his pool, over a bunch of crab apples and his neighbors fence. I told him $200 - $300. He said he'd get somebody else to do it for less. I said no problem. Got paid for the pines and left. He told me to call him the following week if I'd be willing to do the job for what he wanted to pay. I said thanx, but no thanx.

 

[Canyonbc]

wait...is it not true you have a bilaterial contract...that you offer they accept...agree on a price which then you have consideration...as long as both of you are mentally stable...and what you are doing is legal..then they should be stuck..

 

[nytreeman]

Yes I do believe that a verbal contract is just as binding as a written one but I guess if you can't take their word its probably not someone I want to work for anyway

 

[Timberchic]

Two weeks ago I priced a job for TH.....It was four very large poplar trees at the bottom of a hill with no access to get any kind of loader....But they could be fallen uphill,then we figured we could rig up some kind of block and tackle to get the logs up the hill...No doubt it was two full days work,with all four guys.....I gave them a little break at 3,000....They wanted us there right away,so we were able to come within two days..We were all lined up to go,and get a phone call that evening telling us that they had found someone to do it for 2 grand...I said "good deal"...Thanks for letting us know..Well,they called us a week later and told us that the person they made the other deal with wasn't going to be able to make it in time.So we are gonna try to do that job on Tuesday.....Sounded funny to me,I believe if I was price shopping and someone gave me a price that was $1000 cheaper,I believe I'd wait an extra week or two on them.I've learned since I've been pricing jobs that some people will tell you they got a lowball price just to get you to come down

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Sounded funny to me,I believe if I was price shopping and someone gave me a price that was $1000 cheaper,I believe I'd wait an extra week or two on them.I've learned since I've been pricing jobs that some people will tell you they got a lowball price just to get you to come down

I've got that feeling to, they use it as a negotiating tool. "get a Cert. of Insurance from their agent, then go with it. W/C insurance is 22.14% of payroll, my boss cannot afford to go that low."

 

[treevet]

Two weeks ago I priced a job for TH.....It was four very large poplar trees at the bottom of a hill with no access to get any kind of loader....But they could be fallen uphill,then we figured we could rig up some kind of block and tackle to get the logs up the hill...No doubt it was two full days work,with all four guys.....I gave them a little break at 3,000....They wanted us there right away,so we were able to come within two days..We were all lined up to go,and get a phone call that evening telling us that they had found someone to do it for 2 grand...I said "good deal"...Thanks for letting us know..Well,they called us a week later and told us that the person they made the other deal with wasn't going to be able to make it in time.So we are gonna try to do that job on Tuesday.....Sounded funny to me,I believe if I was price shopping and someone gave me a price that was $1000 cheaper,I believe I'd wait an extra week or two on them.I've learned since I've been pricing jobs that some people will tell you they got a lowball price just to get you to come down

I prob do 99% of my work on oral agreement. I will give a written quote but rarely require them to sign and return a copy to me causing a contract. I have had the situation you describe happen to me and the second time, before getting all geared up and ready to head in that direction I d prob get a formal contract. I know an oral is a contract but it would hard to prove in court.

 

[PA Plumber]

Here's another angle. I had a contractor come out and give me a price on some work (not tree stuff). I agreed with the price and the "go-ahead" was contigent on him getting a previous job I could look at to see if I liked his work. 3 broken promises later he finally got me a contact and phone number.

I looked at the job the same day he got me the contact info (yesterday) and wasn't impressed. Contacted him the same day (yesterday) and told him no thanks. He was to start our job this coming Monday. If he would have gotten back to me 3 weeks ago, this would have been settled then. I felt bad cancelling at the last minute, but he gave me no choice.

 

[ATH]

wait...is it not true you have a bilaterial contract...that you offer they accept...agree on a price which then you have consideration...as long as both of you are mentally stable...and what you are doing is legal..then they should be stuck..

Just remember "MY LEGS". The Statute of frauds in most states says you need to have a written contract for the following:
Marriage
Year - contracts that cannot be completed in 1 year

Land
Executor of an estate
Goods & Services over $500 (this is the one we are dealing with)
Suretyship (transferring debt stuff)

Things falling outside of the statute of frauds (in most states) can stand up in court on a verbal contract (assuming no other mitigating circumstances) IF you can show with a preponderance of evidence the agreement was made.

Those falling under statute of frauds need a written contract.

Anything above $500 get in writing. I approach it from the stand point that it is protecting the client as much as it is protecting me. I haven't hand anybody who has had a problem with that...so far.

At the end the matter though, the final question becomes........would you take the guy to court???

Maybe the threat would be enough to get them to keep the contract. Maybe where their word is too weak, they will feel like their signature means something.

 

[DonnyO]

people who p!ss me off

Mainly yankee fans, and yankee players, but mostly the fans....................

 

[diltree]

Mainly yankee fans, and yankee players, but mostly the fans....................

good call...I hate yankees fans

 

[Rftreeman]

Have them sign a contract and get a deposit before you put them on the schedule; it serves as a great deterent, and weeds out the indesisive people!

this practice is becoming more & more popular every day, I may start doint that on jobs over $500, I already do the contract thing but no deposit.


here's my story of guy that p1ssed off !!

when I first started doing line clearance a guy came too me and asked if I worked on the side and of course I told him yes, well he wanted 4 pines 18 to 24 DBH put on the ground & cut up, I told him $400 because they all had too be climbed and blocked down a bit before we could fell the trunk, a friend and I went and two ground men went too do the job that following weekend and it took 2 to 2 1/2 hours and we where done, well, that's when the trouble started, the guy had been killing Budweisers all day and decided that we didn't earn $400 and was only paying $200 because we where only there like 2 1/2 hours, well I was young and dumb then and went off on the guy verbally and was telling him what I was fixing too do to him if I didn't get my money and his wife came out and told me too just calm down she had my $400, that's the only time that has ever happened, that was 18 years ago.
Has this ever happened to you??