stiffed on buzz job

[MuniciPAL]

i had a sidejob lined up today for an elderly man at which point he told me he would be right outside in a minute. i geared up and started to climb the tree to reach my TIP. the guy comes outside and asked what i was doing. i told him i was gonna trim his tree and hes says " wheres the cherry picker?" i informed him that i do not own the company truck and couldnt use it on saturdays. he told me to come down from roughly 30 feet and he didnt want to go through with the trimming. i guess he was expecting me to use a company vehicle to trim.
has anyone every had a client pull out of a job while they were in the tree? and what is the protocol for handling that situation?

 

[Nailsbeats]

I believe a nice Taser shot would be protocol.

 

[Treetom]

Pal,

Since this was a "sidejob" and you weren't using the company bucket truck, you didn't have the company insurance, either. The old man probably got nervous.

 

[MuniciPAL]

that is a good point treetom. i thought that i had taken care of that situation by saying that the price was in cash. oh well, live and learn

 

[Rftreeman]

that is a good point treetom. i thought that i had taken care of that situation by saying that the price was in cash. oh well, live and learn

cash, check, money order, credit card, paypal, doesn't matter how they pay, if you don't make it clear that you will be "moon lighting" on your own before you seal the deal then they have every right in the world to run you off. When I worked for a company and people asked about me about doing work for them I always made it very clear that "I" can do it for them on the weekend and it would have nothing to do with the utility company.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

I get approached all the time on the job. You have to make it clear that you're "on your own" if that is the route you are going.

I'm thankful that I have my company’s confidence and I'm allowed to do the side bidding and the work under their insurance.

I don't think a HO cares that they get you so much as the backing the company offers. Some might even think you're being dishonest to the company by stepping in for yourself.

I'm working at getting enough equipment together to be able to set out on my own with my own insurance. That's the goal in the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, I wouldn't do any side work for strangers under the table anywise.

It's not worth it.

To me, if they want it under the table, there is a good chance they might be a shifty/cheap character. In which case, why would I want to work a verbal agreement with them anyway?

In such a case, your best bet, in my opinion, is to at least draft up a contract and proceed along those lines. Naturally, your safest route, and the one I would recommend, would be to get some insurance and run it all above board.

I'm not one to judge so don't get me wrong brother, I understand trying to get a start, but be careful and cover your rear. Hate to see someone get picked off before he gets airborne.

 

[MuniciPAL]

all good points, i will be making sure in the future. i just figured he would understand that the price i gave to him would not be feasible for a truck to be involved. he was also unfamiliar with the use of rope to access trees and gave me the "my son knows what hes doing" routine. i saw the previous damage the son inflicted on the tree with an 18 foot ladder and no knowledge of proper cuts. oh well, thanks for the input guys

 

[mckeetree]

I don't permit my employees to do "side jobs". It is just a bad idea to start allowing this type of thing to go on.

 

[capetrees]

Protocol would make me remember who the guy is and remember his number when he calls and remember to not work for him in the future. Once he finds out what a fully insured, fully equiped company sets for a price, I 'll bet he calls back because from the start, he though he was doing it on the cheap but with all the bells and whistles. He'll call.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Keep that Taser handy......

 

[MuniciPAL]

lol. ill keep my trusty taser close to me

 

[reachtreeservi]

I don't permit my employees to do "side jobs". It is just a bad idea to start allowing this type of thing to go on.

I agree with Mckee, and not just because I own my company.

Before I started out on my own, the company I worked for was okay with side work. Even then I didn't do it on my own.

At best it's a conflict of intrest.
And if you're using company time or equipment, it's stealing.

When approached to do side work I'd tell'em sure.
Then go with my boss (owner) and do the work and split the profits.

I never lied to him about work and he treated me right.

That's one of the reasons that years later we are still good friends and refer each other business.

 

[Jlarnard]

If things get slow, I like to let my guys line up a Sat. for themselves.
I fill up the equipment, and they return it that way. Builds moral, improves teamwork, and helps them learn how to get me jobs from around the block if you know what I mean.
It also nips moonlighting in the bud.
If you are going to do side work be insured. It's the comp that is so expensive. Liability is pretty easy to live with and 1 job a month can pay the bill. BUT.....
If you fall, or cut yourself, or some other unknown. The job may cost you so much more than you make off it. The owner of a tree service takes on a lot more than the average employee realizes. Take care of your boss!!!
Amen

 

[clearance]

If things get slow, I like to let my guys line up a Sat. for themselves.
I fill up the equipment, and they return it that way. Builds moral, improves teamwork, and helps them learn how to get me jobs from around the block if you know what I mean.
It also nips moonlighting in the bud.
If you are going to do side work be insured. It's the comp that is so expensive. Liability is pretty easy to live with and 1 job a month can pay the bill. BUT.....
If you fall, or cut yourself, or some other unknown. The job may cost you so much more than you make off it. The owner of a tree service takes on a lot more than the average employee realizes. Take care of your boss!!!
Amen

I like this guy.

 

[joesawer]

I don't think that you can legally tell hourly employees what they can and cannot do with their time off the clock.
I went round and round with a clearance contractor that I worked for years ago about this.
On the other hand, if the employee gets asked to do the work while working for the employer it is unethical to accept it. It is also unethical to discuss, plan or advertise on the employer's time. Useing The employer's equipment without permisssion is also very unethical.
I can clearly remember the day an employ of mine asked to borrow my equipment to do a job that he had under bid me on.

 

[mckeetree]

I agree with Mckee, and not just because I own my company.

Before I started out on my own, the company I worked for was okay with side work. Even then I didn't do it on my own.

At best it's a conflict of intrest.
And if you're using company time or equipment, it's stealing.

When approached to do side work I'd tell'em sure.
Then go with my boss (owner) and do the work and split the profits.

I never lied to him about work and he treated me right.

That's one of the reasons that years later we are still good friends and refer each other business.

Exactly. I like the way you put that. At best it's a conflict of interest.

 

[B-Edwards]

If things get slow, I like to let my guys line up a Sat. for themselves.
I fill up the equipment, and they return it that way. Builds moral, improves teamwork, and helps them learn how to get me jobs from around the block if you know what I mean.
It also nips moonlighting in the bud.
If you are going to do side work be insured. It's the comp that is so expensive. Liability is pretty easy to live with and 1 job a month can pay the bill. BUT.....
If you fall, or cut yourself, or some other unknown. The job may cost you so much more than you make off it. The owner of a tree service takes on a lot more than the average employee realizes. Take care of your boss!!!
Amen

You would be eaten alive where I am at. Most tree guys close by me would take advantage of you, truck would be empty and more than likely damaged. When I cut r/w the man I worked for was an awesome guy! He would loan anything he had. Some fools who worked there also borrowed his bucket , ton truck and trailer. They did a job and hauled the logs off , logs fell off trailer totaled five cars. These guys were high at the time on coke and weed.( I knew that and everyone else who worked there, owner didn't) They tried to file it on the owners insurance.After this he wouldn't loan any equipment out except to me (I had Insurance). People must be different in other locations because in general you cant trust tree guys around here. Not sure why that is. I am not saying your a bad guy, obviously you aren't it just wouldn't work here.

 

[Jlarnard]

Agreed, I have been fortunate to have a great crew. If I lost either of them I wouldn't feel comfortable with it probably.

 

[arbor pro]

I don't permit my employees to do "side jobs". It is just a bad idea to start allowing this type of thing to go on.

Unfortunately, I have found that, as soon as you allow employees to do 'cash' work on the weekends or in the evenings, some of their day work soon becomes 'cash' work too. Suddenly, they're using your equipment and your time to make money for them - not you and you're kicking yourself for dangling too big of carrot in front of them. May not always happen with all employees but, the way I look at it, if they're going to be doing tree work in the evening or on weekends, why not have them doing it for you and making you money? Afterall, it's your company's reputation and advertising that's getting them those side jobs anyways unless they have their own business license, insurance, advertising, etc but then, why wouldn't they just go out on their own if they're going to take it that far...?

 

[Blakesmaster]

Wow. I would never have thought about trying to steal work when I was full time with my old boss. When you are on the job, with the man's shirt on you are no more than a piece of his equipment. Trying to sneak in a customer for yourself is far beyond inappropriate. Even now that I am on my own, when I'm working with my old boss, in his shirt, with his saws if a customer comes up to me I point to the man, I feed 'em the line of "worked here for 6 years, we're the best there is...blah blah blah." Even though I run my own show and would love more work I couldn't snake away jobs on my boss's time. I don't understand that mentality at all for the employee to do it or the employer to approve it.