What's the worst you've done to an ***** customer?

[Chucksta]

Well.. I guess that I should start with my own story.

"Back in the day", which wasn't really that long ago, We were cutting down Ash trees in the GTA ( Toronto), that had been infected by the Asian Ash Beetle. Once we had a job set up, and the crew was working, I'd take my partner and walk the neighbourhood looking for work. We came across a 3 acre property that had at least 20 plus Ash trees on it, so we went up and banged on the door. Out comes this old guy.. older than Christ's diapers, and we proceed to dance.
It started out O.K... We realized that we'd have to explain stuff to him, and give him price and service options. It went well at first, then he proceeded to keep moving the goal posts. Every time he moved the "goal posts", we had to re-calculate the quote.
First it was a complete job.. Drop the trees, not damage the lawn, remove all brush, split the wood and pile it .. grind the stumps and sod. Then it was drop the trees, damage the lawn, remove all brush, and leave the stumps at 6 inches.. Etc.. etc.. etc.. We'd been there over an hour, and I'd had enough of his crap. I'm giving my partner the hand signs to just let it go, leave him a card and to call when he was serious about dealing with the issue. Randy wasn't having it.. He was determined to land the fish. And truthfully, what we were quoting him wasn't putting huge payday on our plate. We realized that, for a homeowner to suddenly have an unexpected bill for tree removal, for 20K to 30 K, was a bit of a kick, and it wasn't covered by insurance.
Usually, I've got a ton of patience, but, when I get to the end of my rope, yeah.. I can be a ****. The straw that broke the camels back, was when he looked at me and asked me "How long does it take to drop a tree?".. I couldn't believe it! I asked him what he would do with the trees once I dropped them. His answer was " Well, I've got a chainsaw, I'll just deal with it myself."..
Seriously, the guy was probably in his mid 70s'.. He had the look and build to him like he'd never dealt with anything heavier than a calculator. I asked him what kind of chainsaw.. Maybe I mis-judged him.. " Oh, it's a corded electric"
I'm giving Randy the hand signals to " let's get out of here." Nope.. Randy still wants to dance with this *****.. Darn..
The tipping point was when he said.. " Show me how long it takes you to drop a tree. Maybe I'd be better off just to pay you by the hour to drop them." I bit my tongue, and pretended to walk around a bit, looking at the 20 plus trees, as if I was trying to make up a new quote for him. Inside, I was seething. I was , at this point, planning revenge.
There was one Ash tree near his driveway. A good 70 to 80 ft tall. He had a circular driveway in front of his house, and there was a decent gap between the house and the garage. His Mercedes was more towards the house, in the circular section of the driveway . I smiled and looked at him, and said " You know, that's fair.. I've never been paid just to drop them and go away.".
I walked over to the truck, and got out the Echo 590.. The look on Randy's eyes was priceless. I sparked it up, and lined up the big Ash.. Yup.. Drop it right, and it would miss the house, miss the garage, and seal his Mercedes in the driveway.
I could see Randy giving me the "no" sign, but at that point, I just didn't care.. at all.. Tossed the face cut in, popped out the chunk, and then flipped over to the felling cut. I got far enough into it, that I knew it was ready to go. As soon as I heard the first "snap , crackle , pop." I pulled the saw out of the cut. The old dude just kinda looked at me like " Well .. now what..?. I waved Randy over towards me, so that he'd be on my side of the tree, when it went down... leaving the homeowner on the house side of the tree.
I yelled at the homeowner.. " Ya might not wanna stand there!" You could hear the trunk starting to go. Not 30 seconds later, down she comes.. One of my better aims.. didn't hit the house.. didn't hit the garage.. didn't hit the Mercedes..
But.. here we were.. Me and Randy, standing on one side of this exploded Ash tree, and his sorry butt on the other.. His Mercedes wasn't leaving the driveway until that tree got removed. Sweet!!
Back to the truck, with the 590 in my hand, and Randy in hot pursuit.. We left like our butts were on fire. Homeowner was still in the driveway, with an open mouthed gape.. LMFAO
The old dude was still standing there in disbelief, as we bailed for the road.. Randy was like " He's gonna call the cops, we're gonna get sued!!." Nope".. I said.. He asked us to drop a tree, to "see how long it took." We didn't damage anything, we did as he requested for free, as in he wanted to see how long it took to drop a tree.
We never heard another word about it.. But, about three weeks later, we had the occasion to pass by that property on the way to another job.. There was some old Chinese guy up on a ladder, wearing flip flops, what looked like his wife and two kids on the ground who looked like they were maybe 12 to 14 years old, cleaning up what Dad had cut.. Gotta wonder what they quoted him.
But.. never heard another word about dropping a biggie across his driveway..

So.. What's the worst you've ever done to an ***** client??

 

[Haplo]

 

[pdqdl]

I can't say that I ever did anything to any of them. Perhaps it's because I never did any door knocking, either.

 

[capetrees]

Well.. I guess that I should start with my own story.

"Back in the day", which wasn't really that long ago, We were cutting down Ash trees in the GTA ( Toronto), that had been infected by the Asian Ash Beetle. Once we had a job set up, and the crew was working, I'd take my partner and walk the neighbourhood looking for work. We came across a 3 acre property that had at least 20 plus Ash trees on it, so we went up and banged on the door. Out comes this old guy.. older than Christ's diapers, and we proceed to dance.
It started out O.K... We realized that we'd have to explain stuff to him, and give him price and service options. It went well at first, then he proceeded to keep moving the goal posts. Every time he moved the "goal posts", we had to re-calculate the quote.
First it was a complete job.. Drop the trees, not damage the lawn, remove all brush, split the wood and pile it .. grind the stumps and sod. Then it was drop the trees, damage the lawn, remove all brush, and leave the stumps at 6 inches.. Etc.. etc.. etc.. We'd been there over an hour, and I'd had enough of his crap. I'm giving my partner the hand signs to just let it go, leave him a card and to call when he was serious about dealing with the issue. Randy wasn't having it.. He was determined to land the fish. And truthfully, what we were quoting him wasn't putting huge payday on our plate. We realized that, for a homeowner to suddenly have an unexpected bill for tree removal, for 20K to 30 K, was a bit of a kick, and it wasn't covered by insurance.
Usually, I've got a ton of patience, but, when I get to the end of my rope, yeah.. I can be a ****. The straw that broke the camels back, was when he looked at me and asked me "How long does it take to drop a tree?".. I couldn't believe it! I asked him what he would do with the trees once I dropped them. His answer was " Well, I've got a chainsaw, I'll just deal with it myself."..
Seriously, the guy was probably in his mid 70s'.. He had the look and build to him like he'd never dealt with anything heavier than a calculator. I asked him what kind of chainsaw.. Maybe I mis-judged him.. " Oh, it's a corded electric"
I'm giving Randy the hand signals to " let's get out of here." Nope.. Randy still wants to dance with this *****.. Darn..
The tipping point was when he said.. " Show me how long it takes you to drop a tree. Maybe I'd be better off just to pay you by the hour to drop them." I bit my tongue, and pretended to walk around a bit, looking at the 20 plus trees, as if I was trying to make up a new quote for him. Inside, I was seething. I was , at this point, planning revenge.
There was one Ash tree near his driveway. A good 70 to 80 ft tall. He had a circular driveway in front of his house, and there was a decent gap between the house and the garage. His Mercedes was more towards the house, in the circular section of the driveway . I smiled and looked at him, and said " You know, that's fair.. I've never been paid just to drop them and go away.".
I walked over to the truck, and got out the Echo 590.. The look on Randy's eyes was priceless. I sparked it up, and lined up the big Ash.. Yup.. Drop it right, and it would miss the house, miss the garage, and seal his Mercedes in the driveway.
I could see Randy giving me the "no" sign, but at that point, I just didn't care.. at all.. Tossed the face cut in, popped out the chunk, and then flipped over to the felling cut. I got far enough into it, that I knew it was ready to go. As soon as I heard the first "snap , crackle , pop." I pulled the saw out of the cut. The old dude just kinda looked at me like " Well .. now what..?. I waved Randy over towards me, so that he'd be on my side of the tree, when it went down... leaving the homeowner on the house side of the tree.
I yelled at the homeowner.. " Ya might not wanna stand there!" You could hear the trunk starting to go. Not 30 seconds later, down she comes.. One of my better aims.. didn't hit the house.. didn't hit the garage.. didn't hit the Mercedes..
But.. here we were.. Me and Randy, standing on one side of this exploded Ash tree, and his sorry butt on the other.. His Mercedes wasn't leaving the driveway until that tree got removed. Sweet!!
Back to the truck, with the 590 in my hand, and Randy in hot pursuit.. We left like our butts were on fire. Homeowner was still in the driveway, with an open mouthed gape.. LMFAO
The old dude was still standing there in disbelief, as we bailed for the road.. Randy was like " He's gonna call the cops, we're gonna get sued!!." Nope".. I said.. He asked us to drop a tree, to "see how long it took." We didn't damage anything, we did as he requested for free, as in he wanted to see how long it took to drop a tree.
We never heard another word about it.. But, about three weeks later, we had the occasion to pass by that property on the way to another job.. There was some old Chinese guy up on a ladder, wearing flip flops, what looked like his wife and two kids on the ground who looked like they were maybe 12 to 14 years old, cleaning up what Dad had cut.. Gotta wonder what they quoted him.
But.. never heard another word about dropping a biggie across his driveway..

So.. What's the worst you've ever done to an ***** client??

Was hired to trim trees away from a number of condos. We started early, using a hand saws and pole saws so as not to wake anyone up. As we were working, one woman comes by us with her dog. "Who the f*** hired you guys?" I told her politely the property manager did. "What the f*** trees are you gonna trim?" Now mind you, this is around 8:30 am. Good Morning!! I explain the job to her and she walks on. We continue to trim and as it turns out, she owns one of the condos, a small shop that had trees by it that needed to be trimmed back. She comes back from her walk with her dog and flips out. "Oh great! Now ypu're gonna cut the only f***ing tree I have for shade!! Wait a f***ing minute, I have to make some phone calls!!" I told the two guys with me to pack it up. It's 9:30 and we had about a dozen f bombs dropped already and I don't need the job or the aggrivation. We packed up and then got a cup of coffee from a local shop then jumped in the truck to leave. As we approached the condos and her shop, she came out and said "You guys can cut whatever trees you want, I don't f***ing care anymore." As I drove by super slow and really close, I looked her square in the eye and said "suck my d**k b**ch" and drove away.

 

[KsForester]

Well.. I guess that I should start with my own story.

"Back in the day", which wasn't really that long ago, We were cutting down Ash trees in the GTA ( Toronto), that had been infected by the Asian Ash Beetle. Once we had a job set up, and the crew was working, I'd take my partner and walk the neighbourhood looking for work. We came across a 3 acre property that had at least 20 plus Ash trees on it, so we went up and banged on the door. Out comes this old guy.. older than Christ's diapers, and we proceed to dance.
It started out O.K... We realized that we'd have to explain stuff to him, and give him price and service options. It went well at first, then he proceeded to keep moving the goal posts. Every time he moved the "goal posts", we had to re-calculate the quote.
First it was a complete job.. Drop the trees, not damage the lawn, remove all brush, split the wood and pile it .. grind the stumps and sod. Then it was drop the trees, damage the lawn, remove all brush, and leave the stumps at 6 inches.. Etc.. etc.. etc.. We'd been there over an hour, and I'd had enough of his crap. I'm giving my partner the hand signs to just let it go, leave him a card and to call when he was serious about dealing with the issue. Randy wasn't having it.. He was determined to land the fish. And truthfully, what we were quoting him wasn't putting huge payday on our plate. We realized that, for a homeowner to suddenly have an unexpected bill for tree removal, for 20K to 30 K, was a bit of a kick, and it wasn't covered by insurance.
Usually, I've got a ton of patience, but, when I get to the end of my rope, yeah.. I can be a ****. The straw that broke the camels back, was when he looked at me and asked me "How long does it take to drop a tree?".. I couldn't believe it! I asked him what he would do with the trees once I dropped them. His answer was " Well, I've got a chainsaw, I'll just deal with it myself."..
Seriously, the guy was probably in his mid 70s'.. He had the look and build to him like he'd never dealt with anything heavier than a calculator. I asked him what kind of chainsaw.. Maybe I mis-judged him.. " Oh, it's a corded electric"
I'm giving Randy the hand signals to " let's get out of here." Nope.. Randy still wants to dance with this *****.. Darn..
The tipping point was when he said.. " Show me how long it takes you to drop a tree. Maybe I'd be better off just to pay you by the hour to drop them." I bit my tongue, and pretended to walk around a bit, looking at the 20 plus trees, as if I was trying to make up a new quote for him. Inside, I was seething. I was , at this point, planning revenge.
There was one Ash tree near his driveway. A good 70 to 80 ft tall. He had a circular driveway in front of his house, and there was a decent gap between the house and the garage. His Mercedes was more towards the house, in the circular section of the driveway . I smiled and looked at him, and said " You know, that's fair.. I've never been paid just to drop them and go away.".
I walked over to the truck, and got out the Echo 590.. The look on Randy's eyes was priceless. I sparked it up, and lined up the big Ash.. Yup.. Drop it right, and it would miss the house, miss the garage, and seal his Mercedes in the driveway.
I could see Randy giving me the "no" sign, but at that point, I just didn't care.. at all.. Tossed the face cut in, popped out the chunk, and then flipped over to the felling cut. I got far enough into it, that I knew it was ready to go. As soon as I heard the first "snap , crackle , pop." I pulled the saw out of the cut. The old dude just kinda looked at me like " Well .. now what..?. I waved Randy over towards me, so that he'd be on my side of the tree, when it went down... leaving the homeowner on the house side of the tree.
I yelled at the homeowner.. " Ya might not wanna stand there!" You could hear the trunk starting to go. Not 30 seconds later, down she comes.. One of my better aims.. didn't hit the house.. didn't hit the garage.. didn't hit the Mercedes..
But.. here we were.. Me and Randy, standing on one side of this exploded Ash tree, and his sorry butt on the other.. His Mercedes wasn't leaving the driveway until that tree got removed. Sweet!!
Back to the truck, with the 590 in my hand, and Randy in hot pursuit.. We left like our butts were on fire. Homeowner was still in the driveway, with an open mouthed gape.. LMFAO
The old dude was still standing there in disbelief, as we bailed for the road.. Randy was like " He's gonna call the cops, we're gonna get sued!!." Nope".. I said.. He asked us to drop a tree, to "see how long it took." We didn't damage anything, we did as he requested for free, as in he wanted to see how long it took to drop a tree.
We never heard another word about it.. But, about three weeks later, we had the occasion to pass by that property on the way to another job.. There was some old Chinese guy up on a ladder, wearing flip flops, what looked like his wife and two kids on the ground who looked like they were maybe 12 to 14 years old, cleaning up what Dad had cut.. Gotta wonder what they quoted him.
But.. never heard another word about dropping a biggie across his driveway..

So.. What's the worst you've ever done to an ***** client??

I would’ve paid to watch this take place!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Well.. I guess that I should start with my own story.

"Back in the day", which wasn't really that long ago, We were cutting down Ash trees in the GTA ( Toronto), that had been infected by the Asian Ash Beetle. Once we had a job set up, and the crew was working, I'd take my partner and walk the neighbourhood looking for work. We came across a 3 acre property that had at least 20 plus Ash trees on it, so we went up and banged on the door. Out comes this old guy.. older than Christ's diapers, and we proceed to dance.
It started out O.K... We realized that we'd have to explain stuff to him, and give him price and service options. It went well at first, then he proceeded to keep moving the goal posts. Every time he moved the "goal posts", we had to re-calculate the quote.
First it was a complete job.. Drop the trees, not damage the lawn, remove all brush, split the wood and pile it .. grind the stumps and sod. Then it was drop the trees, damage the lawn, remove all brush, and leave the stumps at 6 inches.. Etc.. etc.. etc.. We'd been there over an hour, and I'd had enough of his crap. I'm giving my partner the hand signs to just let it go, leave him a card and to call when he was serious about dealing with the issue. Randy wasn't having it.. He was determined to land the fish. And truthfully, what we were quoting him wasn't putting huge payday on our plate. We realized that, for a homeowner to suddenly have an unexpected bill for tree removal, for 20K to 30 K, was a bit of a kick, and it wasn't covered by insurance.
Usually, I've got a ton of patience, but, when I get to the end of my rope, yeah.. I can be a ****. The straw that broke the camels back, was when he looked at me and asked me "How long does it take to drop a tree?".. I couldn't believe it! I asked him what he would do with the trees once I dropped them. His answer was " Well, I've got a chainsaw, I'll just deal with it myself."..
Seriously, the guy was probably in his mid 70s'.. He had the look and build to him like he'd never dealt with anything heavier than a calculator. I asked him what kind of chainsaw.. Maybe I mis-judged him.. " Oh, it's a corded electric"
I'm giving Randy the hand signals to " let's get out of here." Nope.. Randy still wants to dance with this *****.. Darn..
The tipping point was when he said.. " Show me how long it takes you to drop a tree. Maybe I'd be better off just to pay you by the hour to drop them." I bit my tongue, and pretended to walk around a bit, looking at the 20 plus trees, as if I was trying to make up a new quote for him. Inside, I was seething. I was , at this point, planning revenge.
There was one Ash tree near his driveway. A good 70 to 80 ft tall. He had a circular driveway in front of his house, and there was a decent gap between the house and the garage. His Mercedes was more towards the house, in the circular section of the driveway . I smiled and looked at him, and said " You know, that's fair.. I've never been paid just to drop them and go away.".
I walked over to the truck, and got out the Echo 590.. The look on Randy's eyes was priceless. I sparked it up, and lined up the big Ash.. Yup.. Drop it right, and it would miss the house, miss the garage, and seal his Mercedes in the driveway.
I could see Randy giving me the "no" sign, but at that point, I just didn't care.. at all.. Tossed the face cut in, popped out the chunk, and then flipped over to the felling cut. I got far enough into it, that I knew it was ready to go. As soon as I heard the first "snap , crackle , pop." I pulled the saw out of the cut. The old dude just kinda looked at me like " Well .. now what..?. I waved Randy over towards me, so that he'd be on my side of the tree, when it went down... leaving the homeowner on the house side of the tree.
I yelled at the homeowner.. " Ya might not wanna stand there!" You could hear the trunk starting to go. Not 30 seconds later, down she comes.. One of my better aims.. didn't hit the house.. didn't hit the garage.. didn't hit the Mercedes..
But.. here we were.. Me and Randy, standing on one side of this exploded Ash tree, and his sorry butt on the other.. His Mercedes wasn't leaving the driveway until that tree got removed. Sweet!!
Back to the truck, with the 590 in my hand, and Randy in hot pursuit.. We left like our butts were on fire. Homeowner was still in the driveway, with an open mouthed gape.. LMFAO
The old dude was still standing there in disbelief, as we bailed for the road.. Randy was like " He's gonna call the cops, we're gonna get sued!!." Nope".. I said.. He asked us to drop a tree, to "see how long it took." We didn't damage anything, we did as he requested for free, as in he wanted to see how long it took to drop a tree.
We never heard another word about it.. But, about three weeks later, we had the occasion to pass by that property on the way to another job.. There was some old Chinese guy up on a ladder, wearing flip flops, what looked like his wife and two kids on the ground who looked like they were maybe 12 to 14 years old, cleaning up what Dad had cut.. Gotta wonder what they quoted him.
But.. never heard another word about dropping a biggie across his driveway..

So.. What's the worst you've ever done to an ***** client??

That's truly one of the worst things I've ever heard of anyone doing in this industry, and that says a lot...

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Well.. I guess that I should start with my own story.

"Back in the day", which wasn't really that long ago, We were cutting down Ash trees in the GTA ( Toronto), that had been infected by the Asian Ash Beetle. Once we had a job set up, and the crew was working, I'd take my partner and walk the neighbourhood looking for work. We came across a 3 acre property that had at least 20 plus Ash trees on it, so we went up and banged on the door. Out comes this old guy.. older than Christ's diapers, and we proceed to dance.
It started out O.K... We realized that we'd have to explain stuff to him, and give him price and service options. It went well at first, then he proceeded to keep moving the goal posts. Every time he moved the "goal posts", we had to re-calculate the quote.
First it was a complete job.. Drop the trees, not damage the lawn, remove all brush, split the wood and pile it .. grind the stumps and sod. Then it was drop the trees, damage the lawn, remove all brush, and leave the stumps at 6 inches.. Etc.. etc.. etc.. We'd been there over an hour, and I'd had enough of his crap. I'm giving my partner the hand signs to just let it go, leave him a card and to call when he was serious about dealing with the issue. Randy wasn't having it.. He was determined to land the fish. And truthfully, what we were quoting him wasn't putting huge payday on our plate. We realized that, for a homeowner to suddenly have an unexpected bill for tree removal, for 20K to 30 K, was a bit of a kick, and it wasn't covered by insurance.
Usually, I've got a ton of patience, but, when I get to the end of my rope, yeah.. I can be a ****. The straw that broke the camels back, was when he looked at me and asked me "How long does it take to drop a tree?".. I couldn't believe it! I asked him what he would do with the trees once I dropped them. His answer was " Well, I've got a chainsaw, I'll just deal with it myself."..
Seriously, the guy was probably in his mid 70s'.. He had the look and build to him like he'd never dealt with anything heavier than a calculator. I asked him what kind of chainsaw.. Maybe I mis-judged him.. " Oh, it's a corded electric"
I'm giving Randy the hand signals to " let's get out of here." Nope.. Randy still wants to dance with this *****.. Darn..
The tipping point was when he said.. " Show me how long it takes you to drop a tree. Maybe I'd be better off just to pay you by the hour to drop them." I bit my tongue, and pretended to walk around a bit, looking at the 20 plus trees, as if I was trying to make up a new quote for him. Inside, I was seething. I was , at this point, planning revenge.
There was one Ash tree near his driveway. A good 70 to 80 ft tall. He had a circular driveway in front of his house, and there was a decent gap between the house and the garage. His Mercedes was more towards the house, in the circular section of the driveway . I smiled and looked at him, and said " You know, that's fair.. I've never been paid just to drop them and go away.".
I walked over to the truck, and got out the Echo 590.. The look on Randy's eyes was priceless. I sparked it up, and lined up the big Ash.. Yup.. Drop it right, and it would miss the house, miss the garage, and seal his Mercedes in the driveway.
I could see Randy giving me the "no" sign, but at that point, I just didn't care.. at all.. Tossed the face cut in, popped out the chunk, and then flipped over to the felling cut. I got far enough into it, that I knew it was ready to go. As soon as I heard the first "snap , crackle , pop." I pulled the saw out of the cut. The old dude just kinda looked at me like " Well .. now what..?. I waved Randy over towards me, so that he'd be on my side of the tree, when it went down... leaving the homeowner on the house side of the tree.
I yelled at the homeowner.. " Ya might not wanna stand there!" You could hear the trunk starting to go. Not 30 seconds later, down she comes.. One of my better aims.. didn't hit the house.. didn't hit the garage.. didn't hit the Mercedes..
But.. here we were.. Me and Randy, standing on one side of this exploded Ash tree, and his sorry butt on the other.. His Mercedes wasn't leaving the driveway until that tree got removed. Sweet!!
Back to the truck, with the 590 in my hand, and Randy in hot pursuit.. We left like our butts were on fire. Homeowner was still in the driveway, with an open mouthed gape.. LMFAO
The old dude was still standing there in disbelief, as we bailed for the road.. Randy was like " He's gonna call the cops, we're gonna get sued!!." Nope".. I said.. He asked us to drop a tree, to "see how long it took." We didn't damage anything, we did as he requested for free, as in he wanted to see how long it took to drop a tree.
We never heard another word about it.. But, about three weeks later, we had the occasion to pass by that property on the way to another job.. There was some old Chinese guy up on a ladder, wearing flip flops, what looked like his wife and two kids on the ground who looked like they were maybe 12 to 14 years old, cleaning up what Dad had cut.. Gotta wonder what they quoted him.
But.. never heard another word about dropping a biggie across his driveway..

So.. What's the worst you've ever done to an ***** client??

And you are proud of what you did?
You should be ashamed of yourself.
It's idiots like you who give good arborists a bad name.

Karma loves people like you.

How about you post the name of your business, or the one you work for?
For all the homeowners who come here looking for advice, so they know who NOT to call.

 

[Chucksta]

And you are proud of what you did?
You should be ashamed of yourself.
It's idiots like you who give good arborists a bad name.

Karma loves people like you.

How about you post the name of your business, or the one you work for?
For all the homeowners who come here looking for advice, so they know who NOT to call.

Well .. I am proud that I dropped that tree exactly where I wanted it to go. .. Yeah.. I know, that's not what you meant..

Truly.. We spent over an hour.. probably close to an hour and a half, as we had to revise the quote as he revised what he wanted us to do.

At the end of the day.. I did EXACTLY what he asked.. Showed him how long it takes to drop a tree. Did it for free too. He had our card, and could have called us, and I wouldn't have gouged him to deal with the tree as he saw fit. I can be a prick, but I wouldn't have done that.. even under the circumstances. Straight T&M for the crew, and whatever he wanted done, at the same rate. He could have then decided what to do about the other trees, or paid us for the one I dropped for free, and sent us on our merry way.

Did he call? No.. never heard from him again. Ever.

Did he say "stop", when I started on the tree, and say " Hey.. could you drop that other one over there instead?".. Again No.. He was basically watching me to see how long it took. It was obvious where the tree was going to land, there really wasn't anywhere else to drop it. He wanted ( at that point), to pay me to drop 20 plus trees by the hour ( yeah.. like that's gonna happen).. Then, he was going to deal with them with his corded electric. Yeahh.. right..

Trust me.. I tried to "play nice".. I explained stuff.. I quoted and re-quoted all his options as kept trying to get the quote cheaper and cheaper. I spent so much time with this that when he asked me to " Why don't you take one down, so I can see how long it takes you".. Really? It was game on!!

So, he got what he asked for.. for free..

What's that expression?? " Be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it."

Was i supposed to tell him that I can't show him how long to drop a tree, as it's a "trade secret"?

I should also mention that he was a rude, dismissive, arrogant a hole, who thought that he was above us , as we were mere labourers, and he used to be a "businessman".

 

[Chucksta]

I would’ve paid to watch this take place!

A lot of times, I'd stick the GoPro on my helmet mount and just record the stuff we did. I just didn't have the presence of mind to do so then. I was past frustrated, and getting into the "angry" zone. You can only take so much before you snap. and I was there. One problem I have, is with being too patient.. I have a long rope, with a knot in the end. But, by the time I hit the knot at the end of the rope, whatever happens, was way overdue. Way, way, overdue.

The look on his face when I stepped away, as the tree started to crack, was priceless. I guess he thought I wasn't going to finish his " how long does it take to drop a tree" lesson. Then, when it came over.. LMFAO.. I really wish we could have helped him out, but he just made it impossible.
Probably should have just given him a straight quote, and just left it with him. But, realising that 20K to 30 K might not be in his budget for an unexpected expense, we bent over backwards on our pricing, and profit margin.. Right up until he asked me to drop one for free, so he could see how long it takes to drop one tree.

I know what we quoted on several scenarios to deal with the 20 plus trees that needed to come down.. I really wish I knew what the Chinese guy, with his wife and 2 kids quoted him.. That's scary..

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Well .. I am proud that I dropped that tree exactly where I wanted it to go. .. Yeah.. I know, that's not what you meant..

Truly.. We spent over an hour.. probably close to an hour and a half, as we had to revise the quote as he revised what he wanted us to do.

At the end of the day.. I did EXACTLY what he asked.. Showed him how long it takes to drop a tree. Did it for free too. He had our card, and could have called us, and I wouldn't have gouged him to deal with the tree as he saw fit. I can be a prick, but I wouldn't have done that.. even under the circumstances. Straight T&M for the crew, and whatever he wanted done, at the same rate. He could have then decided what to do about the other trees, or paid us for the one I dropped for free, and sent us on our merry way.

Did he call? No.. never heard from him again. Ever.

Did he say "stop", when I started on the tree, and say " Hey.. could you drop that other one over there instead?".. Again No.. He was basically watching me to see how long it took. It was obvious where the tree was going to land, there really wasn't anywhere else to drop it. He wanted ( at that point), to pay me to drop 20 plus trees by the hour ( yeah.. like that's gonna happen).. Then, he was going to deal with them with his corded electric. Yeahh.. right..

Trust me.. I tried to "play nice".. I explained stuff.. I quoted and re-quoted all his options as kept trying to get the quote cheaper and cheaper. I spent so much time with this that when he asked me to " Why don't you take one down, so I can see how long it takes you".. Really? It was game on!!

So, he got what he asked for.. for free..

What's that expression?? " Be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it."

Was i supposed to tell him that I can't show him how long to drop a tree, as it's a "trade secret"?

I should also mention that he was a rude, dismissive, arrogant a hole, who thought that he was above us , as we were mere labourers, and he used to be a "businessman".

...so we went up and banged on the door. Out comes this old guy.. older than Christ's diapers

Did this gentleman call you and ask you to come to his home to have trees on his property taken down?

But.. here we were.. Me and Randy, standing on one side of this exploded Ash tree, and his sorry butt on the other..His Mercedes wasn't leaving the driveway until that tree got removed. Sweet!!

And you have no clue why he didn't call you?

He had our card, and could have called us,

Did he call? No.. never heard from him again. Ever.

Here's a new expression for you, if you plan on making a living door-knocking for work:
"The customer is always right."

I've bid a lot of jobs in my life, not chainsawing, but painting and wallpaper.
It took only one time to teach me there are some jobs you have to walk away from, when your spidey sense tells you that customer is going to be a pain in the *** from start to finish.
Some jobs I bid by the hour, and on those when the customer wanted to stand and yack at me, I would stop what I was doing and listen. They quickly learned to stay out of my way and let me work.

Some jobs I bid one price for the job.
One of the most important things I learned was to Never allow the customer to tell me how to do my job.
I new what to do, how to do it, and I wasn't going to sacrifice quality just so the customer could save a few bucks.
It was my way, or the highway.
When it comes to how the job is done, likely the customer isn't right.


You should have walked away from that one.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Probably should have just given him a straight quote, and just left it with him.

That's the first sensible thing you've said yet.
Remember that for next time.

 

[Haplo]

Straight T&M for the crew, and whatever he wanted done, at the same rate.

≠

He wanted ( at that point), to pay me to drop 20 plus trees by the hour ( yeah.. like that's gonna happen)..

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Oh, and one more thing... I found it never pays to negotiate.
You know what the job is worth and you know what to charge.
The longer you haggle, the less confident you appear, and the less likely it is you'll get the job
As you clearly demonstrated.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Well .. I am proud that I dropped that tree exactly where I wanted it to go. .. Yeah.. I know, that's not what you meant..

Truly.. We spent over an hour.. probably close to an hour and a half, as we had to revise the quote as he revised what he wanted us to do.

At the end of the day.. I did EXACTLY what he asked.. Showed him how long it takes to drop a tree. Did it for free too. He had our card, and could have called us, and I wouldn't have gouged him to deal with the tree as he saw fit. I can be a prick, but I wouldn't have done that.. even under the circumstances. Straight T&M for the crew, and whatever he wanted done, at the same rate. He could have then decided what to do about the other trees, or paid us for the one I dropped for free, and sent us on our merry way.

Did he call? No.. never heard from him again. Ever.

Did he say "stop", when I started on the tree, and say " Hey.. could you drop that other one over there instead?".. Again No.. He was basically watching me to see how long it took. It was obvious where the tree was going to land, there really wasn't anywhere else to drop it. He wanted ( at that point), to pay me to drop 20 plus trees by the hour ( yeah.. like that's gonna happen).. Then, he was going to deal with them with his corded electric. Yeahh.. right..

Trust me.. I tried to "play nice".. I explained stuff.. I quoted and re-quoted all his options as kept trying to get the quote cheaper and cheaper. I spent so much time with this that when he asked me to " Why don't you take one down, so I can see how long it takes you".. Really? It was game on!!

So, he got what he asked for.. for free..

What's that expression?? " Be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it."

Was i supposed to tell him that I can't show him how long to drop a tree, as it's a "trade secret"?

I should also mention that he was a rude, dismissive, arrogant a hole, who thought that he was above us , as we were mere labourers, and he used to be a "businessman".

So, to summarize,

One Saturday morning you knocked on a 70+ year old man's door, unsolicited, and pitched him on removing some 20 odd dead trees... something he may or may not have noticed or planned on doing something about.
After giving him a bid for full removal, which by your own admission was probably an unanticipated and unexpectedly high expense, he started exploring less expensive options, rather than dismiss you out of hand, you got frustrated and wanted to go, but your partner was persistent.
At this point you became frustrated that this unsolicited sales call had become a waste of YOUR time, and decided to get revenge for this old geezer wasting it by drooping a tree to block his driveway and then drive off...
Did I get the gist of it?

 

[pdqdl]

I found it never pays to negotiate.
You know what the job is worth and you know what to charge.

While my policy is to never lower a bid, I still negotiate with customers. They ask for a better deal, then I ask them what part of doing a good job do they wish for me to subtract in order to get a lower price. They usually get a somewhat stunned look on their face. Then I explain that we can do a crappy cleanup, we can cut up the tree and leave it for them to cleanup, we can fell the tree and then walk away.

They usually just pay my quoted price.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

While my policy is to never lower a bid, I still negotiate with customers. They ask for a better deal, then I ask them what part of doing a good job do they wish for me to subtract in order to get a lower price. They usually get a somewhat stunned look on their face. Then I explain that we can do a crappy cleanup, we can cut up the tree and leave it for them to cleanup, we can fell the tree and then walk away.

They usually just pay my quoted price.

Yup. Same desirable result.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Here's something else for you to think about,
Doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians, and mechanics don't negotiate.
Professionals don't negotiate.
Be a professional.

 

[Tetanus]

So, to summarize,

One Saturday morning you knocked on a 70+ year old man's door, unsolicited, and pitched him on removing some 20 odd dead trees... something he may or may not have noticed or planned on doing something about.
After giving him a bid for full removal, which by your own admission was probably an unanticipated and unexpectedly high expense, he started exploring less expensive options, rather than dismiss you out of hand, you got frustrated and wanted to go, but your partner was persistent.
At this point you became frustrated that this unsolicited sales call had become a waste of YOUR time, and decided to get revenge for this old geezer wasting it by drooping a tree to block his driveway and then drive off...
Did I get the gist of it?

As far as i can tell, the only a**hole in the entire story is the the story teller, with a close second being Randy. What a prick of a thing to do. Sound like a bunch of pikeys.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Yeah, not gonna lie, but that is the worst **** story ever, can't believe he would do it, let alone post it....

 

[Stihlproincky]

I would have bid it and walked away.
Sometimes if their a real jack@$$ I'll bid a little higher so hopefully someone bids lower than me. Jobs worth what it's worth I don't negotiate.