Mr.Smith's punk ash needs to pay you. You give him a receipt/invoice - Mr. Smith gets reimbursed up except for his deductible. Oral contracts are contracts and legally binding for one yr in this state.
Reguardless, tell him THE WAY IT IS!!! These kind of jobs rarely yield repeat biz........otherwise, he would have called his normal tree guy right???
I would lean, lean HARD. Don't let him dictate to you the situation so you can debate it on this forum, you dictate it to him.
I have clients where we share amiable relationships, but I am good at collecting when I get into situations where they say, "Talk to XYZ insurance" or "this property just sold, talk to the title company. " ........ FLEX!!
I don't put myself in the situation where I have to rattle any cages - my soul is not geared that way - trust me though, I can rattle them. I had a customer when I started and couldn't read people, lost the check in the mail 5 times. In other businesses, they could have fallen on a knife 5 times for that behavior......it is a rough world. One visit and they corrected that. I am good at dealing with behavior, guess that is why I am good with horses.
You do stand to gain here with patience. You can talk to XYZ yourself, see what they have to say, then just add a few HUNDRED to your bill for taking on this administrative duty.
I hate these situations, that is why I culture amiable relationships that are raving fans (see book-Raving Fans-Ken Blanchard). Plus these relationships waste time in frustration and energy that could better be spent towards new clients and.......tree care