Thread: what a DUMP!

So the other night I was at a high end bar and started talking with some people who needed work done. When I went over there the following day to take a look, I REALLY wanted to walk away. Bottles and cans ALL over the place, a lawn that hadn't been cut in at least a year, pipes all over the place, and just JUNK. I don't think I got the job (luckily). How often do you guys come across places like these? What do you do when you actually do come across such places?

Did they want the place cleaned up or were you doing a tree job? If there is any job that I don't want to do I bid HIGH and hope they dont want me to do it and if they do that means they really paid for it...

Originally Posted by skyhightree1

Did they want the place cleaned up or were you doing a tree job? If there is any job that I don't want to do I bid HIGH and hope they dont want me to do it and if they do that means they really paid for it...

+ 1......

Back in 2005 I helped a guy do some work on a bank foreclosure property. That place was a pure clusterf00k. Crap everywhere, abandoned cars, tires, trash. All I did was drag brush, we raked clean a little work area so nobody got hurt on obstacles, was not a pleasant place at all.

When I get clients who like their places very "wild and woolly" I just clear a path and do my job. I have stopped trying to figure folks out, anymore. The way some people live, in such dirt and squalor, disgusts me, but then I think about some of the mansions I've worked at and think that the people living there would probably think that I live in conditions they couldn't handle, and I'm a darn neat-freak. Maybe it's a case of, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

Years ago I took a smaller maple down for a lady named Dabny (cool name). She had 2 cars in the yard she used for storage, and dog sh!t so deep in the front and back yards that you'd nearly pass out from the smell. It was a QUICK job, then she tried to stiff me on my $150 fee! Only non-ethnic or non-trailerpark type to try that on me.

I can remind a time when I was looking to buy a house. The owner had two Dobermans. I had a mini agility test, dodging the doggie land mines on the front lawn. She was busy in the kichen baking a cake. That's a realtor trick: it covers up any foul smells.

I did a huge cottonwood over a ghetto house once. The job was underbid and it was truly a monster tree. My climber bid it, and told me to walk away from the job.

I visited the location, talked to the customer (black gentleman with almost no education; I am white), the house was a dive, and cockroaches were crawling all over the place.

We did the job, but I felt sure that it was a huge mistake. It was always a matter of pride for me that I don't walk away from a bid. When it was all over and done with, the owner cut me a check for the job.

I learned a great deal on that tree. It was early in my career, and I learned NOT to lower chunks of wood too large for the rope. I learned that shagging a large, wet cottonwood in quarter sections out of a back yard is a LOT of work. I ended up buying my Husvarna 3120, and I learned how much nicer it is to hit a big tree with a big saw.

And I learned that the character of a man is not determined by how well he keeps house.

Originally Posted by pdqdl

And I learned that the character of a man is not determined by how well he keeps house.

I did two DEAD maples earlier this year. The house was a disaster, dog cr@p every where, wire's to miss.........so i bid it high figuring i wouldn't get it and he asks "you want cash or check". We show up early in the morning, the lines are already off the house, the yard was cleaned-up, and he was up ready to do what ever we needed him to do, plus he made us breakfast. Couldn't ask for a nicer guy.

Originally Posted by TDunk

I did two DEAD maples earlier this year. The house was a disaster, dog cr@p every where, wire's to miss.........so i bid it high figuring i wouldn't get it and he asks "you want cash or check". We show up early in the morning, the lines are already off the house, the yard was cleaned-up, and he was up ready to do what ever we needed him to do, plus he made us breakfast. Couldn't ask for a nicer guy.

I won't eat at nasty people's houses.

Originally Posted by mckeetree

I won't eat at nasty people's houses.

I can understand where you're coming from on that, and I respect your right to choose not to accept food that may be offered, yet I have a tough time refusing people when they offer me something they have gone to the trouble of preparing.

While "nasty people's houses" may look that way because the people living there do not have as much money as other folks we may work for and they cannot keep up with appearances due to the fact that they may be working two jobs just to keep their heads above water, there still is pride, I think, in everyone who tries to show us thanks and hospitality by offering us the occasional slice of cake or pie or a tray of home-baked cookies or even some ice tea.

I had these folks who were not too well off, as judged by their yard, come out after we had just raked up the last of the leaves and brush, and they had made home-cooked tamales which they offered us along with a pitcher of lemonade. When we eagerly accepted and thanked them over and over, you could just about see them grow in stature and hold their heads a little higher. They made our day and we made theirs. I think life is a little easier to live that way. I could not imagine refusing their kind offer, just because their house and yard were fairly shabby, complete with the cars on blocks and old dogs lying around.

Hmmm---Now that I think about it, there were four old dogs when we got there and I only saw three when we left. The tamales, we were told, were their "special ones." You don't think-------!!!!!

When I see a home such as that...I put in a bid, as they asked. What do you want? The White House for every job.

If I have learned one thing in business AND life is...do not cherry pick !!

sunrise guy, your post #11 was very well put. right on the money. excellent wording and delivery. I love it when we are fed and appreciated and can share the feeling.

I don't think the disgusting houses are because of economic problems. I think most of the time its their up bringing. Even if you live in a card board box, you could atleast clean the box once in a while !!!

Originally Posted by Sunrise Guy

I can understand where you're coming from on that, and I respect your right to choose not to accept food that may be offered, yet I have a tough time refusing people when they offer me something they have gone to the trouble of preparing.

While "nasty people's houses" may look that way because the people living there do not have as much money as other folks we may work for and they cannot keep up with appearances due to the fact that they may be working two jobs just to keep their heads above water, there still is pride, I think, in everyone who tries to show us thanks and hospitality by offering us the occasional slice of cake or pie or a tray of home-baked cookies or even some ice tea.

I had these folks who were not too well off, as judged by their yard, come out after we had just raked up the last of the leaves and brush, and they had made home-cooked tamales which they offered us along with a pitcher of lemonade. When we eagerly accepted and thanked them over and over, you could just about see them grow in stature and hold their heads a little higher. They made our day and we made theirs. I think life is a little easier to live that way. I could not imagine refusing their kind offer, just because their house and yard were fairly shabby, complete with the cars on blocks and old dogs lying around.

Hmmm---Now that I think about it, there were four old dogs when we got there and I only saw three when we left. The tamales, we were told, were their "special ones." You don't think-------!!!!!

He said there was dog cr@p everywhere. What more reason not to eat there do you need???? Sometimes I don't know about some of you guys.