Double check those addresses, folks
- Thread starter TheJollyLogger
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Yeah, we took out the wrong tree at the wrong address once. It was expensive, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.
I sent my crew to take out the Scotch pine at the correct address. They took out the 70' tall blue spruce across the street. When they came back, I was kinda pissy about how long they spent doing that dinky tree. A few days later, I sent them back to grind the stump.
The next day, the owner of the missing blue spruce called and asked me if we were the ones who stole his tree. He was actually in pretty good humor about it and thought it remarkable that someone came and stole his tree. Then returned within the week to steal his stump! At that point, he did some research and figured out that we should have been removing the pine across the street.
He settled up with me for $1500 worth of landscaping and maintenance, since he was not very happy about the tree to begin with. I was so lucky, since it was a spectacular tree, and was symmetrically matched in his landscape with another one just like it. I don't know what an insurance company could have been forced to pay, but I'd bet $100,000 couldn't have replaced that tree, even 30 years ago.
The $300 or so (back then) for taking out the pine wasn't even enough to cover the wages on the time the crew wasted doing the wrong tree, and we still had to go back and take out the correct tree. At least they knew where to go at that point.
Our victim did compliment the quality of our tree theft services. According to him, we were both stealthy and efficient, having left almost no traces of our activities.
EDIT: This is a Google street view of the stump remaining from the spruce tree that matched the one that we stole. Some other contractor left that mess.
The address my guys were supposed to remove the pine was at 2 W Winthrope. They cut down the spruce at 2 E Winthrope. They also were supposed to remove a small crabapple at that address, but my notes don't show what became of that instruction. I suppose we might have stolen two trees.
I sent my crew to take out the Scotch pine at the correct address. They took out the 70' tall blue spruce across the street. When they came back, I was kinda pissy about how long they spent doing that dinky tree. A few days later, I sent them back to grind the stump.
The next day, the owner of the missing blue spruce called and asked me if we were the ones who stole his tree. He was actually in pretty good humor about it and thought it remarkable that someone came and stole his tree. Then returned within the week to steal his stump! At that point, he did some research and figured out that we should have been removing the pine across the street.
He settled up with me for $1500 worth of landscaping and maintenance, since he was not very happy about the tree to begin with. I was so lucky, since it was a spectacular tree, and was symmetrically matched in his landscape with another one just like it. I don't know what an insurance company could have been forced to pay, but I'd bet $100,000 couldn't have replaced that tree, even 30 years ago.
The $300 or so (back then) for taking out the pine wasn't even enough to cover the wages on the time the crew wasted doing the wrong tree, and we still had to go back and take out the correct tree. At least they knew where to go at that point.
Our victim did compliment the quality of our tree theft services. According to him, we were both stealthy and efficient, having left almost no traces of our activities.
EDIT: This is a Google street view of the stump remaining from the spruce tree that matched the one that we stole. Some other contractor left that mess.
The address my guys were supposed to remove the pine was at 2 W Winthrope. They cut down the spruce at 2 E Winthrope. They also were supposed to remove a small crabapple at that address, but my notes don't show what became of that instruction. I suppose we might have stolen two trees.
I've made about every other mistake in this industry, but fortunately not this one.
I've yet to remove the wrong tree, but me lacking in the employee/multiple crew department helps that some, I go to 100% of the jobs my company has ever done, be pretty bad if somehow I messed that part up
did have a hell of an interesting day today tho, guy I was subbing out to on a land clearing job didn't get paid for the job, still had to pay us, but ended up with the cops out there and we couldn't leave till around 9PM, hour drive back home, unrelated but it was a pretty big mess up on the GC and homeowners part with the contract details, homeowner adding more work after signing and then agreeing to pay our half today regardless of if the job was done or not, well the job didn't get done and homeowner refused to pay so that was fun
also this GC was the second company to be kicked off this job, funny how that one works eh? homeowner might not be all there
did have a hell of an interesting day today tho, guy I was subbing out to on a land clearing job didn't get paid for the job, still had to pay us, but ended up with the cops out there and we couldn't leave till around 9PM, hour drive back home, unrelated but it was a pretty big mess up on the GC and homeowners part with the contract details, homeowner adding more work after signing and then agreeing to pay our half today regardless of if the job was done or not, well the job didn't get done and homeowner refused to pay so that was fun
also this GC was the second company to be kicked off this job, funny how that one works eh? homeowner might not be all there
I do a lot of work for a national bank, all of it through a primary contractor. They are constantly making me sign lien waivers, so that no one I might ever owe money too cannot come back and get a lien on the bank property for anyone down the payment chain that didn't get paid.
That homeowner should be doing the same thing, then they might not have all those issues.
That homeowner should be doing the same thing, then they might not have all those issues.
That's the problem with tree removals... you can't exactly put them back if they don't pay, can you... 20 yards of mulch in the driveway can be a bit of a pita though...
I sprayed the wrong property once. Thankfully it was just hort oil on a Hemlock. The guy I was working for at the time wasn't big on work orders and just said spray such and such tree on such and such road. It's close to the road you can't miss it.Yeah, we took out the wrong tree at the wrong address once. It was expensive, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.
I sent my crew to take out the Scotch pine at the correct address. They took out the 70' tall blue spruce across the street. When they came back, I was kinda pissy about how long they spent doing that dinky tree. A few days later, I sent them back to grind the stump.
The next day, the owner of the missing blue spruce called and asked me if we were the ones who stole his tree. He was actually in pretty good humor about it and thought it remarkable that someone came and stole his tree. Then returned within the week to steal his stump! At that point, he did some research and figured out that we should have been removing the pine across the street.
He settled up with me for $1500 worth of landscaping and maintenance, since he was not very happy about the tree to begin with. I was so lucky, since it was a spectacular tree, and was symmetrically matched in his landscape with another one just like it. I don't know what an insurance company could have been forced to pay, but I'd bet $100,000 couldn't have replaced that tree, even 30 years ago.
The $300 or so (back then) for taking out the pine wasn't even enough to cover the wages on the time the crew wasted doing the wrong tree, and we still had to go back and take out the correct tree. At least they knew where to go at that point.
Our victim did compliment the quality of our tree theft services. According to him, we were both stealthy and efficient, having left almost no traces of our activities.
Well there was another 3 houses up from the intended one.
Could have wound up a lot worse than it was. Never heard a thing about it and went back the next day and sprayed the right tree.
Not legal tho I think, unless you added it to the contract
Where I live we can do a lien without a contract so that's nice
Well, technically, you're just returning their tree to them...
Possibility 1. Crew screws up and takes wrong tree. Careless. Should verify with homeowner.
Possibility 2. Prank / revenge act, similar to ‘swatting’. Crew sent by someone else.
There were some threads about this a few years ago.
Other possibilities?
Many years ago, I heard of a house built on the wrong lot, at a newly platted subdivision.
Philbert
Possibility 2. Prank / revenge act, similar to ‘swatting’. Crew sent by someone else.
There were some threads about this a few years ago.
Other possibilities?
Many years ago, I heard of a house built on the wrong lot, at a newly platted subdivision.
Philbert
Take this as a word of advice.
Put everything in writing. Detail your proposals with the trees to be removed, their location. Specify underground hazards (that you are not liable for them if they are not disclosed and damaged).
Detail the tree to be removed, the height in which the stumps will be cut, and whether or not brush will be removed or remain on site. The more detail you put in the better.
Do not agree to proposed work over text. Text is not a contract.
Have the client sign the proposal.
Cover your ass in every way you can. There are clients that will make you pay if you don't.
I'm speaking from experience.
Yes, possibility 3: customer wants a tree cut down on neighbors property. This happened a few years ago at the house I grew up in. They hired a company to cut a tree that they didn't own. The lady that did own it came home just after it came down. It was clearly in a landscaped area that didn't belong to the "customers" property, maybe 5' over the line. The guy with the saw stammered a bit, then beat feet to get out of there as soon as he could. NOT good for neighborly relations which were already a problem before this.
If it's questionable, you *might* want to check with adjoining landowner.
I did land survey work for a few years (where I heard the ‘house built on the wrong lot’ story).
We did a lot of surveys for mortgage companies, to make sure the house, garage, etc., were not over lot lines.
Occasionally, we did surveys to see if fences were over the line: some really angry neighbors, where we did not to turn our backs toward them.
There have been a lot of posts, through the years, about people suspecting that their trees were girdled or poisoned by their neighbors.
Philbert
Rabid K9
ArboristSite Guru
Another local operator, who runs multiple crews is prone to a few ‘mares. Having seen the lack of details in quotes & job descriptions, along with the high staff turnover, can see why.
One I heard about, was crew arrived at residential property in nearby coastal town, Flat lot, close to front of residence. Dropped the wrong tree, winched it into chipper & proceeded to blow out the front lounge window of the house because the chute was wasn’t locked in….
Apparently the lady was less than happy.
One I heard about, was crew arrived at residential property in nearby coastal town, Flat lot, close to front of residence. Dropped the wrong tree, winched it into chipper & proceeded to blow out the front lounge window of the house because the chute was wasn’t locked in….
Apparently the lady was less than happy.
People greatly underestimate the power of the chips coming from a chipper
I watched a guy last year walk right into the stream of chips as it was being shot down a hill into the woods, he didn't think it was as funny as I did at the time, told him so but he didn't listen... sandblasted his ass!
Yeah, well my crew had perfectly correct work order, with neatly typed address. They just guessed, 'cause the number wasn't on the customer's house. The crew leader damn sure knew a cheap easy pine removal from a 70' tall spruce.
...or so I thought...
If in doubt, I always check with the county records.
I have all the counties in my area located on the web, and can check property lines in about 2 minutes or less. Your county may or may not publish property records, but if you never tried it, search google with "GIS mapping <type in your county & state>"
This will almost always pull up the county mapping in your area. You will invariably need to check a box acknowledging that you understand that the maps are not for survey purposes, then you are in! These websites tend to be a bit complicated to figure out, but you need to turn off "parcels", yet leave "parcel outlines" turned on. Sometimes that may involve just dialing down the density of the parcels so that you can see the map beneath (like Johnson County Kansas). Then you find your tree and compare to the property lines.
This technique will also let you know if your customer owns the property in question, too. Occasionally I get a tenant doing some stuff the landlord hasn't approved. When I ask the tenant if they are paying the bill, sometimes I discover that the landlord is being expected to pay for a service they know nothing about. As you might guess, that's a deal breaker.
Example:
"GIS mapping litchfield, Cn" search on google got me litchfield city properties on the very first hit.
https://litchfield.mapxpress.net/
Easy map to use and get owner's names and property lines. They even have contour lines, so you can tell what equipment can operate on the hills or not. 1:2 slope (rise vs run) is a big nope, 1:4 is maybe. 1:10 is no problem.
The county mapping of that area was impressively difficult to get information from.
"GIS mapping litchfield, Cn" search on google got me litchfield city properties on the very first hit.
https://litchfield.mapxpress.net/
Easy map to use and get owner's names and property lines. They even have contour lines, so you can tell what equipment can operate on the hills or not. 1:2 slope (rise vs run) is a big nope, 1:4 is maybe. 1:10 is no problem.
The county mapping of that area was impressively difficult to get information from.
I would also mark the tree with paint or flagging tape. Timber guys have to do that to keep their crew from going on someone’s property or cutting the wrong parcel. They also flag the way in and out for their trucks.
ETA: Don’t trust county maps. They are notoriously wrong.
ETA: Don’t trust county maps. They are notoriously wrong.
YES!
but, tape can be moved by the customer, yet to have it happen but it can happen, use spray paint as a much more permanent solution, even the line marking paints for utility locating that wash away will work fine for this
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