Dishonest Homeowner

[purplewg]

Along the same lines as the dishonest treetrimmer. I gave a homeowner a quote to grind the stumps he showed me in his backyard and a few exposed roots. He said "do it".

I come back late afternoon and get started and get about 2/3 done. He stops me and says his wife says it is dinner time and I need to stop! Well, not wanting to get him in trouble I stop. I come back the next day late afternoon again and low and behold he had taken his tractor and uncovered stumps that were hidden. He said "well you said for all the stumps in this area". Ok so I did say that and I did grind them. The story gets worse, he also had cut down more trees that were standing when I quoted the job. He thought I should grind those for the same price. Needless to say I did not grind the stumps for the trees he cut down after I made the quote.

I learned a valuable lesson. Don't trust anyone regardless of how nice and honest they seem. He thought he could take advantage of this old dumb cracker and he did. I will from now on quote based on a specified number of stumps and I want half my money when I show up. I alwasy do more than required and I did grind a stump he had cut after the fact as it was on my way out and only took 5 minutes. I did a lot of extra work for him.

When I was all done the guys wife said he will be out in two seconds. 15 minutes later he came out and paid me. In that time I could have been back at the shop.

Seems this goes both ways I guess.

 

[RacerX]

Seems like written contract would have helped in this situation.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Seems like written contract would have helped in this situation.

Anyone who does business without having the job spelled out in writing is asking to get the shaft. I have no sympathy for those who get it.

This is true no matter what business you are in.

 

[purplewg]

Anyone who does business without having the job spelled out in writing is asking to get the shaft. I have no sympathy for those who get it.

This is true no matter what business you are in.

I wasn't looking for sympathy dipstick! I was just trying to point out a situation that might keep others from falling into the same trap I did.

 

[RacerX]

I wasn't looking for sympathy dipstick! I was just trying to point out a situation that might keep others from falling into the same trap I did.

I can relate. Many of us want to believe that people as a whole are good. We feel that if we give an honest estimate and act in good faith the customer will do the same. Unfortunately the law of averages will dictate that every X number of times you'll stumble across an ahole like you've described. Thanks for sharing, you're right this can be a valuable lesson. Although BRM was somewhat crass his point is well taken, get everything in writing.

 

[Saw Dust Smoken]

quote

Written quote with number amount and even location of stumps. May mention small, medium, or large stump. Also how deep to grind and if grindings stay or go! And always get signed off. Not likely to get hassled with signed quote. As mentioned above it a business deal with a client. Get paperwork done before work starts.

 

[purplewg]

Written quote with number amount and even location of stumps. May mention small, medium, or large stump. Also how deep to grind and if grindings stay or go! And always get signed off. Not likely to get hassled with signed quote. As mentioned above it a business deal with a client. Get paperwork done before work starts.

You can bet from now on I will.

 

[ctrees4$]

Asking you to shut down for dinner.WTH... was you eating with them. If not then making a second trip to jobsite when it can be compleeted in same day should have cost some extra cach for the trouble.

 

[Taxmantoo]

When timber buyers buy trees, they paint numbers (1,2,3,4...) on them, and the contract contains a brief description of each one by number (#1, 32" Cherry, northwest corner of woods). Do we need to go as far as painting numbers on each stump to be ground?

 

[purplewg]

Asking you to shut down for dinner.WTH... was you eating with them. If not then making a second trip to jobsite when it can be compleeted in same day should have cost some extra cach for the trouble.

Exactly. Like go ahead and eat if you want. I think he knew I was getting close to being done and he wanted to cut down more trees. lol

 

[ctrees4$]

Its good to see you can laugh at the bad jobs. I had the same thing happen to me several years ago but removing trees,not stumps. I lost $700 worth of labor becouse he added trees we never discussed in the bid. After that job I started puting all job bids on paper. That 1 job cost some cash but my bids being on paper have saved so much time and bs with some ho that I see it as lesson well learned.

 

[purplewg]

Its good to see you can laugh at the bad jobs. I had the same thing happen to me several years ago but removing trees,not stumps. I lost $700 worth of labor becouse he added trees we never discussed in the bid. After that job I started puting all job bids on paper. That 1 job cost some cash but my bids being on paper have saved so much time and bs with some ho that I see it as lesson well learned.

Yep, I figure I just paid for a business course. Paper from now on for sure.

 

[rarefish383]

Dad always used written estimates. Many local guys will only give a verbal until the job is OK'ed, and then write a work order. Reason, there are so many fly by nights around now that don't know how to bid a job. They say they will beat any written estimate. Some guys use an estimate form but only give the customer the total on the back of a business card until the job is OK'ed.

We had a neighbor try to hook us. He had about 5 acres around an old estate. He had converted the place into a high dollar Kennell/Boarding house for pets. He used to brag of all the dignataries, movie stars, rock stars, etc whose pets he boarded while they were in town. We told him we'd take down any dead or dangerous trees on the estate for X dollars per tree. When we were finished Dad walked around counting the stumps. He kept seeing piles of leaves with saw dust all around them. The guy went around and covered up half the stumps. When Dad called him on it he just laughed and said "Can't blame a guy for trying" Then he paid up and gave everyone big tips and acted like nothing ever happened, Joe.

 

[discounthunter]

that sucks. the gentleman that ground out my stumpd actually did more than we quoted! i showed him the ones i wanted he did those then said how about those (on the otherside of my lot) i said ok so he said walk in front of him and point out all the stumps i could. come to find out he wanted hours on his grinder and since some of mine were already rotted he went faster than he thought. i ended up giving him an extra hundred over the quote and we were both happy.

btw he had an awesome veneer self prpelled track grinder,not sure of the size.

 

[discounthunter]

Why would he want hours on his grinder?

im not sure , (this was 7-8 years ago) ,but i remember him saying he basically charges by the hour?, he quoted me for roughly 30 stumps for 3hours, since some were rotted and small he went faster than he quoted so he kept grinding. im not sure if he leased this grinder from a company and they charge by hours? either way i didnt complain,we both were happy with the deal.

 

[purplewg]

Interesting. I prefer to not quote by the hour. I prefer to quote by the stump which includes number and size.

 

[stihlaficionado]

Anyone who does business without having the job spelled out in writing is asking to get the shaft. I have no sympathy for those who get it.

This is true no matter what business you are in.

I have had this happen to me EVEN with a written contract...folks ask you to do "just a little thing"...you're in the middle of the job, it doesn't seem like much, you do it...then they ask for other things. Usually at this stage I start to get really mad and try like heck to keep my temper while politely saying no, or only if you are willing to pay more $$.

IMO I see it as a respect issue. The person does not respect me/my profession/ social status and wants to see if they can get more out of the bargain.

 

[Golf]

Years ago when I was doing sales for a big company, we charge a minimal cost of 100 dollars to come out to do a 10" diameter stump. Anything bigger than that, we would charge 7 dollars extra per inch. Chasing surface roots would also be extra. All of this would be written into the quote.

 

[purplewg]

I missed a job the other day. Guy emailed and asked for a quote. I told him to give me an address and I would run by and look at his two stumps. He replied two days later and said he had it done already for $275.

My estimate would have been $150. 2 small stumps. Obviously I am loosing jobs because I am too cheap....lol

Another guy asked me give him a quote for 2 or 3 stumps. lol Which is it? 2 or 3? Probably 5 or 6. lol

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

I missed a job the other day. Guy emailed and asked for a quote. I told him to give me an address and I would run by and look at his two stumps. He replied two days later and said he had it done already for $275.

My estimate would have been $150. 2 small stumps. Obviously I am loosing jobs because I am too cheap....lol

Another guy asked me give him a quote for 2 or 3 stumps. lol Which is it? 2 or 3? Probably 5 or 6. lol

i quoted a tile job to a teacher at my kids school at 3500 bucks. her hubby chose another guy at 7800 (with a lil extra work on the deck thrown in, about 500 bucks worth).

the guy he used subbed the job to me for 3500. the general had a funny look when i did the job but he kept his mouth shut