Let the low ballin begin!!

[lxt]

At first it seemed as though people were truly choosing proper tree care & not minding the higher price tag that goes with such, lately I have hit a small group who is only concerned with the price.........The cheapest price!!

were still very busy & work is coming in but the job I bid yesterday was a 70-80ft stone dead elm bout 3ft dbh, hanging over her prize cork screw willow, a shed, a driveway & several arborvitae in a landscape setting........! I give her my price:

I almost had to catch her as she was going down!!!! she replies oh my..... you`re $500.00 higher than the other guy....he bid $1000.00.......! im thinking....we`re gonna be here a day in a half easy $100 an hr.....figure in some sharpening time & the un-expected....bam $1525.00 thought it was a good deal and then comes this:

cant I pay you cash? yes maam! well then why dont we see how it goes & if there is no damage you wont have to charge me for you carrying insurance...! WHAT? yeah, im saving you 30% off the top with cash.......the other guy said he could do it, why cant you!!

well maam.......I carry insurance "FULL TIME".........the other guy prolly has "NONE"...........good luck with that & I walked!! never had this happen, guess they think insurance is optional??? LOL






LXT....................

 

[TreEmergencyB]

what part of PA you from i know of a bunch of low ballers in the Pittsburgh area

 

[arborpros]

That is pretty crazy. People just don't get it some times. Walking was the best option.

 

[Grace Tree]

Signs of the times

Last tree I bid last year was a 100 ft. oak. Not far from the house. Could have knocked one big limb off and dropped the rest but the clear span was across a 50 yr. old septic system. I bid $1600 and the lady's jaw dropped. She told me the other guy bid $400. She really didn't want it done until this spring but I told her to call him and have it done right now. I'm guessing about now she's putting in a new septic. This spring I bid a semi charity job for an elderly woman on a long dead elm near wires for $250.00 which would have been my expenses. Went by last week and the tree was gone. I'm baffled.
Phil

 

[mckeetree]

These Mexicans down here around me work for close to nothing. It's unbelievable.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Stay professional and let the low ballers have their reward. It's simple birds of a feather sociology. I'm not high end, and certainly don't look high end, but I service middle to high end minded clientele with a top notch, professional job at an honest price. As a result, I get referred to the kinds of people I want to work for. The kind that go with the cheapest, cut corners, and what not, I won't work for anyway. I'm not out to get every job, nor most jobs, but rather the right jobs for the right people. Over time that will pay dividends.

 

[Arbor Vision]

Bid a job this morning for 7g's and the customer told me they had an estimate for 3500.00 I asked to see it. Told me he would fax/email it to me later today....called me a little while ago and said the other company said they do not offer written estimates.....then asked me if I could do the job for 4,500.00.......Wtf....told him if u have a price for 3500 why are you asking me to do it for 4500....told him no, 7,000.00 non negotiable....grumbled a little and said he would get back to me. His wife called me and said there other estimate was for 13,500.00 not 3500. There a landscaping company and I guess going to sub the tree work out. She also said they had a estimate for 6,900.00.....I then told her my price is now 7,500.00 and call me when her and her husband are ready to sign a contract and my price is good for 24hrs.
Tired of wasting my time...fuel and better judgement of peoples charicter.

 

[Grouchy old man]

...why dont we see how it goes & if there is no damage you wont have to charge me for you carrying insurance...!
LXT....................

I like that. I think I'll tell my insurance company that since I had no claims last year I won't be paying them this year. :msp_thumbup:

 

[lxt]

what part of PA you from i know of a bunch of low ballers in the Pittsburgh area

Actually im in the Beaver county area, every now & then we make it to Mt.Lebanon & surroundings.

I agree...stay firm..be polite & be professional, sooner or later the market will weed out the unwanted fly by nights, I do feel bad for the guys down south with the mexicans ruining the market!!!

It should almost be legal if you know them to be "illegals" to shoot em, kinda like coyotes.....they have a reason for being, BUT...they just end up in our backyards destroying things beyond their intended purpose!!!!




LXT......................

 

[mckeetree]

Actually im in the Beaver county area, every now & then we make it to Mt.Lebanon & surroundings.

I agree...stay firm..be polite & be professional, sooner or later the market will weed out the unwanted fly by nights, I do feel bad for the guys down south with the mexicans ruining the market!!!

It should almost be legal if you know them to be "illegals" to shoot em, kinda like coyotes.....they have a reason for being, BUT...they just end up in our backyards destroying things beyond their intended purpose!!!!




LXT......................

I superlike that post.

 

[TreeAce]

Actually im in the Beaver county area, every now & then we make it to Mt.Lebanon & surroundings.

I agree...stay firm..be polite & be professional, sooner or later the market will weed out the unwanted fly by nights, I do feel bad for the guys down south with the mexicans ruining the market!!!

It should almost be legal if you know them to be "illegals" to shoot em, kinda like coyotes.....they have a reason for being, BUT...they just end up in our backyards destroying things beyond their intended purpose!!!!




LXT......................

I could regret saying this but .....Its not just mexicans..there are people around me who would include the Amish in the under cutting hack group. Believe it or not. More so in construction but I have ran into it with tree work as well. Last i checked they dont have to pay taxes and child labor laws dont seem to matter either. They tend to fool people into never doubting they are highly skilled in whatever they are doing because....there Amish... Although, I will say that some Amish are skilled tradesmen who take there amish lifestyle very serious. I just havent met one yet.

 

[Grace Tree]

I could regret saying this but .....Its not just mexicans..there are people around me who would include the Amish in the under cutting hack group. Believe it or not. More so in construction but I have ran into it with tree work as well. Last i checked they dont have to pay taxes and child labor laws dont seem to matter either. They tend to fool people into never doubting they are highly skilled in whatever they are doing because....there Amish... Although, I will say that some Amish are skilled tradesmen who take there amish lifestyle very serious. I just havent met one yet.

Absolutely true.

 

[mckeetree]

I could regret saying this but .....Its not just mexicans..there are people around me who would include the Amish in the under cutting hack group. Believe it or not. More so in construction but I have ran into it with tree work as well. Last i checked they dont have to pay taxes and child labor laws dont seem to matter either. They tend to fool people into never doubting they are highly skilled in whatever they are doing because....there Amish... Although, I will say that some Amish are skilled tradesmen who take there amish lifestyle very serious. I just havent met one yet.

I always thought the Amish were all these skilled craftsman until I saw a chicken coop they built. I have never seen such a boogered up job before. A person would almost just have to see it to appreciate what a mess it was. The guy delivering the thing (it was not built on site) said he was embarrassed to haul the thing around.

 

[treemandan]

I always thought the Amish were all these skilled craftsman until I saw a chicken coop they built. I have never seen such a boogered up job before. A person would almost just have to see it to appreciate what a mess it was. The guy delivering the thing (it was not built on site) said he was embarrassed to haul the thing around.

What did the Amish guy do? Drive his horse and buggy to Texas from Ohio to deliver it?
Yeah, them Amish, undercuttin, cell phone talking, Dewalt drill using, Bobcat driving SOB's! WTF?!! Never saw that coming.

Hey! What do you call an Amishman talking on a cell phone.

 

[mckeetree]

What did the Amish guy do? Drive his horse and buggy to Texas from Ohio to deliver it?

No, they hired a freight company to deliver it. I think (could be wrong) I remember the driver saying it came from Pennsylvania. The people that bought the thing paid an outlandish price for it and then paid all that freight to get it. It was about 8x16 in size.

 

[wampum]

I could regret saying this but .....Its not just mexicans..there are people around me who would include the Amish in the under cutting hack group. Believe it or not. More so in construction but I have ran into it with tree work as well. Last i checked they dont have to pay taxes and child labor laws dont seem to matter either. They tend to fool people into never doubting they are highly skilled in whatever they are doing because....there Amish... Although, I will say that some Amish are skilled tradesmen who take there amish lifestyle very serious. I just havent met one yet.

Last year I helped a contractor I know replace a bad roof. We went in and took off the old roof and replaced all the rafters and put plywood down. We had other work to do there so he got an Amish crew to come in and put the shingles down.
Honestly I was never so scared in my life,the one side of that roof was about 16 feet high the other went all the way to the foundation about 30 feet.That Amish guy came in and had one guy helping him the other 3 crew members were his kids aged 6 to 10.I was scared for those kids. can you imagine a 6 year old kid on that roof?
I live in Amish country and have a lot of Amish friends.Some are super talented and do good work.Others are not very talented and their work shows it.

 

[tree md]

The bottom has totally fallen out around here on prices. Between the illegals and the idiots running around with Poulans trying to make beer money... It disgusts me. Sometimes I think about getting out of it but don't know what else I would do... I'm not a carpenter, landscaper, welder trying to be a tree man... I'm a tree man trying to be a tree man and make a fair wage. Trees are just about all I've ever done.

 

[TreeAce]

Last year I helped a contractor I know replace a bad roof. We went in and took off the old roof and replaced all the rafters and put plywood down. We had other work to do there so he got an Amish crew to come in and put the shingles down.
Honestly I was never so scared in my life,the one side of that roof was about 16 feet high the other went all the way to the foundation about 30 feet.That Amish guy came in and had one guy helping him the other 3 crew members were his kids aged 6 to 10.I was scared for those kids. can you imagine a 6 year old kid on that roof?
I live in Amish country and have a lot of Amish friends.Some are super talented and do good work.Others are not very talented and their work shows it.

I did see an amish roof crew last summer do a heck of a 2 story roof. It was all cut up with dormers, hips, and valleys. Five amish guys blew that roof out in one 90 degree day. They had done tear off n felt the day before. These guys were men, no children on this job. My only beef on that one would be the fact that they dont pay taxes. I could be wrong on this but I am pretty sure they are tax exempt.

 

[TreeAce]

What did the Amish guy do? Drive his horse and buggy to Texas from Ohio to deliver it?
Yeah, them Amish, undercuttin, cell phone talking, Dewalt drill using, Bobcat driving SOB's! WTF?!! Never saw that coming.

Hey! What do you call an Amishman talking on a cell phone.

You prolly already know this but....what they do is pay a driver with a truck/van to bring em to job. I have seen these drivers just sit there...all day..and then drive em all back to home. LOL...I saw a lady who hired amish to do her siding and some interior demo. The amish dude gave her a price per day for X# of workers. Lady thought driver should work to.....he laughed at her, I guess I dont blame him either. He told me he charged $225 for 1 hour each way (2 hours total driving) . He said this amish crew was using him 5/6 days aweek for almost a year! He would haul whatever they could safely put in van...tools,men,coolers...whatever. All cash for driver of course.

 

[mckeetree]

The bottom has totally fallen out around here on prices. Between the illegals and the idiots running around with Poulans trying to make beer money... It disgusts me. Sometimes I think about getting out of it but don't know what else I would do... I'm not a carpenter, landscaper, welder trying to be a tree man... I'm a tree man trying to be a tree man and make a fair wage. Trees are just about all I've ever done.

You are far enough south you have the same problem we do. I have talked to some other guys from Okla. that told me the tree business has gone to hell up there. I am located east of Dallas between Dallas and Tyler, TX. Both are sanctuary cities for illegals so you can imagine what we are dealing with. None of them have drivers license but if they get stopped they just let them go....no ticket. Our local ER is full of them on a constant and none ever pay a dime. I've got a friend in the business in Austin that tells me the problem is unimaginable down there.