Do you ever have the occasional customer service experience like this?

climbingmonkey24 said:
Honestly, I don’t believe I’ve ever charged by the hour. I have occasionally provided a price range (minimum- maximum), but mostly just quote a set price.

The wording in the estimate for this job was very specific in regards to removing a lead / limb that was dead either down to a healthy branch growing off of it, or down to the trunk depending what I saw when I got up there. As a matter of fact, on this job I quoted a price range rather than an exact quote to allow for the potential difference in labor / time depending where we ended up cutting it back to.

During the estimate, I asked the client if there were any other concerns and they didn’t have any, the focus was this one specific limb. They replied to the email containing the quote asking if it included other deadwood, because they thought there might be some other stuff higher up in the canopy. The quote didn’t include that, but I said while we were up there we could remove some additional deadwood, and what the added cost might be.

The individual who I had been dealing with was sick I guess on the day we came, so we didn’t actually have the opportunity to speak in-person. I removed the limb per what was outlined in the estimate, and while up there removed some additional deadwood that could’ve been a hazard to the surrounding area, including a significant portion of a top. At no point did the client state they wanted all the deadwood removed from the tree.

Did we get every single piece of deadwood? No. But I thought we did a pretty good job clearing out some additional stuff not included in the original estimate per our discussion.

When I followed up with the client a few days later, they replied stating how they would’ve liked more deadwood to be removed, but acknowledged that they didn’t really specify that beforehand. My responses to her included a breakdown of what we did remove, asking her what additional deadwood she was referring to, offering to meet with her in-person to look at the additional stuff she might’ve been concerned with, and pointing out that considering there were some significant sections that were unhealthy (parts of a top, etc.), removing deadwood wasn’t necessarily a long-term solution if the tree had an underlying issue going on.

She declined to have us back out to address any further concerns or do more pruning, so we sent the invoice and the job is done.

Communicating via email or text, it’s hard to sometimes read people’s tone / attitude.

At this point, I think it’s probably best just to let it be. I didn’t charge for the extra stuff we did. I could’ve, but chose not to.
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I agree about the voice being a better communicator for any problem of dissatisfaction.
 
We don't do "by the hour" but we do have a day rate and half-day rate that is useful for certain types of jobs or clients. What we give up in potential maximum daily profit, we make up in not having to visit multiple sites in a day and the knowledge that we will make enough money. We offer it to urban farmers who have grant money so they get the best value, established GOOD clients who understand that they're getting a great value, and also projects without clearly defined end points but with clear priorities, like land clearing or phased work based on a budget. If a client gets the day rate deal and complains that we didn't "finish" a particular thing, they don't get the day rate again. So far this hasn't happened. The other side of it is if it only takes another 30 minutes to reach a point that makes sense to stop(like a particular tree is halfway removed but in 30 minutes it would be gone) then we just work a little longer, knowing that this small sacrifice will pay dividends. We stop and take breaks for food/water/strategy whenever we want, that's not up to anyone but us. I personally also use the day rate pricing when it would take a really long time to write up a quote for a long list of things that I know we can get done within the confines of a set time period. Saves me time and the client money, and if they don't trust us to give them good value, they're the ones missing out, not us. I guess your original question also warrants a response rooted in your feelings about the client being displeased. My take is that as long as YOU know you're doing good work, that is enough. If you're doing tree work to make every client happy, you will never meet that goal. Some people are unpleasable, some people are stupid, and some are great!
 
Njdelaney said:
We don't do "by the hour" but we do have a day rate and half-day rate that is useful for certain types of jobs or clients. What we give up in potential maximum daily profit, we make up in not having to visit multiple sites in a day and the knowledge that we will make enough money. We offer it to urban farmers who have grant money so they get the best value, established GOOD clients who understand that they're getting a great value, and also projects without clearly defined end points but with clear priorities, like land clearing or phased work based on a budget. If a client gets the day rate deal and complains that we didn't "finish" a particular thing, they don't get the day rate again. So far this hasn't happened. The other side of it is if it only takes another 30 minutes to reach a point that makes sense to stop(like a particular tree is halfway removed but in 30 minutes it would be gone) then we just work a little longer, knowing that this small sacrifice will pay dividends. We stop and take breaks for food/water/strategy whenever we want, that's not up to anyone but us. I personally also use the day rate pricing when it would take a really long time to write up a quote for a long list of things that I know we can get done within the confines of a set time period. Saves me time and the client money, and if they don't trust us to give them good value, they're the ones missing out, not us. I guess your original question also warrants a response rooted in your feelings about the client being displeased. My take is that as long as YOU know you're doing good work, that is enough. If you're doing tree work to make every client happy, you will never meet that goal. Some people are unpleasable, some people are stupid, and some are great!
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Words from my mouth. Great write up. Couldn't have said it better.
 
By the hour with a half-day minimum is another option. 5, 6, 7 hours is fine for me. Virtually every job is close to the shop 5-10 minutes. The next job is often 5-10 minutes from the first. Ten percent of my jobs are 15 minutes or more of a drive.
 
Podcasts are great for driving. It's a company truck I have now, so I'm not sweatin' it. Plus I need it to tow the compost tea trailer I'm building for the company, and I hear that I will need to haul gear/crew occasionaly.

I kinda moved to The Bay. I would never sell my property up in Butte county, and I go back up once or twice a month to maintain major things, while my FIL handles the day to day. I just needed something better, and this seemed like a workable deal. I am stoked too for all the opportunities it provides for my wife and daughter.
 
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