Performing Work for Clients Who You Will Never Meet Face to Face

climbingmonkey24

climbingmonkey24

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
United States
Ever have someone who is out of state not at the property and with no plans to be at the property, who calls and wants you to go over there to give an estimate and then do work? Is that something you will do?

For pruning projects in particular, I prefer to have the homeowners there so we can go over the work, etc. because it's much easier to misinterpret what someone is saying in regards to pruning via phone, etc. versus just removing a tree which is more straight-forward.

Or if they want you to deal with someone else who will show you the work and pay you, a third party.

But then what comes to mind is the legal side of things. I was always under the impression that it's a good idea to meet with the customers directly and basically know who you are working for in other words. Especially with all the scams out there. I've had scams where someone goes as far as providing an address and a picture of a tree on said address looking for a quote, etc.

So I was wondering others opinions on this. Will you quote and perform work for someone who is out of state who you will never meet face to face?
 
Sounds like a SCAM. I had someone contact me and even sent pic's.The house was for sale and the pic's were on the Realtors web site. I went to the house and it was a rent house and talked to the renter and they gave me the name of the landlord contacted them and they had no idea what I was talking about.
 
I get those scams all the time, I just got an email last night from a guy who "just bought the house, and will be out of the country on a yacht. Wants the job done before he gets back"

I do however work for some people I've never met, it all depends on how our schedules line up and what work they want accomplished. You just have to weed out the scams, their obvious bad grammar is the main giveaway. Almost as if they are using a translator. One of these scams even called me up a couple of times, most are text or email, it sounded like a call center in the background.
 
I have done a few jobs like this, I never love it but so far it has worked out. There was one little job that I was pretty convinced was a scam when it took a few days for payment, but sure enough, the check was in the mail and it did not bounce.

I live in an area with a lot of second homes or rental properties, so it is actually quite often the homeowner will be gone. I wouldn’t do a large project without some assurances, if not meeting in person, maybe a deposit. But yes I feel somewhat comfortable taking on jobs like this.
 
climbingmonkey24 said:
Ever have someone who is out of state not at the property and with no plans to be at the property, who calls and wants you to go over there to give an estimate and then do work? Is that something you will do?

For pruning projects in particular, I prefer to have the homeowners there so we can go over the work, etc. because it's much easier to misinterpret what someone is saying in regards to pruning via phone, etc. versus just removing a tree which is more straight-forward.

Or if they want you to deal with someone else who will show you the work and pay you, a third party.

But then what comes to mind is the legal side of things. I was always under the impression that it's a good idea to meet with the customers directly and basically know who you are working for in other words. Especially with all the scams out there. I've had scams where someone goes as far as providing an address and a picture of a tree on said address looking for a quote, etc.

So I was wondering others opinions on this. Will you quote and perform work for someone who is out of state who you will never meet face to face?
Click to expand...
On rare occasion, rental properties or such, but go slow and have proper paperwork all set and signed.

A telephone conversation a great idea as well. Tree work by email only can lead to miscommunication and issues.

I have had those emails asking for service and all ready to pay immediately, go slow again....follow through. There is something there not legit, easy to sniff out.
 
Check with the county tax assessors web site. Always get a signed copy of a work contract that states the person you work signing owns or has permission to do the tree work (regardless).

This is the nature of work here on the island, it doesn’t happen all the time but it’s frequent. Personally my bid days are always Saturday or Sundays because we have so many second homes
 
Personally I really wouldn’t do work without some face to face - I always ask the folks to certify they own the property (i.e. aren’t just the renters or tenants), that the tree(s) are not City owned trees (a whole brou ha ha here) and that there are no other issues (like some residential work on band land requires the native band’s OK, so the trees have to be marked by them before work starts). It’s pretty easy these days with Facetime and Zoom to meet the owners and even have them walk the property and show you what they want done. But also some folks just want to be there in a lawnchair waving the “cut here” laser pointer (the lunches at these have been fabulous). My 2 centz
 
Hmm, I see trees all the time while people are at work or whatever and I email them a quote go do the work email a bill and accept etransfer as payment. So far I’ve been happy and lucky but I guess if it was a huge job maybe 1 mandatory site visit could be a thing.
 
I have several customer with whom I have never met or even seen for that matter but I have met their property managers/handlers.
 
I'm also in a land of second homes, and probably 10% of the time never meet with the actual owner. Usually I'm able to meet with a property manager, then I take photos to email the owner, then talk on the phone so all the work is clear. I also check on the county property website to confirm the owners, though a lot are registered to LLCs instead of individuals. Never had a problem. That said, there are scams in this area, so do your homework, you should be fine.
 
The usual dead give away I get that it’s a scam is when they up front ask if I do tree work followed by asking where I’m located.
Both of those questioned were answered when they “googled” my business which shows my work and location.
As mentioned, all over text with poor grammar.
 
Able Feller said:
The usual dead give away I get that it’s a scam is when they up front ask if I do tree work followed by asking where I’m located.
Both of those questioned were answered when they “googled” my business which shows my work and location.
As mentioned, all over text with poor grammar.
Click to expand...

Or, are you into tree service and do you accept credit card for payment they ask...

I've gotten texts like that where they text about 20 different numbers all in the same message.
 
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