Walked away after starting a job today

climbingmonkey24

climbingmonkey24

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
United States
Today I terminated a contract and walked off the job after starting…not a typical experience. Here’s why.

We had a contract, signed and dated, that specified exactly what was gonna be done with the hedges. Nearly an hour after we started, they come out telling me they are unhappy, why isn’t it more straight, and also they want me to go in more. The amount they wanted me to take it in would leave it completely hacked and down to bare stubs. This wasn’t what we agreed to. However, I tried to meet them halfway and go in a little more. Still wasn’t good enough, goal post kept changing.

Regarding the bow, that’s because a section of the arborvitae were younger and therefore not as wide. So I followed the natural contour of the hedge like I’ve done on dozens of others and did my best to blend it in, trying to explain that to get it to a more straight line would mean cutting severely into the wider arborvitae.

Then they said the stihl extension hedge trimmer I was using wasn’t the proper tool, that I should be using a chainsaw to cut the sides until it’s almost bare.

When we initially looked at the job, the client stated they wanted both hedges on either side property to eventually be same height. One was taller, one was shorter. What we talked about and what we wrote in the contract was the taller hedge we would perform a reduction or 1-3 ft, and then the shorter one either a light trim or let it grow depending what the final height of the taller hedge comes out to, with the long-term goal of matching them.

Now they don’t want that, they want to perform a more significant height reduction on the shorter hedge.

I’ll try to accommodate changes and things as much as possible, but the whole nature of the project changed from properly trimming an arborvitae hedge to hacking them back to bare stubs all the way around. That’s just not the kind of pruning we do for obvious reasons.

And then when I pulled up the contract and tried explaining why I was doing what I was and my thought process, they said I was trying to make things more difficult.

They don’t care if it kills the trees, it’s just a tree they say. Okay, but that doesn’t change the fact that it greatly changes the scope of work and how long it’s going to take.

Never has someone suggested to me that I should be using a chainsaw on the sides of their hedge instead of a professional hedge trimmer.

I’ll put up with a lot, but I felt no matter what I did it wasn’t going to be good enough. All I was doing was wasting their time and mine.

Put in a half day’s worth of work, cleaned up my mess, and didn’t charge them for any of it.
 
The wife is the one who signed the contract, the husband said he didn’t read it.

One individual did feel the need to mention how it must be harder for me because I don’t have the proper equipment, and how someone across the street had bushes trimmed and it was 3 guys with a lift and they did a great job. We have a lift, orchard ladder, and all the tools you could need.

I said this trimmer is literally designed for this work, that it’s not very typical to come in with a chainsaw to trim the sides of a hedge and they argued with me that it wasn’t, and that the last people to do it used a chainsaw or something similar and it grew back…

Then she asked if it’s just me (I was by myself), and I said no, I do have other workers but didn’t really need anyone that particular day, that typically we have one person doing the actual trimming on a job like this. And they replied saying “well the company across the street had multiple people cutting.”

Oh, and then at one point one person said they wanted to create a V-tapered top on this flat top, 12ft-14ft+ tall hedge like she’s seen with others, and I said to do that properly might take some time without hacking it, that usually the hedge is trained that way. Then the other person said just go flat across.

It finally became very clear at the end that what they were expecting was someone to come in with a big saw and just hack it back. Not the kind of experience I pride myself in as a business owner walking away like that, but I honestly don’t see that it could’ve turned out well if I had continued with the job. It was still pretty early on where I left it. Which was disappointing because I felt like I was making good pace and had got the hedges to a point they would be happy with.

Thanks for reading / listening.
 
Last edited:
Good to clarify your boundaries to a client like them, great to reaffirm your boundaries to yourself - after a bit of the annoying sting wears off.

I welcome people being various versions of this, just not with me. They can enjoy their life with others.
 
Be glad you cut your losses. I had a sh_t customer once who wanted a straight, flat geometrical hedge on a dual direction sloping yard. No listening to reason. Any reasoning. When I tried to explain and demonstrate heights, grade, slopes etc they actually laughed at me. No (wrong) remediation done by me, I got stiffed and I walked. Some people are just shitty.

For reference other regular customers nicknamed me the hedge whisperer.

I've stopped doing hedges and every old customer has been dissatisfied with their new guy. Word often used "butcher".

Have pride in the successes you leave behind and carry on.
 
climbingmonkey24 said:
Never has someone suggested to me that I should be using a chainsaw on the sides of their hedge instead of a professional hedge trimmer.
Click to expand...
You must be fairly new to the industry lol customers say the darndest things. Give it time and you will hear it all.
“Hey can you prune out this buckthorn” is a personal favorite of mine. :oops:
 
Njdelaney said:
Manicured hedges are not worth the trouble in my personal opinion. No thanks!
Click to expand...

I get it, I think many tree professionals feel that way.

We’ve sort of built a reputation for hedge work though, and we have the equipment to be able to trim large hedges in areas a bucket truck can’t get or with less impact.

It’s tedious but I enjoy it.

This wasn’t manicuring the hedges though, it was more or less them wanting me to butcher them to the point they’re entirely bare. Both hedges on either side of the property had neighbors on the opposite side. The house was also near a main rd. They can do what they want with their trees, but I’m just not sure I’d feel good about being associated with that kind of trim job.

Idk…
 
So show up to a new place with referral from another HO I'd worked with for years. Found GIANT rotten poplar (those always make for more funner days) with buncha at least 10-12" diam dead limbs over a now newly constructed addition to their house. Reason for their call - their insurance company wouldn't insure them until they got rid of the tree. Smart insurance company. Upon looking, when I say rotten it's a crane job if you're lucky. So then they declined the crane and I declined the job and watched from the truck as the two of them argued as they went into their newly reno'd house. He was fine with a crane to keep things safe, she wasn't. She knew how the work should have been done. I was outta there. Should also mention there were black black clouds comin' and rushes of ice cold air that summer's day as we talked - later hail, torrents of rain but never did go back and see if it even survived that storm - and it was a doosy (as I recall I parked my truck that afternoon in a nearby hospital concrete carpark and had a lunch just to stay outta the hail (and the bodyshop). No good carma or flow in that job I'da bet.
 
Once they changed what they wanted after the job was already underway, it wasn't really the same job anymore. Now you're being asked to do pruning you didn't recommend, didn't quote, and probably don't want your name attached to when it looks bad later. Walking away was probably cheaper than finishing it and fighting over the result afterward. Might be worth adding a simple rule to future jobs that any major change in scope stops the work until everybody agrees on the new work and price. Saves a lot of this nonsense.
 
People are wacky.

People often work work what they "don't want" and what "isn't happening"

75% of the way through a large cottonwood removal, they changed their minds and want to retain it.
Wacky.

Some people "don't want" to pay for cleanup. They think working in a big mess will make it so much cheaper, and they will "just" clean it up, later.

These folks with the cottonwood don't know how they will clean up the mess.
 
southsoundtree said:
People are wacky.

People often work work what they "don't want" and what "isn't happening"

75% of the way through a large cottonwood removal, they changed their minds and want to retain it.
Wacky.

Some people "don't want" to pay for cleanup. They think working in a big mess will make it so much cheaper, and they will "just" clean it up, later.

These folks with the cottonwood don't know how they will clean up the mess.
Click to expand...
I have been astonished at how bad some people are at working with fire
 
And I say no. All in writing, I gave three options of no cleanup, organized with mini, chip brush and leave logs. Some folks just don't get a quote or response if there's a weird vibe too. Being burned sucks, but will almost certainly happen again, damnit.
 
Worse is when they agree no cleanup+price, change their mind to yes cleanup after but won't agree to the yes-cleanup price you quoted before the work. Stage 2 they stiff you because "you didn't finish the job" when you reject free-cleanup-add-on.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom