🤠 cowboys

[Gareth_elms]

In all seriousness though you are right sonething does have to be done unfortunatly its a case of it would probably take more time to sort than is worth the hassle. Let the cowboys work them selves out of the business by doing poor work. And of they are doing acceptable work for the client but not paying for insurance etc not alot can be done about that as the client wont testify to then being bad cotractors.

[Steven P]

problem with a cowboy, ask them to take a tree down in the back garden and thats what they will do - it might not be pretty, they might not have all the tickets and insurances, and so on, cheap job, move on... and a lot of people won't know the difference. Thats how the cowboy thrives - a loy of ignorance from the customer.

[flatyre]

Many things add to this problem, firstly as far as i'm aware there is no law that says someone cannot call themselves a "tree surgeon" without the relevant qualifications, secondly what level of cs certificate do you need to reach to be a "tree surgeon"? thirdly while the government fails to introduce licensing to purchase chainsaws then any tom dick or harry can walk into B&Q and buy such an incredibly dangerous piece of equipment. Fourthly if joe public is prepared to give such a specialised job to however is cheapest then hell slap it up them when something goes wrong. And fifth, though controversially, I know of a number of "big firms", "reputable firms", "professional firms" with all the relevant qualifications and equipment who are total cowboys I wouldn't trust to prune a rose bush.

[Joel77]

References references references. I always take atleast 2 references with contact details to do quotes and attach them to the final paper quote. Yeah ive still lost work to cowboys but all i think is if the customer isnt looking at the references then they arnt worth my time. Part an parcel of life always someone doing it cheaper who get the people who only go on cost. Your price is your price dont chase the under payers its not worth it. And when they knock on your door to get you to fix the cowboys work add 20%.

 

A few months ago I priced a job to remove a row of conifers from the back of 200ft rear garden with crap access, never got it, 2 weeks go by and I get a call from the guy asking if I'd be interested in going there to chip up all the wast and take it away

So I said "oh you done it yourself in the end" no he said but the guy who done it said his chipper had broken down he'll be back next day to clean up took full payment and was never to be seen again

So I quoted £100 more then 1st quote

Happened to drive past and see a skip on the drive full coni

I recon he'll need at lest 4 of them £250 ish a pop

[flatyre]

A few months ago I priced a job to remove a row of conifers from the back of 200ft rear garden with crap access, never got it, 2 weeks go by and I get a call from the guy asking if I'd be interested in going there to chip up all the wast and take it away

So I said "oh you done it yourself in the end" no he said but the guy who done it said his chipper had broken down he'll be back next day to clean up took full payment and was never to be seen again

So I quoted £100 more then 1st quote

Happened to drive past and see a skip on the drive full coni

I recon he'll need at lest 4 of them £250 ish a pop

 

Bravo:thumbup: its t**ts like this that encourage cowboys, I have to use a crowbar to prize the money out of my customers when the jobs finished, chances of getting anything out of the before the jobs done would be impossible.

[Steve Bullman]

A few months ago I priced a job to remove a row of conifers from the back of 200ft rear garden with crap access, never got it, 2 weeks go by and I get a call from the guy asking if I'd be interested in going there to chip up all the wast and take it away

So I said "oh you done it yourself in the end" no he said but the guy who done it said his chipper had broken down he'll be back next day to clean up took full payment and was never to be seen again

So I quoted £100 more then 1st quote

Happened to drive past and see a skip on the drive full coni

I recon he'll need at lest 4 of them £250 ish a pop

 

good for you mate

 

And yes, what sort of an idiot would pay in full for the job before its finished? No sympathy whatsoever.

[Mull]

A few months ago I priced a job to remove a row of conifers from the back of 200ft rear garden with crap access, never got it, 2 weeks go by and I get a call from the guy asking if I'd be interested in going there to chip up all the wast and take it away

 

So I said "oh you done it yourself in the end" no he said but the guy who done it said his chipper had broken down he'll be back next day to clean up took full payment and was never to be seen again

 

So I quoted £100 more then 1st quote

 

Happened to drive past and see a skip on the drive full coni

 

I recon he'll need at lest 4 of them £250 ish a pop

 

 

Doesn't sound too bad a deal. £500 for a skip up here[emoji15]!

Not enough competition I guess.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[treequip]

good for you mate

 

And yes, what sort of an idiot would pay in full for the job before its finished? No sympathy whatsoever.

 

Vulnerable people Steve.

 

The bad people rip people off for a living and they are good at it.

[skyhuck]

Vulnerable people Steve.

 

The bad people rip people off for a living and they are good at it.

 

Indeed.

 

I occasionally get people offering to pay me upfront when quoting, I always refuse, general just joke saying "No, no I could get hit by a bus tomorrow".

 

And very often people pay me in the morning when we arrive and they are off to work.

[Mesterh]

A few months ago I priced a job to remove a row of conifers from the back of 200ft rear garden with crap access, never got it, 2 weeks go by and I get a call from the guy asking if I'd be interested in going there to chip up all the wast and take it away

So I said "oh you done it yourself in the end" no he said but the guy who done it said his chipper had broken down he'll be back next day to clean up took full payment and was never to be seen again

So I quoted £100 more then 1st quote

Happened to drive past and see a skip on the drive full coni

I recon he'll need at lest 4 of them £250 ish a pop

 

Ha yep I've had that quite a few times. Their van has broken and they will be back in a few days, they need some money up front for skips, their mate is coming to clear it up and needs paying in advance etc etc.

 

I've refused to help most times if it was an a hole of a customer or just banged more on top of the original price which is wholly justified when you see the mess they make!

 

You can never stop them or do anything about it.