Day rates when things go wrong..

[Big J]

For me it depends on the circumstances prior to the MEWP getting stuck.

 

If he pressured you into pushing the machine into an area where you highlighted a strong chance of getting stuck (and you proceeded against your better judgement) then he should pay. 

 

Given that I think that it's unlikely that that happened, I don't feel that he can be charged for either the recovery or the day.

 

When I'm on an hourly rate on the forwarder (I don't do day rate, only hourly), the clock stops for any kind of repair on the machine unless it takes less than 30 minutes. So burst pipes even aren't charged for. This is why I charge hourly rather than daily, as down time is fairly common.

[Stephen Blair]

Get away from this guy!  He's draining your life and making you question your reality!

  Go and work for nice under standing people who value you and respect you.

[Khriss]

2 hours ago, Mike Hill said:

If you had any experience driving off road,especially in anything big or heavy you would not have posted the above.

 

Ben,tell the client the terms you really want to have. If he turns you down find another client. The job I posted recently using the dozer,well the client thought he could get another strip felled "because after all,the machines are already there". I told him no,its going to cost the same again because the machines will make the same money elsewhere.

 

He took my terms.It dosnt always go well as we all know,but as long as it goes well often enough to make a profit that's as much as you can ask for. 

Yes i have, oddly. K

[Khriss]

10 hours ago, topchippyles said:

Do you mean is a sexual capacity Chris with  a K 

No. Intellect is always a draw to me. An the ability to sharpen saws properly. K  with a K  ( like in the song) 

[Mike Hill]

14 minutes ago, Khriss said:

Yes i have, oddly. K

Let me guess,SII Land rover across the field at the Isle of White festival?

[MattyF]

No. Intellect is always a draw to me. An the ability to sharpen saws properly. K  with a K  ( like in the song) 

I still don’t get it.... is every post you make signed off about a song ?

[Khriss]

3 minutes ago, MattyF said:

I still don’t get it.... is every post you make signed off about a song ?

Just keeping Chippy amused. Pay no mind 😉 K

[Khriss]

12 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

Let me guess,SII Land rover across the field at the Isle of White festival?

No, mostly tractors, K

 

 

[Khriss]

( thou the landrover has appeared at events) 

[doobin]

15 hours ago, doobin said:

He should pay for the day and recovery. He wanted to hire you and the machine daily to save money, versus a quote where you assumed the risk. It’s simple. 
 

getting the money out of him won’t be simple though. 

13 hours ago, John Shutler said:

the problem is you want his work to much and because of that he has you right where he wants you. 

you should have told him the price was the price and if he wants any different then you can work back from the price, but certain aspects of it won’t be done.

the mewp is your issue, you drove it in there and it got stuck. I don’t know the situation but generally you know your getting in a shot situation before you get to the point that it requires £650 worth of recovery 

accept the loss, forget about how wealthy he is and chalk it upto experience 

 

 

Beautifully put, John. As I said, getting the money out of him won't be simple. You could consider it a relatively cheap lesson.

 

I seem to recall (and apologies in advance if I am wrong), a lengthy thread a few months back where you were wanting to charge a customer more money on top of a quote as things were taking longer than you thought to cut a large hedge. Others pointed out there that you can't have your cake and eat it. Did you walk away or finish the job?

 

The lesson that I would take away from both these cock-ups is that you need to be much more rigid at agreeing and documenting terms. Is it a quote or a day rate hire? If you are going to do day rate hires, you need a watertight set of terms and conditions that place the risk in the job upon the customer. In the plant world we use the CPA model terms. This, along with a polite email explaining that you will forgo the profit on a job in return for them accepting the risk by signing, would go a long way to ensuring that you have at least one leg to stand upon should it make it to small claims court. Even then it's not a sure thing, as the CPA model terms are biased towards contractors subbing to other firms, where there could easily be a big game of 'pass the risk parcel', rather than domestic where a judge might side with the householder.

 

All in all, John's suggestion of working back from the quote for less money (ie, leave brash on the floor) is probably the best route to go down in future.

 

Don't feel too bad mate- remember this. You pay to learn. It's as true now as when I first heard it, and whilst I don't pay nearly as much in tuition fees to the UOL (uni of life 🤣) as I used too, I still keep my alumni association subscription active!