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[Stephen Blair]

hi paul, my system is this. i dont answer the phone at work unless i have my diary infront of me, but i always check their message incase its an emergency. If the job is on my way home i will call them when i get to the van and arrange a time to suit, i always estimate this wwithin an hour and get them to call me as a reminder 30 mins before i said i would be there so i can be exact, i explain a lot can happen in an hour in this job and they might want some lee way aswell. Or i call them back that night between 8pm and 9pm, if they are not in i leave a message and call them again at 8am the next morning, but i usually get all of them that night. I too have a 3 page pricing booklet. page 1 for the customer, 2 for the job book, and 3 in the dreaded red one for my girl who does my stuff to chase it up, but this has only happened once in the 3 years i started this system. I explain that i hand write all this on the job there and then to save on time and cost, and the customer likes to know where they stand as i do. On the sheet i have to contact boxes, maybe the caller doesnt stay where the job is, i have my letter heading, invoice number, cash or cheque tick boxes( this is not for back handers but some folk i insist on cash if i think they are un toward, its a deterant more than anything, it has my vat number, cheque payment to, and clear boxes for cost and plenty of room for writing. the pics below are rubbish but the 3 pages are very clear and bright. my office is a desk in a room with a phone and filing cabinet.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Hiya Robert, thanks for the post.

 

Companies dropping out of the scheme typically do so at the time their re-assessment is due, mainly because they then have to shell out a large amount of money and they, quite rightly, review the 'worth' of the status and sometimes decide this is not great enough to maintain, i.e. it's usually a commercial decision (frustratingly and clearly we need to do more, much more, to increase the 'worth/value' of the status, after all its' a voluntry scheme NOT mandatory.)

 

In terms of 'withdrawals' annually its around 6, I would say, and probably 3 or 4 of these ar ethe commercial decisions I mentioned above with retirements / ill-health / folding up etc. being the other reasons. Thankfully tho, to date, more join than leave, marginally, so numbers are fairly constant around the 150 mark.

 

WL Council are still AAACs but they chose not to advertise on the website nor in the Dircetory as they don't do outside work ad don't want the inevitable enquiries. FF are no longer AAAC sadly.

 

Your hypothetical question is a very good one, thank you. My none 'hypothetical' reply is I wholly accept there will be occassions, hopefully the exception rather than the rule, where ACs will be required to undertake none BS3998/industry 'good' practice works as you have to make a living and, if the client is intent that's what they want doing, then better you as a reputable contractor do it safely and responsibly than someone else.

 

HOWEVER, what I would expect is that the AAAC gives a very clear explanantion of the implications of those actions AND what the likley outcomes will be AND the requirements for future management etc., i.e. regularly dealing with the regrowth, every 4-5 years, on a 'topped' Poplar before they start breaking out. I would also like to see this written into the quote so the client is clearly informed of the consequences of the actions and understands why it doesn't accord with good practice....that, for me, is the differnce bewteen a good contractor doingthis type of work as the exception, with a well informed client, and the rogue contractor who don't give a damn and don't understand why what they do stores up problems for the future. In this situation, I would also like to see alternatives offered, i.e. if the tree really is too big for the site then removal and replacemnet with something more suited is my recommednation Mrs Miggins.

 

Interestingly this is a 'hypothetical' scenario I often pose during the Q&A session of the AC assessment as it allows exploration of a whole host of knwoledge areas, i.e. why is it bad practice, what are the likely outcomes, what if the tree was TPO'd?..etc. etc. etc. Really good fun stuff..ha!

 

Best regards, post back if more 'hypotheticals' I likes um!

 

Thanks again..

Paul

 

Were all getting a lot of great stuff from your posts Paul, or should i call you Mrs Biggins! lol:laugh1:

 

I think your pressence here is going to make all of us look at the way we operate, every aspect, of our day to day operations and thats a great thing.

 

Greater still is a lot of fears loathes and issues that concern a lot of folk are being eroded, if SWB is considering AAAC from this I am sure many others are too, even the small firms.

 

Thats got to be good for ALL of us, as with more companies playing the right game the more experiance Joe public gets of how it should be, and then its going to, year on year slowly leave the others in the shade.

[Stephen Blair]

ever sice i started being more organised my life became easier and the cash flow got on track and the stress went away, i can sometimes out talk my way out of jobs, i can blether for hours about alternatives, you have to take their lifestyle and earnings into the equation, pets and kids if they are sharing their garden with trees and shrubs. i will recomend they save up and do the job once properly rather than just spend their budget, topping conifers and shaping pop regrowth isnt cost effective when a 6 foot screen is required, and if an old guy is on his knees weeding and gardening, why have holly bushes jagging his old hands and knees all day

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

hi paul, my system is this. i dont answer the phone at work unless i have my diary infront of me, but i always check their message incase its an emergency. If the job is on my way home i will call them when i get to the van and arrange a time to suit, i always estimate this wwithin an hour and get them to call me as a reminder 30 mins before i said i would be there so i can be exact, i explain a lot can happen in an hour in this job and they might want some lee way aswell. Or i call them back that night between 8pm and 9pm, if they are not in i leave a message and call them again at 8am the next morning, but i usually get all of them that night. I too have a 3 page pricing booklet. page 1 for the customer, 2 for the job book, and 3 in the dreaded red one for my girl who does my stuff to chase it up, but this has only happened once in the 3 years i started this system. I explain that i hand write all this on the job there and then to save on time and cost, and the customer likes to know where they stand as i do. On the sheet i have to contact boxes, maybe the caller doesnt stay where the job is, i have my letter heading, invoice number, cash or cheque tick boxes( this is not for back handers but some folk i insist on cash if i think they are un toward, its a deterant more than anything, it has my vat number, cheque payment to, and clear boxes for cost and plenty of room for writing. the pics below are rubbish but the 3 pages are very clear and bright. my office is a desk in a room with a phone and filing cabinet.

 

 

Spot on...the phrase "horses for courses" comnes to mind. I'm not saying on closer scrutiny we wouldn't suggest a few things, refinements, but your set up is very typically of a smal contractor...and it clearly works so why change it!

 

Just make sure you've got a 'PAT' test cert for that 'washing machine...or is it the dishwasher...ha!

 

Cheers..

Paul

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Were all getting a lot of great stuff from your posts Paul, or should i call you Mrs Biggins! lol:laugh1:

 

I think your pressence here is going to make all of us look at the way we operate, every aspect, of our day to day operations and thats a great thing.

 

Greater still is a lot of fears loathes and issues that concern a lot of folk are being eroded, if SWB is considering AAAC from this I am sure many others are too, even the small firms.

 

Thats got to be good for ALL of us, as with more companies playing the right game the more experiance Joe public gets of how it should be, and then its going to, year on year slowly leave the others in the shade.

 

Thanks for your post 'Hamadryad' and I hope the posts are useful and I hope the wider 'Arbtalk' community get to see at least some of them to give a better angle on where we're coming from.

 

Absolutely spot on about developing a scheme that is accesible to all, and importnatly works for all, to "leave others in the shade"as you say.

 

Many thanks for your regular posts!

 

Paul

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

ever sice i started being more organised my life became easier and the cash flow got on track and the stress went away, i can sometimes out talk my way out of jobs, i can blether for hours about alternatives, you have to take their lifestyle and earnings into the equation, pets and kids if they are sharing their garden with trees and shrubs. i will recomend they save up and do the job once properly rather than just spend their budget, topping conifers and shaping pop regrowth isnt cost effective when a 6 foot screen is required, and if an old guy is on his knees weeding and gardening, why have holly bushes jagging his old hands and knees all day

 

'SWB' you sure you're not a politician?...but then you seem far too honest, so probably not!

 

Again, 'spot on', listening to the clients needs and being mindful of the 'trees' needs = a balanced, and professional, recommendation (even if you do talk yourslef out of a couple of big jobs hoepfully you get others and smaller jobs appen more often).

 

Keep up the good work..!

 

Cheers..

Paul

[skyhuck]

Paul do AAAC's need to give a written quote for every job??

 

I give almost no written quotes, I give them a price there and then, if they agree I shake their hand and thats the deal done, in 15+ years of trading I can think of only one case where a customer has tried to say I quoted less than I had.

 

I 50 years time I'll most likely be dead, I'd hate to think I wasted any of my precious time on things that ain't really needed, just because some one else thinks something bad may happen if I don't.

 

Plus it stops those "we'll beat any written quote" muppets.

[Stephen Blair]

i think the paper trail is there for the just incase senario dave, if a customer has a gripe and goes to the AA, they have a record to follow.

[skyhuck]

i think the paper trail is there for the just incase senario dave, if a customer has a gripe and goes to the AA, they have a record to follow.

 

I would be happy to take the risk, if I became an AAAC and a customer lied to the AA, saying I did not stick to my quote I would sooner let the punter pay me what they want.

 

Going of previous experience it's very unlikely to happen and if it did it would cost me less in real terms to let that punter shaft me than waste my time on every job.

[Stephen Blair]

you are right mate, your experience and success has proven that BUT try explaining that to others, once you get the booklets made up for pricing it takes minutes anyway. i just have it in a wee case with all my other bits and bobs i need throughout the day. i dont always use it, but it is there if need be.