Always astonished by the public!

[bob]

Matt i know exactly how you feel

I have worked in the same sort of circumstances as you since before you was born and had all the agro over everything.

Sadly i am now office based looking after all the lads and looking at all the jobs and you would not believe how much grief and hassle we get.

1 of the lads just starts talking about random stuff to them and that works for him they just get distracted but certainly makes us cringe sometimes but usually work

but tone and keeping cool is the way forward:thumbup:

[Matthew Arnold]

Matt i know exactly how you feel

I have worked in the same sort of circumstances as you since before you was born and had all the agro over everything.

Sadly i am now office based looking after all the lads and looking at all the jobs and you would not believe how much grief and hassle we get.

1 of the lads just starts talking about random stuff to them and that works for him they just get distracted but certainly makes us cringe sometimes but usually work

but tone and keeping cool is the way forward:thumbup:

 

The best one we do is throw a very small "hissy" fit. If a member of the public (taxpayer) tells us to stop working or making so much noise then we just shut down n pack everything up lol. The look on their face as they get onto their high horse only to be dealt a massive blow by the boss who is normally on site checking trees for further works is an absolute picture. Sadly on 4 occasions we have had to phone for the local plod to come out n sort out the mess. On 3 of those occasions physical contact was made between the agressor and my colleagues. One of my colleagues on one occasion had to go to the local hospital because of a broken nose.

[John Russell]

There's the other side to to this coin.

 

As some of you know my 'proper' work is film-making. Many is the time when we've recce'd a location in advance -- perhaps some nice quiet cul-de-sac somewhere -- and then turned up on the appointed day with a crew and actors to record a scene. Then sod's law kicks in and someone suddenly decides to mow a lawn, trim a hedge, or start up a chainsaw: usually just after I've shouted, "action".

 

As you can imagine the amount of money being invested in crew, equipment and actors (probably all travelled 150 miles to be at that particular location, perhaps stayed overnight in hotels) can be quite considerable. The solution is usually quite simple and involves the liberal distribution of some folding stuff. People are invariably quite amenable if you ask them nicely and grease the old palms with a few quid.

[Stephen Blair]

Bon nailed it, i used to have loads of grief from disgruntled members of the public, 1 annoyed me that much i jumped into the mog, fired up the chipper and chipped a full climbing bag, half a 026 and the bar of a 046. And guess what, it was over a car being washed ha ha. I didnt know how to handle people, i do now and thats why i see it diferently. 10% of life is what hapens to us, 90% is how we react to it.

John i have been asked very politely by a film type person to maybe come back another day if that was ok, as they were trying to do some filming. The job was £500, she was very pleasant and we came back another day.

[John Russell]

Bon nailed it, i used to have loads of grief from disgruntled members of the public, 1 annoyed me that much i jumped into the mog, fired up the chipper and chipped a full climbing bag, half a 026 and the bar of a 046. And guess what, it was over a car being washed ha ha. I didnt know how to handle people, i do now and thats why i see it diferently. 10% of life is what hapens to us, 90% is how we react to it.

John i have been asked very politely by a film type person to maybe come back another day if that was ok, as they were trying to do some filming. The job was £500, she was very pleasant and we came back another day.

 

Ha! That's the trick -- always send round the prettiest member of the crew to ask. You should have looked more upset -- she had a couple of twenties in her pocket to give you!

[Stephen Blair]

i wouldnt of taken them john, she was polite and the tree kept for another day. other times i would start the chipper for badness lol, but i have grown up a bit since then:001_rolleyes:

[felixthelogchopper]

I don't know how much advertising costs but I do believe a happy customer is the best advert going. On that basis, I reckon that a fiver's worth of change and 10 minutes down the local jet wash is probably pretty cheap for good word of mouth PR about how nice the guys from X tree surgeons are. Of course, this only applies if the person whose car is getting washed is the right sort of person but, as most of us have been dealing with Joe/Joanne Public for donkeys years and so should recognise a wasted effort when we see one, the call is down to the arb there at the time.

[Stephen Blair]

well said big chap.

[skyhuck]

I don't know how much advertising costs but I do believe a happy customer is the best advert going. On that basis, I reckon that a fiver's worth of change and 10 minutes down the local jet wash is probably pretty cheap for good word of mouth PR about how nice the guys from X tree surgeons are. Of course, this only applies if the person whose car is getting washed is the right sort of person but, as most of us have been dealing with Joe/Joanne Public for donkeys years and so should recognise a wasted effort when we see one, the call is down to the arb there at the time.

 

TBH, I don't think the "right sort of person" would ask. The ones that do would be well known as "takers" and decent folk won't take any notice of that kind of persons recommendation or slagging off, IMO.

 

IME being polite and professional is all thats required, I've covered plenty of cars with sawdust in my time (always blow off as much as I can) and have never been asked to wash one.

 

I've never come to blows with any one either, I sacked a guy on the spot once (he had to catch the bus home) because he got into a row with an OAP out side a library we were working at. I sacked him instantly, went into the library and apologized to the old boy and the staff and told them he had been sacked. I then went back out and finished the job on my own.

 

I once had a farmer say he was going for his gun to shoot me out the tree, I politely told him if he came back with his gun I would call the police, I then carried on with dismantling the tree. Three land agents then arrived from the estate, they were claiming the trees were theirs, however they had told the council (in writing) they were not theirs when some dead and dangerous trees had needed removing. A resident had asked me if they could pay for

some more removing at their own cost, the council agreed so we did the work. I politely told the land agents they could not have it both ways and if needs be I would see them in court, we carried on and finished the job.

 

If you are polite, curious and in the right there is never any need for unpleasantness.

[felixthelogchopper]

She asked once, didn't push it and didn't threaten to shoot anybody, did she?