Will Ayers

Having spoken to the manager in question it seems this error was simply due to lack of communication and poor management. The contracts manager has stated verbally the I will be compensated for lost profits and any direct investment in to the job. So my time already give and my fuel for quotes and subsequent site visits. I raised the concern that I didn't want to ripple the pool regarding future works and he said there was no bad blood as this was no fault of mine. He mentioned I would get first refusal on the next project (which I happen to know is a lot bigger). So all is well that ends well.... Thank you arb talkers for giving me your advice and experiences with this matter, it has been so helpful to have your legal knowledge, business sense, support and advice. For me this is arbtalk at its best. Although none of you are in a position to wave a magic wand and make it go away, you have all contributed to my ability to come armed with the right knowledge to be able to deal with the situation in a professional manner, without burning any bridges.

This sentiment was echoed by my crew. I think they understand that I have lost more from this than they have. If they are still spare that weekend then I offer them a free round of clays at the local clay pigeon shoot. This way I get to have a giggle at them missing clays while they get a free afternoon on the company. I'd hope to at least recoup enough money from this drama to pay for that!

This all sounds like very good advice. Simply walking away won't get me anything. I think you are right that I should aim for compensation of expenses and a favour owed. This is ArbTalk at its best. Thank you all for your advice. I'm going to have a chat with the guy tomorrow to find out what's going on. I will let you know their response.

ha! no not in Wisbech. best of luck with it though, and guard that site with your life!!

I don't feel as though there has been any true foul play here. I think someone has just messed up with their contracts management there are too many cooks and way too many Indians. Or something like that. Other than the profits the biggest thing I am stood to loose is my teams enthusiasm for jumping on jobs with me on this site. I use self employed guys and they are great. But this isn't the way I normally treat my guys. If I book them as a firm booking then I really hate letting them down. I'd like to recoup their wages as a good will gesture as a minimum. Sadly I'm not in a financial position to be able to do this out of my own pocket!

Not in Manchester no. Cambridgeshire.

Some really good advice here. I think my position is, I will ask them if my services are still needed elsewhere on site, if not I will ask to recoup my losses and lost profit as suggested above. Cheers guys. This was a real blow for me as it's the first major works (more than a days work) I will have carried out for this organisation. I had put a lot of work in to preparing my team, setting up the safe systems of work in relation to the adjacent site and road, as well as revamping my RA's and MS's. Beyond that it was a job I was really looking forward to sinking my teeth in to.

Here is his acceptance email, "Dear Will Many thanks for the quotation – this is accepted. My preference would be to close The road for you, however, closure would make access to the site extremely difficult. I have no problem with short period closure of the road whilst trees in immediate vicinity are felled, provided the correct traffic management is in place. Weekend working (thereby avoiding adjacent works, is my preference, and I accept the fact that, at this stage, stumps will remain for removal on another day. Do you have some dates in mind so that I can open negotiations with BAM who are on the adjacent building site. Can you also provide me with the appropriate Risk Assessments and Method statements for you work. Regards"

He confirmed via email but no purchase order or job number....

No. In the past works with this organisation have been on the basis of quote acceptance via email. i.e. the guy said in his email "your quote is accepted, please book in the works ASAP"

Evening all. I'm looking for some advice, or at least some experience of a similar scenario and how it was dealt with. I was asked a few weeks ago to quote on a huge load of works for a massive organisation. (not wanting to name names). another firm were due to undertake the works but they were replaced by myself in the rankings due to H&S concerns (so i was lead to believe from the manager I dealt with) The quoting process has involved alot of my time, a couple of site visits, and a hell of alot of head scratching. my quote was accepted and i was asked to book the work in. the work was organised to take place over a weekend as there would be less pedestrians and road users, and I had priced accordingly. since the quote was accepted i invested some money in some gear which I would need to complete the job, site barriers, an ms880 and some other bits and bobs, i know these pieces of kit will come in to use in due course with other jobs but that doesn't go far to lessen the burn....... I had a call from another department of the same organisation today to get some advice and a quote on some completely separate works. while on site I came across a team of guys undertaking the works which I had quoted for already, they had nearly finished the job, and I dare say they have now completed the works. Where do I stand? i have invested alot of time, money and energy in to this and now I'm left with a crew who I'm going to have to let down and a massive loss of earnings and a huge blow to my personal morale. Am I in any position to charge them a cancellation fee? should I just suck it up and move on, bearing in mind that the total cost of these works would have run in to more than a few grand? Any advice welcome.

Personally I went to college with very little prior knowledge of tree work and did my national diploma. I found that by filling my days off with work for local companies I was able to gain good experience at a steady pace while still gaining a great qualification on which you can base a more academic role in your working life when you are getting old and tired. That said, I have also found the knowledge I gained from my ND to be very useful while I was a self employed climber and now while I'm running my business. If you can afford to go for the better qualifications then do. You'll find it very hard to go back in to learning once you have started full time work. That all said it is very much dependant on which college you go to. I went to Sparsholt in Hampshire and I can not sing their praises loudly enough, a supportive team of dedicated staff! a great class/practical balance and they really aimed us towards the industry rather than simply getting he qualification. The best thing to do is go for open days and interviews at a few colleges and get a feel for the environment that you will be learning in. Whatever you choose to do you should know that this job, while very rewarding, can sometimes feel like the hardest job in the world. You will literally be moving whole trees by hand in Lego form. Next time you see a huge tree, stand underneath it and look up. Imagine carrying every piece of it by hand and loading it into a van. And that's just the easiest part of the process of removing that tree! If you feel you have the staying power to do that every day with a smile on your face. Then go for it, and give it 100%

Some people will tell you they are safer than normal twisties. I don't get on with them because they are a bit fiddle for my potato fingers.

If it is triple action then it's fine to climb on, as long as it is rated for the correct SWL. Ball locks are just a different way of having a third action to open the crab. At least that's what I always thought

Next year I'm going to spend all of my christmas savings for the kids presents on raffle tickets.

Wife's a doc and done her stint in A&E. She recommends trying to get in touch with out of hours GP or getting an emergency appointment in the morning with your Gp. There is nothing that they can do for a sore neck/trapped nerve or muscle in spasm in A&E that they can't do in a GP's practice and you will probably get a better response time with GP's. There will be an out of hours GP in your area waiting for a call, ring your surgery and they should have a number to call or put you through to the out of hours guys. Other than that. Hot bath hot water bottle, warmth not cold as it's probably the cold weather that contributed to the pain.

The trouble with most pickup tipper conversions is you can't fit a lot in to them unless your box sits above your roof line a fair bit. It's what put me off converting my old navara. I've seen big boxes like yours on the back of land rovers but rarely on anything else. your chip box is fairly huge but doesn't look ridiculous. Good work!

I just looked through my photos, none of mine are as epic as most of these! I need to buy a half decent bollard so i can go bigger!!

i had a mad dash panic buying session today including my raffle ticket. although i didnt need to panic! loads of time to buy more!!

I'll stay sober until dark o'clock and then it's bottoms up!

That is definite not the right diameter. Way too thin.

I just bought a lovely one from my local agri auctions. I know nothing about it but it runs like a dream and has plenty of power. It's a Yamaha Kodak 400. I paid 1600 all in.

There is a thread full of them somewhere on here. Xx

I get this all the time. I always respond the same way as you did, by stating that it would be the same either way. As it all goes to the bank so that my books balance. In all honesty I'm not clever enough to juggle cash payments to dodge the tax. I'm better off just putting it all in the bank. It only goes on takeaways if I do bring it home.

Thanks for the advice Oslac. I think I'm going to have to put a barrier down as the customers are quite insistent on a more permanent weed protection but I'm kind of glad that you have recommended rotavating the whole lot grass and all, that was really my main question.