Agent-Arb

Amen

Spud, you’re a gent. I’ll be in touch soon- I’ve been taxed already by the mrs! Looking forwards to getting it back tho, the other one is even better than a new saw. Well chuffed with it. Cheers mate

Deepest darkest Derbyshire mate, where ‘still burn tyres for streetlighting as it keeps the dragons away. You do have a good point tho. The costs come down to overheads. In this neck of the woods you have to price against folk who’ve got their old mans farm (& tractors) at their disposal, which helps keep their costs down. Not knocking, just saying. So if you are more expensive, then the phone don’t ring on some jobs. You’re right about reactive work too. Like I said before, this would have been 600 but the customer was already paying the groundsman for the day & due to it going through a mate I didn’t put extra on for it being emergency work. Tho probs should have. I wonder how many would have took their chances & climbed it? It would have took a fraction of the time, but a big hike in personal risk. It popped pretty sharpish when doing the back cut, quick enough to make me glad I was long enough in the tooth not to let my ego try & take over by climbing it. Even at this price for a standard day for 2, prices haven’t really gone up for years when costs have. Luckily, there’s plenty of trees to go round and people will pay their money & take their choice on who they have in. Tho like I always say, you can’t re-fell a tree. Cheers

[emoji23]

Hahaaaaaaa [emoji106]

Didn’t know that was out there. Looks good from the vid on their website. Same voice as ‘highly valuable walnut tree’ [emoji23] Thanks

What letter?

Good points. So, moving forward I did think it worth sending a email before starting the job in future. Ideally, before loading up & setting off. In terms of pricing. Some said too cheap, some said yeah but it’s just him & kit with no clear up. The customer thought it a bit steep & we seen how that’s just played out. Might be a good idea to work at a call out fee plus hourly rate in future - like other trades, so customer is aware it’s going to cost £X’s+ from the outset & get a confirmation email from them accepting that before starting any work. Should be getting paid for even looking ideally. This customer did keep offering the “one-off non-negotiable” £200. Which I didn’t accept as I had a feeling if push came to shove the total could then be reduced to that. Pffft! Chancer. I had to give an update tho, especially as it’s good news! Cheers all

Cheers Joe. Someone on here said it would be a learning curve to pursue it but if you do nothing then you learn nothing other than giving in

Wow Mick - encore! Who makes this? When the laughter passes I feel slightly sick

Cougar orange here and it’s great, no fluff, limited bounce from what I’ve found using for ddrt & srt.

Good news! Paid in full. Thanks to all for some very good advice on here, it really helped get a good starting point together before filling out the small claims forms. Which took about 30 mins (10 to make an account) & £35 - really easy. You have to list your evidence you will be using if it goes to court. So the emails, photos & good old google earth to show the size and location of the tree - it dwarfed the greenhouse & was well over half the spread of the tennis court [emoji23] He was getting bolshy, cos I wasn’t biting at his rudeness, then tried telling me to take it to his solicitor for which I would be charged £250 an hour for “!” So I left it another 28 days after first reminder and thought well let’s leave it to the judge then. His Mrs paid. They probably got the forms through just before Christmas, which will have confirmed the email the court also send out straight away was not a wind up. Thanks again all. Good end to the year. All the best to everyone for the year ahead.

Nice one, that’s just what solicitor said, but better as he doesn’t know the ins& outs of our job. I was just about to send invoice, but looked on here. Have coloured it in nicely now, thanks. Fingers crossed to affording a gloat

Hi All, good advice here, thanks everyone. As luck would have it, today I bumped into a soon to retire solicitor I know. Showed him the emails, photos & answered his questions. He said it would be unlikely to get there as most (sane) people pay up before it gets that far. However, if it went all the way it would be me & quibbler(if he even turns up) explaining to a magistrate in small claims court. He said I’ve got a strong case. Need to show that it’s a reasonable amount for the job done - none of which is disputable now. He reckons it’s just a try-on & chuckled at the “non-negotiable” bit. Send invoice with brief explanation of job on it & that the price is reasonable & that he should be too & pay as agreed already. Wait the 28days then straight to small claims as he’s shortened going through any reminder process by being a quibbling cheapskate. Non payment = bailiffs/goods seized & auctioned or payment collected plus their fees. So thats echoed a lot of you guys - thanks all. Shall see how it plays out, as has been said, it’s a learning process. Shall update when I can. My mate was more shocked than me and hasn’t been paid either yet I don’t think(I don’t he’ll begetting messed about but who knows) - I’ll bell him tomorrow or whenever. I said to the customer it would have been £600 but to knock £150 off to cover my mates wage for the day as he was there already. It was a fit of generosity whilst probably being all chuffed with my little self on nailing a tricky one sweetly. A valuable lesson learnt there in itself. Along with kindness being mistook for weakness. Solicitor said to point that out in covering email with invoice.

That would be worth the money to see [emoji23] And probably the most likely reason for him to settle up. I had thought of calling round to collect payment & announcing loudly to the builders (who all saw & heard the job) that he was having difficulty paying. But I’ve got enough to do with my time, & he might start daydreaming & making more things up. Felix - sounds like good advice thanks. He has entered in to an email exchange - in effect confirming the job & only quibbling the cost then (nice one!) Which I did spell it out in my one reply that it was executed professionally & with reasonable cost. I don’t think I took the mickey pricewise, but his whole way & tone has. That’s without mentioning that he must be responsible in part for sailing the country to the edge of the credit crunch. Scumbag! Thanks all. Problem shared is problem halved & all that

Nice one fellas, like it Mick yes I can think of some really satisfying lines to kiss goodbye to an easy settlement but I’d rather get the whole amount due. Kev, that’s without a groundy wage of £150 as my mate did that & he’s being paid by customer - but all the same very good point! I expect some handwringing coming soon over knocking off £150 from my bill for paying that a gardener/groundy lol! Felix, nothing in writing though - where do I stand? Thanks

Evening all, the other morning about to have a yard day I got called out to an emergency. A mate who does the odd day gardening at a big country hall. He’s seen this fair to medium size unsafe tree, & it’s a building site so builders & plenty of rubbish/rubble/wood with nails lying about in piles under & around it. Mate was talking between me & owner & reckons the guys ok, so I went. Hours drive away. 6 hours later, safely down, snedded & cut into chunks a triple stemmed 50-60ft chestnut. 2 stems failed, & last one cracking & delaminating towards greenhouse & hedge. Had to use couple of ropes, Land Rover to pull & a tether off one of the failed stems laying over the ditch out the back to make it down safe. Customer didn’t want any damage. Would have took half the time to just drop it & make safe. Price agreed verbally with customer before leaving site, but not before starting - nor over phone before I set off in first place (I know, I know). Got email next day from customer. After agreeing to my price face to face, he’s now an expert as he’s rung local tree surgeons asking how much to fell a tree & got prices ranging from £95 to £200. Says I need to revisit my pricing as I’m completely out of market range. I’d said £450 - justified by; the danger, the safe completion, turning up with & using £20k+ worth of kit & 20+years experience. I replied saying I shudder to think what he’d have got for 200, nevermind 95 knowing it was pretty involved to have done it safely. But was respectful & explained my overheads for him so he could see what he was paying for. This morning he comes back with that he’s insulted, & knows how business works as he used to be very high up in legal for a main bank. He’s only prepared to pay £200 non-negotiable, one time only offer. Never had a non-payer yet. Nor a haggler after the event !!! What have you got folks, anyone else had this? Thanks

Yo Big D! Can you send me a copy too pleases Also I see in the latest AA mag (not that one) that Mattheck is coming to give a final couple of lectures next year. Should be good. Contact Symbiosis for booking it says. Free book given to all attendees. Should get some folk slavering. You in?

Happy days indeed mate. Be worth getting some pics while still folk about especially with the 30 year anniversary [emoji106]

Missed the magazine, thanks for posting here. A fine article, pics & read. Like the 1975 bandstand pic, not much change from 1900. Ted's maps were a good move at the time. Shows the worth of surveying trees of merit in some detail & regularity when looking back like this. Anyone at/around the Heath with any morning after storm pics?

LOL! I bet he did his victory dance on the nearest stump n'all

[ATTACH]221953[/ATTACH] Minirigs are havin it! Size - battery duration - cost. Bose are good, I have a wave, but for chucking in a back pack & the option of hooking up with others, Minirig wins hands down.

Good one Sean, great find. Liking the Burnham one, doesn't seem that different - apart from few more pollards. Shows that these old trees are an excellent marker in time. Tree time is that much slower - to a point.

Nice one David, good to see - thanks, as ever, for sharing. Is the difference on Andy's paper between image 3 & 4, the separating layer, something to be seen reliably in the field (from cutting a slice) do both of you think? May save the microscopy if so..? All the best

Signed. Good little spot worth keeping within affordable access if poss. Have found Welsh Bobbies around that area more than reasonable after hours anyway. But... £4K plus... for a week. "!" Hardly the ethos of National Park accessibility for all.