arbclimber

Its only my opinion mate. I have followed this thread from the start and thought about everybodies posts and this is my opinion at the moment. Your opinion is just as right as mine. Not time to start banging your head against a wall just yet. Do you see where I am coming from with my thoughts though? If you think i'm completely wrong tell me, I'm open to suggestions.

5 K seems a lot. As mozza said, any pics? Price really depends on the access and drop zones on a job like that imo, and the kit you have available. Could give a much better idea with some pics though mate.

Sounds like you have it pretty much sorted then mate, good on ya. I think personally a lot of firms round my way are constantly needing to attract new customers though, so my point is a bit more valid here. People seem to shop around a lot here. Where I live its mainly weekend homes of people who work in the city and spend the week in their houses in Kensington. They like to keep hold of their money, unless they need a new Aston Martin that is.

:lol: There are always the customers who 'would do it themselves' but haven't got time. I was told by a customer that I should be able to quote over the phone because her husband told her it was an easy job and the tree was safe to climb. I told her i'd be the judge of that. Never thought of filming customers doing it themselves so I could send it to You've been framed though. Genius.

Its all good then. If you are covering your costs and its work in an area where you dont usually work, you can consider it as a bit of advertising in the local area. Maybe you could do a bit of leafleting of the neighbours while you are there.

There are many though, that rely on what others think in order to make a decent amount of money. I think this is the sticking point of this debate. It matters to both of us what our customers think, as if you go to do an estimate and the customer thinks you are unskilled and unknowledgable you would never get any work. I think it may have been you who said its down to each individual to sell himself to the client. This is very true, and probably the most important skill in any business. I know I for one have to sell myself to clients most days of the week, I know I am good at what I do, but I still need them to believe it in order to justify my bill if nothing else.

No point pricing it low just to get it, if it means you wont make any money out of it, if you do get it. Or even worse lose money on it. Your competition are in the same position as you mate, I'd price it as you would any other job. You must have an hourly rate you work to when pricing. I personally wouldn't include quoting time in the price but all the time from when I got there to do the job, to the time I got back to the yard would be included. Only time to price really low is to get a job that will lead to more work but even that is often foolish. Especially if the additional work isn't guaranteed.

Good post. Think Steve put something up about it a whila ago but your link has much more detail.

All good points. I would say that many on here are prob better tree surgeons than me, especially from a knowledge point of view. Hamadryad's tree and fungi knowledge makes mine look positively insignificant. I do however have cert, diploma and Bsc qualifications in my choosen field and am soon to achieve Msc so i'm a happy bunny. Everyone has different skills and everyone has to best work out how to use those skills. Some on here are very skilled tree surgeons, how that relates outside of the arb environment i'm not sure. If you want to be a tree surgeon and are skilled at it, happy days. Good point about the pay issue though. If you can get better pay by argueing your point with regards to skill level then do it, who wouldn't.

That last pic is def the way to do the tops of hedges.

You cant leave it at that, I want to see where it landed.

Beat me to it.

You are in no position to call me uneducated.I did not mean to cause offence, and if I did I have already apologised for it. As I said, I offered an opinion which I thought may be helpful. As I also said, this is getting us nowhere and nobody else wants to read about us argueing over nothing, so once again, ill leave it there.

If your English is a touchy subject, I apologise. I gave my honest opinion about your site, as did others. I think the design of the site is good, the only problem I can see with it, is that it advertises services you are not qualified to do. I wasn't having a go at you when this conversation started,but just trying to work out which comments you thought were not helpful. That is my opinion and ill leave it at that, as this isn't getting us anywhere.

And now I know. Cant type very quick on the phone either:blushing:

Ill take your word for it. Viewing it on my phone with the pics about an inch square it doesn't look like it. Thats my excuse anyway:blushing: Wonder what chris p has spotted then. I can hardly wait to find out.

You thinking it aint an oak tree mate?

Dont spell it out mate, your spelling is as bad as your punctuation.

A genius? or a bloke with an idea?

Good call Hama, I will admit i'm not usually your biggest fan, as you do talk a load of old rubbish:001_tt2: but I will also admit that I think you may have a bit more going on upstairs than I have been giving you credit for. If you knew me, or spoke to anyone who has ever worked for me, you would realise that complements are few and far between with me. I'm not easily impressed so please take this comment in the way it is mean't.

You asked for opinions on your site and thats exactly what you have got. If you dont want honest answers, dont ask a question on here mate. People on here seem to say what they think. If you want it sugar coated, maybe this isn't the best place. If its Big 'Ammers comment about punctuation that annoyed you, he may have been refering to your site anyway. If he was referring to your posts on here then surely you see his point.

Just to put my thoughts into context a bit. I mentioned many people would perish if the country was as it was a few hundred years ago then thought some may not agree as this wasn't actually long ago, so I thought i'd do a quick bit of research. I find that this is infact the case and in 1700 'natural selection' was still at work. In 1700 the population of the country was kept in check by such things as Flu and even failed harvests. People still fought duels over disagreements and people were hung or sent to the Americas for such crimes as theft. Only 300 ish years ago but a very different place to live. The only exceptions to the rules seems to be people born into power. They could be as fat, lazy and stupid as they like.:lol:d

I asked whats not on topic. You said 'if we can keep on topic'. I assumed you mean't some of the comments weren't on topic but I dont know which ones you mean.

Obviously neither of us, for one second, would say its a bad idea to perform such operations on sick children etc but yes thats exactly as I see it too. If the human race as it is now was sent back a few hundred years many would probably perish. When strength, hard work and flexible thinking kept people alive the human race was still evolving. Now we give the stupid and the lazy handouts so they can stay at home reproducing we are going backwards fast. You only have to look at the few remaining communities of tribes people to see what humans should be like. The Masai of Kenya are slim, strong, fast, intelligent and highly respectful people who thrive in their environment. Getting back to Hamas point they are also deeply respectful of their surroundings and their prey, so maybe they have had it right all along. Maybe we dont need fast cars and plasma tv's after all. On a lighter note i've always thought that the African nations do so well in international running events as they evolved in a country where there are lions. If my ancestors lived in a place where there were lions i bet they would run pretty bloody quick too:laugh1:

Whats not on topic?