Pete Hart

Ive been approached 4 times in the last month. Unless you tell them where to go from the off, they wont leave you alone. I've heard some horror stories of people thinking there getting a bargain... get suckered in and then they open their cash purchase to find a box of rocks. I won't express my opinion on the subject as it WILL land me in trouble with the mods!!

Mrs yaffle (to be) is far from trained! im currently up to my ears in wedding planning! NOT MY BAG!!!

I must say, your love of photography rubbed off on me silky! i get ear ache all the time now for taking so many pics! good stuff mate!

This thread has had me and the old man in stiches!!! I know its very naughty but i do tend to agree with gensetsteve... smooth round corners, sensible speed, leaving bigger gaps, careful braking. Q the critisism! P.S I do not partake in the overloading of vehicles ever, ever... nor do i condone such actions

Last week i was ringing up a 4ft macrocarpa nugget with both 088 and 660. 088 needed fueling more often - that said i was using it on the biggest timber with the 47" bar and the 660 was used at the narrower end with 30" bar so that may have had a bearing on it. Not sure what the difference in fuel tank capacity is like - im sure google would tell me!

My 088 drinks like a fish too!!!! How is your arb paparazzi work going silky?!

Your right drayton i've seen it every time i search for a landy tipper! Someone has been trying to sell it for ages

Lovely piece of kit there! Looking forward to seeing action shots and pictures of produce

Battery life per charge? Has anyone used one?

How much is the Husky electric topper paul, looks interesting?

I have had customers phone up to say they have changed there mind about a job before, or that they can't afford it at that moment in time.... all fair enough and all you can do is be understanding.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeah fair shout i'd probably want the lowest price too.... that said, job and price was discussed and agreed on site, it was all a rush job, she wanted it doing asap, i agreed to do the stumpgrinding for free as a sweetener. She said she was delighted we shook hands all seemed fine. The job was priced at £450 to clear her front garden (2 medium/large conifers, 2 willows all fell and stump grind, remove hedge at front of garden and other shrubs) i dont have pictures to give an idea but i had allowed for myself and two others for the day to include approx 2 loads of chip tipped off, logs away and stump grind all stumps. Best of luck to whoever did it for £250! They obviously have their overheads and i have mine but that would have been a lot of work for the money. This is simply a small example of how people can let you down, in the grand scheme of things its all water under the bridge and ive excepted it and have to move on. Im glad people have taken the time to respond and give advice as i am interested to know what can be done to prevent it in the future. And its clear that the answer is not a lot due to the 'cooling off period'.

Hi Jon, I have got an 088 - its a beast!!! your right they munch through the bigger stuff better than a 660. Just a bit big for general use i find.

My stock answer would be ms660, but given that im suffering from the dreaded and all too common warped chain brake handle syndrome, im not too keen on it at the moment!!

I agree with everything you say Rupe, it all makes sense.... the only issue is that it can be very difficult to tell sometimes who will mess you about. I went to meet a local lady on monday who was 'delighted' with my quote and my approach to the job. She shook my hand and agreed for us to complete the work today (thurs) all at short notice because i had to phone another customer (who we were originally booked in to work for) to re-arrange, only to recieve a text late last night to say she had got someone else £200 cheaper. From what i gather from posts on this thread theres nothing i can do but deal with it, but it just goes to show that what seemed to be a friendly lady on first impressions, turned out to be pretty tactless. Im just on a bad run at the mo as 4 and a half years of previous business operations have been pretty plain sailing!!!

Thanks for the advice Rupe, your right in saying that the good ones would have no problem in signing something. I am more than happy to do extra work for customers and more often than not it gets done in return for a slice of cake and a brew!! But as i found this week, its people trying it on (creating an extra 2 hours work!) and creating a very awkward situation that you feel uneasy about (i.e feeling like you have to do the extra to actually get paid for what you came to do!). I would like to think i have very high standards and i seem to be left feeling disheartened by the lack of standards the people ive been working for of late.... As ive mentioned above its mainly my own doing of not being firm and not having things written down and signed. Thanks to everyone who has comented so far!

Thanks for the link Aiden Do you have to have issued a formal quote i.e email/letter to go through small claims court procedure if you don't get paid by a customer? essentially i supose im asking what evidence do you need other than the fact that the work has been done!!

Thanks for the advice Treequip, i appreciate that input. Your right Terms and conditions given to customer at quoting stage is the correct way of doing it.

Your right about that. I avoid estimations and always give a fixed price. Ironically I just checked my online banking to find i've finally been paid by one customer who has been hanging it out since the 5th november!!! on my invoices i state 'payment in full required within 7 days from date of invoice' Does this hold up and have any weight behind it?

Jonny mate, im really sorry to hear about your troubles. that sounds like an utterly awful run of events, making my own issues seem trivial in comparison. As others have said, keep going, do it for yourself and your daughter. best of luck

In the last 3 months I have had a number of people cancel work at a days notice, and customers who have taken an age to pay (in one case not at all!) and argueing the toss about the final bill or the ammount of work to be done. I am fully aware that I only have myself to blame, but its clear to me that peoples word and a handshake has little value anymore. Now instead of moaning and boring arbtalkers to death with my woes (my fiance' has more than had enough!), can anyone pass on some advice about sales purchase orders or any other methods of paperwork to help tighten up the whole process of quoting and recieving payment? My current method (clearly not good enough!) consists of either agreeing price and work on site and shaking hands, and in most cases posting or emailing a confirmation of the quote. I do my best to itemise everything including the task, price etc. Then at the end of the job I either take payment there and then or if requested issue an invoice. I cant help but think that getting the customer to sign a sales order detaling the exact task and price could help me recover monies and prevent the 'can you just'/'whilst yor here' scenarios as well as cover my back when people cancel the day before because they have got someone £300 cheaper to do the job! Any advice, your imput, and thoughts will be greatfuly recieved.... Thanks in advance Pete

land rovers, Bushcraft, and deer stalking.... although it must be said, dont go on them anywhere near as often as Arbtalk

Thats cheered me up after getting soaked through today! some people hey!

Well done for acting swiftly and taking no nonsense. No place whatsoever for drink or drugs at work. Personally I dispise drugs.......I have seen first hand what a devastating effect they can have on peoples lives, but thats a whole other topic!! I shall now get off my high horse and relax in the bath after getting soaked to the skin today.