Customers say the darnest things!

I once took home a beautiful German Sheperd puppy from a job. Same kind of scenario, loose (9 months old) dog in the lawn we were working in, owner could care less. We worked on that street 3 days in a row and the dog was loose everyday and in the way. The owner asked us where the dog ran off to, I shrugged and said I dunno (She was sleeping on the front seat of the chip truck). He replied with "fug that dog".

She was a great friend for alot of years. A really good dog, I know we gave her a better life.
 
I've called the cops before because a 10 year old kid wouldn't stay outta the way and I couldn't get anyone to answer the door where he lived. It turned out the mother had left the kid at home and went somewhere. She got busted.
 
I let folks know that animals and kids must be restrained when we are working, so far no probs, they keep fido and junior in the house when we are there except for the odd coffee / potty break which is fine as long as we both (client and workers) are aware of who is out. I also let them know THEY are not welcome in or near the workzone and if they must be there they have to make visual contact with me or a co-worker as we likely cant hear them with our PPE on. Again, so far no probs. :)
 
Paul B said:
I also let them know THEY are not welcome in or near the workzone and if they must be there they have to make visual contact with me or a co-worker as we likely cant hear them with our PPE on. Again, so far no probs. :)
Click to expand...

We were working NEAR the street and sometime during the job the local electric company came and replaced a street light. They set out about 20 cones and signs and had two guys with signs doing traffic control.

So after they left, and we were cleaning up, this little snotty self important punk from the city came blazing up the street, whipped right into our work zone (the customer's driveway), hopped out and told me he had 'received a complaint' about OUR traffic control.

I told him it was not us, it was HIS fellow employees. He then started some crap about how he could not see any city employees there so I must be mistaken.
Freaking dildo brain.

I told him to check back with his boss and confirm what I told him. I said that 1. if I blocked the street for ANY PERIOD of time I would have the necessary permits to do so and,
2. He had entered into my work zone without any authorization and should he become injured, I would personally hold him accountable as he was behaving in a manner which is not consistent with the city's safe working practices procedures by entering a work zone without any PPE, or prior authorization.
and 3... that the electric company had staged their trucks ACROSS THE STREET where their was a pull off. NOT WITHIN MY WORK ZONE! and they were very friendly and professional to us.

He again started to backtalk, so I asked him what his job title was, and if his job description included enforcement of local laws. I then informed him of MY personal good connections to our local police, and how I am personal friends with the mayor & city arborist.

The little creep then apologized! He hopped back into his truck and ran away :X

It pisses me off to have some low life city employee attempting to throw his weight around.
I have no doubt that he has harrassed folks in the past and gotten away with it.
 
i could have so much fun with frans, sending people to his job site to throw bones for him! :lol: probably make some great vids from across the street!:D
 
Forgive me if I've mentioned these before. The funniest thing I've heard in a tree was one day years ago, my groundie didn't show up, so I begged off the takedown and went off to prune a few maples.
I guess I was busy at work up in one of them, obscured from sight, when the neighbor came home. She was walking to the front door with two bags of groceries when I started absent-mindedly talking to myself. Right then and there she dropped both bags and said, "God? Is that you?" I burst out laughing and she scowled as she gathered up her items and went inside.
Later the homeowner told me that particular couple was very severe with their children and beat them, and she wishes I'd known that and had the presence of mind to not laugh, but to simply say, "Don't beat your children!".

Another time I was up in a tree when the neighborhood boys, playing with a radio-controlled car on the other side of the house, were tormenting a dog that was tied up next door. They would let it get close to the dog and would make the car move away just as the dog lunged at it, choking himself on the collar and chain. I remembered the God situation and in a deep voice said "Freeze, this is God speaking and I'm going to make your peckers fall off if you ever tease another dog in your life!" Of course I couldn't see them on the other side of the house, but enjoyed seeing them all run home, car and controller in their arms.
 
I forgot about the guy that wanted me to take out a huge Doug Fir, and was going to save the spar to be milled.

He asked me if I could "Guarantee in writing" that I would not break the spar when I flopped it. :lol::lol:

Gary
 
Customers always seem to think their trees would make good lumber ($$$), ey Gary ?!?
I've had people ask me how much I think their tree's wood is worth.
"Dead or alive ?" is my response.
When they persist, I give some astronomical # and tell them to contact a mill.
 
Frans said:
We were working NEAR the street and sometime during the job the local electric company came and replaced a street light. They set out about 20 cones and signs and had two guys with signs doing traffic control.

So after they left, and we were cleaning up, this little snotty self important punk from the city came blazing up the street, whipped right into our work zone (the customer's driveway), hopped out and told me he had 'received a complaint' about OUR traffic control.

I told him it was not us, it was HIS fellow employees. He then started some crap about how he could not see any city employees there so I must be mistaken.
Freaking dildo brain.

I told him to check back with his boss and confirm what I told him. I said that 1. if I blocked the street for ANY PERIOD of time I would have the necessary permits to do so and,
2. He had entered into my work zone without any authorization and should he become injured, I would personally hold him accountable as he was behaving in a manner which is not consistent with the city's safe working practices procedures by entering a work zone without any PPE, or prior authorization.
and 3... that the electric company had staged their trucks ACROSS THE STREET where their was a pull off. NOT WITHIN MY WORK ZONE! and they were very friendly and professional to us.

He again started to backtalk, so I asked him what his job title was, and if his job description included enforcement of local laws. I then informed him of MY personal good connections to our local police, and how I am personal friends with the mayor & city arborist.

The little creep then apologized! He hopped back into his truck and ran away :X

It pisses me off to have some low life city employee attempting to throw his weight around.
I have no doubt that he has harrassed folks in the past and gotten away with it.
Click to expand...

frans--what kept your cool??? id already went off!!!! snot faced punk
 
"Are you guys professionals ?" (said while 2 ton cookie is being lowered between houses & power lines, spoken from the seat of a BMW driving over road cones)
"Where can I buy one of those (insert expensive piece of equipment / specialized tool) so I could do this myself ?"
"Your fertilizing program just made everything grow really quick & made me have to call you again to prune."
"If you moved that tree over to there, do you think it'd do better ?"
"Can you make my trees smaller ?"
"I just don't understand why it died ?" (pointing at tree in an island of asphalt, etc.)
:?
 
I went on a service call one time on a Sunday morning,double time,minimum charge 4 hours.

The problem was a large refridgeration unit in an ice cream factory that would not come off the defrost cycle.Come to find out the maintanence man left it on manual defrost.He tried to talk me out of turning in the time for it and offered to pay my wages.Sorry,says I ,the boss gets paid too.He was a tad put out over his own stupidity,chit happens ya know.
 
I remember going to help Tom with a take down, the guy ask Tom how much he would take off the bill if he let Tom have the wood. Tom chuckled and told the guy he would save X amount if we didn't take the wood.
 
sometimes i tell them if they load it while were there ill haul it. never had one take me up on it:)
 
"If I help you, will you price the job lower ?"
"Are the gutters full of leaves ?" (hint hint)
"Do you take cash ?"
 
"you sure know alot about trees for someone from New Zealand"
"Whatcha need that rope for?Dontcha know how to climb"
"Whats your New Zealand name?"
 
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