I am competing with them. Daily. Often times have to explain to people why my rates are double other companies. It sucks. I tell them "I don't pay workers comp to protect ME. I pay it to protect YOU."
love
nick
What parts sucks, exactly? Aren't your weeding out the customers who don't want what YOU have to offer, in a way. You aren't offering the same service. Worker's comp isn't protecting them so much as General Liability.
Keeping them from the potential trauma of having someone die at their house, or screaming in agony when seriously injured, because of running a tight ship and a safe show is worth it to good customers.
I do throw out some true stories, like how my past customer went with someone else (tweekers), unlicensed, 4 people for a one man/ two man job, from what I could tell by stump forensics and the HOs story (just don't dump the rotten alder into the crotch of the maple (where the chunk is still lodged). So they barely get it done, badly. The guy goes into cardiac arrest in the HOs driveway. One of the 2 guys' 'women' who were helping, admits the guys a tweeker, as the EMTs load him into the ambulance to go off, to a fate unknown. Same HO was baffled how we rigged out rotten alders, and a solid one over his garage without screaming and carrying on. Almost like we know what we were doing, and communicating with comm units (he didn't know that part until after, he just though my guy was just really well-trained). Smooth sailing.
There's Andy who's thumb I had to bandage to get to the hospital (using an ms 250, single handed, in the bucket), who later, when working one-handed, I had to stop from getting eaten by the chipper, pushing things in with his foot. Same company had a guy fall from the tree.
The job is not just to move tree parts around, its giving the customer peace of mind during the operation, and that tweekers aren't 'casing' the place to more 'removal work' at a later date.
I know I charged more that a crew like that would for removing the same tree. The HO recommends me.
Sometimes, sometimes, like another customer who went elsewhere for a cheaper prices on a hollow hemlock, said they'd save the money next time and hire me again. They said the tree didn't hit anything like their house, but didn't exactly go as planned.
