What do YOU do?

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  • #26
Wow. Lots of responses. Cathy and I went out to dinner and drove by to look in the dark. I was hoping that it was brushed out so that I could kill it quick and cheap. Hah! They spent 4 man days and 2 days of lift rental to do perhaps 3-4 hours of limbing work. It looks like at least half the crown is still up and everything they cut is still on site. Crud. I think the best I can do for her is maybe reduce my original bid by 20% and let her pay it out over time.
Who was it who said that "stupid should hurt."?
As for the city finishing it.....they will and will bill her (which may be cheaper-I dunno.) The mandate is removed, disposed of (I'm not even supposed to sell the firewood) and the stump ground.
 
Hope something good gets worked out for all parties concerned, Stumper.

I used to help an older couple who moved in near my shop from far away, and didn't have family nearby or friends, just kind of kept an eye on them. It was cool, I liked them, and they fed my cat for me when I had to be away for a couple days. Actually, I think my kitty liked it better over there for the most part, better grub, except when his brains were leaking out after a fight, then he knew who papa was. :( The couple reciprocated in small ways when they could, I wasn't keeping a tally.

The husband has subsequently died, and the lady moved about a mile away. I jam over there once in a while, and she feeds me coffee and ice cream, and I help myself to the big jar of chocolates on the sink. I get a big earful of this and that too. She knows that she can call me if something comes up. It's alright, nice friend. :)
 
if she cant pay the city they just put a lien on her home. it will be payed someday. im with the payment thing here also
 
Stumper said:
...As for the city finishing it.....they will and will bill her (which may be cheaper-I dunno.) The mandate is removed, disposed of (I'm not even supposed to sell the firewood) and the stump ground.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought as well. Either way, it's not like she's optionless.

20% + payments sounds like a winner to me.
 
NeTree said:
Good karma and charity doesn't feed my family or pay my bills.
Click to expand...

perhaps not today but it might come back to you another. I figure if my bills are paid etc, doing some volunteer/charity once in again for one that deserves it isnt so bad.

Heck I am on uhm, 4 or 6 committees with our provincial landscape association, the steering committee for apprenticeship thing, I give seminars and such for garden clubs... for free (not always) and it does pay back in the work it gets me. I probably do about 1 and a half to 2 days a month of volunteer stuff.

I dont advertise so networking is how my name gets out there.
 
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  • #35
Well here is the scoop. I went and looked in the daylight. They remolved about 1/3 of the crown...and made an ugly pile of branches. Someone wants the wood to haul to a neighboring town. Since the homeowner has made her own arrangements regarding the wood I can leave it and not look back. I'll clean up their mess and remove the rest of the tree leaving the firewood for a little less than 80% of my original bid. She found some money. The stump gets left pending whether or not the city pushes for its removal(It was always a seperate bid).
 
Good for you! :) Sounds like you'll be the hero after all, and still make some coin too. ;)
 
Sounds like all has worked itself out just fine!


*


Justin,

If it wasn't you in this situation and one of us asked you the very same question ("what would you do..."), what would your reply to us be???

HC
 
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  • #38
Hobby Climber said:
Sounds like all has worked itself out just fine!


*


Justin,

If it wasn't you in this situation and one of us asked you the very same question ("what would you do..."), what would your reply to us be???

HC
Click to expand...

"I dunno, sometimes I feel bad for the people and work way too cheap to try to help them and sometimes I feel bad for me, having to deal with other people's messes and just try to get a fair price and harden myself to their self induced plight."
 
At least her S.I.L. had good motives. You gotta give him that...

However, if the guy/guys did some math, they would soon find out that it would be cheaper (in the long run) if they would simply let a professional do what he/she does best.

When ever I have a personal auto repair (or something like that) I do a cost benefit analysis. I estimate the number of hours I would have to put into the repair, cost of purchasing new tools, the cost for parts, and add on 3 extra hours for margin of error. :|: Then I calculate how much I could make in those hours. I then find the difference and it becomes a "no brainer" as to which makes a better financial decision.8)
 
In business, its better to have Empathy over Sympathy when dealing with business issues. It'll keep the books balanced.

Then again there is that Karma thing, so...?


HC
 
I'm a bit of a softie for the elderly that are often on a fixed income, but it has to be worth it to load up tools and workers and drive out there and spend however many hours working.
Glad to hear an agreement that benefits both sides has been reached.
 
Pulled off a good deed the other day, bad hangin snag. Looked like it could fall anytime in the road and kill some one. Nice big live oak branch. Buried most of my 24 into it at the truck of the tree. Seen it for a few days and finally stopped and asked about it as it had been worked on a bit. Lady was crying to Rob that her hubby had started it and was having seizures and they were both up there in age. Took me 5 min to get a line on it.. Pull it out of the tree with the truck (yes hillbilly style with plenty of rope) and another 10 min to cut the thing into sections we could roll of the road and remove the spar. She saw one of my groundies the other day that lives in her neighbor hood and thanked him up and down... Felt good :)
The thing that gets me is they asked some of their neighbors and friends if anyone would help them and had no one say yes... OK yes it was dangerous.. Maybe no body wanted to risk it. But I did it with no risk. And I bet whom they asked wanted the wood too and they needed it for heat this winter.
 
Skwerl said:
No mercy (or not much, anyway). Your costs are still the same and you still deserve the same pay for your expertise (perhaps more). The fact that she gave all her tree money to unqualified relatives is not your problem. Maybe she needs to get her money back since they did not do the job they were paid to do. How would she react if she paid YOU to do the tree and you didn't complete the job?
Click to expand...

i am a softy too much sometimes but i have to agree.if we save every customer from their poor decision making skills,we'll be broke.
 
i bid a job recently for a jack of few trades who lives down the road.i thought he did excavating work or carpentry.he wakes me up bright and early one morning saying he has a job for me to bid.i drive a half an hour to a small house in a tight neighborhood and find a disaster.he was in the back yard with a rental tow behind lift and a small poulan saw with barely any teeth on the chain and a remington electric pole saw from HD.he had demolished several maples and oaks and a shed that was supposedly no big deal.his lift couldn't reach high enough on a white pine over the neighbors fence and patio so he just had a 25 foot Q tip on top.i told him $800 to get it on the ground and no more.he had a fit,whining about they spent all their money on the lift rental and so and so could do it for less.he figured i would have said 3-500.i told him to go price the proper equipment to do it without smashing anything else and have a nice day.

i was a nice guy when i first started out but i learned my lesson quickly.
 
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