TREE SERVICE: A CAUTIONARY TALE
Recently, we had a call from a very confused young lady. It seems one of the
“drive-bys” stopped and pointed out that a tree in her front yard was dead and
it should be removed. She is a college student living in a home owned by her
dad so she thanked him and ignored it.
The “drive-by” knew an opportunity when he saw it and didn’t give up. He
beat on her door several times and finally got through to her that action was
NECESSARY in this instance so she thanked him and called us.
The information above sets the stage for the “rest of the story”. If this sounds
a little BIZARRE, welcome to the realities of the CONNECTED GENERATION.
INITIAL PHONE CALL
I asked her what kind of tree it was?—She didn’t know.
Did it have leaves or pine needles?—She couldn’t tell.
How would I know which tree it was?—Only 2 trees in front yard; one on left.
INITIAL VISIT
You could see the DEAD PINE tree from a block away. Of the THREE big trees in the front, 2 of them OAKS, the pine COULD NOT have been more obvious.
There was a HUGE scar from lightning.
Pine bark beetles had SAVAGED it.
Not a pine needle left clinging to this MISERABLE pine.
OH, did I mention this tree was right beside the driveway?
She drove within 2 feet of this tree every day and did not notice anything wrong. She
thanked me and I left after giving her a “slow-time-of-year” price for complete removal
and debris haul away. It was a VERY low price.
A week later, I was in the area and decided to call on her.
The big pine was down, hacked up, and on the street.
The first section of driveway was cracked across and no longer level.
Welcome to the DARK SIDE of the tree service industry.
About 3 days later I received a call from her dad (lives out of state) wanting to
know why the debris pile was still in front of the house since I HAD ALREADY
BEEN PAID (cash) to remove it and WHEN was the guy coming to fix the driveway?
Not being in the best of moods after being accused of criminal activity, TREEMAN’S
reply was a little UN-Christian. I’m sure I said NEVER or something to that effect.
THE TAKE-AWAY FROM ABOVE:
1.) The young lady above does NOT know (to this second) whom she gave
$500.00 cash to.
2.) After profuse apologies, we cleaned up the mess for a nice profit.
3.) The driveway is still busted.
4.) The “drive-by” is still out there knocking on doors.
5.) NEVER pay before the job is over.
6.) Don’t do business with someone who “needs” payment in CASH.
7.) Most of all, take the time to KNOW who you are dealing with.
TREEMAN