OOOOOH Boy!!!

woodchuck2

Today i was in a hurry going from one job to the next and stopped at a different job to cut a tree down for a seasonal customer. He has a row of dense Pines along his driveway and he hired me to cut down one very dead pine. So i stop while towing my excavator to a different job in case i needed it to help guide the tree in the desired direction. I checked over the tree's for widow makers, the landing area and noted the varius dead limbs, notched it and dropped it right where i wanted it. Problem was it was the wrong damn tree. Man do i feel like an ass!! I have been cutting tree's for around 15 years and this is the first time i cut the wrong tree. I am still waiting for the customer to call me back, he still doesnt know as i left a message that i had a problem with the tree that i cut. I am going to offer to cut up and remove the wrong tree/brush for free but he will still have to pay for the correct tree as agreed when i drop that. In the meantime i am going to take photo's in case this comes back to haunt me. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and how was your turn out?

Cole

Wow, I had a buddy of mine a couple of years ago, reroof the wrong house on the street. Talk about embarrassing!

Hopefully your customer will understand and everything will be ok.

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Bill

I once worked for a plumbing company who sent me to a house that had no water. We followed the directions (They had no physical address) and we saw a white house in the big bend in the road. Myself and my helper knocked, no one home. We go to the well and sure enough, the pump aint working! Sooo off to work we go. We replaced the pump, got the water running good and returned to the shop. Then the HO calls and was wondering if we were going to come out and fix his water. I told the dispatcher that we had fixed it. She said the owner stated he still had no water, so off we go again. Same house, had water, returned. Owner called again and said we had not came out. The owner comes in yelling at us because we went to the wrong house! Soo him (The owner) and I went out. The whole time he is reaming me out big time. he followed the directions and he too went to the same house we did earlier. I said nothing to him (Boss is always right) and he checked everything out and said the HO was an idiot. After returning we found that the HO gave incorrect directions! Well, someone got a free pump that day!!

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woodchuck2

I still havent been able to contact the owner yet. Tomorrow i will take pictures and then cut/clean it up. I will leave the tree on one of my trailers in case he wants to see it before disposal. I would say 40% of the limbs on one side are dead so hopefully i can justify the cutting of it with the owner. The tree i was suppose to cut i will cut down and clean up as we agreed. Still embarassing to say the least .

Cdat

I once showed up at the 'still in process of being built' addition and proceeded to put up the faux concrete exterior wall with the correct type of rock look, hand carved. About six hours into the job, the neighbor came over and told me that he should of hired me instead of the idiot who was suppose to redo his house front but never showed up.

Now, both houses have faux concrete walls out front and I did two jobs for the price of one. Oh well, both owners have since gotten me more work so it all paid off in the long run.

mickeyco

Ah hell, common mistake, all those trees look the same. Hopefully all goes well with the homeowners.


.

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Bone Saw

been there done that, worked out good 4 everyone

woodchuck2

Well i finally got a hold of the owners wife, she is devistated . I explained what happened and i told her i would clean up the mess for free but the tree we agreed on would still cost the same. She called her husband and talked to him and then called me back. They both agreed accidents happen and they want me to take care of the "wrong" tree the same way as the tree we agreed on. I will be cutting both tree's up in 16" lengths for burning in the outdoor fireplace and just stack the brush for them to take care of. There was a possibilty of me doing some work on their existing deck but i am not going to push the issue on that. If they want me to do it then i will let them come to me, no need to ask about more work after this kind of mistake. I will still have to find a way to make it up to them without kissing their butts.

boman47k

Oh man! If I ever get directions with no address, I will want a big red taped X or something on the door.

I know a guy (doper) that worked out a deal with some loggers to cut some big oak trees on some land his family had owned for years and left to him. They were to cut the trees and haul them to the mill then everyone would get their part. Lady pulls up after the trees are cut and wants to know who cut the trees and who gave them permission?! Heheh, It seems the property line was a little crazy and his memory was not so good! She owned a strip in front of his. I think he only had an access strip of land to his 70 or so acres. For all I know the trees are still on the ground cut up.

DanTheMan9727

These are great stories. I don't have any really good ones, but here goes.

This guy I was working for a long time ago wanted me the lawn crew to finish cutting this guys steep, steep hill. Problem was, it had just been raining and was way too slick. He insisted, however, that we finish it up. So what happened? The brand new Laser slid down the hill with one of our boys on it and fell into the lake. Luckily, my bud jumped off in time. We all quit about a week later.

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silvertree

When I was younger I was hired to take out a window, put in a patio door.
All in one day of course.

So i pull the casing and then I run around the back of the house, pull the brick mold, cut the nails and pull. It doesn't want to come out. I finally get it out and stick my head in the window and see a sink, whats a sink doing in the dining room?
So I put the window back real nice, caulk and color putty the casing.
Run to the dining room, remove window, install header and all that.
Door is in, window is in, I'm running like crazy, but I'm done and cleaned up.
HO gets home, notices the new nail hole putty. Puts 2 and 2 together, calls me an idiot and deducts $50. Still a good day.

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Kaiser

Buddy of mine pulled up the carpet in the wrong Condo last week.

Of course he cut it into smaller pieces to make it easy.

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mdshunk

I did a service call in the completely wrong store once. It was a Texaco station, but at the wrong end of town. I was supposed to be at the one on the other end of town. Funny, in that they both had the same light problem. Similar idea, I went to the wrong McDonald's. Asked the manager for a key to the ladder to the roof, and she gave it to me without question. When I got on the roof, it was immediately apparent that what I was sent there to do did not even exist on that roof. I called in, and discovered they sent me to the wrong one. I gave the key back to the manager, and said "I'm all finished up!".

Mike Finley

Umm... would that be not charging them for the other tree?


I guess good for you, you've at least never been guilty of undercharging what you are worth.

CrpntrFrk

Replaced a window in a kitchen.HO got home... said "looks great now can you do the one I wanted done in the living room." Both the same size. Lucky for me!

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Winchester

If they really wanted to keep that tree, even after knowing there were some dead branches, I would do the second one for free.

It's only fair, eye for an eye, tree for a tree.

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genecarp

i would not charge them, would not even think about charging them after f,ing up like that.

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hughjazz

I used to be a subcontract snowplower in winters.


I got sent to an unfamiliar (new) lot to clean. After 4 hours, the dispatcher calls me to see why I haven't gotten back to him lately.


It turns out the lot I was supposed to do was across the street and takes 15-20 min. . I nearly had an anurism, since I hadn't slept in 30 hrs and I just wasted 4 hours of sleeping time

Tom Struble

wonder how much a tree that big is worth?lol hes going to be movin that brush you left for him and he be cursing your name i know i would

chris n

i would not charge them, would not even think about charging them after f,ing up like that.

Having been in the tree business and been through a situation similar to that, I would not either and would actually offer to pay for the one that was cut by mistake.