WIBU to this gardener?

[Rhubarbgarden]

I fear I may have caused a local gardener to take umbrage.

I got him round to quote for two jobs, some tree work and some ivy removal from the garden wall. He seemed a nice chap, we got chatting and I explained that I'd asked him to quote because he seems to be the only local gardener who actually seems to have horticultural qualifications, and as a qualified horticulturalist myself I wanted someone who knows what they are doing. I can't do the work myself because I have two dcs under 3, and my gardening time is sadly limited.

He sent me the quote yesterday. It was exorbitant. I asked for a breakdown of the costs as I really need the tree work doing but the ivy stripping may have to wait.

He replied saying that his spreadsheet had gone wrong, it was a good job I'd queried the quote because it should have been two thirds of what he'd said. Great, was my response, let's go ahead.

Then I got another email saying to ignore his previous figures, they were still wrong, and the final quote was closer to the original.

I responded saying that we'd like to go ahead with the tree work, but that the ivy stripping cost was a bit steep. I would like to have a stab at it myself on Friday when I have a rare day of childcare, so I could work out how long it would take me to do it myself, as it might be cheaper to just pay for childcare and do it that way.

I got a bit of a snotty response, stressing his qualifications and saying that if I wanted a skilled job I would have to pay accordingly. He didn't mention the tree work and ended with "I wish you luck".

I'm a bit worried he's got the hump. I sent a friendly reply saying "oh I'll probably be getting right back to you after an hour of having a go at it myself!" and how I appreciated his point about qualifications, but that the funds had to be there. I repeated that I'd like the tree work doing.

No response. I'm not sure what to do now. Do you think I was being unreasonable? I didn't mean to be but maybe I was. I was up half the night with a feverish baby so I'm not on top form and it's quite possible I've offended without meaning to.

[ImTooHecsyForYourParty]

Some people act like they are doing you a huge favour by allowing you to give them money in exchange for them doing work for you.

I once needed some work doing and asked for quotes. One bloke gave me a figure and I said thanks, can you break that down for me so I can see what's what.

What he said - I don't have time to do the work, you should find someone else.

What he meant - I just plucked a figure out of thin air with the intention of ripping you off. If you want me to show how I arrived at this figure you will find out that I can't justify it.

I agree that you should find someone else. Someone who doesn't think that you owe them great gratitude for them allowing you to hire them. And someone who can actually give you a meaningful quote.

[LemonPeculiarJones]

Yes he was horribly rude! Email him back and make it clear you won't be needing him for any of the work. Don't expect a response, obviously!

[QuickLookBusy]

He was very rude.

If I'm paying for a service, anyone speaking to me like that would not have a chance in hell of being asked to complete work in my house/garden.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Arf at some folk being better with plants than people! Yes. I used to work for a head gardener like that. Wonderfully talented plantswoman, nightmare bully to work for.

Thank you all for the reassurance.

[ChairmanWow]

Sounds like a cock, and given there is loads of work in your garden, a rather stupid one.

My DH called round some tree surgeons to discuss quotes to cut back some branches overhanging our garden from a neighbour's tree. He told one that our baby was due any day now so any arrangements to come out could be postponed at short notice. The guy said 'you ARE joking' and put the phone down.

Perhaps some folks are better with plants than people.

[Cricrichan]

I wouldn't hire anyone who'd spoken to me like that to do any work for me. Also, if he speaks like that to prospective customers, imagine how he'd speak to staff.

Plus 2 quotes and both wrong - wtf?!

Once you're ready to set up on your own you can steal his customers as you'll know how o treat customers properly ;-)

[Rowlers]

Avoid moody tradespeople like the plague. If he behaves like this now, what might the situation be if there was an issue with his work? Not worth the aggro.
We just had a tree pollarded. Got two quotes. One was 330. Other was 550. Same job. Ask someone else. And maybe not from the village?

[DeskPlanner]

I wouldn't use him after this.

[ENormaSnob]

He sounds a right nob.

Get someone else in.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Good tip re the copper pipe! Never heard of that one, thank you.

Yes I think you're all right and I should give up on this guy. This thread has made me realise he is a bit of a pillock!

[PureQuintessence]

Google Review or ratings for that particular gardener.

And google other local gardeners in the vicinity. You may find they are cheaper and easier to work with

[EffieTheDuck]

I would be wary of a horticulturalist who is willing to do trees as well unless he is trained in arboriculture.

Bang a sliver of copper pipe into the base of the ivy. It will die very quickly and be easy to pull off. Give it three weeks to work.

[issypiggle]

I'd go on rated people or check-a-trade, have a shop around, you might be able to find someone who could do the work for a fraction of the cost of cock lovely person number 1. plus if they are good then you could call them back later. but no one should be like that, sounds like he is a bit up himself and giving you a high estimate could be that he thinks the work is below him. (totally apologise if i'm wrong).

[BuiltForComfort]

In that case he sounds like hard work. There must be someone else you can get in, perhaps someone a bit less local? Or a specialised tree surgeon type?

[Rhubarbgarden]

It's a good point about not needing to be particularly qualified to do the ivy. But it is a very old wall so care is needed. The annoying thing is that there is loads of work to do in the garden, this is just the start. The gardener knows this too. I'd ring him up to clarify the situation as suggested, but the phone is never answered, it always goes to answer phone. He seems to prefer to communicate by email.

[BuiltForComfort]

Sounds to me like you needed him for the tree work but not the ivy (you don't really need a lot of horticultural qualifications to get ivy off a wall, but you do have to be careful about ripping out the cement between the bricks - so that might be very time-consuming and expensive on an hourly rate).

I wouldn't try to be too conciliatory but given your latest post, ring him up and say look the costs are too much for both jobs but I'd value your expertise and skills for the tree work, let's just confirm the price so we're clear and book him for that. You could even do the ivy yourself the same day that he's there and see if you get a bit more rapport going.

[PureQuintessence]

Maybe you dont need to be a trained horticulturalist to remove ivy off a wall though?

Any labourer might do?

[Acandlelitshadow]

Any tradesman giving me a snotty response would be off The List faster than you could say 'what a cock'.

Find someone else.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Thanks all. I'm a bit of a people pleaser and I'm not good at being hard nosed. It's a small village, we haven't lived here long and I was hoping to develop a good relationship with this guy as his company is very highly rated locally. He did some hard landscaping for a neighbour and I was really impressed with the standard of the work. Eventually I hope to get work in the horticultural field again myself, once the kids start school, and as gardening is a small world it's important to get on well with the competition. I'd even thought of seeking part time work with him.

I think the problem may be that he doesn't actually need to try hard to get work because he's very in demand.

I guess I should take this as a positive, because it means there is plenty of work out there and rates for qualified gardeners are high.

In the meantime, I need to figure out if it would be cheaper to get in childcare while I do the work myself. Can't do the tree work though for various reasons.

[pompompom]

Don't give him the work, he sounds like a prick.

Would it be cheaper/possible to pay for childcare for the day and do it yourself?

[DeepRedBetty]

And come to think of it, you can always hire the tools and book a day's childcare!

[DeepRedBetty]

Just because he's a pro gardener doesn't mean he's any good at either customer relations or sales!

Have you had any personal recommendations for gardeners/tree surgeons, qualified or not? I'd be happier with personal recommendation than paper qualification for anything like this tbh, although I appreciate you're qualified yourself just don't have tools and time to do it.

[PureQuintessence]

Speaking of dick.
I have a different gardener to call. This thread has reminded me.

[PureQuintessence]

He sounds very unprofessional.