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.

[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?

[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 ;-)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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.