To embarrass this Gardner?

[InsanelyPregnantAndSore]

DH and I were desperate to get a time sensitive item done to our garden. We posted on our village Facebook for recommendations and a local company were recommended and sent me a message. Told them our time scales...etc.

Guy came to quote said he’d be in touch but then nothing.
Chased - promised would send that day.
Still nothing, waited ages.
Chased (promised to send)
Nothing
Chased
Reposted on Facebook asking for other recommendations again. Locals ask if he wasn’t available?
Immediately receive a text from him having seen my post and clearly not wanting me to say anything that’ll look bad on him.

Receive the quote and agree it. Ask about timescales and he says he’ll call back tomorrow.
Nothing
Chase till blue in face.
He comes and does a very half hearted job (obviously wonky hedge) tries to claim DH didn’t give him clear instructions despite DH and I both being crystal clear.
Comes again and does job properly.

DH and I now need something else doing in garden. Got in touch with him offering the job (we are rural so not lots of choice and knew he’d see any Facebook posts) but he’s twice now said he’ll send over a quote on a specific day and hasn’t.

I keep being very direct but polite about his crap communication and still getting lots of promises that don’t materialise.

AIBU to re post asking for available Gardner's and sod him if he’s embarrassed that I’m asking for other recommendations locally because he’s flaky and non dependable?

@InsanelyPregnantAndSore

I absolutely wouldn’t bad mouth him I just know I’ll get a lot of ‘oh is X not available then?’ And he’ll no doubt comment again offering his services so I’ll have to say something like ‘I can only assume he’s very busy atm as I struggle to get reliable communication despite chasing constantly’

You don't have to give any reason, if you don't want to.

You can also just Google local services or similar, you don't have to use local FB.

Honestly, it's not a big deal. Don't use him, he's unreliable, find someone else. The End.

@Accentor

Is there no way at all you could do your own gardening?

Honestly, get a grip.

Is there no way at all you could do your own gardening?

SO not the point.

OP, I thought you were going to ask if you'd be U to post a bad review of him. (My answer would be no, definitely not.)

So what if he sees your Facebook posts and is embarrassed? You've given him many chances and he's been rubbish. I'd ask for new recommendations and, if anyone asks why, tell them calmly and factually.

You have an out then OP if you needed one, as fixing fences and sheds is not part of a gardener's remit, so you can say your previous guy wouldn't suit for the job you need doing.

The problem at the moment is that anyone worth their salt is booked up for months. So what you'll get is someone who is either trying to squeeze your job in when they might have time, or someone who is incompetent and only gets offered work - never twice by the same person - because nobody decent is available.

For a job like OP's I'd contact a landscaping company with good reviews and expect them to fit my job in sometime this summer, but I wouldn't look for a gardener to do this. It helps to be able to do things like fence repairs, but horticulture training is more botany, soil management, plant identification (we had to learn around 25 every week), pests & diseases, etc but not fixing sheds and erecting fences.

I do think OP is nice though, it's lovely to see neighbours being considerate of each other! I'd cut OP some slack though, it sounds like they are not long moved in and she's not going to be able to DIY these tasks themselves, even if they wanted to. When we moved our new house had a fallen apart fence with huge gaps in (previous owners had blocked the worst gap with a plastic playhouse, actually utterly typical of their "fixes" throughout) and it took us a couple of seasons to get around to it, there were other things that needed sorting first.

@beginningoftheend I think you mean ‘wandered’ not ‘wondered’.

You’re welcome.

OP, this is the busiest time of year for gardeners. They’re all swamped at the moment.

Won’t you just embarrass yourself by showing yourself as not knowing how to spell “gardener”?

How funny.

Spelling corrections.
Informing OP of the difference between hedges and sheds.
Faux questions about doing it yourself.

It's weird when sometimes an OP brings out so many cats bum face posters.

Google it OP. Don't bother going back on the village FB page. It's the same here. Everyone recommends the same old names. I think half the time it's just people who hang around the village page just hoping for a chance to say something and have no idea but just copy what they've seen said in the past.

@dayswithaY

I think it's obvious the gardener really didn't want the job in the first place. Like most unreliable tradespersons, instead of just saying "It's not for me" he tried to just ignore you. He reluctantly did the job to protect his local reputation, all very avoidable really.

I find Nextdoor is good for recommendations. But as people have said, the job is more suitable for a handyman or shed company, not a skilled gardener.

You often find people go silent on you when they just don't want or need the job. Avoid.

The OP said this, "Immediately receive a text from him having seen my post and clearly not wanting me to say anything that’ll look bad on him."

In my experience (and according to many posters on this thread), tradespeople who don't bother turning up often still want the option of the work or should I say, just don't want the offer going to another tradesperson. Agreements to do the work keep the householder waiting around taking no further action to find someone to do the job.

I live rurally and it's quite usual to see posts on our facebook page asking for recommendations with '(not x tradesperson)' at the end. I wouldn't worry about it. The suggestion to join neighbouring pages is good one too.

I am sympathetic, OP, as on my neighbourhood group, there is a plumber who is recommended with such frequency that that they might as well make his contact details a pinned post 🙄 I actually don't want to use him for a variety of reasons, but it made it quite awkward when we needed one and wanted other local recommendations. Hope you find someone!

@Accentor

Is there no way at all you could do your own gardening?

Ah classic mumsnet

Why are you cutting a hedge in nesting season ? No decent Gardener would do this...

@Lassy1945

Won’t you just embarrass yourself by showing yourself as not knowing how to spell “gardener”?

Not on 'Nextdoor', she won't: more misspelled words than not on there. And it's more of a typo than a spelling error. The fact that is has a capital suggests to me that it's possibly autocorrected to a surname the OP types a bit - I know two people with that name.

@Accentor

Is there no way at all you could do your own gardening?

Is there no way at all that you can use your brain think of any reason they don't want to or can't?

I hate gardening. I'd much rather pay for someone else to do it than me waste my time annoying myself. Why would I do something I hate and do a bad job when someone else enjoys doing it, would do a good job and get paid for it? Makes no sense.

[quote FangsForTheMemory]@beginningoftheend I think you mean ‘wandered’ not ‘wondered’.

You’re welcome.

OP, this is the busiest time of year for gardeners. They’re all swamped at the moment.[/quote]
I think you need to look up "sarcasm"

As an aside, HQ do delete all the twatty and nasty smug comments aimed at users' spelling and grammar so please report them everyone! (Unless of course you're pointing out the mistakes used by the very people being obnoxious- they're rarely as good with the SPaG as they believe )

Gardner is a surname.

In your position I would try to find another gardener but not on facebook.

@Ferrylights

Why are you cutting a hedge in nesting season ? No decent Gardener would do this...

She’s not is she? That was done previously is how I read it. Now she wants a shed removing so a different job.

OP, I would go round to your neighbour and say you are trying to find someone , it’s diff as anyone decent booked for months but it will be done and if they come across anyone suitable to please send them your way.

Meanwhile do as others have suggested and search neighbouring Facebook page for Handyman.

Takes a fair amount of lack of empathy to take digs at someone with a username such as the one the OP is using and who is trying to do something nice for her elderly neighbours but I guess each to their own.

I'd have dumped him long, long ago, if he doesn't want to work he should say so!!!

If he acts like this I highly doubt that will embarrass him!!

I'd have dropped him at the point where you had to keep chasing for a quote, that's usually a sign of things to come! If you're not happy with his work from the first job then I wouldn't hire him again for more work. If people comment on your post just say you weren't happy with the work and communications.

I second NextDoor! We’ve just used it to find a local business and had so many recommendations, it was brilliant.

Even if you do ask for further recommendations for another gardener on FB there is absolutely no need to “embarrass” the first gardener as you can just say you’re looking to compare multiple quotes for a new job. You don’t have to reply to any comments along the lines of whether unreliable guy is available or not. That’s not what you’re asking 😂

If pressed you could just say he’s got too much on to reply to messages or something. He’s only embarrassed himself, why should you waste headspace feeling bad for him? He’s unprofessional.

@Fanacapan

This is every tradesperson I have ever dealt with, communications is not their strong point! I have often given a job the one who responds best regardless of skill! That said, if they did a crap job I wouldn’t ask them back.

Me too.

I suspect one reason is that they are never short of work - so don't need to worry so much about their softer skills being better than the competition because their trade skills are the ones in high demand.

However, I still dream of coming across someone who is both good at their trade and a clear/easy communicator. It'd be truly lovely

@EarringsandLipstick

Of course you're not unreasonable to find someone else.

But this level of drama over a gardening task is a bit much:

DH and I were desperate to get a time sensitive item done to our garden.

Why so rude? Who cares what she wants done or why, it’s her garden and she’s paying. If she were sowing a wildflower meadow it would be time sensitive. Hedge cutting (actually too late), tree felling, invasive species clearing etc, all time sensitive. Some people come on here just to pick.

So many nasty replies on here. It's as if one poster posts something unkind in reply then everyone else replies in the same vein, smirking at how clever they are for pointing out a spelling mistake. Spiteful schoolgirl behaviour.