Not paying for garden work

[gardendramas5]

I’m pretty sure I’m not being unreasonable but I just want to see what other people think.

I purchased my house December last year. It was empty for at least 2 years (ex rental)

The previous owners kept the front and back garden tidy whilst it was on the market, no idea if it was them that did the work or if they paid someone. Both gardens are quite large. I started doing all of this myself when I took ownership.

Anyway, I’ve been away for the last week with family and came home on Wednesday to freshly cut grass, weeds pulled etc. I asked my neighbours if they had seen anyone but they were at work. It turns out that the previous owners hired a company to do the work and hadn’t notified them that they’d sold the house last year. I only found this out yesterday as the gardener turned up with the invoice. I explained I wasn’t aware of this arrangement and that he would have to invoice the previous owners for the work (I was polite and apologised for the inconvenience but made it clear I hadn’t asked for this work to be done and wasn’t prepared to pay for it either)

He knocked on again this morning and explained that he’d spoken to them yesterday and that they agreed to pay half (because it was their error) but that I should pay the rest because I’m the one benefiting from the work. I told him no sorry I’m not paying and he needs to take it up with them.

I do feel bad for the gardener, but it’s their fault. I didn't ask for this. They were awkward during the conveyancing process too so this doesn’t surprise me. AIBU?

Honestly I think you sound a bit mean!!!! Yes they should have cancelled it, and they didn’t, but the last owners have offered to pay half and you now have a super tidy garden. The gardeners shouldnt lose out because of this- theyve done nothing wrong. Just pay it!!!

Oh this is so funny. From the OP:

"Anyway, I’ve been away for the last week with family and came home on Wednesday to freshly cut grass, weeds pulled etc."

OP was away from home for a week and you think:

"...otherwise now you’d have a jungle to deal with"

The grass isn't going to grow that much in a week (even in May)

Disagree with ‘the gardener did nothing wrong’.

He should have confirmed he was coming and when. And once he realised his mistake he should have pursued the original owner for the full amount.

He is being a poor businessman. He didn’t do the work out of the goodness of his heart. Why should OP be expected to pay out of the goodness of hers?

Spot on. Not the OP's responsibility. (Unless they want to keep the gardener if course 🙂)

So if you’d just, for instance, cleaned your windows and someone turned up and cleaned them again, you’d pay them? Why? The op does her own gardening, didn’t ask for this service and never had. Why in earth do you think she should pay?

Obviously the contract is not with you so you don't need to pay.

Having said that, if I were you I wouldn't burn my bridges with a gardener unless they are very plentiful round your neck of the woods. Just in case you need one one day if you can't do your gardening yourself. And you've only just moved to the area so you don't know if the gardener would bad mouth you.

But none of that detracts of course from the principle that you don't need to pay him anything.

Don’t start your time in the house with a silly problem like this. 50-50 division of cost and, if the company did a good job, are asking a good price and you need a gardener: keep them on

I guess if he had a rolling contract for the summer months and the owners were normally out when he works there, he wouldn’t necessarily check before coming.

Exactly
Garden tidier than expected, curtains at the windows. Duh, I wonder if there's a new occupier ?

Ok, I will retract my previous comment. I thought the owner owned the home for 6 months and the Gardener came every week to cut her grass. Now I realise it’s just a one-off. Even so, I agree with other posters, gardeners are hard to find and you might need them in the future. Better not to burn your bridges. How much is the cost? If it’s £30 pony up.

No, the previous owners should be paying the gardener the full amount. It is ridiculous to suggest the OP should pay for work she didn't ask to be done just because the previous occupants forgot to cancel him. If there is one thing that really angers me about people, it is those that think they have the right to externalise the consequences of their own cock-ups onto others, NO YOU DO NOT, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND OWN YOUR MISTAKES.

I'm amazed at all the 'you never know when you'll need a gardener' comments.

I don't know anyone who has a gardener, or who has ever had a gardener.

It's a particular demographic of people with more garden than they can maintain in the time they've got, or where the property's rented.

Looking up and down my (edge of London) road, there's a gardener's van in it most days.

I employ a bloke for a half day a couple of times a year when it gets on top of me. So do a lot of the neighbours.

I think it depends, IMO you wouldn’t be unreasonable at all not to pay if you can’t afford it but you would be being unreasonable if you can afford to pay but just don’t wan’t to, because it wasn’t your fault. Only because you did benefit from the work and theoretically have the funds to pay the man what he’s owed without hassle.

The gardener just turned up and did the work without first checking that it was convenient or that the owners were even alive! He hadn’t been round for a year. Not a great gardener if he can’t tell that some work had been carried out between visits, especially as the weather will mean the grass would have grown quite considerably. I would give him £20 as a gesture of goodwill and tell him that he needs to get the rest of the money from the previous owner.

I'd pay this time as it saved me doing it and the company does deserve to be paid. I would inform them however that I don't wish to use their services going forward, and please don't come again.
I'd be pee'd off at previous owner for not terminating the contract too.

I disagree. We don't know what OP has planned for the garden. OP didn't ask anyone to do any work, so why should she pay for something she didn't want?
This is on the original owners.

She’s already said that if she needed a gardener she would hire the one who worked for her at her old house.

All the people telling her to pay “her” half, what if she can’t afford it? Lots of people like me* *have no money left at the end of the month. If someone came to the door wanting £30 I wouldn’t have it. Every penny is accounted for. There is a cost of living crisis at the moment and I get that 90% of mumsnetters are loaded and pay for cleaners, gardeners and someone to do their ironing but loads of us really can’t afford it. The OP even says she is doing her garden herself to save money!

OP is the only one who has done nothing wrong here. The original owner forgot to cancel so owes the money. The gardener, after at least 5 months should have checked the work was still wanted. No way did the gardener not realise the house was lived in and someone had been looking after the garden. The gardener is not the one in the middle here, the OP is. She had nothing to do with the arrangement between the gardener and the original owner. She didn’t want him in her garden cutting her grass or pulling up the weeds. She wanted to do it herself. Loads of people love doing their own gardens. It’s a hobby for lots so why are people saying she benefited?

Everyone so outraged that the “poor” gardener hasn’t been paid his full amount can send OP a PM and I’m sure she will be happy to forward the blokes details on and you can pay. It’s only 30 quid after all so pony up 🙄

@Debinaround I completely agree. I spend hours working on our garden every week, particularly at this time of year, and get great satisfaction from doing it. I realise that my situation may change as I get older but my Mum was still doing all her own gardening until she was well into her 90s and I intend to do the same. I would be furious if a gardener trespassed onto my property and cut my grass or pulled up weeds/plants and I definitely wouldn’t see it as me having benefitted from what they had done.

I'd sue the gardener for the anxiety caused.

The contract was with the old owner. It’s not your fault the old owner didn’t cancel. You might have benefited but you didn’t ask for it. You weren’t even aware it was going to happen.

Legally, you are in the clear.

why?

Why should being able to afford it make a difference? OK, maybe if OP were a multi-millionaire, possibly it might be a kind gesture that would mean nothing to her; but I took from her posts that she isn't particularly well-off.

Also, the perceived benefit to OP is far from undeniable: especially as it wasn't in a bad way to start with and she's happy doing the gardening herself.

If you had your car ready and were intending to go off on holiday in it - and a taxi turned up at the end of your drive, insisting that somebody had booked it to take you to your destination (whether through confusion/wrong house, a chancer taxi driver wanting business or even your anxious nan who worries about you driving yourself around, as she is scared of driving and thinks it's just better left to the men)... would people be saying that the taxi driver was expecting/hoping for a good fare and it will save you from driving yourself (even if you really enjoy it) - so you should just be kind and pay him anyway?

this. I don't mow for the whole of may, as do many people and yes the grass grows but its in no way a jungle.

the Op hasn't done anything wrong either. why should she (or anyone) pay for something they had know knowledge of, diod not agree to and did not want? I swear that MN is FULL of wet lettuces!