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?

Your garden was obviously a mess and you should pay him the half and leave it at that

So you will take advantage of the situation and get your large garden done for free? You're the only one benefiting here. Yes, legally you're not obliged to pay but morally it's shitty not to pay half. I think you know that too otherwise you wouldn't have asked if you were being unreasonable!

You're entirely imagining that.

Even if the garden had been a mess, there's no law against it or compulsion to pay a random professional who turns up for working on it.

You remind me of the thread a little while back about OP's boundary-less parents who came and decorated her house (that didn't actually need decorating) to their own tastes whilst she was in hospital having her baby.

She hated their bold colour choices and didn't want or need them to do it, as well as feeling line they had taken a big liberty and intruded in her own private domain - but hey, she was the one benefitting from it??

Rubbish! If anyone is being taken advantage of it’s the OP. She is the only one who hasn’t done anything wrong. She didn’t hire the guy. She didn’t forget to cancel. She didn’t want her garden done and if she did she would have hired her old gardener. How do you know she can even afford it? She might not have any money left at the end of the month, loads of us don’t. We don’t even know how much the bloke wants. Could be £200. If you’re that arsed you pay the guy.

I have worked on the tools trying to make ends meet and had to deal with people who expect something for nothing. Not saying you are at fault but you have received a service and it’s half price or less. A clear mistake but people still have to be paid. Talk to the gardener again and pay something, you have had your garden done and you obviously noticed the difference so be grateful you got a cheap garden make over.

There's no law against your garden being a mess! We're not in Switzerland fgs.

I can't believe how many people on here would pay for a service that they didn't order, want or need. Just because you would do that, doesn't mean that OP should pay for a service that she didn't request.

The contract, written or implied, is with the people who asked him to do the job, then forgot to cancel him. They are complete CF in only wanting to pay half. They need to accept their mistake and pay in full. They made a huge mistake by not cancelling it.

OP has done nothing wrong and owes the gardener nothing.

People have to be paid by people with whom they have an agreement. The OP has no such agreement so is not obliged to pay for a service she didn't want, didn't ask for and isn't particularly happy about. The actual cost is completely irrelevant as there is no arrangement between the OP and the gardener.

Honestly have no idea why people are finding this such a difficult concept to grasp.

and anothe house I am coming round to to clean your windows and bill you!! people DO NOT have to be paid if you didn't ask for the service or even know about it. I'd be mad as fire if someone messed with my garden without my permission.

The very meaning of the word 'trade' - as in tradesperson - means that you make an agreement with another person to exchange skills, goods and/or services for money.

If you expect or seek to persuade a third-party who was never involved in the trade to pay into it, it is not a legitimate trade in any way.

It's unfortunate for the gardener, but the mistake was either his or the person who booked/didn't cancel him.

I don't know why everybody is automatically assuming that OP has benefited, when she had already been working on the garden herself and the gardener could not have known how she wanted her own garden.

We regularly have people coming around to offer us services and products that we absolutely do not want. We currently have old UPVC windows that have been in since we bought the house. They're showing their age and it would be nice to replace them at some point - but we definitely want wooden windows when we get it done, much more in keeping with the age of the house.

If somebody made a mistake or assumption and replaced our (still perfectly fine) windows with new plastic ones - even ones that 'look like' timber - whilst we were away, would we be expected to pay for them, or a proportion of the cost, because we have supposedly 'benefited' and somebody has done a lot of (unsolicited and unauthorised) work - even though we neither wanted nor needed nor will enjoy them?

me either but we could make a fortune with a ninja window cleaning business?

I can't believe how many people on here would pay for a service that they didn't order, want or need.

Substitute "would" for "from behind a keyboard, volunteer somebody else's money to" and we're probably closer to the truth.

I agree! Somebody upthread suggested that it would probably only cost a tenner too!

In reality, it could have been hundreds of pounds that OP is expected to divert from her food/household/essential bills budget in order to 'be kind' - when the person who actually booked/didn't cancel the gardener is only offering half and isn't expected to 'be kind' enough to pay their bill in full.

Yes, I'm sure they don't want to waste a lot of money on something that they didn't benefit from, but that doesn't stop it from being their liability - just like if you dropped an expensive crystal vase in a shop and it smashed on the floor, you would be expected to pay for it, even though you also wouldn't benefit from it in any way.

Call it the disorganisation/idiot tax if you will, but that doesn't mean you don't have to make good on your own shortcomings and can just nominate somebody else to randomly bail you out and pay your obligations for you.

Where is the voting option? YABVVU

I agree! Somebody upthread suggested that it would probably only cost a tenner too!

I love the idea that this gardener is making multiple visits to multiple houses for the sake of a tenner.

I suppose that the OP can sit back and enjoy her large garden knowing that she won't have to mow it or weed it etc and can have a good laugh knowing that (through no fault or her own) someone else is paying for it.
What's clear from many of the threads on here is that if someone else makes a mistake and they benefit from it that's tough! They disregard the concept of fairness and just being a nice person. They love freebies especially at someone else's expense!

OP isn't taking advantage of anything. A stranger rocked up at her home, entered her property, mowed her lawn and pulled a few weeds without her knowledge or permission. And then demanded money for doing so.

And what if they'd injured themselves on her property whilst doing it?

The previous homeowner , if there was even an arrangement, needs to pay the gardener if he had failed to cancel the contract with him. It's not the OP's responsibility, legally OR morally, to sort.

You must have low morals!

But the person who had the agreement with the gardener, didn’t bother to cancel it and now won’t pay him, doesn’t have low morals?!

Not your obligation to pay. It's unfortunate (or not) that you were away when the work was done, but as with the majority of replies, it's a big NO. YANBU, the contract is between the previous owners and the gardener, nothing at all to do with you. End of discussion.

But also - you haven't changed the locks?!

Absurd.

Exactly.

What if the “weeds” were purposely cultivated? What if OP were doing No Mow May for ethical reasons?

This is entirely on the gardener for not conforming his 2025 client roster last January. Lazy and unprofessional.

this exactly. I would have been flaming if someone had mowed my garden and pulled out weeds.

He must've noticed that the garden was tidier than it usually was after 5 months. Even so, it was his choice not to check and that isn't OP's responsibility. The old owners need to pay all of it.