Gardener fixed the wrong side of the fence

[ZoobyZoobyZoo]

The gardener has replaced the fence on the right side of my garden looking out, which I think is not mine, but not the left, which I know is. He did it whilst I was away for the weekend. I'd given him clear instructions beforehand and I've paid him. He's not a cowboy, he's been used by many friends. But he fixed the wrong side.

In the meantime there's still the rotten fence on the left side of my garden. It's not as bad as the one that's been fixed which was like sponge, falling down and a strong wind would have blown it over.

I've spoken to him and he feels silly but of course he needs paying. He's suggested I talk to the owner and ask him to reimburse seeing as he is actually responsible. He's happy to confirm the state of the fence with him

The guy who owns next door is tighter than Ebenezer Scrooge however and he may just refuse. AIBU to ask?

Could you get the gardener to swap the fences over?

It faces into my garden. The house is on the right side of mine standing in the garden. The fence on the left side of my garden faces into my other neighbour's garden but her deeds show she's responsible for the one on the left side of her garden.

Ah ok I get it. Pity the fencer didn't. But I can kind of see how it might have happened in that case.

Well, the point that was made was an important point to be made.
The gardener made the error, the gardener pays. Asking next door neighbour to pay for fencing they didn't want will probably not be fruitful.
I would've thought the main issue here was to make sure you're not left out of pocket for a mistake you didn't make?

This is the gardeners error. If anything, HE should be approaching the LL. He should also be correcting HIR error and not charging you anymore.

Presumably the fencer will now replace the ones he was supposed to replace free of charge. The only person laughing is your gardener for bring paid after his mistake.

Why on earth would you pay the gardener?

So you showed him which fence to fix, and he came and decided to fix the worst of the two, even though that isn't your responsibility.

The direction the fences face would have made it obvious who's is who's anyway! Why pay him, it's his mistake to rectify, not yours to beg for money for it.

Don’t ask anything to your neighbour, not a chance he would say yes! However, take it up with the gardener, who ‘needs to be paid’ after deciding to do something different than what you agreed to pay him for…

There is a reason why surgeons, prior to amputating a limb, mark the limb in question with an indelible marker, in the presence of the patient. If highly intelligent and experienced surgeons feel the need for this, it might be a good idea for householders to adopt a similar approach when dealing with contractors.

Yes, maybe it was the gardener’s fault. Or perhaps the OP wasn’t as clear as she remembers. Either way, I would not blame him for something he presumably did in good faith, especially if he is otherwise good at his job.

@ZoobyZoobyZoo - what sum are we actually talking about? Could you just swallow it, negotiate a reduced cost for the additional work and enjoy both sides of your new garden fencing?

@Enrichetta £550.

It's the gardener's error, so obviously the gardener is responsible for fixing the correct fence. It's not something you need to pay for, nor the landlord.

It was your worker's fault. Next door neighbor shouldn't pay for work your worker did in error. He should be doing the correct side of the fence, not telling you to hit up the neighbour for money. Did you have a contract that stated specifically the work to be done?

I don’t know how long this fence is but unless it is very short you may have got a bargain. Only you can decide on the best way forward, in terms of what the outcome is worth to you.

It's very clearly the mistake of you and your gardener. Nothing to do with your neighbour.

Exactly, this is between you and the gardener, nothing to do with the neighbour. I wouldn’t pay, as the job you asked for hasn’t been done.

Can the gardener fix the correct side at a very reduced fee, as it must still need doing and it's his fault really?

I don't think you can ask the neighbour to contribute, maybe if he doesn't know the work was done you could send him an e-mail saying the gardener is willing to do the second side at a reduced price, could he pay that?

Then you aren't out of pocket, it's just not entirely honest.

This has nothing to do with your neighbour. You touched his property without permission. It’s none of your business if the fence was in bad condition; he didn’t want to fix it and doesn’t have it. All he needs to do is maintain a boundary and that can be accomplished with a piece of string running along the boundary.

Your issue is with your gardener. He didn’t the wrong job, after being shown exactly what to do. So he hasn’t done what you paid for and you need to go back to him and insist he goes the job he was paid for. His insurance can cover the cost of him doing the wrong job.

Outrag that the workman wants to offload the problem that he’s responsible to the neighbour. Is there anything on paper, diagram, quote etc?

My solution would be to ask the neighbour to go halves with you, as eventually he would have had to replace the fence. Tell the gardener to do the job he was asked to do. You’ve already paid for it, and he didn’t do as he was asked.

Exactly - unless there is a quote with a diagram, the OP may not get a satisfactory resolution.

If he has insurance!

Yeah don't ask the next door owner. Would you want to pay if someone did work to your house you didn't consent to? Doesn't matter if it needed doing or not, I doubt you'd be happy to pay.

The error is on the gardener and he should be fixing the part of the fence you originally asked him to. He'll have to suck it up and not get a second payment I'm afraid.

If you weren’t clear, you pay.

If gardener cocked up, he pays.

But it’s certainly not your neighbour’s responsibility to cover your mistake, even if he benefits. You would be a CF to even ask him to contribute.

I'd clarify that I was self employed for many years. When I made a mistake I regarded it as an Idiot Tax on myself and I shouldered the cost. I would expect your gardener to do the same. If you are feeling generous you could pay for additional panels and he should install them for free, but you aren't obliged to do so.

It taught me to pay more attention in my business. Maybe that's a lesson the gardener need to learn.

I can't see how he can possibly have been absolutely clear because if he had he wouldn't have replaced the wrong one!

You can certainly ask the neighbour to pay or contribute to the improvement of their fence, but they have absolutely no obligation to oblige. It's unfortunate that you paid before inspecting the work, but I think you might end up just having to pay for both fences, but be content that you now have a much nicer outlook from your house :)