BL**DY GARDENER - I just want to rant

[Rookiemum]

Arrgh I am SOOOO annoyed. We have spent months trying to get a gardener only to discover that they cost £15 -£20 per hour which is more than I take home net so too expensive.

I saw a sign for one in the shop at £6.00 so rang him. First warning sign he didn't ring back. I rang him again and he agreed to come on Saturday to see how much needed done. Didn't turn up. DH rang him and he said it was too wet, we should have given up at this stage but arranged for him to visit on Monday.

He turned up and was scheduled to start today. He started right enough and took the money, then probably as soon as I left the house he b*ggered off. He was paid for two hours, I came back after one and a half to find him not there with a note saying that he would rather do big gardens and was very busy so we wouldn't be seeing him again. So essentially we paid someone £14.00 to mow our not very big back lawn.

RANT RANT RANT. Sorry just wanted to get that off my chest.

Don't ever pay upfront. Next time only agree to pay someone after and only if you are satisfied with the job. Do you have any neighbor kids? They are cheap and usually do a pretty good job.

bastard!

good idea my son 17 has been doing bits of gardening car cleaning etc just to give him extra pocket money for the locals, where do you live il send him along lol
i would be angry aswell your riht to be annoyed

i second that you should never pay upfront
also sorry you've been messed around
but i have to ask what miracles you were expecting for £6 an hour, gardening properly is a skill

Oh I know paulaplumpbottom (great name). I suppose I have learnt my lesson at a reasonably low cost.

My one consolation is that at least if he is casing up the joints for future break ins he has probably decided that ours is not worth the effort.

Oh and by the way the reason I paid £14.00 rather than £12.00 is that when he arrived he said it was £7.00 per hour not the £6.00 advertised. Again sucker that I am I didn't raise the issue.

Lindac sadly no late teens near us as I have been scouting around for potential babysitters.

Sorry it happened. What a creep! If you see him on the street make sure to give him a piece of your mind.

Gossifer I guess you are right in that you get what you pay for. We were only looking for a bit of weeding, mowing & maintenance work and £15.00 - £20.00 an hour seemed too high for me.

think you need a local teen helper then, but as you've said, they are low on the ground, what about seeing if there's a local gardening college/any college near you where gardening is taught and using students from there?

bloody shame i have a daughter thats always minding the neighbours kids as well x

The cheek of it.

Phone him up again and say you want at least some of that money back. I would.

Don't discount some of the younger kids. I have an 8 year old who weeds my flower beds and he does a great job. They really only need to be old enough to use a mower and have a bit of common sense.

aDadonmusmnet - he will not give us back the money if I phone him and I will just end up getting annoyed, I have left a message for DH and I am hoping he will phone him up as he is much better at getting his point across without turning into a blithering loon.

Ideally what I'd like to do is put a large sign up in the shop where I saw the sign saying " Do not employ this idiot to do your garden as he will stand you up, steal your money then p*ss off"

Please excuse my language I am normally very erudite but I am just a tad annoyed.

Gossifer like your suggestion about the gardening college think I will give it a go as tempting though it is I don't think i can ask the neighbours 8 year olds to do our garden.

That is awful!I'm a gardener & never accept money from a customer until I've finished a job.

I'd be tempted to get friends to ring him up to get him to go around & then not be in when he turns up-give him a taste of what its like to have your time & money wasted.

He has probably doing you a favour in the long run,he sounds dodgy & if he is earning £6 an hour gardening,I'd be wondering what experience/training he'd had-that is way below the going rate.

If it is just general tidying up and stuff I would put the word round someone is bound to have an teenager to hire out. If college does horticulture courses might be worth putting an ad up for a student if you need a bit more done, but there is a lot to be said for word of mouth.

Thanks everyone, I have calmed down now, DH tried to reach him on the mobile but he wasn't answering.

Unfortunately teens are a bit thin on the ground around us for some reason. looks like DH & myself will be doing the gardening on Sunday, hope it rains.