Tree work which went wrong
Discussion
eldar said:
jazzyjeff said:
Surely if there was a TPO, that would be a concern of the contractor and not the OP?
Good question, the landowner is ultimately responsible, as I understand it - to stop people claiming they paid some pie person to over-enthusiastically lop a couple of branches off (at ground level). You need PP, anyway.The original op said:
The OP said:
Hi
I'm looking for a bit of legal advice regarding some recent tree shaping work in my garden.
The guy we asked to do the work for us was not on-site when the day came to reduce our 60ft tree by approximately one-third. Due to a mix-up the contractors ended up chopping down the entire tree instead of shaping it as requested.
After the error was made, the business owner did not call me back to apologise and it was only 48 hours later after I'd left a voicemail and sent a text asking him to call that he finally rang back. He was extremely apologetic and offered to buy us a replacement tree, something we're not sure we want right now. Money was never discussed but he promised to put things right, ie. remove the huge stump. I warned him that there was a fence near the stump and I thought there was a strong possibility that it would be damaged during the the grinding of the stump. He said he was a professional and this would be no problem and if things went wrong he would fix the fence.
It took another few days for his employees to come back to the garden and start work on the stump. Again, the owner was not on site. During the stump removal the fence was damaged (only slightly but that's not the point) and I expected a call to clarify what would happen next regarding repair. Again, it was me who had to do the chasing and leave messages until the guy rang back and when I spoke to him he said that he hadn't been told that the fence was damaged. He apologised and said he'd come round the next day to look at it.
As expected he didn't come round that day (a Friday) but he was there the following Tuesday and he removed the damaged fence panel and went away to a local yard to try to get a replacement. He couldn't find one the same and so he had to replace some small sections of wood at the bottom of the panel. The fence is now back in place and although it's been put up squint and needs to be painted I can live with it and it's not a disaster. It took him about 5 hours to get it back in place. I would have been better off doing it myself.
I'm overseas with work at present but my wife rang this morning to say that we have now received an invoice for the full amount that we were quoted at the start. She rang the business owner to ask if it was a mistake but he was serious! He wants full payment and then threatened to contact his lawyer if there was an issue! Unbelievable. From our point of view the guy seems to be completely in the wrong and he's not completed the job we wanted him to do yet he is billing us as if nothing has gone wrong. I thought he was putting things right to save his local reputation. (competitive business + small area = importance of reputation is key I'd have thought?).
My wife suggested to the business owner that he should think about the invoice and get in touch with us again in a few days. I've just sent a text to say that I can't call him now because I only have a mobile number for him and it would cost a fortune so I'll be in touch at the weekend when I get home.
So, right now I have
a bill I don't want to pay as the work wasn't what I wanted to be done
no tree
a damaged fence
lots of hassle to come on top of what's happened already
a contractor who claims to be insured for damages and "every eventuality"
the likelihood that he sold my tree for firewood!
Is he trying it on and hoping we pay up? What do you suggest I do to resolve this? I realise it's not a huge issue (only a few hundred ££) but it's annoying and I just want a fair outcome.
Thanks
Skyetom
I'm looking for a bit of legal advice regarding some recent tree shaping work in my garden.
The guy we asked to do the work for us was not on-site when the day came to reduce our 60ft tree by approximately one-third. Due to a mix-up the contractors ended up chopping down the entire tree instead of shaping it as requested.
After the error was made, the business owner did not call me back to apologise and it was only 48 hours later after I'd left a voicemail and sent a text asking him to call that he finally rang back. He was extremely apologetic and offered to buy us a replacement tree, something we're not sure we want right now. Money was never discussed but he promised to put things right, ie. remove the huge stump. I warned him that there was a fence near the stump and I thought there was a strong possibility that it would be damaged during the the grinding of the stump. He said he was a professional and this would be no problem and if things went wrong he would fix the fence.
It took another few days for his employees to come back to the garden and start work on the stump. Again, the owner was not on site. During the stump removal the fence was damaged (only slightly but that's not the point) and I expected a call to clarify what would happen next regarding repair. Again, it was me who had to do the chasing and leave messages until the guy rang back and when I spoke to him he said that he hadn't been told that the fence was damaged. He apologised and said he'd come round the next day to look at it.
As expected he didn't come round that day (a Friday) but he was there the following Tuesday and he removed the damaged fence panel and went away to a local yard to try to get a replacement. He couldn't find one the same and so he had to replace some small sections of wood at the bottom of the panel. The fence is now back in place and although it's been put up squint and needs to be painted I can live with it and it's not a disaster. It took him about 5 hours to get it back in place. I would have been better off doing it myself.
I'm overseas with work at present but my wife rang this morning to say that we have now received an invoice for the full amount that we were quoted at the start. She rang the business owner to ask if it was a mistake but he was serious! He wants full payment and then threatened to contact his lawyer if there was an issue! Unbelievable. From our point of view the guy seems to be completely in the wrong and he's not completed the job we wanted him to do yet he is billing us as if nothing has gone wrong. I thought he was putting things right to save his local reputation. (competitive business + small area = importance of reputation is key I'd have thought?).
My wife suggested to the business owner that he should think about the invoice and get in touch with us again in a few days. I've just sent a text to say that I can't call him now because I only have a mobile number for him and it would cost a fortune so I'll be in touch at the weekend when I get home.
So, right now I have
a bill I don't want to pay as the work wasn't what I wanted to be done
no tree
a damaged fence
lots of hassle to come on top of what's happened already
a contractor who claims to be insured for damages and "every eventuality"
the likelihood that he sold my tree for firewood!
Is he trying it on and hoping we pay up? What do you suggest I do to resolve this? I realise it's not a huge issue (only a few hundred ££) but it's annoying and I just want a fair outcome.
Thanks
Skyetom
Red Devil said:
I can confirm it is the owner of the land on which the tree stands who will be actionable if a TPO is breached. I checked this with the Council's Tree Officer because there were 6 100ft lime trees (part of a avenue of 40) at my previous property. Permission was required for any lopping/thinning. The Tree Officer advised me to be ultra careful when choosing a contractor. A mistake could have cost me £thousands so I did my homework and made sure I was at home when the work was carried out.
Good to know 
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