Condo owners 'garden committees'

Bermy

Bermy

Acolyte of the short bar
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
8,626
Location
Tasmania
Boy oh boy...what a political wing ding!

I was asked to give my opinion on an old frangipani in a condo development, then bid on my suggestions,a light prune and some soil remediation.
Went to do the work today, got my ear bent by like three owners, each one trying to get me to agree with the way they want to do things...watched from the balcony, put up with comments like 'are we going to lose the tree', not to me but to another owner...seems they have major disagreements in their 'garden committee'.
Who would have thought taking care of a shared garden space would be so political!
 
Yet another perfect example of why I don't sell retail treework. If I were the primary contractor on a job like that, I might end up shooting somebody. But I'm getting better about just shutting up and doing my job. Funny how much more abuse we are willing to tolerate when work is tight.
 
The worst problem I ever had in this business was due to one of these committees. I was hired to cut down a few trees and prune a few others. After I got done, one of the old ladies on the committee said I had used improper pruning techniques (because I used a chainsaw instead of a handsaw to cut 6"+ diameter wood). She convinced the committee they should refuse payment until I replaced the "ruined" trees, at my expense of course. I had to take them to small claims court to get them to pay.
 
That sucks sean! The thing I hate most about HOA's is multiple trips out there because so an so needs to hear what I said:roll: I have just started charging consult fees for HOA's because of all the time I waste. It really seems to seal the deal because if they invest in the consult they feel they should have the work done
 
When I first started posting on forums some guy called me a 'garden club lady'....I think it was on the toolshed in GardenWeb.

I didn't think much of it, cuz I didn't know what a 'garden club lady' was meant to represent. THEN.....I joined a garden club....my first.

After attending 'meetings' for a while and not quite liking the whole political/back-stabbing/power-struggle thing, I thought of that statement and it pissed me off: I understood, and felt insulted. A year too late, though.

Scary stuff.
 
I only deal with one HOA right now. Dealt with others here. But most here are pretty lax. If I were in a more urban area, I would lose my mind with them.
 
Yah I've given up on stratas, hoa's whatever you want to call them. To much bs. They always want quotes because they need three quotes to do anything. I just tell them now, 'if you're looking for the lowbidder let's not waste each others time, actually let's just not waste my time'.
 
I worked for a HOA today. Fortunately my contact is a bright lady who was my customer for years before she moved to the townhomes and HOA. She heads the committee and understands the concept of one person being responsible ...and taking the flak if necessary. Once a plan was adopted and approved she bears the responsibilty and carries the authority for its execution. Of course I had to field questions but that is okay. Mostly I just made a lot of noise and was unapproachable ....but I had a few chatters while I was cutting and unwinding 9000 feet of twine from the stumpgrinder cutter wheel.:|:
 
I had to deal with a lady at a condo complex once. I am hired by a landscaper to do the tree work there. He had planned me there for a day, giving me a list of most important to least important. I finish when a day is up, 7 hrs on site. She was the last for the day, and thought she should get special treatment because her husband was on the committee. She wanted the whole hillside, 20'x100' cleared of trees and brush. I was told to take down a few limbs. She wasn't having it, so she called her husband and handed me the phone.

In the end she didn't get her hillside cleared. :)
 
Let me guess, the phone "slipped" out of your hand and went through the chipper?
 
I deal with that on a couple of rental properties we work for from time to time. Landlord gives us a work order and Renter has a different plan.

MY favorite one was as follows..

Sorry buddy call your landlord, Starts screaming that I am messing up everything, Dude this shit is not even yours, calm down.

Police show up a few minutes later. Are you fawkin kinding me.

Officer tells the renter to basically shut the hell up and stay out of our way, or they go to jail.
 
So far the only rental management company I have had a problem with (that I still do work for on occasion) isn't too much of a problem. I insist they come to meet me at jobs to go over the site together for work to be done. One time they needed a tree trimmed for a CDF violation. Went and looked at the tree. They apologized for not being able to meet me and told me there was another tree also next door. I said they would have to meet me to proceed. They said too busy. I said I am too busy to do the work then.... Needless to say... They were fined by CDF for non compliance , and now they meet me at the job site for the initial estimate. :D
 
i used to put up with a lot of bs when i was in so cal,
hoa's boards are usually old retired engineers and people who over think everything
i wasnt paid on a biggie once, no calls, nothing
come to find out we werent paid because a board member didnt feel we root pruned enough around a ficus rubiginosa...
not proud of it but a couple of minutes with a stump grinder and well there werent anymore root problems.
we lost the contract to the gardner who just started a "tree division"
they got what they paid for in the end.
i love not dealing wit that bs anymore.
 
My mom lived in a condo with spacious garden grounds around the place. I remember a mostly Mexican outfit was doing the landscaping. The place seemed to look the nicest when the lesbians were running the committee. They ran a hardware store and knew how to handle the Mexicans.
 
i used to do trees in west hollywood
the forester is gay, but he knows his stuff
i dont usually get along with gay men,
but i respected his knowledge of the trees and his city ( he knew every tree in the city,)
i was impressed by how my supervisors could not pull anything over on him and they tried
and even though they all made fun of him, he kept them under his thumb and they eventually lost the contract
my gay clients up here are great(we seem to only have women couples up here)
i get ref'd to all of em from each other. they are great, and they use my crew on days off to split firewood or pressure wash the house yearly.
Better than Hoa's thats fer sure
 
To sidetrack the thread a bit, and speaking about Hollywood, I have a friend who runs a hotel in Palm Springs, out in the desert in Southern California. He tells me that the area has become a mecca for gays, a "our own little world" haven really, many connected to the movie and TV industry.
He's not of that inclination himself, but he also doesn't seem to mind, since those folks are capable of paying his high room rates.
 
"people who over think everything"

Wow. What a great way to describe an engineer. At least the one I married, anyway.
 
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