Customers say the darnest things!

Did a couple of removals over a church this evening and a lady that was watching came up when I finished and said, "I've got a tree that's dying to meet you". I cracked up and immediately thought about this thread. That's got to take the prize for me.

That is a good one. I got a good chuckle out of that one. Nice to see people with a sense of humor.
 
Customer after I cut down a dying tree: “was the tree in a bad condition?”

Me: “well it is now”

Every. Single. Time.
 
I didn’t read everything in the thread but one of my favorites is just after felling a tree, the customer comes out and says “you gonna clean this shit up?!”
 
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Client today, informed me last night, his picture of how the tree work is done when we start at 11am. Last conversation we got pushed to a 10 am start. Conversation before tgat was a schedule change since he booked the rental on the days we had scheduled for the work. We have a meeting at 930. See how that goes.
 
I love the good old ones during storm damage clean up that are like what happened or can I get out this way. I've done the good old well if you can drive your car through that log then go ahead. Have had a few from the neighbours of the while your hear could you look at this. A few times its ended up turning into more work and more $$$$
 
The snow ball effect. That has been me since last Thursday. "while you are here" "my neighbor wants a bid". I raised my price. Me "your tree is stable and not damaged I'll get to you some time in September"
 
There is a technique clients use to talk down the extra so the price will be negligible.

Phrases like:

Shin up there and knock the top out of that tree (meaning a full reduction in height and width)

Get that one branch off the tree over the neighbour’s would you? (once you’re up the tree, expect a lot of “and that one, and that one, while you’re up there that one as well”)

Could you clean up that tree a bit? (I said to the client “what, with a sponge and water? upon cross examination ‘clean up‘ meant a full reduction of a great big cherry)

They think that by describing the extra as nothing, that’s what it will cost.
 
Background: Client's husband is losing it. He is 80 something and seems to lose his short term memory. I was there three day's in a row and everyday he sits on the deck, recognizes me from many years ago as opposed to the day before and says: You know what: "your tree business is a growing business "and he chuckles as he repeats the words: growing business
 
Yes I suppose “nous travaillons dans le arbres pas du travail gratuit” isn’t quite the same :D ... n’oubliez pas de porter votre masque !
 
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