fair for arborist to charge for repairs after damaging cutter doing our hedge?

Hey.

Asking because I just don’t know – don’t mind paying if it’s what I should be doing, not keen to be done over for not knowing!

We’re having house renovation work done, and the builder’s are piling their rubble next to a section of hedge at the front of the house (amongst other places!). Chap came today to cut our hedge and broke his cutting thing on a piece of rebar that was in the hedge.

He’s said he’ll add the cost of repair to our invoice – somewhere between £100 and £200.

Is that how these things work?

Cheers!

Edit: am inclined to think that paying is fair, and that I’m only asking because a) I am wound up by eBay buyer giving unwarranted grief (he came and happily collected the bath and toilet and is now saying he thought he was getting a sink as well!) and b) the house work is going to take an extra month as a wall now how to have new foundations and be rebuilt 🙁

Yes.Ask him to come down in his price a bit though.
He had no idea there was rubble there. He has to make a living too.

tell him to stop being silly
Did he have his eyes closed during the hedge trimming or did he look at what he was cutting into first?

Cool. Thanks iolo. He’s always done good work for us in the past – I think I knew that was the way forward, but it’s nice to have confirmation too!

You would expect him to take sufficient care when performing the job you paid him to do. If he wasnt doing that and broke his tools then it’s his fault.

No, He should have gave the hedge a quick look over before cutting and should have kept his eye out for obstacles while cutting.

If there was stuff hidden in the hedge, then sure. If there was stuff near the hedge, no.

Is it not part of his job to check for these things?

I’d expect the builder’s third party insurance to be covering that.

If your builders drill packs up would you be paying for that as well?

I would be telling him to jog on.

Without seeing it to be sure of the exact context (i.e. was it particularly hidden and difficult to spot) – but you’d have to be a moron or registered blind to press on into a bit of rebar. I’m assuming the pile of rubble he must have climbed over or reached across might have given him a clue!

If cutting hedges is your job you must forever be coming across hedges that have grown up around metal fences and being on the lookout for obstructions would be second nature – like chainsaw operators and old nails and the like. And if you do hit something and are pay attention you back off quick – just a bit of blunting a file should sort no bother.

Is it not part of his job to check for these things?

To check for steel rebar hidden in a hedge that is never there when he normally cuts the hedge ?

Not really no.

Hmm, I’m not feeling clear cut anymore. 😕

It wasn’t hidden in the hedge deliberately, but the pile of rubble is right up against the hedge. My guess is that this bit had fallen into the hedge from the rubble heap, or perhaps been thrown in by a builder aiming for the pile?

How exactly has it broken the hedge trimmer?

Ex-Tree surgeon here: if you’d have damaged his hedge trimmers then it’d be fair to pay for the damage, otherwise no.

This has happened to me before: destroyed a brand new bar and chain on some metal in a tree I was taking down. My fault, I pay for my own mistakes. However, customer drives over a leaf blower: their fault, chased them for the damages.

If he’s managed to do a couple of hundred quids’ worth of damage from some rebar in a hedge, then that’s a lesson he needs to learn. If he’d been paying attention, would only take 5mins with a flat file to sharpen / straighten the effected teeth.

Sorry, but the culture in which its fine to not take responsibility for your own actions grinds my gears 🙂

Comes with the job surely? Hitting or accidentally cutting into things that you didn’t mean to must be part and parcel of his job and therefore it would be reasonable to expect someone in that field to check for and then minimise the risk of that happening. As someone who doesn’t have a business cutting hedges common sense alone would tell me to check the hedge for anything that I didn’t want to cut into. So an arborist who doesn’t understand the risks of his chosen profession or have base level common sense can pay for his own mistakes AFAIAC.

As above. I would suggest he is trying it on.

As a self-employed carpenter, if for example, I damage a saw blade on a nail that I hadn’t spotted, it’s my cost. I wouldn’t expect the customer to pay for my bad.

i feel sorry for him but that is all i feel

his tools his error his problem tbh.

had you done it then fair enough

Imagine a chipper broke doing your tree would you be forking out then as it was your tree?

mechanic breaks his tools doing your bike you would pay?

meet half way if you feel so inclined but I would not be paying though i do feel sorry for them but such is life, Tools break and people make mistakes

I would also be saying speak to the builder as well FWIW as they did it not you

If I snap a spanner etc when fixing your forks because something is over tightened/seized, the customer doesn’t get charged for the broken item.
So no it’s his fault, howevr if you think it’s fair give him the cash or go halfway on it.

Edit: actually think my lathe is playing up/not quite as shiney as it was… 😉

I say no – I would expect him to survey and risk assess each job each time and most certainly before he starts it. I also would expect him to include the cost of tool wear and breakage into the overhead cost of his business – not when it occurs on a job. Additionally if he thinks its builders rubble, he can pursue him for it.

However, if you valued his work and still do after this incident, perhaps offer him something towards if to keep him sweet.

I was expecting a parcel from CRC today, but the postie crashed on his way to deliver it. Naturally, I’ve written a cheque to cover a new van for him 😆

I’m sorry but it’s part of the job. If I did a job for anyone and broke my tools doing that job I don’t charge my customer! you add the cost of maintenance to each job for the Times this does happen not alot but you
Know eventually your tools will get broken / wear out it’s just how it is!.

Tell him to pay for it himself as any professional would.

£200 will just about buy a new Stihl 24″ trimmer so he must have one made of gold or something to do that much damage…

I’d expect him to cover his own damage. Do you also pay for wear and tear, fuel, 2s oil etc? No?

Oh, and whilst I was processing your insurance renewal for the car this afternoon, my pc crashed. So I’ve added £1k to your premium, for a ewn one, thats only fair isn’t it?

If you really feel you must contribute to a tradesmans tax deductibles, please retain the damaged item and work out how far through it’s life the item was. A £200 item, 80% of the way through its life, is still only £40, not £200.

Your tradesman is taking the piss.

Do you also pay for wear and tear, fuel, 2s oil etc? No?

Actually, yes, it’s just not detailed on the invoice.

Markie – Member

It wasn’t hidden in the hedge deliberately, but the pile of rubble is right up against the hedge.

Then he should have seen it coming tbh. You may hereby withdraw any doubt I may have inspired 😉

Surely, if he’s done the hedge before, but previously there was no rubble up against the hedge, common sense says before doing anything else you check to make sure no alien objects have worked their way into the hedge. Normal risk assessment, n’est pas?

ChubbyBlokeInLycra – Member
Do you also pay for wear and tear, fuel, 2s oil etc? No?

Actually, yes, it’s just not detailed on the invoice.

That’s really the point int it? They are rolled into the rate as is the risk of the machine detonating during use.

do not pay. you were employing him for his professionalism. he should have insurance for such damage.
he should have check first. that is what you were paying for! his equipment may also have been on its last legs and he is trying it on. you sound like a soft touch (nothing wrong with that by the way) and i suspect he detects your uncertainty. I used to do tree work and any dame to gear was always our loss. we priced for hire of equipment and ur skills, insurance etc.

We had a bouncy castle with owner hire, which burst in the garden whilst the owner was letting the kids bounce roughly on it. he tried to get us to pay for the damage. we reminded him what we had hired him for- to police the kids on the thing. he soon backed down.
stand you ground.

Thanks all, basically an immensely polite MTFU!

I’ll wait for his invoice on the grounds that he may be reconsidering things and have spoken in the heat of the moment and then take it forward.

I imagine that in my (absolutely a fair call, it’s totally where I’m at!) soft touch way, if he puts in for the whole amount I’ll aim for half – and then not use him again. :/

Cheers for your thoughts, appreciated.

so he spots a bit of rebar in your rubble pile, his trimmer is getting on a bit and is wearing out.

next thing you know ‘oi, you broke my trimmer!’

his risk assessment was wrong, failed to spot possible rubble/ crap in the hedge due to obvious building work. let him pay.

No, but if he was mate or a very good contractor I might contribute.
Surely he would check to see if there was anything in the hedge that might either do that or more importantly be dangerous.

good point cheez0, he sounds like a cowboy.

hes pulling a fast one, i break tools and never ever charge the customer, sometimes take them back to the supplier and they just exchange them for a new one.

Remind him Specsavers always have offers on for new glases.

I lent an SDS DeWalt drill to a friend, who is a DIY handyman. He managed to break it (a bit of rubble caught in one of the bushes), so took it to be repaired. DeWalt just replaced the whole thing for free without even asking for a receipt.