SHOULD ONE GET A CONTRACT FOR TREE REMOVAL?

[xrongor]

i dont disagree. im just pointing out the fact that lack of a a contract created a confusing situation in which it wasnt clear if the trees were to be removed. non payment could have gotten my friend in trouble since it was a case of word against word as to exactly what was to be done for how much money. the tree person could have taken him to court and if the judge believed him, my friend would have been out more than just the cost of the job.

in short, with a contract it would be clear that the job wasnt completed and witholding the money would have been fully justified. without one, its a case of who do you trust for a judge if it goes that far.

randy

[Art]

The mason I had worked routinely for the same masonry contractors to fix the jobs their employees screwed up and almost always worked without written contracts. The corian guy was the guy who did the work for all the pretty showrooms. SHould have noted that I did get certificates of insurance from both these guys insurance companies for liability and workers comp. Could I have gotten written contracts from these guys? Probably yes. And I don't recommend going without a written contract. My point was that these were highly repected subcontractors that worked for the same guys all the time and if you can find those kind of people it is the best way to go. Knowing that you got a great subcontractor is even better than a written contract because a contract for a few thousand dollars is not worth sueing over these days. But under normal circumstance when you don't know you have the best and most honest guy in the business, a written contract is important for both sides. And if there is more than a few thousand dollars worth of work, of course you need to get everything in writing. BUt even then, sueing is a pain in the neck.

countertops.

[DS]

Well there was a lot of good points raised. Here is how it went down for me. He calls me at work in the morning and wants to know if I want to have the trees done. Due to the many days of rain we have had he has not had a lot to do and had a crew waiting around. I tell him I want to have copies of license and insurance including any day laborers coverage. The guy seems confused, the exact replay was copies of what? He gives the phone to someone referred to as the boss. No problem says the boss. He hesitates at having to wait till I get home that evening, but agrees. When I get home the job is done. He charged exactly what he said, and did everything exactly as we talked about. I was left feeling a little pushed though and have to doubt that he does have a license or insurance or anything at all. I came through okay, but these trees were next to power lines and things could have gone bad. I think I was lucky. Even though it went as planned the whole thing left me with an uncomfortable feeling. Like dealing with a car salesman.

Dave

[SteveB]

I think you dodged a bullet, my friend. You got the work done correctly. You paid what you agreed in advance. He didn't mess anything up. Yes, you were lucky.

Now, if it had been a car salesman, you would have been sitting on a rubber donut for a few days .........................

Steve