I Screwed Up
Tweet · Apr 11, 2025
I screwed up.
Here’s the down and dirty of the sub contracting biz we have going right now. Hopefully you can learn from my mistake.
We got a call for a tree trimming job the other day. I chatted with the homeowner and said we could handle it.
I then sent one of our subs out to check out the job and provide me with a quote that I could then tell the owner.
The quote was sent, the owner mentioned POSSIBLE timing for the job to happen and I confirmed with my guy that he was available then.
The home owner never confirmed the job nor did I send guy out… but my guy showed up and started trimming.
Home owner runs out of the house wondering what was going on.
The job was 2/3 the way done…
Now there’s an angry home owner that doesn’t want to pay…
I could look at this and say, well that’s on my guy, I never confirmed with him, he just went.
But let’s be honest, whatever communication happened was obviously not clear enough and that’s on me.
Thankfully the owner was willing to pay a modified price, but it was peanuts compared to what it would have been.
Lesson— Never assume your communication is clear enough. You can always say something again or in a different way.