Gardener mystery

georgie262

I moved into anew house (which I love) with my dh and ds on 6th February. Within the first week we contacted a local gardener as we wanted 4 conifer trees felled. Gardener came priced up the job which included tidying up some bushes and said it would be done by Friday and he'd post the invoice through the letter box when he'd finished.
I was at work when he was coming but it looked like he was coming after he'd finished his days work as it happened slowly through the week.
Come Friday all the trees where down but the bushes hadn't been trimmed as agreed. Sent him a text along the lines of thanks for the trees any idea when you'll be back to do the bushes?

Never heard from him since. It's been 4 weeks since he felled the trees and we haven't even paid him. We have tried calling him sometimes the phone rings out sometimes it goes straight through to answer phone. Does anyone have any suggestions? Should we just get another gardener and keep his cash in the bank indefinitely? Give hi more time to get in touch? Has anyone ever had this happen? I keep getting really sad about it thinking what if he's ill?

margaretclare

Wrong time of year now to be trimming bushes - the birds will be nesting in them.

tea_lover

I had a builder do some work on my first house (about £1500 worth). He disappeared when the work was finished, leaving me with quite a lot of his tools and equipment, and no means of paying him.

Found out a few years later he'd gone to prison! :eek:

I still use the extension lead when I cut the grass :rotfl:.

georgie262

margaretclare wrote: »

Wrong time of year now to be trimming bushes - the birds will be nesting in them.

It didn't even cross my mind (I've never had a garden before) but the conifer tree closest to the drive completely blocked us getting the car on the drive

georgie262

tea_lover wrote: »

I had a builder do some work on my first house (about £1500 worth). He disappeared when the work was finished, leaving me with quite a lot of his tools and equipment, and no means of paying him.

Found out a few years later he'd gone to prison! :eek:

I still use the extension lead when I cut the grass :rotfl:.

I would much prefer the idea of prison compared to the horrors that keep flashing through my mind. At least then I wouldn't feel too bad about not paying him...

arbrighton

Put the money aside and wait for him to ask for it.

Learn to trim shrubs yourself, it's not difficult or usually particularly time consuming, but as another poster has said, birds are now nesting, so you'll need to wait til July or August

Mojisola

How much information do you have for him - a business name, an address, a landline number or just his first name and a mobile number?

georgie262

Mojisola wrote: »

How much information do you have for him - a business name, an address, a landline number or just his first name and a mobile number?

He told us he did the gardens for the residential home nearby so perhaps I could contact them but I'd doubt theyd hand out his details. He advertised in the local paper and I copied his name into my mobile. Even if he doesn't want to finish the work or he is too busy I just want to pay him really.

georgie262

arbrighton wrote: »

Put the money aside and wait for him to ask for it.

Learn to trim shrubs yourself, it's not difficult or usually particularly time consuming, but as another poster has said, birds are now nesting, so you'll need to wait til July or August

I've never had a garden and ours needs a lot of work to 'bring it up to scratch' so I'd rather leave it to a professional.

GoldenShadow

Can't say much useful but I just wanted to say good for you. Sadly, there are some people who might be asking how long before they can legitimately keep the money/not give it to him when he next shows up!

tea_lover

georgie262 wrote: »

He told us he did the gardens for the residential home nearby so perhaps I could contact them but I'd doubt theyd hand out his details. He advertised in the local paper and I copied his name into my mobile. Even if he doesn't want to finish the work or he is too busy I just want to pay him really.

No, but they may be able to tell you if they've seen him recently.

Could put your mind at ease.