Landscape gardening customer threatening court action

Although i agree with Alexander John Garden Design & Maintenance, unfortunately what should have happened didn't and it's not the answer Digg was looking for to much advice is given after the event. What I would do Digg is call her bluff, ask for a written report by the alleged contractors then call a meeting with them, the client and yourself on site, then things will come to light and everybody will know where they stand Peter

Good Morning Digg.....In response to your posting there are a number of things i would suggest for the future and to safe guard yourself. When you provide your quotations, always do it in writing and break the quotation down into stages. By doing it in stages you are giving the customer the opportunity to sign off on each stage. A signing off could be a document that they are happy with the works and are now happy to proceed to the next stage. This is something i do with many of my customers who have garden build in excess of £10k. Its good that you email the client progress reports, but do you attach photos of the works you have done for each stage? This helps the customer visualise their project coming to fruition even if they are half way around the world. It is time consuming and adds to the admin side of the business but keeps the relationship positive. Involve the client as if they are one of your team all the way through the project. Give the client the opportunity to address any snagging issues before you proceed to further stages. Keep costs to a minimum. In the past clients have asked me to just go in and do the job back to back, but I always insist on stage project builds as it keeps costs to a minimum and the client is kept in the brief. Secondly when I have projects of this magnitude, i have drawn up a set of Terms and Conditions of business, this is a document that has approval from lawyer or solicitor, it must be a legally binding document. Once they have read it and signed it they are then bound to that contract. Insist on stage payments, the client realises you have overheads to cover so make them pay deposits for the material costs up front before proceeding with the next stages. Finally get yourself or become a member of say the FSB Federation of Small Businesses, they will look after all your legal affairs and anything on a self employed related business. Consider getting yourself accredited to a trade organisation like BALI or such like. The key to all of this is get everything in writing, collate all emails, quotes, estimates, material receipts the lot. the more ammunition you have to guard yourself the easier the ride will be. Communication is key, keeping the client informed once or twice a week if you're not going to be present. Be honest and tell them where you are or if there is a family problem. NEVER keep the client in the dark. The final option you could give a client is if you are unwell have a potential standby landscaper who could carry on the work in your absence. I realise this seems like unreal but it can pay massive dividends in the long run as it will show the client you have their total interests and you want them to be a happy customer.

I agree with Peter call her bluff

I don't know the predicament of the formalities you have in place, but I can tell you that contracts are key after your initial quote. Have a look at a contract template on google to give you a feel of what these should include, but in your contract, you should have the names & addresses of both customer & contractor. Alongside this you should list all of the duties that have been agreed for the sum of money being paid, as this adds for both parties security. They have security in knowing what tasks you have agreed to do for their money, and likewise, you have security in the aspect that you have listed out what tasks are going to be addressed from your part, so that "extra jobs" customers can try and freely include into the price, do not come into play. Good luck & I hope both yourself and the customer come to a mutually satisfied agreement.

As long as you are confident in you workmanship you do not have to give her anything back you have been paid for a job you have done, if it does go to court as long as you have done the work up to standards there should not be an issue

I like and agree with some of the answers here especially Alexander John quickly adding to that there are other organisations that offer the legal cover and one I use is called peninsula uk they provide Heath & Saftey in depth, Employment law and legal cover for any court issues and they also pay out on compensation claims. Other advice I would say is, especially when you are a relatively new company, try to keep big projects to a minimum or stay away altogether as they are time consuming and more often than not less lucrative than smaller jobs that you can do in this time. Leave them to the larger companies or even start a relationship with one of those companies where you pass them on for a fee, small jobs that can be completed in a few day to a week tend to have more profit and way less overheads. Another way to help safe guard is have the customer pay your builders merchants direct rather than through you that way they can’t ask you for the cost of any materials as you would have nothing to do with the financials of this process. Hope all the advice here helps.