13 Jul Cheap labour isn’t skilled. Skilled labour isn’t cheap
Define a Professional
Almost every professional in their industry can talk at great lengths about the issues they see daily. The ethical issues that give the profession a bad name. The companies that claim to be the cheapest. The unprofessional work that is sold as ‘quality service at a reduced cost’.
The only problem is that this cheap service, or the service billed at a reduced cost, doesn’t always match up with the client’s desired outcome. To have the cheapest, somewhere there is a tactic used to cut corners.
Here’s another way to look at it:
“ Cheap labour isn’t skilled. Skilled labour isn’t cheap “
So how does this pertain to something as simple as trimming trees?
We should look at this as not too dissimilar of one’s approach in seeking a medical professional to take care of our children. Our trees are a living and breathing organism, are they not? They require nourishment and loving care, allowing them to grow into the family member they’re meant to be, right? Well why would we want to cut corners and skimp on care that could not have the desired outcome?
Turns out tree care isn’t so simple, is it.
A Tale of Two Potential Outcomes
Let’s tell a story many of us can relate to, whether a personal or an acquaintance’s encounter.
John has a majestic Bradford pear in his front yard. It’s the most beautiful tree in the neighbourhood, with a perfect shape that is the envy of everyone on the block. John has noticed that over the years the tree has started to encroach on his roof line, along with the service line in front of his house. Not wanting issues with either critters accessing his attic, or the risk of taking out the neighbourhood power in a storm, he decides it’s time to prune the tree.
Now John has an idea of what he wants the tree to look like. So, he gets out his smart phone and types “tree trimming” into the search bar and up comes a dozen names. As most consumers, he starts calling the numbers for quotes. Some of those phone numbers give a price over the phone, site unseen, while some give a price after John has texted them photos. Some come out and give John a price written on the back of a scrap piece of paper or business card, while one or two hand him a written proposal.
After getting all this pricing, John, again as a consumer with a budget, picks the cheapest of the bunch. With tomorrow set as the big day, he anxiously spends a sleepless night thinking about his majestic tree and how good it will look tomorrow.
The morning arrives, as does the crew representing the company. Pickup trucks, trailers, ladders, and tools are distributed around his property and with little ado they don their climbing gear consisting of a climbing saddle, lanyard, climbing rope and climbing gaffs.
Like monkeys with chain saws, the climbers swiftly attack the areas of concerns, cutting limbs that drop to the ground like spring snow.
Groundmen quickly take the dismembered limbs and toss them into awaiting trailers, raking the grass and planters clear of smaller debris.
All in all, this took a little over an hour.
Just as quickly as they arrived, they depart with the same speed after holding out a hand to receive a check from John.
As weeks turn into months, John noticed that the once perfectly shaped tree was taking on the image of Igor, hump and all. Not only that, but sap was also oozing from the trunk and the ends of some limbs looked like they’d been hit with a blow torch.
So he called the tree service that did the work, but no one returned his messages left on voicemail.
By this time John was beginning to panic. He called around, finding a Certified Arborist that for a small fee would look at his tree.
Remember the climbing gaffs the climbers used? They tore wounds in the trunk and the oozing sap was the trees’ attempt at healing the gouges.
Remember the tools strewn over the front lawn? Well, the crew had pruned a diseased tree and didn’t clean them, passing fire blight onto the pear.
And Igor’s hump? By cutting only specific areas without regards to the entire crown, it developed an imbalance in shape.
So where is John’s crown jewel of the neighbourhood today? He still has it, but it’s going through a long process of healing and pruning in the hopes it might become great again.
Point to the story? The cheapest service is not always the best! You need to ask your arborist if they have certification and insurance, prior to completing any work. Don’t get stuck like John!