Hello YouTube welcome back to the channel hope everyone’s keeping well and having a great day
So today I’m trimming this hedge in my clients front garden but he’s not happy with the waste situation
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47 Comments
Hi mate, great video. I noticed you run a Stihl KM56, I have one myself and don’t think it runs very well on a hedge cutter attachment, just wondering if you had any teething issues with it or not? Keep up the good work
I always tell customers i have to pay to get rid of waste so it costs them more if ive to take waste away. They all understand if its made clear at the start.
I’d fire him off or at least re outline next year waste is on top
They want a magic wand mate, they want it gone, for free, is what it comes down to, but it isn’t your fault or problem, although they reverse it onto you so that it is suddenly your problem, we all deal with it differently.. your customer there sounds a bit stubborn and bossy, not the worst but.. still a little headache..
It doesn’t even matter if the tip charges or not, that is, not entirely, but almost irrelevant.. I operate out of a (large) car, so my tip isn’t charging me as I’m classed as a domestic vehicle and a resident, which I am of course.. although really the waste is “trade waste” but it is irrelevant as it is still my time.. which needs to be accounted for.. so for u it is jointly your time AND they are charging.. o/c you need to claw that back in the way of monetary renumeration! I.e charging for it! Not rocket science.
Look at bloody Hippowaste.. it costs hundreds of pounds for a couple of ton bags..
I believe the reluctance to pay for waste comes from the customers reluctance to want to pay for someone to do the job in the first place. My father taught me that gardener's are well down on the totem pole of priority paid jobs that need doing around the home, and he would often put up with waiting for payment on his local round… Much to his own detriment mind you, as once a customer as cottoned on to your laxadaisical approach to being paid, you can be sure they'll leverage that fact in their favour until you say enough is enough. My waste charge is obviously too cheap. I have a £20 minimum charge for a tonne sack of waste on each job then £10 a bag thereafter. I do however accumulate tonne sacks of waste then take them all at once, and try and do so on a day with abysmal weather. It only costs a maximum of £15 to tip off at my local green waste recycling place so all the waste combined still pays for itself in one run.
way to go out your charge up if you have to take waste away ,. i've figured out why men are so good at cutting hedges you trim your beards 🤷🏻♀️ .. ps cute son 😊
Hello Pete, I am having the same issue. Recently the mulching facility closest to my work is not accepting yard debris due to adding a weigh station. The other mulching facility is farther down the road and way out of my way. So I have been bringing my customers yard debris to my yard and putting the customer's debris in my barrels. It is helpful and probably less expensive for the customers to get a few more barrels than us having to charge them for the added inconvenience of taking the debris off site. So future yards that want refuse taken away I will bump up my hourly rate to compensate my time, fuel and maintenance on my vehicle.
Best wishes to you and your family.
Nowadays I always give a price for a job + a price for waste removal as a separate additional service. I explain why waste is an expense (tip fees + my time & travel) & why I define it as a separate optional service. It's up to them whether they want to pay me to dispose or get rid themselves, but either way the issue is laid bare. In your situation I'd go explain to the customer the issue with waste costs and I'd be clear that you just did them a favour as a one off but that it's not a viable business option to dispose of waste for free. Get an understanding that waste disposal is an expense and agree the solution. Don't be scared to lose customers by being up front – you'll end up working for the right people in the end.
Grow some balls and tell them the price for waste removal. If you do it once they will expect it every time
Two problems.
1). The Council are notorious for trying to get away with doing anything regards waste management, yet they correctly complain about fly-tipping but don’t see the link in the problem!
2). Customers are under the impression that gardener rates are £15 per hour. The reality is that a gardener has to be making minimum £50 per hour to be profitable.
If the customer doesn’t accept this, walk away!
It’s good that you raise these issues mate! Getting rid of the waste is one of the first questions I ask when seeing a new job. Most of the time it’s fine, a variation of green bin, customer gets rid, or I store it in tonne bags and when there’s enough I run them to the tip and the customer pays. A few times I’ve said “I’m a gardener, not a waste disposal service!” Walked away years ago from a huge grass cut as the customer wanted me to take it away for free.
Im strict with waste now pete, I give a set price to "bag and remove waste", if they dont accept it on the quote then i leave the waste with them to sort, if there's no bin available then i'll rake it into a neat pile for them.
Ive had customers say theyll deal with the waste themselves but come out with a roll of black vags and ask me to bag it for them… I simply say no and refer back to the quote the signed
With my regulars when i take them on i explain if i take waste away it cost them and encourage them to get the council bin. I then give them a couple of options for when bin is full: 1, excess waste bagged up and left for them to remove, (bags to be returned). 2, excess waste bagged and stored in their garden until space in bin. 3, I remove waste at a cost of £xx per bag.
I have a high cost for waste removal to encourage the customer to deal with it rather than me.
I also encourage customers to have compost bins and to mulch hedge cuttings to use around garden as free fertiliser.
With hedge cutting the waste removal is listed as a separate item on my estimates so if customer wants to negotiate or save money this can be removed easily.
I price my minimum fee for waste removal as 1hrs labour plus cost to me of disposal at waste management centre. This generally puts customer off but when it doesn't a least I'm being paid enough for it.
Cracking vid Pete – interesting subject Waste Removal. I put it on the quote at 35€ m3 plus 50€ for time, wear n tear etc but included in the quote is for waste to be chipped/mulched and left on site. In France there is now a big push on recycling last year the local waste contractors were distributing composting bins to encourage people to recycle garden waste not small ones either around 2m3 in size
Waste was the worst part of the job for me when I was full time. I couldn’t go to the tip every day, so I stored it until I had enough, but imagine the smell of the grass after a few days! I also got stung quite a few times over taking waste & not getting paid for it.
Theres nowhere to take business waste where i live so the customer sorts the waste or i do not do the job. Funny how they can take it to the tip but if i do it i get kicked out.
I love the song what band sing it
Good looking hedge after you finished job.Also good point raised about clearing the waste .Think customers think that mess that has been made is your problem, when ultimately it should be theirs.
It is an issue.
“Can you just trim that shrub?”
“I can but there’ll be a lot of waste, what do you want to do with it?”
It’s the magical disappearing waste factor. It has to go somewhere. Someone has to pay. I add an hours labour for waste removal and that’s usually not enough to cover it. Almost half my time (I’m sure) is spent clearing up and taking away waste. Cutting stuff down is the easy part. As gardeners we don’t look at how big or how tall the job is we imagine how much space the waste will take up.
Red flag “You have to solve it somehow”. I’m impressed you remained as calm as you did, garden waste is a nightmare. Charge that customer high for removal, he will then get a second bin.
does any one no the council weight limit for a green bin
All my small to medium gardens have brown bins now , all my large gardens , burn onsite winter time , I stopped taking waste, when they introduced the waste carriers licence yonks ago , a couple of other garden maintenance guys I know have multiple brown bins of their own and charge and dump in them 😮
When I send out my initial quote I always send a link for garden waste bags from Amazon 270L ones, I say get 3x of them otherwise I’ll charge you £15 per 270L bag I need to take away, I make it very clear before I even turn up. And 99% of the time I get there and there’s a lovely fresh pack of garden waste bags waiting for me!☺️
That Lilac won't be flowering next year!
I always explain before that there will be a charge for waste disposal.
Hello mate im new to your channel and am looking to start my own business in gardening, my main question is how do you get by in winter? Do you just focus on hedges and shrubs ?
We've only just started paying to have our green waste ( in brown bins ) removed. In previous years most people nearby had two bins because the gardens are reasonably large. When charging came in, some people went from two bins to one, some decided to share a single bin with a neighbour and some even resorted to no bin whatsoever and putting grass in a black liner in the refuse bin.
I'm not sure why people resent paying for having waste removed so much. Not just green waste, but any waste. When you're lucky enough to live in a reasonably sized house with outdoor space, it goes with the territory. If you lived in a Coronation Street, two up, two down or a flat, you wont have as much outlay. But most of us try to climb the housing ladder. I have two bins and still go to the tip regularly. I'm actually pleased they don't charge even though I'm doing the work.
I'm going to go off on a tangent. If this homeowner had drank free tea and coffee at work he'd enjoy it. If his boss said he had to start popping to Tesco on the way home ( say ten miles out of his way ) to buy the tea bags, for no extra money or petrol cash, he'd have been aghast. And rightly so. Nobody thinks you should get a wage for a job, and then have surprise deductions taken out. If I'm earning £30 an hour and it takes me 30 minutes to the tip and back, I want an extra £15 even before any council fees are incurred. How can anyone disagree with that. The only way I'd be flexible is if I was amalgamating waste for several customers and I could share the costs out.
But this customer didn't even attempt to discuss the possibilities or compromise. You were very restrained mate. He insinuated you were feckless and I think if you'd have argued he would have accused you of profiteering. But he was the one getting it all wrong. He'd miss you more than you'd miss him. You could work for me but I wouldn't work for him.
Hello Pete Charlie into Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas the Tank Engine will be at Llangollen Railway in 2025 as part of the "Day Out With Thomas" event:
When: April 17–19, 2025 .. If you are looking for A day out in the new year. he was watching Thomas on your vid….CHEERS
This is exactly me! So annoying. Sometimes I wish I thought about my money rather than wanting their garden to look perfect!
Mouth was Okay erm, okay erm (inside your head you were gearing yourself up to say no, you sort it ) 😂😂
Pete, do you know if Brad from grass cut plus is all good? Hasn’t posted for a while.
Customers know you can't take rubbish away for free. They know it's factored into the price somewhere. Make sure you clearly communicate what your quote includes and doesn't include every single time you take on new clients. After that if they are ignorant and stupid enough to think that you can sometimes take away rubbish particularly larger amounts of rubbish at no extra charge then it's time to let them go. Sometimes the best jobs are the ones you don't do. Nice videos by the way 👍
Couple of things.
1, at weekly or bi-weekly gardens, I try to never cut more than the bin will take. Grass, weeds, then a shrub or two. If its more then I never say its this much for the job and this much to take the waste away. One price and thats that.
2, I've been to a garden recently where I asked to plug in a charger for a battery. Plugged in, charged up and at the end she asked for a £10 off because I used her electricity. I was stunned. She doesn't pay for a bin, so I charged her £20 to take the waste away. It was only two wheelie bin sized bags.
Some people would have you working your arse off for nothing. As a few youtubers have said, it's a business not a charity. Great vid.
If it’s per dumpy bag how much do you charge?
I had a house where the customer was never there so I use to Keep full bags there but charge. Then when I had 10-12 bags I’d do a tip run. Unfortunately the customer now lives there so I can’t do that no more
Sometimes If it’s just the odd bag I’ll will take it home on a night then go to the tip in my car to dump it off. It’s a hassle but it rarely happens. I sometimes use other customers bins if it’s collection day or the day before collection day.
I also go to a farm once a fortnight and they have a massive pile of waste. I sometimes use that but don’t take the piss.
Anything over 4/5 bags I go to the pay for garden waste and try to charge £5 a bang or a van load at £40.
Got a lwb vivaro. Fits loads in and my tools.
Few little tricks. It is a little bit cheeky but no one’s ever said anything
Hi Pete, I’m trying to reduce the amount of customers that cancel on me when they deem the garden doesn’t need much attention for the upcoming visit, and to miss this visit and come in a fortnight.
Do you run more of a subscription style? Where you outline specifically how many visits a year you will be doing and a visit is only missed if yourself as the gardener says so?
Hi Pete all the best to your family for the wedding. I had a problem once when i was told by a customer the council refused to take a bin away because it was to heavy. So i phoned the council up in front of the customer, and told them, yes the bin was full but the lid was closed, which is the one reason they won't take a bin. I told them my age and that i could move the bin and if the bin men cannot do the job that we pay for they should look at the people they are hiring. They emptied the bin the next day. Jesus the bins are on wheels, the truck lifts the waste into the truck, i remember the days they use to where special jackets flat caps and carry the bins on there backs while smoking a fag😂
Id just bin it mate had the same problem myself a few times. Waste is £x amount and if your not able to pay the waste charge im afraid we cant offer our services 👍
Beautiful job on these hedges, they look amazing !!! He should have paid you to haul the clippings away. You, Maria and the kids have a great weekend ✨✨✨✨✨
I would have just walked away after this,when they feel that you nice they will take advantage of you,you can be nice but firm.i noticed more so older people acting like smart asses,and seem they dont really understand what you are saying to them.had a customer complain about my fuel charge,he expected me to include fuel cost in my hourly rate,never returned to him,got 2 more customers who just wanted to know what was the total no questions asked
Hi Pete, tbh I didn't like the customers tone and attitude to this. You're a good egg and it was nice of you to take it away. What I do in this situation is loan them the bulk backs to keep the waste in untill theres room in the bin. My council will let you have up to 3 green bins and discount the lift fees on the extra ones. Also if he gave the binmen a drink I'm sure it would've been gone 😀👍
Yes this is true I say to the customer that there will be a charge for waste if I can chip it I will but everything has to be paid for there is no getting it for free I'm afraid
I explain to every new customer that waste disposal is chargeable and I need to pay for a waste disposal licence from SEPA(Scotland) and to have the waste processed.If they want to take care of the waste then they have to provide either an area where I will pile it up or bags to put it in.The problem is there’s too many “businesses” that say they will take the waste away as part of the price and that waste will be dumped at the entrance of a farmers field or by the side of the road.Keep up the good work👍
Bloke was mega rude about it though 🥴
Ive had to drill a customers brown bin at the bottom to let out the sap from cuttings as the weight of the bin is measured on the bin wagon ( to heavy = reject)
Councils eh
Mulch it up with the mower and send back under his hedge ?
We always make it clear from the get-go the price per bag, unless it’s on a quote where we estimate the amount of bags + 2 incase we’re wrong! Good video as always!
Have the same problem with one of mine, just one brown bin. The garden at times generates a lot of waste, like when i do the hedge's etc. they don't want to pay extra to take it away, and i don't want to take it away for nothing, and to be honest it's a pain to take it.especially if i have another job after,So i gave them a couple of bags. So i fill them when needed, leave them there, and then get rid of it in the brown bin when its empty a bit at a time,it does take a while, but i do it in the time I'm payed for on each weekly visit. It is a bit of a nusiance, but it's either that or pay more or get someone else. Ps don't tell anyone but i do have another customer/ friend with a huge garden that lets me take rubbish to their pile for free, it was their offer many years ago now, it's so nice, i wouldn't want to loose them now. I think when/ if you go back, you need to tell them, you did it as a favour the one time, but you can't keep doing it, for all the reasons. some people just think they can take advantage of you.I Like the tattoo gardener rap tune, is that you doing it? 😊