Downed oak took out my fence last Thursday and the homeowner blamed me

I did a risk assessment on that red oak in their backyard 3 years ago and flagged the hollow trunk, but they said it looked fine and refused the $850 removal. Last Thursday the whole thing came down in a mild storm, took out 40 feet of their fence, and now they're yelling that I should have pushed harder. How do you handle clients who ignore your findings and then flip the blame when the tree fails?

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1 Comment

angela68713d ago

Three years ago you told them exactly what would happen, and they still ignored it. I feel for you, that's a frustrating spot to be in when you did your job right. I've had similar calls where people want a magic guarantee, but trees do what they want. You can't make someone spend money they don't want to spend, no matter how clear you are about the risk.