Beggars belief

If you lived closer I'd have sent you our gardener over to do the work for free along with a crate of beers in exchange for the one off use of your mower.

Our ride-on mower has just had a complete gearbox breakdown after 10 or so years of use. Self contained gearbox unit so not financially viable to fix. £4k bill to replace the tractor so needless to say the decision of what to get next isn't being rushed into.

We used the back up petrol push mower for an acre or so last week but it took a days solid labour and the amount times it had to be emptied was ridiculous. The rest has just been left to nature of the time being - unfortunately the wild rabbits appear to be loving it...
 
viv1969 said:
Cash in hand is tax evasion...not avoidance lol
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Cash in hand is not tax evasion. It's the failure to declare it properly to HMR&C that is evasion. :sneaky:
 
Perhaps advertise for an unskilled labourer who doesn't have gardening skills/knowledge. Obviously, you would need to supervise as they may not know the difference between weeds and that prized plant, or may accidently break the expensive equipment. Experienced gardeners will want the going rate.

Edit : crossed with your last post. Glad you got it sorted.
 
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ACW said:
If you lived closer I'd have sent you our gardener over to do the work for free along with a crate of beers in exchange for the one off use of your mower.

Our ride-on mower has just had a complete gearbox breakdown after 10 or so years of use. Self contained gearbox unit so not financially viable to fix. £4k bill to replace the tractor so needless to say the decision of what to get next isn't being rushed into.

We used the back up petrol push mower for an acre or so last week but it took a days solid labour and the amount times it had to be emptied was ridiculous. The rest has just been left to nature of the time being - unfortunately the wild rabbits appear to be loving it...
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The robot ones look quite good. There are some designed for golf courses. They start from a few grand for the sort that will do a few acres. One of their plus points is they supposedly outlast the ride on mower sort. You just leave them to it and they mow.
 
Byker28i said:
My window cleaner is £25. It's not 7.5 mins work though is it, what about travel time, setup time,

...or should we apply only the time photographers take photos... Bloody ripoff those wedding photographers... :D
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His van is parked across the street. He does many others in the local area. Travel time is 5 minutes from the next village. Takes him less than a minute to set (bang) his ladder against the bedroom window. Honest, I set my phone on timer and it was 7m22secs for front and back windows and one of them is a large sliding patio door.
It takes a lot longer to set up a shoot, and hopefully a lot longer to learn photography, so an unfair comparison IMV! :)
 
Our own Gardeners

Ride on Mowers

My O My...........We are doing OK
 
viv1969 said:
Please stop comparing a gardener to a wedding photographer lol :LOL:
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Quite

gardeners take a long time and a lot of effort to get good at what they do, need expensive kit, liability insurance etc , and struggle to convince some naive parties that they are worthwhile proffesionals not easily replaced by any halfwit with some entry level kit.

clear theres no similarity whatsoever :rolleyes:
 
archangel said:
4 Apple trees need taken to bonfire (I have them already cut up ) lawn cut (4 acres with brand new John Deere) and general gardening..'.... it is more than the living wage and I pay for lunch break etc
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Well, clearly you have discovered that the market rate is more than 8 pound an hour. Nothing to do with greed or disillusionment, them's just the facts.
 
POAH said:
£8 per hour is more than I currently earn. if a job is advertised at £8 why phone up and say you'll do
it for more.
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Sometimes employers need to be educated in what is the correct rate for the job.
 
chadders said:
Sometimes employers need to be educated in what is the correct rate for the job.
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Or not. He got someone to do the job at the rate he was willing to pay.
 
viv1969 said:
Or not. He got someone to do the job at the rate he was willing to pay.
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He advertised for a gardener I believe, not a labourer.
 
chadders said:
He advertised for a gardener I believe, not a labourer.
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Job's still being done, for the rate quoted.
Doesn't mean every jumped up wannabe "gardener" needs to call him up and advise him the error of his ways.
Anyone seeing the advert and not willing to do it at that rate should have simply moved on instead of getting all shirty about it.
 
viv1969 said:
Job's still being done, for the rate quoted.
Doesn't mean every jumped up wannabe "gardener" needs to call him up and advise him the error of his ways.
Anyone seeing the advert and not willing to do it at that rate should have simply moved on instead of getting all shirty about it.
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Well for starters I don't think the OP ever mentioned that anyone was getting "shirty" over anything or indeed, advising him of the error of his ways. That's just some spin you are putting on it.
If someone shows a bit of initiative by calling up and quoting a different rate, then where's the problem in that? The prospective employer is under no obligation to accept and the only loser is the guy who has called up, to the tune of a phone call.

I must say I find your use of the term "jumped up wannabe gardener" pejorative. You have no way of knowing who spoke to the OP and what their background and qualifications might be. You are merely making assumptions.

As to my point, it's simply that some people (let's call them employers for convenience) advertise for workers with only a hazy idea of what the going rate for that work is. Usually the rate they offer is what they'd like to pay as opposed to the market rate for the job. It seems that in the OP's case he eventually got what he was looking for at the rate he wanted to pay.
 
chadders said:
Well for starters I don't think the OP ever mentioned that anyone was getting "shirty" over anything or indeed, advising him of the error of his ways. That's just some spin you are putting on it.
If someone shows a bit of initiative by calling up and quoting a different rate, then where's the problem in that? The prospective employer is under no obligation to accept and the only loser is the guy who has called up, to the tune of a phone call.

I must say I find your use of the term "jumped up wannabe gardener" pejorative. You have no way of knowing who spoke to the OP and what their background and qualifications might be. You are merely making assumptions.

As to my point, it's simply that some people (let's call them employers for convenience) advertise for workers with only a hazy idea of what the going rate for that work is. Usually the rate they offer is what they'd like to pay as opposed to the market rate for the job. It seems that in the OP's case he eventually got what he was looking for at the rate he wanted to pay.
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@chadders
Some excellent points put forth in a calm and rational manner.

Are you sure you're in the right place? :lol:
 
viv1969 said:
@chadders
Some excellent points put forth in a calm and rational manner.

Are you sure you're in the right place? :LOL:
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My analyst assures me I'll be OK here, as long as I keep taking the medication. :wacky:
 
chadders said:
As to my point, it's simply that some people (let's call them employers for convenience) advertise for workers with only a hazy idea of what the going rate for that work is. Usually the rate they offer is what they'd like to pay as opposed to the market rate for the job. It seems that in the OP's case he eventually got what he was looking for at the rate he wanted to pay.
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I had an idea what the going rate for a labourer...i.e. £8 as this is the least I pay any of my employees/work associates...... my average rate of pay is between £10 and £15 for an experienced employee depending on job...... I made the mistake of referring to a gardener instead of a labourer.......which is really what I needed.....and yes that was the rate that I wanted to pay considering I was paying them through their lunch break and supplying lunch and jaffa cakes..... that means his take home pay £320 for 32.5 hours actual work if you deduct lunch and tea breaks equates to £9.81......and that is not including the cost of his food for lunch or his jaffa cakes. Which I am sure would cost him at least a fiver a day so there is another £25 so really he has got approx £345 so his rate of pay is now nearly £11 per hour.....:eek:
 
You might have got a better deal asking a contractor to price for the job - it would probably have cost about the same but when they are on price work they generally get it done a lot faster
 
archangel said:
supplying lunch and jaffa cakes.....
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If he doesn't turn up give me a shout,
I could handle that :thumbs:

Besides, 32.5 hours a week?
Blimey I could do that, in my previous job, in a couple of days.
You are far too soft!
 
Cobra said:
If he doesn't turn up give me a shout,
I could handle that :thumbs:

Besides, 32.5 hours a week?
Blimey I could do that, in my previous job, in a couple of days.
You are far too soft!
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It is actually forty hours but that includes lunch and tea breaks
 
Cobra said:
What are they?
I say again, you are far too kind.
(and I'm not kidding either ;) )
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I hear you......I got no lunch today and had to settle for a pack of Doritos and a wispa @ 3 o'clock.......also missed tea breaks......yesterday was similar......
 
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