Jobs You Can Never Get Away From

[LuckOrJudgement 437]

Had mole traps in the garden of this fine pad for 7 days, caught three moles. Great.

 

Left the traps a further 3 days - just in case a straggler turns up (the lawn is billiard table spec) - nothing.

 

Knock on the door to collect the money, only to be frog marched to the other end of the property where the lady of the house says she has just found more workings.

 

Don't get me wrong - they all count, it's just that this feller has obviously been rooting around this patch for a few days - and I could have mopped him up with the rest of 'em if I'd have known he was there.

 

One thing I have learnt about mole catching - no two jobs are the same and it's often the 'human factor' not the 'mole factor' that makes it that way.

 

 

[Torquemada 288]

Frog marched is it? I'd have told them to go %$£* themselves.

[trappa 517]

This was the reason I changed my pricing policy. I used to charge £X for catching the mole/s but on third and "final" visit was casually told there was some activity near the tennis courts which meant 2/3 more visits and my profit totally gone. Now i charge for initial set up and X per visit so I can happily go back as many times as they want

[Rowan 308]

I've a charge for the first 4 visits and then extra for each visit thereafter , been caught too many times.

[Torquemada 288]

And what happens if you get one of the tricky beggars that takes a bit of catching?

[LuckOrJudgement 437]

Frog marched is it? I'd have told them to go %$£* themselves.

It's the upper classes. They love a bit of role-play; gets them all horny for the days when they could have a struggling mole catcher deported to the colonies.

Anyway, caught old warp in the rose garden. Bill paid, job done.

Edited August 10, 2017 by LuckOrJudgement

[Rowan 308]

And what happens if you get one of the tricky beggars that takes a bit of catching?

If that happens , maybe once a year , i charge a max of 4 extra visits and then make it a matter off pride to catch it.

[Pirate 9000 675]

You have to be carful with them garden mole jobs they can go on for ever, I change a high price if they don't like it get someone else, can be more trouble than their worth if you're busy with bigger job's.

[Phil Lloyd 10,736]

Garden jobs are my bread and butter,...I used to trap vast estates for moles,...but now, I enjoy a far less stressful existence,..gardens are good...

[Pirate 9000 675]

Your not getting to old for the big jobs are you phll or just to wise.

[Phil Lloyd 10,736]

Fair play....but honestly,...it is strictly a case of profit...

I still love taking on, a large acreage of silage,.but the facts are,..the large Mansion houses and country gardens are far better payers,... for far less labor...

So,..what would any sane man do ???

 

It has taken me several decades to arrive at this most fortuitous situation,..it wasn't easy, but now I have this market, I'll not return to the slog, of rural trapping

Edited August 13, 2017 by Phil Lloyd

[LuckOrJudgement 437]

90 % of my work is gardens. I don't see that changing either. My aim is to build the business close to home and try not to get lured too far away. It's the price of diesel that eats the profit, not the tricky moles.

[Gravy 18]

This was the reason I changed my pricing policy. I used to charge £X for catching the mole/s but on third and "final" visit was casually told there was some activity near the tennis courts which meant 2/3 more visits and my profit totally gone. Now i charge for initial set up and X per visit so I can happily go back as many times as they want

Does this work well for you?

 

If I was the customer would think perhaps you are not very good or trying to rip me off as you charge every visit, so would be in your interest not to catch quickly?

[Gravy 18]

You have to be carful with them garden mole jobs they can go on for ever, I change a high price if they don't like it get someone else, can be more trouble than their worth if you're busy with bigger job's.

What is a high price?

[trappa 517]

 

This was the reason I changed my pricing policy. I used to charge £X for catching the mole/s but on third and "final" visit was casually told there was some activity near the tennis courts which meant 2/3 more visits and my profit totally gone. Now i charge for initial set up and X per visit so I can happily go back as many times as they want

Does this work well for you?

 

If I was the customer would think perhaps you are not very good or trying to rip me off as you charge every visit, so would be in your interest not to catch quickly?

 

Best thing I ever did. I tell them it will be the initial visit plus one possibly two more visits 99% of the time. Im a molecatcher turned pesty and very good at catching moles and the customer is virtually always over the moon. Ive seen pestys turned molecatchers though that couldnt catch a cold never mind a mole, they couldnt do it. As for being in my interest not to catch quickly, no. Im not out to screw the customer, im a firm believer in a fair price for a good job and I want to be the first person my customer rings back for when they have a problem . Sounds corny but i really try to do a first class job every time but charge a fair price. Its like in winter when im full time on farms i charge £15 an hour and im more than happy with that. If i charged per mole and gave a bill for £1k to a farmer for a weeks work he would never ring me again.