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Business is business, send him a bill for the full amount. Let the chips fall where they may.
Business is business, but if you go with an uninsured business I think it's on you if you wind up eating mistakes. If he's not insured I'd check to see if possibly your homeowners would cover, take the black mark and call it an expensive lesson.
If people see his truck at your house often they could safely assume he is your pool guy who is doing a good job. So they would then use him. Just a thought. Even if you never revealed to the neighbors he cost you $1000.
I would ask for insurance money from his company. If he doesn't have it, then at least some money plus free service. You'd have to keep a close eye on that service though.
Too bad the companies in this area are not good for you because I would want to fire the guy as soon as I got the amount from him I felt I was owed.
I'm guessing that he hasn't offered to pay you directly because he doesn't have the money. When he understood the cost to be $200, he offered a free month of service. If the bill is $1000, that's a lot of free service and, from his perspective, perhaps there's no guarantee that you will keep him after 5 months of free service.
Personally, I would let it go. He's young, he does a good job, he screwed up, and having to pay the bill might be a real hardship.
Is there a valve that can be added to the hose to automatically shut off the water after a specific time interval?
I'm guessing that he hasn't offered to pay you directly because he doesn't have the money. When he understood the cost to be $200, he offered a free month of service. If the bill is $1000, that's a lot of free service and, from his perspective, perhaps there's no guarantee that you will keep him after 5 months of free service.
Personally, I would let it go. He's young, he does a good job, he screwed up, and having to pay the bill might be a real hardship.
Is there a valve that can be added to the hose to automatically shut off the water after a specific time interval?
Sounds like you understand why I'm feeling so conflicted. As you say, he's young and this expense may be a hardship for him.
Good idea about a timer for the valve. I'll have to search and see if such a thing exists.
For now, I was going to suggest as a "fail safe" that he put his truck keys by the hose spigot, so that he couldn't possibly drive away without thinking about that spigot. However, I suspect he'll never, ever forget again, at anyone's pool, for as long as he lives! (I say that based on the obsessive routine I go through to prevent locking my keys in a car, after doing so 30 years ago causing massive inconvenience. Never again!)
Timers like that are cheap--you don't need a pool-specific timer. If Brian continues to make your pool look great, and doesn't make any more mistakes for 6 months or so, ask him if he'll give you $500 worth of free cleanings in exchange for a referral.
...and recommend that he buy some timers (they're like $40), etch them, or attach a tag, with his name and phone number and give them as a 'free gift' to new clients so he doesn't get sued in the future.
This is an area I feel pretty strongly that the business should pay the full cost. Reality is he should just straight cut you a check. If you want to cut him a break, I would offer to take 50% off the bill per month for however many months (since I am sure he has some hard costs servicing your property) until he has paid the full cost.
Your portion of his mistake should be $0.
I agree it's a pretty understandable mistake, but if you want to be in business, that's part of the game. He needs to price these understandable mistakes into his monthly price or insurance against it. Simple as that.
If the much higher water bills aren't a financial hardship for you, I'd recommend letting him know the actual cost of his mistake and ask him for additional months of "free" pool service. That will help you recoup the money over time for the higher water bills without him taking an out-of-pocket hit all at once.
I personally would not recommend putting in a homeowners claim, especially since this is a second home - with a pool - two higher risk issues. If you wind up suffering other, more significant losses in the future, you may find it difficult to get coverage - from what I hear.
Business is business, send him a bill for the full amount. Let the chips fall where they may.
I think exactly the opposite of this.
"A good man is hard to find" especially when you're not on site much. TRUST! Do you have that with Brian? When a second home is in play, different rules apply.
It was a mistake. You shouldn't have to pay for it. But, the guy could also have said, "goodbye", and you'd be stuck suing someone from off. Now, whatcha gonna do?
Only you can evaluate the risk/reward here. Good luck!
Sounds like you understand why I'm feeling so conflicted. As you say, he's young and this expense may be a hardship for him.
Good idea about a timer for the valve. I'll have to search and see if such a thing exists.
For now, I was going to suggest as a "fail safe" that he put his truck keys by the hose spigot, so that he couldn't possibly drive away without thinking about that spigot. However, I suspect he'll never, ever forget again, at anyone's pool, for as long as he lives! (I say that based on the obsessive routine I go through to prevent locking my keys in a car, after doing so 30 years ago causing massive inconvenience. Never again!)
Or put up a sign on the gate/exit from the pool
"make sure water is off"
and any other thing you think is needed
I have signs up on the doors because the roommate is known to leave doors wide open
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