It seems all and sundry want to knock the gardening trade of late with the overly used term rogue trader being banded about all too often.
It gets quite wearing to hear my fellow professionals being kicked and kicked again by those who should know better, so it is rather pleasing to be able to report a couple of noble deeds by two members of our landscape and garden network.
Looking after elderly clients
Speaking from a position of experience I know that a gardening service is often more than lawn and border work.
Some clients view regular visits as being important to their well being with their gardener often becoming a friend and confidante.
Swansea based gardener John Pugh told recently how one of his elderly clients almost became the victim of a scam and how he informed Age Concern before any damage could be done.
John says: "taken a phone call from a business in England saying she had won 20k, but as she was a loyal customer it would be upgraded to 90k - the representative was coming down to present the cheque all he needed was her bank details (!!?)
"Well clearly this was a scam .....but she did not realise it ... the bank had warned her to not give her details to anybody but she took no notice of their advice .
"My conscience got the better of me and after a few worried days and I approached Age Concern . They contacted our local social service and two of their representatives will be there when this gentleman turns up next week."
In another example of the compassion some traders feel for their clients, Gordon told how an elderly client insisted he should charge for the time he spent chatting to him [the client] after he's finished his maintenance duties.
"Every time I say “must go now Arnold” he would say ”yes time is money, thank you for the chat”, and I would eventually get away, explains Gordon.
"This Monday however in conclusion of our chat he said “by the way do you charge me for the chat”. I suppose I was somewhat taken back and said "most certainly not", to which his immediate response was “then you must”, which took me back ever further."
These two cases won't be isolated of course: up and down the United Kingdom there will be many thousands of similar stories of good deeds being done by men and women who really care about what they do and the people they do it for.
It's time to stop talking about rogues in gardening, as the term is more representative of a scoundrel or cad.
Let's start labelling crooks in the way criminals should be labelled and give the real heroes of the profession the credit they so deserve.
All very well but "your fellow professionals" are well aware the rogue trader tag does not relate or apply to them. All us professionals that actually "trade" are well aware of what the term actually refers to and any honest trader that thinks it relates to them is either being misled by people who should equally know better or have misinterperated the message.
The rogue trader is a real and present threat to both honest traders and unsuspecting householders, ( especially the vulnerable ). Campaigning against them is wholly admirable, twisting that message for personal or misplaced reasons is either naive or damaging to the industry, ( I'm not sure which because the agenda os unclear at this point ).
If anyone disagrees with promoting good practice and driving out the rogue trader, ( mentioned once more for good measure )', I would be interested in their reasons why.
Posted by: Gary Cobb | Nov 22, 2011 at 08:03 PM
"All very well but "your fellow professionals" are well aware the rogue trader tag does not relate or apply to them."
Yes they do know that but the when the public read the statements made by a chairman of a national membership organisation they may be easily led into thinking that it applies to all gardeners who are not members of that organisation.
My agenda is clear: to promote good and honest landscapers and gardeners.
It's so easy (whether it's intentional or not) to be labelled something you are not.
Posted by: Philip Voice | Nov 23, 2011 at 08:59 AM
I agree with Gary - we cannot ignore this issue. But I also acknowledge that Phil is trying to promote good honest landscapers and gardeners.
Posted by: Gaynor Witchard | Nov 23, 2011 at 10:56 PM