Sunday, February 17, 2013

Wrong end of the stick........

Have you ever had one of those conversations where you have no idea what on earth is going on?

Last week I called into a friends house to drop off some magazines.  She was upset and in tears as she had just got a bill for over $2,400 for grass cutting/lawn maintenance for last year.  So I said that seems awfully high how much is he charging per week.  She said $200 and he also uses their equipment and gas/petrol and it takes him 3 hours.

This happened on the third day I had the headache so I said I'd think about the situation and get back to her.  I told dh all about it and he agreed with me that this guy was ripping them off and we couldn't understand why on earth he was just billing them now?

Fast forward to Monday and I called her to say would she be willing to pay $50 a week as I was going to call the schools and churches to see if any teenagers would do it for her.  This is how the conversation went:

Friend: "But I only pay $20 when the guy uses our equipment and $30 when he brings his own, plus it only takes him an hour."

Me: :But I thought you said he charged you $200 and it takes three hours?"

Friend: "That's the grass at the farm." (They have a farm and rent our the house to a lady who does no yard work, and rent the land to another farmer)

Me: "Oh you never said that?"

Friend: "Did I not?"

Me: "No, and did you speak to your son about all of this."

Friend: "Yes and he said not to worry as he had paid him."

Me: "So why was he giving you a bill now?"

Friend: "Because son told him too so I can submit it to the accountants."

So here's me thinking it was the house, and the bill wasn't expected and she had to pay it.  Meanwhile it was for the farm and the son paid it (as he should, as he is inheriting it when they die).  It also turns out he only charges $120  a week.  I still have no idea why she was so upset about all of this and why she couldn't sleep for two days because she had got this bill, especially when it had written on it PAID IN FULL?

I guess when you only get half a story you think the worst?  However it was very confusing......

13 comments:

j udy said...

I have a friend who does that often. Then I get upset and a few days later she will say "oh but I meant to say....." it makes me wanna scream

Debby said...

It is odd, Maybe at the time she didn't know her Son had paid the bill yet?

Unknown said...

It must be a common thing. I know people who get soooooooooo upset over something like the supermarket stopping selling a certain brand or a false nail getting a chip in it. It'snot like it's the end of the world is it!!!!

Evelyn said...

ummmmt that is strange, she should have explained it a bit more fully

Mysti said...

Did she get upset because she doesn't usually deal with any of this, and since it happened out of the blue, it threw her off? Even though all she really had to do was hand the paper to her son, she tried to process what the paper meant, and she got upset?

Jane and Chris said...

Sounds like the conversations I have with my Mum.
Jane x

Cindy@NorthofWiarton said...

Finding out you had only been given tidbits is very frustrating; I have intentionally tried to help then found out later there had been more to the story then initially told.. YIKES !

CannedAm said...

Gil, I have a friend who has had similar things happen. It really left me feeling very out of sorts and confused because it was quite unlike her. She had always been on top of things. Suddenly she didn't know things that she'd had quite a good grasp of previously. At first I chalked it up to stress. Then it continued. It turns out she has early onset Alzheimer's and now it is managed with medication, but I still see this kind of confusion and emotionalism that I'd never seen in her before.

Jane said...

Sounds like a big to do about nothing! Maybe she was having a bad day and that was the icing on the cake. Hoo boy!

peppylady (Dora) said...

I might not got this total correct. But there a yard maintenance business where I live and they base there job at $30 and hour.
Let say I want them to come out. First time I'll explain what I want from them and they'll do a dry run...If it take them 2 hours to do and each knew job is worth and extra hour...It would cost be $90. So for each time it will be $90....I figure the entire lawn season it run me about $1440.
I mowed lawn when I was young I got paid a one to five dollar depending on the size of the yard. Baby sitting was .50¢ an hour before midnight and after it was .75¢ an hour.

It seem like every little thing in life can be more complicated ...my friend hired a baby sitter and her accountant got wind of it and want the baby sitters social security number...she hired her own kids so it puts them in a spot...coffee is on.

Lena said...

That's weird! Maybe, she didn't know her son is going to pay for it after all?

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I'm still confused! :-) But how thoughtful of you Gill to try and help her out, you're a good friend both for listening and trying to help!

Rose said...

That is just strange! I would not know what to think.

{{{SIGH}}}

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