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[Bruno of NH]

Do you help customers load their cars or suv' s?
My famous hired man helped load a 12' x 28" pine slab today out back.
When the kid came to pay me at the mill he acted funny.
When he left my hired man asked me if the kid told me about the windshield. 
I said no . My man said the kid broke it.
I don't belive my hired man.
He was on the pushing end.

[YellowHammer]

The short answer is no.  Never. If you do and break something, or tear up the upholstery, or whatever, you'll have to pay for it if the customer insists, unless you have it on the security camera and can prove you didn't do it. 

Also, if the load falls out in the road and kills someone, you will be liable because you were the "professional" and the customer just did what you suggested.  So it wasn't his fault, it was yours.  

One the other hand, the long answer yes, I do occasionally to help the old or infirm, but only if it's done correctly.  The idiots, no.  

I had a lady ask me to load some wood in her snow leopard white leather Tesla, and when I refused, she said it was OK because it was her husband's car and the they were getting divorced anyway.  Hoo boy.

[Davek603]

Nope, people do stupid things. They put loads on that don't belong. They don't tie down right, the list goes on. I tell em it's just like Home Depot, load yourself. No way do I need someone coming back blaming me. You wouldn't believe loads that have left my yard!

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'd call the kid if it was me and ask him if my guy was pushing the board. If he said my guy was pushing I'd buy him a new windshield. If the kid was pushing I'd say he was responsible.

   I do help my customers slide boards off my tractor or atv on to their truck or SUV bed. I also will cut the boards or slabs to shorter length on my RAS if it is too long for their bed.

[Magicman]

My first year of sawing I sold lumber.  During that short time I watched lumber being hauled in about every way imaginable including one time the lumber was passed through the rear sliding window and was resting on the dashboard.  :  Another time it was passed under the truck and tied to the bumpers as well as whatever they to tie it to underneath the truck. 

[Brad_bb]

Yeah, avoid it if at all possible.  I get scared when giving away firewood  and loading their trailer with the skid steer.  If I damage something, they'll expect me to pay for it, despite the fact that I'm not charging them for wood.

[Southside]

If he said my guy was pushing I'd buy him a new windshield

Yup - with money I held back from the hired mans check at this point.  Then send the hired man packing for lying to me.  

[Bruno of NH]

The hired man is on his way out.
I have a plan in place for replacement. 

[Walnut Beast]

Good For you Bruno. You have patiently put up with a lot of stuff he did. New start for you and maybe he will learn the hard way from the experience 

[WV Sawmiller]

If he said my guy was pushing I'd buy him a new windshield

Yup - with money I held back from the hired mans check at this point.  Then send the hired man packing for lying to me.  

The only issue here is you'd have a "he said-she said" situation unless there are other witnesses. I'd give the customer the benefit of the doubt to the tune of a new windshield but not to the point of withholding pay or firing.

   If you plan to replace the guy for other reasons go ahead but I'd want more than this incident to fire him without positive proof he is lying which looks hard to get.

   Hey, buts that just me. You do what you feel is right.

[Magicman]

When the kid came to pay me at the mill he acted funny. When he left my hired man asked me if the kid told me about the windshield. I said no . My man said the kid broke it.

At this point there is no reason to blame the hired man except suspicion.  He is the one that brought the matter to you, not the kid.  They could have switched ends while loading that particular board.  If it indeed was the hired man, surely the customer will contact you and I would be inclined to leave the matter alone until then.

None of this should have any effect on whether the hired man stays or leaves unless you find out that he lied.

[doc henderson]

sounds like the customer was acting strange, so he may be upset but not the type to say anything.  but he may go around and tell other you broke his windshield.  I would be tempted to contact them and tell them you were made aware of it.  he may say it was all his fault.  he may reveal something else.  It does sound like it is time to have a sit down with you employee.  I do something similar.  I do not nickel and dime folks, as we get a percentage of complaints from some people impossible to make happy.  but if I keep hearing the same complaints, and the individual makes excuses, it is time for a sit down.  If the customer sounds upset you have the option to pay for the windshield, and change the story that they tell others.

[WV Sawmiller]

Lynn,

   My thoughts are as Doc describes - I don't want a customer leaving with ill will and spreading it to others. I would want to put the issue to bed.

   I'm tolerant (Gullible?) enough not to fire an employee for unsubstantiated claims. I'd have thought the customer would have come to me immediately if he felt my guy was responsible. 

[Magicman]

Yes I agree with Doc's response, and I also would reach out to the customer.

I was taking it as the kid was the customer's hired man, not the actual customer.  If that was the case, then I figured that the customer would contact Bruno.  I agree that an unhappy customer is a bad reference and very unlikely to be a repeat customer.

[Southside]

I don't belive my hired man

This is the root of the problem here. Bruno has good reason to feel this way given multiple prior incidents.  It really does not matter who did what to the windshield, but when you can't trust people working for you there is a serious issue.  

Have not mentioned it here but a couple local members know about an incident that happened earlier this week.   A guy I know was doing some work with me on the farming side of things for some hay on shares.  He took my tedder to go work a field - all fine at that point.  But then he gave the tractor and tedder to his hired man, whom is a lot like Brunos from the description, something I did not know, have actually mentioned before I would not allow, and was anything but fine.  Within 1/2 hour the guy had totaled the tedder.  Actually didn't stop until his boss heard some bad noises and told him to stop.  Now this is a 2 week old machine, with 50 acres on it.  The hired man stood right there and said nothing happened, he didn't notice anything, but it was making noise at some point, must be a defective machine.  When you look at the damage it's clear that is a bald faced lie.  So now "we" have a problem, and I am left dealing with the mess.  

Point - if you can't trust people working with you then they need to go.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   I don't think any of us disagree the hired guy should go because of loss of confidence/trust in him. Justification enough. 

    The issue is do you replace the windshield? If any indication he broke the windshield I'd pay for it as a good will gesture - regardless of whether I intended to retain the employee.

    I guess I am going to quit moaning about working alone so much of the time. :D

[K-Guy]

This is always the problem when you have employees. I imagine a similar conversation took place many times during the building of the pyramids.  :

[Jim_Rogers]

I had a conversation with my wife about me borrowing her son's riding lawn mower to do our vacate lot. I told her I would not even think of asking to borrow a tool, like that, from anyone.
I would not ever lend a tool like that to anyone, I'd do the job for them myself with my machine before I'd lend it out.
I learned that lesson many years ago, loaning out a hand tool to another student at a timber framing course in Maine.
I asked him for my tool back and he had loaned it out to another student and he didn't even know who had it.
I was very upset and decided right there and then to never loan out tools ever again.
Jim Rogers

[LogPup]

I was an O/O in the moving business for 35 years. If I broke something first thing let the claims dept know if I couldn't fix it. Second thing show the customer what you did and let them know it was being handled. They might not be happy but the would be more upset if you tried to hide it.

[trimguy]

I am responsible for my employees actions while at work . If they mess something up or do something wrong , I'm responsible to fix it , or replace it. I would talk to the customer. I know you have other reasons to let this employee go, but I can't stand a liar !!! If they lie they will steal.

[terrifictimbersllc]

This is always the problem when you have employees. I imagine a similar conversation took place many times during the building of the pyramids.  :

Somebody's ancestors did that, stacked um n left um.  :D

[Bruno of NH]

This is always the problem when you have employees. I imagine a similar conversation took place many times during the building of the pyramids.  :

Somebody's ancestors did that, stacked um n left um.  :D

:D