Gardener cuts through internet cable now threatening fly tipping

It is one of the differences between a good worker and not - if you watch some of the videos from people who do stuff like landscaping and roof cleaning, etc. they'll do an appraisal for stuff like that and beat themselves up a bit (maybe somewhat for the camera) if they forget to do it and make a mistake. But it is also something which can happen if a cable isn't obvious i.e. due to extreme overgrowth and/or in a stupid location it should never have been in the first place, etc.

I'm kind of 50/50 on this one as it sounds a bit like it was a case of a bit from column A, a bit from column B.
 
If it was going to cost the op some ££’s to get the cable fixed then I’d tend to agree he’d be due something from the gardener but if virgin are going to fix it for free, not so sure I’d be comfortable taking money of the gardener in that instance.
 
thedazman67 said:
I didn't lay the cable virgin media did. They normally put them in bright green trunking they didn't on this occasion. When they eventually get round to replacing the cable I'll request they use that trunking
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At my house the cable runs under the driveway, the installers dug up and relaid the concrete after laying the cable

But I've heard of stupid stories like installers laying the cable on top of or just under the soil or on top of fences lmao
 
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Grim5 said:
At my house the cable runs under the driveway, the installers dug up and relaid the concrete after laying the cable

But I've heard of stupid stories like installers laying the cable on top of or just under the soil or on top of fences lmao
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My VM cable is inside a green tube across top of soil from front of driveway up to house.
 
During covid and mid extension build, the builder had a grab lorry come to remove waste, and we quickly found out the VM cable was buried way too shallow and not protected or in any form of coloured sleeping. The builder was apologetic, offered to pay, but to save bad blood (he’s building an extension I don’t want sabotaged by pettinesss) I take it all up with VM, who agreed that it was a not installed correctly. Came out, sorted it and left it in a orange protective sheathing, so the builder could bury it more appropriately once done.
VM cheekily tried to charge me £200 despite verbally saying they wouldn’t.. so again took it up with VM, not the builder, because again, why antagonise them when I want the best job possible…

Its good the gardener was apologetic and offered, but I wouldn’t have taken him up on it and put that in VM for not installing it incorrectly, or maybe it was requested that way because it would be more visible if shrouded in a coloured tube and not aesthetically pleasing.
 
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dLockers said:
I think the gardener was testing to see if you were going to actually go through with it with his offer. 50 comp is neither here nor there, so presumably you are penalising him for you not running a cable properly that is easily replaced?

He's now throwing toys out of the pram just like you did, for what seems like a genuine accident because some numpty didn't lay a cable properly.
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Find myself agreeing. Accidents happen, may have genuinely forgot the cable in the garden, but he should have been warned about it before starting the job.

I expect he wont be back as said.
 
tom_e said:
LOL WUT?

That's quite a leap there.
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yeah, I edited that.. early morning and all.
But it was a mix of working from home which generally frees up time for things like this, and odd statements like
thedazman67 said:
Yeah I knew the cable was there I understand it was accident it could have happened to any gardener black cable on black tarmac it's hard to see.
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and
thedazman67 said:
Lucky or maybe they are just more competent at their job.
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and
We've had a bit of back and forth over the compensation amount these past few days
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I know 2 people who work from home, do about 2 days of actual work a week, and brag about all the free time and still get gardeners and house cleaners in, they are not very nice people with huge sense of entitlement and always having issues with everyone they employ.. it rather clouds my judgement, the OP just reminds me of this mindset.. Recognising it’s VM fault and persuing compo from the gardener is a bit mean spirited IMO
 
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Since when is it considered normal for the customer to be responsible for providing info on standard potential hazards to a paid professional? (yes cables are normal hazards they should be looking for).... not sure what world you guys live in but the gardener 100% should have asked the OP if he knew of any issues AND done a hazard assessment before starting work. His liability insurance would have required he outlined what steps he took to mitigate the risks before hand if it had been something more serious requiring a claim.

Accidents obviously happen, but it is certainly not the customers fault unless he deliberately withheld it when asked. Would have been great if he remembered to tell the gardener before hand, but it 100% was the gardeners liability for not asking/assessing.

I didn't expect the builder who did my extension to start hitting gas/water pipes if i didn't tell him where they were when he dug the foundations...whether they were in the expected depth/location or not. If i knew there was something abnormal and withheld it when asked...fine, but beyond that, it was his responsibility when doing the ground work.

Sounds like the whole situation went exactly as it should until the latter events with the fly tipping threat.
 
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dim_pwn said:
Since when is it considered normal for the customer to be responsible for providing info on standard potential hazards to a paid professional? (yes cables are normal hazards they should be looking for).... not sure what world you guys live in but the gardener 100% should have asked the OP if he knew of any issues AND done a hazard assessment before starting work. His liability insurance would have required he outlined what steps he took to mitigate the risks before hand if it had been something more serious requiring a claim.

Accidents obviously happen, but it is certainly not the customers fault unless he deliberately withheld it when asked. Would have been great if he remembered to tell the gardener before hand, but it 100% was the gardeners liability for not asking/assessing.

I didn't expect the builder who did my extension to start hitting gas/water pipes if i didn't tell him where they were when he dug the foundations...whether they were in the expected depth/location or not. If i knew there was something abnormal and withheld it when asked...fine, but beyond that, it was his responsibility when doing the ground work.

Sounds like the whole situation went exactly as it should until the latter events with the fly tipping threat.
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Mains services by design are put at depths and identified and/or protected so just casually gardening and digging over a border etc would not have you coming across them.. VM are notorious (as we found out) for negligently installing their services, they should be at an appropriate depth, covered in a bright coloured sheathing etc..

So yes, I can see why some might think the gardener is 100% at fault, it was his spade that cut through, but as the cable is installed so negligently (by VM) with the OP admitting ANY gardener might also have done the same thing that it seems a bit unreasonable.
Yeah I knew the cable was there I understand it was accident it could have happened to any gardener black cable on black tarmac it's hard to see.
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BTW, I don't think mowing a lawn, tidying up some borders (including digging over) etc should reasonably require any form of risk assessment and overly officious approach.. although I would say the gardener should have had a contract with some clause to cover non disclosed and negligently installed cables and infrastructure etc..
 
alphaomega16 said:
My VM cable is inside a green tube across top of soil from front of driveway up to house.
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Isn't everyones? I've even had to stamp down on loops of cable sticking out of the soil they're a nightmare to dig around or not hit with the mower
NickK said:
small claims court?
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For a verbal agreement? Its his word against OP's really hard to prove who said/did what and when and the court isn't free
 
the best way to deal with situations like these... is to raise the fault with virgin media themselves, explained what happened, and when you know the price of the fix, let the gardener know and deduct it from the bill. I would expect the gardener to pay for any damages that he has done on a job. If he is really worried about paying £50 he can claim it on his insurance which he will never do.

regarding fly tipping.... does the quote or invoice that he provided specify that he will take waste away?? didn't he get a wood chipper before the job? (depending how big the job is)
 
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Demon said:
Mains services by design are put at depths and identified and/or protected so just casually gardening and digging over a border etc would not have you coming across them.. VM are notorious (as we found out) for negligently installing their services, they should be at an appropriate depth, covered in a bright coloured sheathing etc..

So yes, I can see why some might think the gardener is 100% at fault, it was his spade that cut through, but as the cable is installed so negligently (by VM) with the OP admitting ANY gardener might also have done the same thing that it seems a bit unreasonable.
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Yeah it sucks....as i said, 100% agree that accidents can happen, and many of us would have done the same if the cable was laid that badly by VM. No arguments here on that.

Doesn't change the fact that liability still resides with the gardener. He is responsible for assessing his work space directly and indirectly (i.e. asking the client of any known issues).

If you drive into the back of someone, there are a 1000 scenario's where people might sympathise that it was unavoidable...but ultimately, it's your fault.

Some restitution for damage incurred is more than fair and everything went as it should up until the end it seems.
 
Blackjack Davy said:
Isn't everyones? I've even had to stamp down on loops of cable sticking out of the soil they're a nightmare to dig around or not hit with the mower

For a verbal agreement? Its his word against OP's really hard to prove who said/did what and when and the court isn't free
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This is my one
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