Mole man - original fee and fee per mole

dl8860

dl8860

dl8860

Soldato
Joined
25 Jul 2010
Posts
4,149
Location
Worcestershire
Hired a mole man back in April, £100 to turn up and set up traps, £10 for each mole caught.

He first set up on 15/04 and caught first mole 17/04. He declared he though very likely that was the only culprit as it's not a huge garden and going by number of hills, so packed away the traps, but assured me if another popped up again soon he'd be back in a jiff.

22/04 a new hill appears, and he gets traps in the next day, second mole finally caught 11/05. Surely the end of it.

Last night another mole Hill. Text him this morning and he's now saying I'll need to pay another £100 callout to set up.

Is he taking the mick or, as he's saying it's "a couple months since original trapping", is the fee fair to pay again.

Obviously if I go and use someone else I'm going to be paying afresh. Do I say meet me halfway at £50 or should I stay firm and say its only 2.5 weeks since the last catch, so he still owes me this mole at £10/mole?
 
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"No Homer, that's Hans Moleman"
 
dl8860 said:
Last night another mole Hill. Text him this morning and he's now saying I'll need to pay another £100 callout to set up.

Is he taking the mick or, as he's saying it's "a couple months since original trapping", is the fee fair to pay again.
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If you're paying someone then I don't think its unreasonable to pay again after that time as they have to earn a living and getting rid of moles isn't an exact science as they can come from other property and generally be hard to eradicate.

I had to help get rid of loads that took up home in my parents garden and caused a right mess over a large area. We used traps and smokes for over a year but never completely eradicated them until we got so desperate up we used a ridiculous amount of petrol poured as quickly as possible through dozens of holes and then lit it from a distance. It was so effective it even blew up the runs across the garden as well but it was job done!

Not something for a small garden with nearby neighbours in case runs go into their property but that wasn't an issue. I still look back now and laugh at how we started so subtly but ended up going full Rambo!
 
Thought I must have posted in GD by mistake going by most of the replies...

Simon42 said:
If you're paying someone then I don't think its unreasonable to pay again after that time as they have to earn a living and getting rid of moles isn't an exact science as they can come from other property and generally be hard to eradicate.

I had to help get rid of loads that took up home in my parents garden and caused a right mess over a large area. We used traps and smokes for over a year but never completely eradicated them until we got so desperate up we used a ridiculous amount of petrol poured as quickly as possible through dozens of holes and then lit it from a distance. It was so effective it even blew up the runs across the garden as well but it was job done!

Not something for a small garden with nearby neighbours in case runs go into their property but that wasn't an issue. I still look back now and laugh at how we started so subtly but ended up going full Rambo!
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He's just text now offering a reduced rate after I didn't reply yesterday, so maybe that's fair.

I would love to nuke the tunnels, as I'm now worried it's going to be endemic with the network I have under my lawn, but I have neighbours close by.
 
If using traps (smokes were useless for us) I would just keep going even if catching some until you've got a good period clear of mounds. Then the issue is the existing runs which make it easy for new visitors. Traps are cheap to buy so perhaps worth getting some.

We found the runs were fairly easy to follow and weren't that deep, so after its clear for a while its worth trying to fill any near to neighbours properties. Perhaps dig along property line for a smaller garden and bury some cheap plastic border/strips of bamboo retainer plastic (not anything thin as they'll cut through it) under the grass by a few cm along the property line.

Then they cannot come in again easily from else where. The moles we had dug over a very large area as the garden was huge so the nuke them plan was easiest.
 
Haze said:
Still a pest though, and taking a life is taking a life, regardless of what it is or what it was doing wrong
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IMO It's a bit much killing a something just cos it makes a mess of your lawn. Quite different to kill something that wants to come into your house and eat your food and **** all over your kitchen. All depends what you define as a pest and what tolerance and regard you have for other living things.

Most people agree that trophy hunting is abhorrent whilst they continue eating meat. That's not considered by most people as an inconsistent or hypocritical position. Most people are happy to drive cars and contribute to wildlife roadkill, but don't go out badger-bating at the weekend. So no, taking a life isn't taking a life.
 
In five years you could own a moleskin hat. It'll cost a perfectly reasonable five grand though.
 
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