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Tip: When an account manager said that the birch trees on a large condominium property looked sick, Ed Laflamme, CCLP, couldn't understand why. The answer to that question and the solution to the problem may surprise you.

When an account manager said that the birch trees on a large condominium property looked sick, Ed Laflamme, CCLP, couldn't understand why. At the time, he operated Laflamme Services, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the property where the trees were located was a relatively new client.

"I asked our arborist to take a look at the trees," Laflamme remembers. "Between us, we thought the curled, browning leaves looked more like some kind of chemical burn rather than the result of any disease or infestation. So we waited a couple of days to make sure. After checking our records, we discovered that one of our employees had, in fact, sprayed the trees a few days earlier. When the trees' condition worsened, chemical burn was the only answer."

By now, the condominium had called inquiring about its trees. Laflamme talked to the applicator and learned, after a rather intense interview session, that the weed killer used in a previous application was never properly purged from the tank. The residual material was what was killing the trees .

The truth hurt, especially after the landscape contractor put a pencil to the damages. Replacing 12 mature birch trees, valued at more than several thousand dollars each, would be costly. Yet, the client had to know the truth. Laflamme explained that his company was at fault and asked the condominium board members what they wanted him to do. The answer? Since they didn't like the birch trees anyway, the board asked Laflamme to replace them with 12 white pines that would block their view of a neighbor. If he would take down the sick trees, landscape the area, and plant the white pines at a different location, they would be more than satisfied. Laflamme obliged and recouped most of the replacement costs from his insurance company.

End of story. Not quite. After researching the incident a little further, Laflamme discovered that the applicator had no reason to have weed killer in his spray tank. He had been moonlighting and had used weed killer on a property the night before he sprayed the birch trees. Laflamme terminated his company's relationship with the employee. In the meantime, the condominium board had found new respect for a company that admitted it made a mistake and was quick to rectify the situation, in any way the client wanted.

Says Laflamme, "Honesty is always the best policy. We came out of the situation in pretty good shape. It didn't cost us much, the client was happy, and we uncovered an employee who was taking advantage of us." What started out as a mystery had a near perfect ending.

By Ed Laflamme, CCLP
Grass Roots Consulting
Norwalk, CT
dlaflamme@hotmail.com
(as told to Rod Dickens, ALCA Contributing Writer)