Thank you for choosing us to help you with your project! Following are our Terms of Trade - in other words, what you can expect from us, and what you undertake to do, too. It's all really basic and friendly, but has to be said, and is designed to ensure smooth relations between us all! These Terms of Trade are subject to change without prior notice.

1/     Conduct and Professionalism
 
We undertake to supply persons and equipment that are fit and proper for the task at hand, and that all people coming to your property are trustworthy, honest, and generally pleasant to deal with!
 
All staff members coming to work at your property will be appropriately trained and competent to carry out the required tasks. If this is not the case (due to training), such a person will be under our direct supervision at all times, and your approval will have been sought before our arrival.
 
We will completely respect your privacy. We will only open the gates required for machinery access to work areas. In such a case, all gates will be immediately returned to their original state after passing through. Upon arriving at your property, we will present ourselves at your front door and supply identification. If no person is home, we will leave a business card at your door or in your letterbox, so you may know we have visited. If we notice that a neighbour becomes aware of our presence, we will make ourselves known to them and provide reassurance that we have your permission to be on your property.
 
We do not require you to be present at your property while we work, although your engagement of us to carry out such work is tacit approval for us to be on your property. Any access codes provided to us will be kept confidential and only stored in an encrypted form.
 
2/     Hazards
 
Where present, we will advise you of any hazards that may be created by our work, and minimise these hazards as practicable.

Please Note: By the very nature of what we do, and the machinery we employ, we cannot guarantee that no hazards will arise from our work. Where possible, we will keep all mower discharge paths directed away from dwellings, people and animals. If any person is seen to wander onto a hazardous path, we will immediately shut down such equipment until said person is clear of the danger area.
 
We expect you will advise us of any hazard known to you that may impact our ability to operate safely and efficiently – for example, debris hidden by long grass, access tracks undercut by water, etc.
 
We expect you to ensure that any children are kept well away from our working areas – a distance of at least 50m (or indoors) is considered a safe distance.  

We reserve the right to refuse to engage in any work that we feel presents an unacceptable hazard to our operators or machinery. Such refusal will not remove your obligation to pay for the work completed before such withdrawal of services occurs. An example of this would be if the ground conditions became too slippery to continue safely.
 
3/     Billing
 
3.1 We will bill you for work done at the agreed-upon charging rates discussed with you. Unless discussed and agreed separately (for work outside our normal area of operations), we will not bill you for transport time. Nor will we bill you for on-site time when we are not working, except under exceptional circumstances (see Clause 7).  “Down time" caused by on-site hazards will not usually be charged for, although extensive time loss due to negligence on your part may be invoiced at 50% operating cost (we’ve never done this yet, but reserve the right to do so).

3.2        The person who engages us is the person responsible for paying us. For entities, we will not proceed with the work without a purchase order in place. If you engage us to work on a property not owned by you, you undertake to ensure we are paid within our standard terms. All collection or late payment fees are payable by you (the person ordering the work), whether you own the property or not.
 
4/     Payment Terms
 
4.1           We require payment within seven days of the invoice date (see Section 4.4). We will, where possible, email your invoice within 24 hours of completing the work. If you do not have an email address, we will post your invoice and deem your receipt as received within three business days of posting. Your payment is due within 7 days of that assumed receipt date.

4.2           We prefer payment using direct credit via Internet banking. Cheques are no longer accepted. We will accept cash on the day (but GST will still be charged!), and an invoice will be issued by email.  When direct crediting via Internet banking, please reference your invoice number to ensure your payment is allocated correctly. 

4.3           Default in Payment: If you do not pay us by the due date, at our absolute discretion, you may be charged interest on any unpaid amount at the rate of 4% per calendar month (calculated daily) from the date payment was due until payment has been made. Legal proceedings may be initiated to recover outstanding payments. None of these actions will reduce your obligation to make payment in full, and you will be liable for any costs we incur in securing payment from you (debt collection costs are currently the greater of 25% of the amount owing, or $195 + GST).

4.4 If the work required is for handover to a new owner, the expected cost of the work will be invoiced, and full payment is required BEFORE the work commences. Apologies if this sounds harsh, but we have been caught out in the past. It's hard to chase payment when you have no forwarding details!

4.5 Scheduled Work: In the event of your payment becoming overdue, we reserve the right to demand payment in full of all monies owed (even from more recent invoices that may not yet be overdue). Once this has occurred, we will suspend further work until the monies owed are paid in full. From then on, we will require an advance payment for any further work going forward. This is a very rare occurrence, and can be totally avoided by paying in full within the agreed Terms (!).
 
5/     Ownership of Products Supplied / Booking Deposit
 
It is impracticable to maintain ownership of any products we have supplied, as they would have usually been applied to your land. For this reason, we may, at our discretion, require an advance payment or booking deposit when ordering services such as fertiliser and lime, grass seed, or spray concentrates. This payment will be used to purchase the required products, which will be kept separate in our store and identified as your property until such time as the application is utilised.  Even where an advance payment has been made, it does not reduce your obligation to make full payment under our standard payment terms, as previously described.

If the work is highly seasonal (such as pasture maintenance). In that case, we may request a booking deposit as the appropriate season is short and we can accommodate only a certain number of jobs. Once paid, this deposit is non-refundable if you cancel the booking. A booking deposit is part of the expected total cost of the work and is therefore deducted from the final invoice.
 
6/     Longer Term Payment Options
 
At our absolute discretion, we may agree to longer terms of payment, provided this request is made and our agreement given BEFORE the service is provided.

7/     Pasture or Other Damage

Surface damage from tractor wheels or mower blades can occasionally occur. While we take all practicable steps to prevent this, accidents can still occur due to the nature of our work. Sometimes it is completely impossible to predict ground strength and/or saturation. Please be assured that we take all possible steps to prevent getting stuck (lost time is expensive for us, and we want to avoid damaging your land). However, should pasture, ground surface, or any other damage occur due to our activities, we will not be liable for repair.

Also, it can occasionally occur that hidden items, (like troughs or water pipes), can be damaged by our activities, or damage may occur from mower discharge. While we will take all practicable steps to avoid such incidents, we cannot be held liable for any losses or damage. We will take immediate action to minimise flow-on effects where possible, such as securing a cut water pipe or promptly advising you of the issue. This is a rare occurrence, but it can happen, especially when cutting long grass or weeds. Having said all this, we do our best to avoid damage - we like positive relationships with our clients!

8/      Damage to our Equipment

We usually absorb the cost of damage to our equipment (such as broken blades/gearboxes, etc). If, however, such damage is caused by a concealed hazard known to you that we have not been advised of, we reserve the right to charge for said damage. We reserve the right to suspend or curtail operations should excessive damage occur to our equipment from hazards that become apparent during operations (stones, debris, concrete, stumps are some examples). This will not abrogate your responsibility to pay us for the work completed up to that point.

9/      Insurance

We carry comprehensive Public Liability and Indemnity Insurance.  

10/     Regular Services (Interruptions caused by limited access)

Many clients have us provide services on a regular basis, often monthly or even biweekly. For regular services, we discount our fees as we have the ability to manage travel schedules, and it’s also a way we can say "thanks" for the return business.

If we are servicing your property on a rotating schedule, it is your responsibility to notify us if access to your property will be blocked or restricted. If you do not, and we arrive to provide our services as usual, only to find it impossible, you will be charged our minimum fee for scheduled work (currently $225 + GST). We will immediately notify you that access was not possible and will suspend our scheduled services until you advise us that access is again available.

11/     Termination of Scheduled Services 

We require a 2-rotation notice of termination for a scheduled service. Alternatively, we can terminate immediately upon notice; however, payment for the two rotations will still be due.

Thank you for engaging us to work for you - we look forward to being of service!

Amanda and Pete