Downed oak took out my fence last Thursday and the homeowner blamed me
I did a risk assessment on that red oak in their backyard 3 years ago and flagged the hollow trunk, but they said it looked fine and refused the $850 removal. Last Thursday the whole thing came down in a mild storm, took out 40 feet of their fence, and now they're yelling that I should have pushed harder. How do you handle clients who ignore your findings and then flip the blame when the tree fails?
Three years ago you told them exactly what would happen, and they still ignored it. I feel for you, that's a frustrating spot to be in when you did your job right.
I've had similar calls where people want a magic guarantee, but trees do what they want. You can't make someone spend money they don't want to spend, no matter how clear you are about the risk.