COSTELLO'S TREE SERVICE

After giving me an estimate and with some bad weather in the meantime, the actual date of the work was delayed a couple of weeks. They were to arrive on Thursday, March 13, but called to tell me that the tree climber was out ill and that we would need to be rescheduled for Monday, March 17. I called in the morning to confirm they were coming and was told they would be here in the afternoon. Around 2 p.m. the crew arrived, we went over the work to be done, everyone was in agreement and got to work. The crew was pleasant, worked quickly, and efficiently and cleaned up as they went along. When they were finished, they called me to come and take a look and see if everything was to my satisfaction, which it was, and I wrote out a check, and they left. I was very pleased with the work, and how the tree looks. Costello's Tree Service is okay for the most part, but you just need to have some patience with them and their business practices.

We found these guys in our backyard and on our roof at 7:30 in the morning. They woke us up and scared the hell out of us. They were busy moving patio furniture and putting plywood on windows. Of course we really didn't know what was going on. When my wife asked them what was going on they ignored her (the crew was Spanish speaking and so is she so the conversation was in Spanish). So I got out of bed and asked them who had given them permission to be on my roof and they didn't want to talk to me either. So after I yelled at them a bit they said they didn't have to talk to me. So I called the cops who came over and told them they were trespassing and asked me if I wanted them cited.

The estimate was fair and the crew arrived on time and completed the work, including carrying sections of the trunk (which was almost 4-ft diameter) through the house. They also manhandled the grinder through the house with no damage but the grinding itself was a little skimpy -- the stump was taken down below grade. but only just.

I called and was told an estimator would be in touch with me. Two weeks passed, and I heard nothing. I called again, and was told, "Hmm, no wonder you didn't hear from anyone (whatever that meant)". "I'm going to assign you to a different estimator, he'll probably be in touch later today". A week later, I had heard nothing, so I called again. Apparently this time I was assigned to yet another estimator. The next morning (while I was at work), I received a phone message saying, "I've been by your house and looked at the trees, here's what I think needs to be done". I specifically had wanted to meet with the estimator, who was not correct about what I wanted done, so I gave him a call. He said he had turned in the estimate a couple weeks previously and wondered why I had not been informed of this. So he made an appointment to meet me that same day. He didn't show up. This was 6 days ago, and he never got back to me. Needless to say, I'm taking my business elsewhere!

They canceled first appointment. Never followed through with placing street signage re: restricked parking even after reminding them the day prior. Morning of appointment never showed. When I called I was told that they were down a crew member and were running late. They never bothered to call and inform me. I canceled work.

I had about five phone conversations with the man who worked for Costellos. We set up dates and he would call at the last minute to say that he would be late and could I wait? The third date was on a Saturday morning and he never called to cancel and never showed up. It would have been better had he just called and said he could not do the work.

They did an excellent job. They arrived ahead of time, worked very quickly, and hauled away all of the trimmings.

I've previously submitted a really glowing report about Costellos on past work, but was unhappy with my recent contact with them. I had them over for an estimate, and since the last time they'd done work for us, the prices and personnel had changed considerably. The estimator was abrasive and (I think) was making racist remarks. He was about 20 minutes late and said he couldn't find parking (usually takes me about 5 minutes), but when I ran outside barefoot to stand in an empty spot in front of my house for him, I didn't even get a thank you. He gave me a very high quote (highest of 4) and ragged on the hospital administrators who needed to give us permission to do the work from their parking lot. Yet, when I met those administrators, I was bowled over by their friendliness and courtesy. Overall, he just didn't strike me as professional. I don't have the warm and fuzzies that I used to about the company.

Loved these guys. Very professional, efficient, friendly and punctual. Estimator gave us a higher price than the owner ultimately charged us. Gave us a great deal on a little ''nice to have'' work in the yard. Threw in a couple of little freebies, too.