Economic Tree Service Corp

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unknown

They are prompt and professional and do a good job.

Economic Tree Service had done previous work for my mother two times before and the work was OK. My job wasn't complicated and, since I didn't know anyone else, I decided to call them. The estimator came out a day after originally scheduled; I think he cancelled and rescheduled after I called him when he didn't show up on time. He said he was running late and we re-scheduled for the next day. The estimator seemed professional and knowledgeable and he gave me a copy of their certifications etc. We marked some of the branches to be cut with paint but couldn't reach all of the branches I wanted cut. I was told to go over the job when the work crew arrived so they would know precisely what to cut. We set up a date for service for the following week and he asked if I wanted an earlier appointment if they had an opening and I said yes. The estimator called a few days later to say they could come early. He asked me to be sure to be home when the work crew arrived and to make sure I went over the work I wanted done with the crew leader. The crew arrived and the crew leader was a woman. I thought that was pretty progressive(being a competent woman myself). Anyhow, I got out my written estimate with the detailed description of the work to be done and proceeded to walk around the yard with the crew leader and review the estimate line by line and to point each branch I wanted cut. The estimate was clear and so were my instructions. The woman, (Amaryllis, I believe was her name) seemed to speak good English and seemed to understand the scope of the work so I left them to do their work. Big mistake! I went out back out a little later to find that, instead of cutting the one limb in the back, they cut down everything but one limb. My estimate reads, "In back behind guest house bring down 1 limb touching wires but leave what goes to neighbors side". Now I lost the shade to the guest house and have full view of the house behind me. I went out front to confront the crew leader only to discover that, instead of trimming the lower branches of my formerly beautiful oak shade tree, they had cut my tree in half vertically to the crown so I no longer had shade for my car. My estimate reads, "2 oaks in front LS (left side) by parking, lift up so cars can comfortably park." Needless to say, i don't need to have 30 feet of canopy removed vertically on one side in order to park my car.. I was furious. I asked Amaryllis what on earth was she thinking. She responded with, "He (my neighbor) speaks Spanish." I said ,"So what?" She said, "He speaks Spanish. He's the owner." I said, "I'm the owner. I'm the one who went over everything with you. I am the one paying you. " She said. "He's the owner. I saw him go in your house." I said, "He's my neighbor. He can go in my house." (He brought me lunch.) Again she resorted to "He speaks Spanish." I asked my neighbor what he said and he told me he said to cut the tree so it didn't hit the cars. The tree branches were brushing his car and mine. Somehow Amaryllis thought that meant cutting the tree over my driveway to the crown of the tree. She didn't even trim on the neighbors side. By the way the neighbor and I had talked and he was aware I was cutting all the low branches for both of us. I made the crew trim the rest of the lower branches. I contacted Economic Tree Service and talked to the estimator. i asked for an arborist to come out and salvage the tree. He said they would send someone out and i agreed to go ahead and pay for the work already done. The "arborist" was supposed to come that day but, if he came, I didn't see him. I called them back several times and the "arborist/owner" finally stopped by. As it turns out, Amaryllis is his sister. His name is Armando Pino. He told me the oak tree was cut perfectly and that they did me a favor by cutting down the tree jn the back because the power company would have cut it in a "V". He insisted that Amaryllis thought my neighbor was the owner since she saw him go into my house. Armando didn't think it was a problem cutting a tree in half vertically. To his credit, Armando offered to make it up to me by grinding the stumps from the bamboo I them had cut down without my paying the $200 we agreed on before. I wanted to be fair so I said that I would pay for the work; all I wanted was for him to understand why I was upset and to not treat anyone else like they treated me. Money can't fix the trees.The oak is young and will probably grow back in a few years if trimmed properly. The tree in the back was old and probably can't be saved. I expect it will die. No one sees the back but me and my tenant in the guest house. This is Florida and something else will fill in that spot. What upset me after that was the fact that I waited on 6 occasions for the stumps to be ground. No one from Economic Tree Service called to say they couldn't do the job as scheduled. Each time i had to call them and they had some reason as to why they weren't here. The stump grinders are here now. The job is really hard and I will pay them. They did say they came by but no one answered (possible)..The stump grinders are sub-contractors I believe. They seem to be doing a good job. If you decide to use Economic Tree Service, you need to be fully bi-lingual, you need to supervise the job, and you need to know how to trim trees properly yourself (which I do). Next time, I'll invest in a good pole saw and do the job myself. I would never advise you to use someone who hires a relative simply because they are a relative, Most important, I'm going to check Angie's List first before I hire anyone else in Miami!