Excalibur Tree Service

I got an estimate from Excalibur and two other companies. The only reason I went with Excalibur was because the owner said he could finish everything in one day, which was June 17. On the first day of work the owner said that they'd have to come back on Monday, 6/19/2017, to finish the job. Monday came around and he was a no call no show. He came back out on Tuesday, 6/20/2017, after I called. It had poured Tuesday morning so the ground was saturated when they came back out that afternoon. They used a bobcat in our backyard to clear the trees which ended up tearing up part of my backyard and my neighbors yard. They still weren't able to finish the work that Tuesday and said they would have to come back another day and that they would call to schedule it. I didn't receive a call and ended up having to threaten legal action when I reached out to them. Only after threatening legal action did the owner take my call at which point he verbally assaulted me over the phone. He did agree to come out on Friday to finish the work. Feeling threatened after the phone call I reached out to the Sheriff to have a deputy on stand-by if need be. The owner tried to demand more money from me to manually move the logs because the ground was to saturated to use their machinery. I said no because we had a contract that included debris removal. They still weren't able to finish the work on Friday, 6/23/2017, and said they'd be back Saturday, 6/24/17, at 7 am. I woke up early and moved the cars. They didn't show and didn't call nor did they respond to my calls on Saturday. They have not reached out to me since. I still have a huge pile of tree stumps and logs as well as their ladder, rake, and garbage can. They also managed to put a hole in my patio door when they were bringing in their equipment. The only bright spot was that the tree trimmers were kind enough to trim two or three palm fronds that were higher up than we could reach.

Not so good, the guys doing the actual work got carried away with the oaks Wayne's words, "They got carried away". they cut all the lower branches up 20 feet on the larger oak and the smaller one, about 6 feet on one side and about ten feet up on one side. They skinned the smaller one about 4 feet on one branch with the saw and partially cut a couple of branches 1/4 of the way through. Wayne apologized, however I will have to live with this for the rest of my life.

Provider site supervisor, Jason, left area, workers used roof to bounce very large tree limb pieces down to ground. Several times almost took out screen around back porch area, almost crushed BBQ pit, and an aluminum ladder at back of house/porch area. Same with front tree, used roof to break fall of large limbs and allowed them to bounce off ground for collection. Provider's safety practices and methods were dangerous and likely damaging to our roof as well as other areas of house & screens. One positive note, provider did request we move our vehicles out of driveway. Large limbs should have been lowered using ropes and pulleys rather than dropping them off roof to ground, and by dropping other large limbs straight down to ground from top of trees. Provider used ours as well as several neighbors tax records for access to city waste disposal site. They also required me to provide personal escorts to land fill to dispose of tree waste. I made 5 trips over two days for my waste plus a neighbors waste who used all of their allowances. Equipment broke down multiple times, used rental equipment to augment their own, was worn out and unreliable, had to leave large pile of tree debris on side of street for almost entire week due to failures of equipment. Had site supervisor stayed and managed his crew, actual processes used might have been more appropriate & safe. Provider promised to do detailed and specific yard work yet never completed that work, left large portions of vines in trees, left large dead limbs in trees, left large bush, other trees next to home partially or not removed at all, stumps not removed at all, large pile of debris in back yard left untouched. Provider did answer calls initially while pile of debris was left in street, one excuse after another each day. Once debris was removed and he had completed his business in neighborhood, he no longer answers phone nor will he return any calls at all. I have been trying to resolve ALL issues mentioned in this review with him, as well as pay him more money if needed, (he cited an additional $ 200.00 to complete all), but for last few days, no longer answers his phone or returns calls & messages left on his voice mail so can coordinate time & date for resolving all issues plus tree limb that fell two days ago. Large 6-7 inch diameter dead limb has fallen in back yard, right next to home. Researched company using Google, has a Better Business Bureau Rating of D- and has evidently done same thing to three other customers who did at least take time to write complaint to BBB. Hopefully this rating will help other buyers be ware before hiring. Provider's M.O. is to solicit work in neighborhood, then to hit & run with every other household in community, offering way more work to be completed then will be actually done, if at all but at a substantial discount, (because his team and equipment is already out there...) He, Jason, will leave site, you will talk to several workers who nod their heads yes but do nothing about it, while Jason will show up much later if at all and promise everything, crew gone, but will not come back. Payment will be made to a Wayne Conklin, not Excalibur Tree Service, not Jason... NOTE: If provider eventually does answer calls and rectifies everything reported, I will do everything I can to make this review/assessment right if supported by provider's actions, not more words that do not get done....or they continue to not return any calls or address issues in a timely manner. If I have to hire another tree service to correct their mistakes and oversights, I will submit another adverse rating for this service. Recommend hiring a different provider, using Angies List but if you insist on giving them a chance, DO NOT PAY THEM UNTIL THEY ARE DONE and everything is completed in accordance with your wishes as you stated when you hired them and is on paper. Additional company contact information is Jason, Excalibur Tree Service, 3196 19th St N, St Petersburg Florida, 33713 Phone (727) 307-8733, Wayne Conklin's contact is (845) 590-4127

After watching Excalibur Tree Service remove a very large old oak tree from a neighbor's property, I requested an estimate to trim a number of trees in my yard. I did so because the tree they removed from the neighbor required four days and a crane to remove due to its size and overhang of a house. One of the owners came to my house within the hour and gave me a very fair estimate to trim six Canary Island palms, a clump of Reclinata palms, and four large old oak trees. The estimate was very fairly priced and the explanation of services to be provided was thorough. When the service men finished the neighbor's yard they came directly to mine and trimmed all the tree beautifully the same day. The trash removal and cleanup was thorough and complete. Because of the lateness of the day when they were finished, they returned promptly the following morning to double check for any trimming or cleanup needing to be done. The price and terms of payment was exactly as discussed. I could not be happier with the services this company provided.

This experience was a nightmare for the foliowing reasons: 1. This person came to my door offering a savings for "in the area" work because they were working down the street. We spoke about what I would like to have done and he quoted $700 for the work, including the clean up and removal of all debris. I asked if they took credit cards because that was the only way that I could pay for it, and if it needed to be cash, it wasn't going to happen. Jason said there was a problem with his phone taking the cards lately, but they had it set up with the Sun Bank that I could just go into the bank, and they would swipe my card, and it would say that I was making the payment to Excalibur Tree Services. So, yes, he said, they could take a credit card, but we would need to go to the bank to do that. (I thought this sounded odd, and figured I would check with the Sun Bank just to be sure). I wanted this in writing, and he would come back later with the paperwork and if I was out, he would leave it in the mailbox. (It was Saturday morning). He left me with a flyer and a business card. 2. The paperwork did not show up that day, nor the next. I thought perhaps they would get in touch with me during the week with the paperwork and in the meantime, I tried to look up information online about them because I was a little unsure of their work. I also planned to call the bank to check on the "payment" he had explained. 3. I am a teacher, so on Monday morning I was at school. I checked my phone messages at lunchtime and there was a message from Jason that the work had been COMPLETED.....I NEVER EVEN SIGNED ANYTHING AUTHORIZING THEM TO DO THE WORK. Jason was anxious to be paid that day and wanted me to call him back. 4. The Sun Bank said they never heard of this company or the owner, Wayne Conkln. I refused to pay Jason that day when I found out that I could only use my credit card at the bank for a cash advance. He wanted me to pay online with Wells Fargo...sending a cash payment to a person (Wayne Conklin). (Still not to a business). 5. To get rid of this pest (Jason kept calling me and pressuring me to pay because their workers hadn't been paid and they needed the cash), I relented and used a credit card for a cash advance. However, I felt uncomfortable handing over $700 in cash to this individual. I called Wayne Conklin, the owner to tell him this. He said, "Oh, you can give him the cash, I know he's getting it". 6. Then owner of this company, Wayne Conklin had another idea when I told him that I had agreed to pay with a credit card, not with cash, and was not happy about it. He said, "Oh, well I have some bills that are due, you could pay them with your credit card. One of them is my truck payment (or was it a car payment?), and I owe $____. He started to tell me more to which I replied, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? WHAT KIND OF A BUSINESS PRACTICE IS THAT?" "I'M NOT GOING TO MAKE YOUR CAR PAYMENT!!" 7. I gave Jason a personal check for the amount of $700 (He had also insisted that the clean up and haul away was $50 extra but I refused to pay that because of the cash withdrawal issue.) 8. Jason also said that "Deep Root Fertilization was included" but this was NOT done. 9. In short, I was lied to, and pressured to pay. They had no written authorization to do the work and they showed up on my property when I wasn't home and did it anyway.