ALATINI TREE EXPERTS

I worked with owner Joshua who met with me, looked at the overgrown trees, took notes and told me what he could do. Some of the trees were dangerously located near power lines. He told me he would put together a cost estimate and fax it to me along with his liability insurance. From the day I called him (his ad in the local paper) to see what he could do, his reviewing the situation, submitting an estimate, getting the job done when he said they would was astounding. Joshua's bid was not the lowest of three estimates I got. It was his openess and honesty, friendly manner and my own gut feeling he was a good person was why I chose to do business with Alatini.

They were hired by the adjoining lot owners to clear some large trees that were hanging over our house. They said they had no way to get to the trees other than to drive along the side of our house (8-foot concrete edging and a vegetable garden). We agreed, and tried to help them avoid too much damage to the veggies. The driver left his 4-year-old daughter in the truck (hot day, no shade) so we had her come inside to play with our young puppies and have some ice cream. The father was appreciative and offered to cut the Norfolk pine for some beer and at "a good discount." About 2 hours later there was a huge crash: one of the large trees had fallen "the wrong way" and landed along the back of our house, missing the door by less than 2 feet. "Oh, sorry. We'll move it out." Things went downhill from there. Basically, the large trees on the adjoining lot were cut, but so were some of our avocado and coconut (they even took the fruit without asking!). The trunks and branches were left where they fell, mostly on our lot. When we asked them to move them they did, but only off the concrete. About a 30-foot-wide stretch of our property, going from the road all the way to the back of our lot, was waist-deep in large trunks and branches. Needless to say, the veggies were gone. I am still, slowly, trying to clear out the area so that I can replant the garden someday. Nice enough people, but you get what you pay for.

Overall, it was good. They have excellent service and quick response. They had 20-30% less price than their competitors. They are as respectful and neatly cleaned crew.