Spruce Hill Tree Service

all work was performed promptly and professionally

.

unknown

...

We experienced a major storm with a great deal of hail and wind. As a result, a large lower limb from an ash tree broke and was hanging down. It was too high and large for us to remove and a danger to anyone who may be walking near it so we called Spruce Hill, a company we have done business with in the past. A different person than we are used to came out to provide an estimate. As long as he was there, we asked him to include trimming of some spindly suckers growing on another ash and birch tree as well as a trim of 4 feet all the way up one side of a pin oak so that it wouldn't rub on the house, shingles, or drop leaves in the eaves. He gave us a $400 quote to do the work - way too much for what little he would do, but for safety reasons, the large limb needed to be quickly removed. He then told us our medium-sized maple needed to be thinned and shaped and he would do it for $150 more so we agreed. Then he walked around and said our crab apple neded to be trimmed and we said no, that was enouigh. His whole attitude was only one of up-selling and very off-putting. When asked when he would do the work, he said they would be out the next day, Friday. Perfect, i would be home on that day. In the meantime, we decided we probably should forgo the maple trim and would tell him that when he got there on Friday. But, Friday came and went. No tree trimmer, no phone call. Nothing. Saturday morning we left the house at 11:00 to get some auto work done and came home to find the tree trimming people parked, in our yard, and starting the work- without us being home! I wonder what they planned to do if we had not shown up at all? I promptly ran over and told them we did not want the maple trimmed. He was not happy but he hadn't started working on that, so he was out nothing. Within 10 minutes, the large limb was gone, the suckers removed, and he knocked on our door wanting his check. They had not yet started cleaning up. I gave him the check went to the backyard and had to tell them to go back and clean up the suckers that they missed. The clean-up was less than adequate (leaves on the deck, a few smaller branches in the lawn, an empty drink found later in the garden), but by that time, I was just happy for them to leave. Thirty minutes later we went out to inspect and sure enough, they had not trimmed the pin oak. I called him on his cell and told him they forgot the pin oak in front and he snapped at me telling me that he didn't forget it, that it wasn't part of the original bid and it would cost more to do that. I told him that was not what we agreed upon and replayed back our original discussion. He raised his voice and said, fine, I could have my check back. I told him i didn;t want it back, I just wanted him to complete the job we agreed upon and he raised his voice again and told me that he had not had a good day and he didn't need this, too. I told him, I expected him to come back and finish his job. He snapped back add told me he would be back later in the day. And later in the day came and went and no tree trimmer. Sunday morning at 8:30, I awoke to a chain saw right outside my window. I threw on my robe, ran downstairs, and by the time I opened the door to ask them what they were doing at 8:30 in the morning, they were in their truck and pulled away - 5 minutes at most. Did they trim the 4 feet off the pin oak all the way up? No. They may have trimmed one branch, but I couldn't tell. Did I call them back? Are you kidding? I decided the best way to handle this was through a report on Angie's List..

They actually just walked up to the door when they were here in the neighborhood. As they are cutting trees in the neighborhood, they send a guy door to door to see if they can get any more work. It just happened that I did need my trees trimmed and I needed that done for quite some time.

Scheduled estimate next morning, arrived early. Weather prevented job being done next day, so did it on a Saturday at no additional cost. Quickly completed and cleaned up everywhere.

Arrived at 8:30 am and wrapped up around 11:30. Swept up limps and removed all the woods. Blowed off sawdust from decks.

They did an excellent job. The experience was very good. The tree was half dead and I'd been getting a lot of services stopping by asking for the business. They were the first ones that said they would work with me. They wanted half upfront and the other half in 30 days. That made perfect sense at that time with my cash flow. They cleaned up everything after they left. I didn't have any brush left in my yard. I had some brush that I had on the other end of the yard and they tossed it in their truck with everything else. That was going above and beyond. If I have more trees to be removed, I will call them first.

They came to the door so they were responsive. I would use them again.