Ballard Enterprises - Lawn, Landscaping, Tree Services

First appointment was rescheduled due to inclement weather. Rescheduled service was delayed on day of appointment as the company had a priority call prior to our appointment. Crew was professional and friendly. Original appointment was to have the canopies of two trees trimmed. When the crew arrived and assessed the trees, they informed that one tree had shallow roots and made an offer to take the tree down and trim the canopy on the other tree. The company's Arborist who made the initial visit earlier in the month to determine the estimate cost also mentioned that at some point the tree would most likely have to come down due to shallow roots. There was an increased cost to take the tree down which made sense as it wasn't included in original estimate. We made the decision to take the tree down. The crew did a good job and were very thorough in make sure we were happy with the job they had done. They did a good job of cleaning up the debris from the yard. We would hire them if future work needed.

I took advantage of Ballard's 4 person 8 hour two truck (brush and chipper) offer. The assessment of the property and seven trees was done very well by the company. He mentioned that there was quite a bit of work but it could be completed in the allotted time. To save the workers time I offered that many of the large pieces could be left on the property but the brush would need to be removed. This statement and all identified work was clearly documented in the contract. Just to make sure both trucks would be provided I called two days ahead to confirm the fact. The workers arrived on time but only with one materials truck because the truck manager thought the contract said all materials could be left on site. Only after communicating with Mr. Ballard was the problem resolved. One of the workers had to leave to return with the chipper truck. I was promised an additional 45 minutes to the contract to make-up for the lost support. The three best trimmers remained and started work. Getting the second truck took longer than expected and the full crew was not on site until after two hours had passed. Once everyone was working the crew performed like a well oiled machine. The quality and professionalism of the workers was unquestioned. Unfortunately the late start and the 95 degree temperatures wore h****** the crew. As the "normal" stop time neared and with no announcement the crew started final clean-up with two trees still to go. We had to firmly confront the team lead that we still had time on the contract. We got one additional tree removed but did not get the full expected work from our agreement. This was a communications and management issue that caused these problems from the start. Unfortunately the innocent (the customer and the workers) were the ones who suffered.

For Ballard Enterprises I give an F because they say they cover the services for this area but they backed out. I don't know how you respond to this, the fact of the matter is I ordered this, they said they covered this area but then they backed out of doing it. They shouldn't have listed the area I live in as they service. I did speak to someone on the phone and they were fine, the fact of the matter is that they wouldn't come out, I thought was misleading advertising.

Entire job was very professionally completed. Rainy weather caused extending of scheduled date, but all work was performed in a timely manner. Work crews were professional, polite and very hard-working/energetic. Coordinated with BGE to minimize time power was out. Trees were safely cut down and removed from property with no damage. Outstanding clean-up to the point that you could hardly tell they had been here.

The representative was very knowledgeable and professional. He took time to examine all trees and made notes on them as he progressed through the yard. He provided a very detailed summary of his recommendations of what tree care was needed. It was the first time I have ever had that type of estimate and it was much more costly than I had anticipated. I now have a better understanding of which trees need to be removed and as my budget allows I will take his advice in caring for my trees.

Ithe was a good experience. Very professional.

It went fine. Just pricey. Call before the hurricane comes ...

These guys do the absolute best quality work, at a very reasonable price. Their crews are well-trained and professional. However, I'm afraid their office management/scheduling procedures/customer communication might need an overhaul - there were a lot of issues with scheduling our job, which resulted in some inconveniences. However, I would most likely use this group again, since the quality of work is so good.

Very good at their jobs. Worked as a coordinated team to complete all of the work in one work day.

Use Bartlett- they'll get the work done much quicker and for the same price. It took over a month for them to start the work after I signed the contract. The have poor quality control on their work- they sent me a bill and claimed to have finished the job but had yet to grind my stumps. They have poor customer engagement too- they arranged with miss utility to spray paint electrical lines in my yard without my consent- there's a box they check on the contract if that's their intent. It took me a week of phone calls to various companies to figure out why I had lines in my yard. They took no ownership in the spray paint lines I can't remove in my flower bed, nor the fact that the job was completed outside the 6-week contract obligation. I think they must have had some change in management because they had great reviews prior to when I signed the contract but since then they've had a string of bad reviews.

We had really high hopes for Ballard going into our lawn maintenance. Their salesperson had been super friendly and seemed very knowledgeable. He even threw in a couple "extras" into the contract. Where did things go wrong: -Pricing: Ballard contracted us for 12-15 hours of labor for a 3 man team. Our salesperson emphasized that labor is his highest cost and that this job would be a doozy. He might even have to bring a fourth person. Low and behold that the job took 9 hours with that three person team. When asked whether we would get a refund for the hours not worked, the response was that this wasn't a quote, it was a contract and that if the job had taken more time, the company would have had to eat that. Basically, be warned that Ballard prices exceptionally high to cover their costs. -Not complete: The job (worked 2.5 weeks ago) still has not been completed, as the flowers they were supposed to plant have yet to be planted. They are supposedly setting up a date on which to do this work, but I have heard nothing, which leads to my next point. -Communication: We signed the contract, mailed it in, received an email scan of the contract then never heard anything more. I had to text our salesman on the morning of the deadline for which we required this work to be done in order to see if workers were in fact going to be there. They did complete the work that day, but communication hasn't improved. I don't blame Ballard at all for the phone tag we've been playing in the intervening weeks, but they still have yet to inform me of whether the remainder of the work has even been scheduled, let alone when they plan to do it. Where did things go right: -The parts of the job that have (to date) been completed were done to our expectation, although we do already have weeds growing back. -They did a great job cleaning up and removing the waste from our job. -Ballard did complete the work on time for our required deadline. To sum up, the work completed by Ballard was excessively expensive for the adequate quality- they didn't do anything particularly special or over the top, but they also didn't leave a mess in my yard.

After contacting the "provider" twice by phone and twice by e-mail, and receiving assurance that they would contact me; they never did. Since no service was provided I cannot rate their ability. I can say however that their customer service is non existent. I would not consider using their service in the future.

The professionals from Ballard Enterprises did an incredible job trimming and pruning our trees. They performed excellent work on all our trees and they look beautiful. The crew was on time, efficient, very professional and the clean-up was amazing. We are so impressed with the company, we have hired them to landscape our backyard. I highly recommend this company, it is such a pleasure working with them.

Very happy! Ballard was prompt with scheduling the initial estimate and arrived on time. Just as I was told they would complete the job within 2-3 weeks of signing the contract - they did. Contacted me the day before and said they would have their crew at my house to complete the contracted trimming and pruning. While I did not have to be home - it happened that I was that day - the crew arrived at time they stated and finished the work in 2 hours. The trees look great and they cleaned things up so nicely - it was as if they were never there. Very pleased and would recommend this company. They delivered as they stated and with what I believe was a fair price.

Team arrived on time and finished on time.

Quick and efficient and professional. Did a very nice job cleaning up all the leaves, branches, etc.

These guys were great. Prompt with their estimate which was comparable to others. The arrived on time and did amazing work. The job was quite extensive so they were not able to finish in one day. But hey were able to keep the power outage to a minimum and cleaned up everything. They had to take down 4 huge trees and did so without causing any damage to the surrounding property or plants. The climbers were amazing and the whole group was very professional. If we ever need tree work again we would definitely use them.

Ballard provided professional tree services at a reasonable price. I would highly recommend and plan to use them again in the future.

They are a very knowledgable group and did good work. I recommended them to a neighbor a couple months ago who also had a good experience. I will use them again next year. Not the cheapest but true pros and worth the money,

The end work was good. The site of the tree removal was as clean as one could expect after removal and the tree was gone when I got home, so it was nice to come home to the service being complete with no issues. But the experience with the company and their contract rules has put me off from working with them again. When talking to employees of the company about issues with not being released from the contract with over 30 days notice, they wouldn't budge and I had to discuss my issues with the owner. The owner wouldn't release me from the contract even though no service was conducted and it was 30 days prior to any scheduled service. I wanted to be released because I found a service that was licensed and fully insured for almost half the price. The owner did drop the price as they said they have price matching, but he wouldn't match due to the company not being licensed or insured to the same level as Ballard. So do your homework before signing anything with Ballard as I was completely upset with their lack of customer service. They were professional in each engagement, but their customer service principles is about their contract and while it is a business, the lack of concern with me and the fact I had to talk to the owner tells me the company doesn't have a good customer focused operation. Now my other major issue - they were responsive only when I emailed a person and the owner at the same time. Initially the owner said the service would be completed in 2 to 3 weeks, but then a different worker said 3 to 4 weeks. At this point I just wanted it done so I didn't have to work with the company again. So I contacted them asking when it would be complete at the 3 week mark, they just said we'll contact you a week out as there are other jobs in front of me. So I patiently waited and contact them at week number 5. Once I contact them 5 weeks after the service agreement - they then scheduled it. But it appeared they were not going to contact me, so why did I have to do it? What they said and what their own service agreement says to accomplish the job within 30 days of the agreement to the point of what they did...doesn't leave me with a good sense of their operations. Based on their lack of customer focus and their scheduling practices - I would not work with Ballard again.

They cleared out everything and overall did a good job. We got 3 estimates and they were the middle one but I trusted them more than the cheap guy from how they came to do the estimate, etc. We are satisfied with their work.

The lawnworkers showed up early and worked diligently throughout the day. They were very communicative and professional. I was very happy with the service and would use the services again.

Go to company if you want to have any tree service done in the area. Best price, on time, expert crew, completed in less than expected time. Having dealt with other tree service companies previously, Ballard is the best.

We had not tended to the very many trees in our yard since we moved in Sept 2001. They were very overgrown and needed trimming. The team, led by Jerry, was great. They actually put back the lawn furniture after moving it something I have not seen with other workers. My only criticism is that they did what the spec stated to the letter and nothing more There were some dead branches for example which I noticed immediately when I went to inspect the job after they were done. I was told, that those specific trees were not mentioned on the work sheet. So bottom line is I am a "satisfied" customer. I paid for "X" and I got "X". The difference between me being "satisfied" and me being an delighted, engaged advocate, is that little extra effort that was not there. That said, I did ask them to come back out and give me a new estimate to remove the dead branches and some dead trees I now see that I have.

They cut down one tree in 7 hours and at the end of 7 hours stated it would be $8200 for the entire job. Three different competitors estimates to remove all 6 pine trees were $3800, $3960 and $4200 for the entire job. __________________________________ You did NOT inform us that it would take multiple days, that is the first of your UN-TRUTHS. During our phone conversation on July 24 @ 2:30pm, I informed you that another company who provided an estimate to complete the entire job (removal of 6 pine trees) for $3800 would complete the job in two days. Had you been forthcoming with your intentions to estimate the job at $8200 on June 11th when your estimator came by and you provided us with a proposal/contract. I would have contacted one of the other three companies that quoted me $3800, $3960 or $4200. You received the competing quotes on July 24 and acknowledged one of the companies as reputable, while you were dismissive and slandered the other companies. Your marketing statement ?We offer a best-price guarantee against all legitimate competitive bids? is a GIMMICK, as you acknowledged the legitimacy of one of the other companies. Their bid was $4200; your quotation at the end of 7 hours was DOUBLE $8200. Your contract defined the scope of work as ?removal of 6 pine trees? Your contract states ?any additions or changes to the scope of work will be completed upon mutual agreement?? Defining 6 trees to be removed in your scope of work and actually removing one tree; there is a huge DISCREPANCY. Underlining per in your contract, but making no reference to actual amount of days in the contract is a DELIBERATE attempt by you to DECEIVE. I asked for an estimate on June 6, I informed you on June 9, I would like to avail of the Angie?s Big Deal. You responded to my request on June 10 with the following ?WE will call you today to set an appointment.? On June 11, an estimator came by; fully aware that we wanted SIX (6) pine trees removed. You provided me with a contract on June 15 via email. I called your office, I confirmed that we wanted 6 trees removed with your receptionist MW. I requested to be able to purchase the Big Deal via Angie?s List, so I would have the protection and backing of the organization, in an event such as this arising. I was put on hold and she came back on the phone and confirmed it was ok to purchase it through Angie?s List. Your organization acknowledged work needing/requested to be done and decided you would cut down one tree. Setting an expectation that 6 trees would be removed, but in reality, removing one tree at the pace which your crew worked at is unacceptable, However you decide to describe the complexity of the job, the bottom line is Adirondack Tree Company quoted $4200; you held in your possession $1799 of my money, you wanted another $1500, but during our phone conversation offered to drop the balance to $750. I have since received two billing statements for $1500 from you. I never got enraged with you or your crew despite thinking your organization is DELIBERATELY DISHONEST. I also did not ask for a refund from Angie?s List but requested that the work be prorated based on the $3299 quote, and the prorated portion be returned to me. I never threatened you or your crew with bad feedback. Providing feedback/a review is step one towards a claim or reaching a resolution via Angie?s List . In an attempt to reach a resolution through Angie?s list resolution center, you opted to forgo the additional $1500 you billed me and offered to refund me $250. That is an unacceptable offer from a company that offers a best-price GUARANTEE. In conclusion, I recommend that people stay away from this organization, there are much better, more honest, more forthright organizations. Another recent review of your company by another Angie?s member ?I found a service that was licensed and fully insured for almost half the price? Your organization bills the same work differently, ?TIME AND MATERIAL? ; Your organization stated that there may have been a misunderstanding because we did not meet the estimator in person. This was no misunderstanding. We made our intentions clear at the onset. YOU DELIBERATELY DECEIVED US.