The Davey Tree Expert Company

It was fine. We didn’t have any problems. They did the job very quickly and did what we had hired them to to do.

They did the work but they didn’t do it the way I asked them to do it. The removed the trees but they did not remove the stumps. How I am supposed to replace it with plants when the stumps are still there?

They do a great job every time. They do everything that I was expecting. When they take down the trees, they take them down without doing any damage. They do a good job. They work really hard.

They are always good. They have been worked with us for a long time. They are very helpful.

I was given a verbal estimate of $850 for 5.5 hours of tree pruning. The crew arrived on time at 8 a.m. and departed my property at 2 p.m. That's six hours so I thought the bill would be somewhere in the $600 range. When I got the bill it was for $1275. So I called the sales contact and he said he would look into the price and call me back. I waited for several days and never got a return call so I called the business office and talked to an office person about the charges and was told that I needed to speak to the salesperson and that they would ask him to call me. When he returned my call he didn't address the charges but instead asked me what my questions were. So I again said I thought I had been overcharged. He said the costs included two hours of ?shop to shop? charges which were written on my estimate. In checking Mapquest the company is 23 miles from my home or ? hour away, one-way. I asked him why he didn?t tell me verbally of these ?shop to shop? charges, but he didn?t answer this question. In my opinion, his tone during this conversation was condescending and smug. I feel that I was mislead by the verbal estimate. I wrote a letter to the company and recommended to them that in the future their sales people tell the clients verbally of these charges and not just add the charge to a contract. Clients, like me, may not know what ?shop to shop? means. I find it disturbing that a company would charge $340 for 2 men?s drive time of 46 miles round trip. I also find it misleading that this charge is not discussed with the client, but instead, just added to the paperwork. I also question why the charge is the same hourly rate as the work rate? Many companies see their ?shop to shop? mileage as the cost of doing business and deduct it from their taxes. I have never been charged a ?shop to shop? cost by any of the contractors that have worked at my property and I find it to be a questionable fee. Especially since the salesperson chose not to verbally disclose it. Update: On October 26, 2010, after reading my complaint letter to "Davey," Allen Jakab, my Davey Tree sales representative, came to my home to discuss my complaints. I stated that I was still concerned about the "shop to shop" charge of $340. Allen explained to me how the company structures their fees and why the "shop to shop" fee is charged. He could not answer for the company as to why this fee is the same per man hour as their labor fees. In order to offer me some compensation for my concerns, he gave me his business card with a discount offer written on the back of the card worth $340 dollars (the shop to shop charge that I paid). The offer states that $340 will be discounted from the total of my next Tree Surgery job. I may or may not have a next tree surgery job done by Davey Tree & Lawn Experts, but I will file the card and use it if I do hire them again for my tree needs.

They are very punctual and come out on a routine basis. They clean up after themselves. They have kept my lawn in pretty good shape.

It went pretty good, the only issue was a small communication breakdown. The difficulty was do to the size of the project that led to issues. They did follow up and get it corrected.

They didn't do what they originally planned, they gave us a price for two days of work, but they ended up charging us more to cover for other jobs that they failed to follow on. The management would not take responsibility for anything. We had a wood pile after the job, and we asked them to take it out and they took a long time to get the wood out. They asked us why we had not payed them yet and we told them that they had to finish the job first.

When the tree removal crew arrived at our house, Ray was not with them, as he had told me he would be. I was not home because Ray had assured me that he knew what work was going to be done. The foreman came to the door and asked my husband if he could go over what needed to be done. My husband was not prepared to do this because I was the one who had set up the work to be done. At that point, I called Ray and he came to my home to get his crew started. The work was completed in about 2 days to my satisfaction. The foreman came to the door upon completion of the work and I confirmed to him that everything we had agreed to had been done and I was satisfied with the work. Several weeks later, I received a bill from Davey tree for $8565. The amount of the estimate was $5880, so I called Davey Tree to try and resolve the error. My husband and I have been trying to resolve the dispute for the last 6 weeks and we have paid the amount from the estimate to Davey Tree. Ray said the additional charges, which are $2685 more than the estimate, are based on work he claims I asked for and he performed in the right side of our front yard. Even though he claims that I asked him to perform this work, he will not meet with me, only with my husband. He will not return my calls, only my husbands. His refusal to discuss this directly with me, since I am the one who hired him, is unacceptable. Furthermore, he came onto my property several times before and after the work was performed and before the bill and skulked around my property without permission. He even accosted my stepmother when she came to my front door by placing his hand on her shoulder and asking who she was and why was she at my house. He now claims that my stepmother stalked him. This guy is nuts. He has threatened my husband that it will have to be settled in court. I left him 2 messages saying that I would report him to the Better Business Bureau and Angie's List and got no response.

We had a minor communication issue, but Ray worked to resolve it. I was pleased with his efforts to remedy the situation.

The crew showed up at about 8 AM and began work shortly thereafter. In less than 2.5 hours they were finished and all limbs, etc., were cleaned up. About an hour later a stump removal service (not Davey but a contractor) showed up and went to work on the stumps. He finished in about an hour. He raked the areas and cleaned any mess remaining. Overall, I am pleased with the service! I also contracted Davey to render lawn/shrub spraying/care throughout the rest of the year.

Representative provided estimate for work as requested. He also included estimates for lots of work that wasn't requested or even discussed. All estimates were included on one sheet, which made interpreting the estimate somewhat difficult. Price was a little higher than competitors. Rep. called repeatedly to get project.

They came out when they said they would. The workman were very professional & left no stumps when work was finished.

Great job. Professional, felt comfortable & confident that work would be done satisfactory. They are the best. Honestly.

Both workers were very polite. They did a great job. Fast & efficient.

The gentleman were very nice and did a professional job.

This was the third time I have had them out this year, every time they arrive on time and seem to do a little more than was contracted for. They are pleasant, speak English, and clean up nicely. I have been pleased with each and every visit. On my suggestion almost all of my neighbors have used them in the past few weeks with equally good results.

I have used their services before so I am pretty sure that was one of the reasons he removed that tree at such a generous price. He is very good at what he does. Point blank it can be dangerous work and he makes sure to take every safety measure necessary. If I need a tree removed I do not hesitate to call.

Workers were helpful, courteous and worked at a steady pace. Estimator was particularly helpful in helping evaluate what work should and should not be done and in giving various combinations of estimates. Arrived on time and at date promised.

OVERALL, WE ARE PLEASED WITH THE WORK DONE. THERE WAS SOME INITIAL COMMUNICATION ISSUES, BUT THOSE WERE QUICKLY RESOLVED. ONE OF THE TREES THEY TRIMMED HAD A 'GROWTH SPURT' AND THEY RETURNED TO TRIM IT AGAIN (AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE). THE TRIMMING CREW WAS PROFESSIONAL & PERSONABLE. THEY REMOVED ALL DEBRIS, THE YARD LOOKED BETTER THAN WHEN THEY ARRIVED:O)

THEY GIVE GOOD SERVICE AND ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL.

THEY LEFT STUFF ALL OVER THE LAWN. I ASKED THE SUPERVISOR IF THEY COULD CUT THE STUMP DOWN CLOSE TO THE GROUND AND HE ASSURED ME THEY WOULD. BUT THEY DIDN'T DO THIS. IT WAS CUT 42 INCHES ABOVE GROUND. THEY ALSO REFUELED THEIR EQUIPMENT ON MY LAWN WHICH KILLED SOME PATCHES OF GRASS AND THEY ALSO DID IT ON MY SIDEWALK, SO I HAVE GREASE SPOTS THAT I CAN'T GET RID OF.

THEY KEPT DOING MORE THAN I ASKED. IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO COMMUNICATE MY WISHES THAT THEY LIMIT THEIR SERVICE (AND BILLING) TO MY SPECIFIC REQUESTS.

NO ABILITY TO FIND CORRECT INSECT. BILLED FOR SERVICE AFTER IT HAD BEEN DISCONTINUED.

THEY WERE WILLING TO NEGOTIATE PRICE FOR WORK DONE AROUND CHRISTMAS WHICH IS THEIR "OFF SEASON". THEY BEAT COMPETITORS BID BY 50% AND DID THE WORK EXACTLY AS PROMISED.