Albany Tree & Property Service

Very well.

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unknown

I hired Mr. Stevens in early March to cut down a spruce tree on my property. When he gave me the estimate, he told me it would include grinding the stump and roots along with the cleanup. Before starting the work, he told me he would have to take down a fence located on my property. He completed taking down the tree on March 8, 2014 and said he would be back to grind the stump, the roots and do the cleanup as soon as the ground thawed. I paid him in full on that day and I should have deducted the cost of the stump grinding and cleanup until he returned but I made a mistake in trusting him. During the process of cutting down the tree, a limb OR limbs hit the iron railing around my front porch and bent it and it took a piece out of the concrete stairs. Mr. Stevens did bend the railing back and I PAID to have the stairs repaired. I started calling him once the ground thawed and his first excuse was his grinder was broke. I was later told his grinder is old and always broke thus he hires someone to come and do what he was hired to do. His next excuse was he was sick. Finally, a man showed up at my house to grind the stump and was angry because Mr. Stevens did not tell him there was a fence. He drove thru my flower garden and started grinding and left a huge mess along with three pieces of the stump that he did not remove when grinding the stump. Again I called Mr. Stevens and told him the roots had not been removed and the cleanup had not been completed. Since the man that ground the stump left such a mess, I did not see there were still three pieces of the stump. He sent another man to remove the roots and he showed up to watch him. On that day, I asked when the cleanup would be done and he said in a week because he was sick. The week passed and still did not hear from him. I called several times and he wouldn't return my calls. Also, when he put the fence back he DID NOT use a Fence Puller or Come Along -- he used a rope to pull it in place and did a terrible job. Also, he did not reconnect the wires that connect the chain link fence to the top bar. I expected the fence to be replaced the way he found it. At one point when I called him, he told me he had to take care of his "Paying Customers" and then hung up on me. Last week I called once again and left him a message as to what my actions would be if something was not done. Because of that call, he did send someone to grind out the remainder of the stump. It has been TEN (10) weeks since the tree has been taken down and Mr. Stevens was PAID IN FULL. I still have a huge mess where the tree was and the fence is not back the way he found it because he tried to put the fence back by pulling it with a rope rather than a fence puller and/or come along. Also, it has not been secured properly with the wires that connect the chain link to the top rails. Since the mess has been left, I cannot tell whether all the pieces of the stump have been removed and I won't know until the cleanup is completed. I'm a senior citizen and not capable of doing the clean up or fixing the fence nor should I have to and I think Mr. Stevens has tried to take full advantage of that fact. I certainly would NOT recommend him but if you do use his services, don't pay him until the job is completely done to your satisfaction and I would not recommend paying him with cash or writing a check for cash. If Mr. Stevens doesn't resolve my issues through Angie's List, I will be taking him to small claims court, and I will alert the NY State Tax and Finance Department. REBUTTAL TO PROVIDER RESPONSE: First, Mr. Stevens DID NOT give me a reduced rate because of my being a senior citizen on a fixed income. When he came to my door for the first time he said "you don't want to take this tree down now" - call me after December 1st and I will do it for half price. I called him on December 1st and he said he would call me when he was able to take the tree down. He NEVER said there was an expiration date of 2/28/14. If there had been an expiration date, he wouldn't have taken the tree down for $750 in March. He states "in an effort to work with the customer's time frame....I did not have a time frame. He was taking down a tree for me, not building a house. He talks about the two things that happened in succession....his grinder breaking and being bed ridden yet while he was supposedly bedridden, he was out taking down more trees. Also, he never bothered to return calls. People don't like paying someone for a job not completed. I made the mistake paying him for the entire job because I thought he was HONEST. That was a big mistake on my part. As for the grinder, I heard from other sources that the grinder is always broken. If he had reliable people coming in behind him, he wouldn't had to hire TWO contractors to complete this job. Both told me he would be here to do the cleanup and, of course, that never happened. Perhaps Mr. Stevens should read the receipt he gave him in his handwriting that says he will "return to grind the stump and roots and remove and cleanup. Cleanup does not mean landscaping. He's right, he did have two individuals here to complete the removal of the stump and roots but they NEVER REMOVED THE ASSOCIATED WOOD CHIPS. If the cleanup had been completed when the grinding was done, all of the stump would have been removed along with the roots. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THERE IS STILL A PIECE OF THE TREE IN THE GROUND THAT WAS NOT REMOVED. As for the fence, that's another issue. He's right there was a bent post prior to his starting the work however, none of the caps on the rail were broken. Mr. Stevens did that along with bending the top rail of the fence. He knew that when he left here. The wires that attach to the top rail were not broken -- he cut them. He says he has purchased new wires that can be installed when I'm at home yet he never contacted me. If he had intended to do something about the fence, he would have told me on March 8...the day I handed him the check. The first mention of my fence was after I complained through Angie's List.At the time he took the tree down, I didn't realize he had broken the cap and bent the rail. He did the same thing when a branch hit the railing of my porch and bent it and took a piece out of my cement stairs. As I said earlier, he did bend the railing back but didn't offer to do anything about the stairs. I paid to have the step repaired.

Very thorough. Cleaned up very well after the job.

Spoke with Joe in the morning about what needed to be done. He made some suggestions. Ordered the services through Angieslist at a 50% discount after we spoke. Joe was at my home immediately after the payment was made, and undertook the work exactly as described. Excellent service, cost very reasonable with the Angielist coupon.

It went great. All bushes were taken out and the cleaned up nicely.

The inital response to my request was fast. I was given a time for the service to be preformed. The Albany area has a big storm, so my service time was pushed back. I understand that people with storm damage should come first, but I had to make several calls to Albany tree service to request a rescheduled time for my work. After about 5 calls he did set up a time for my work, which he did a really great job. I think between the storm and the discount coupon he had more work than expected and was not really prepared. Overall I would use the sevice again. Lisa F

I purchased an Angie's list special deal with a highly rated provider: $200 of tree service for $111. The provider came out to my house shortly after the purchase to assess the situation and then called to discuss it. We agreed on what needed to be done and that it would be covered by the purchase price. He would let us know when he could schedule the work. Approximately 2 months passed with no activity. I contacted him again. He said he was very busy and would do his best to get the work done. A couple of more months passed. I contacted him again. Same answer: super busy, very sorry, etc. UPDATE: Shortly after posting this review the provider contacted us again and came to our home to do the agreed upon work almost immediately. The work was performed in a professional manner and we are finally happy with the end result.

JOSEPH STEVENS WAS VERY KNOWLEDGABLE AND HELPFULL ABOUT PROPER TREE CARE. JOE DID THE JOB EXTREMELY WELL AND WAS A (PLEASURE) TO WORK WITH. HE CLEANED UP AFTER HE WAS DONE. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER AND SATISFIED WITH HIS WORK. HE WAS ON TIME AND A VERY CAREFUL WORKER. MANY OF MY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS STOPPED BY AND WANTED HIS PHONE NUMBER AND CARD. HE ALSO HAS A VERY NICE WEB PAGE ON THE INTERNET. ALBANY TREE SERVICE, JOSEPH A. STEVENS (OWNER) 432-5992.

Mr. Stevens did what I asked. I had contracted with him in late May, but he was unable to get to the job until until August. A one man operation, he was busy with other projects.

This is not a joke. I was calling for a one stop shopping business that could both trim, cut, and remove trees and replant trees and bushes and do some landscaping. This was the first company that said yes. The owner came and provided an estimate to my son. I called and left a message that I may need a few more things done and what would that additional cost be. He comes to my house to meet me and says he doesn't think we can do business. I should have seen that as a red flag (obviously something is in his history here) but I just explained I was debating the original estimate I was asking for what the additional costs were. I am not sure why that was so unclear. He then starts to pull back on what he already said he could do now saying he can refer me to people that plant/landscaping because it is not his primary business. I reminded him I was looking for one business to deal with only. He then said he could do it again. He left saying it would be about two weeks because of terrible windstorms in the area (note the day before he said he could start anytime). We left it that I would check into the types of trees and shrubs I wanted and I would call him back. Within 24 hours I decided to call other companies for estimates & the next thing I know he just shows up at my house and trims, cuts, and removes the trees. When I got home from work he once again starts with he really doesn't do the other work. Then tells me it is about a one too late to seed the lawn (of course never mentioning this before and actually given me the estimate to do) In the end he removed and transplanted the wrong hedges ( Note: I had drew pictures and labeled on top of discussing on the lawn twice). He assumed the new plants would go in the old plants places despite being a different size and never asking me and leaves without planting one of the new bushes delivered and right on the lawn. True story and not even all the details.

called - came the same day to check out the tree - returned next day to remove tree excellent service

The job went really well and spanned roughly 2, 4 hours days. I gave Joe a hand removing the cut branches for the chipper to speed the process because Joe was a one-man show for my job. I couldn't believe the effectiveness and carefulness of his work. He is extremely knowledgeable and understands in great detail the needs of not only trees, but the environment in which they thrive. In addition to my trees, I received invaluable recommendations on fertilizing and caring for all aspects of my landscaping that effects the trees. He is a true artist in his pruning and he is very graceful. My wife watched the removal of the cedar tree and said that this guy is like art in motion. I had three estimates and two other tree companies that I had out to the house were hack doctors who basically wanted to remove every tree on the property to make an extra buck without any depth o knowledge on how to improve the health of the trees. Joe took his time, assessed the needs of the trees and pruned them to maintain their health. He worked together with myself and neighbors on both sides of the property to make us all happy. He has officially become my "Tree Guy" and we will be using him for all pruning in the future as well as for recommendations on soil conditions and maintaining the health of a natural environment around out property! I highly recommend Albany Tree Service!!

.Overall ,we were pleased with the work completed. On this particular project, the Owner of the company completed the work by himself. That may have been because it was still winter, and most of his other work might be more seasonal. We were happy to get this work done to clean up a few areas of our property so that we could place fabric and mulch this Spring.

It was excellent and the gentleman was very nice and easy to work with! He was punctual, and he did an excellent job! I was very happy with what he did. He was neat and cleaned up before he left. I have nothing but high praise for him! I would use him again and highly recommend him to others!

It turned out well. I was happy with the service. The guy who came out was very responsive to return our calls.

Service went very well. All trees were trimmed as expected. I appreciate that Joe gave us advice on how to prevent tree rot ourselves rather than pressuring us to have the tree taken down. He cleared up the yard and came back to sweep our driveway. I will definitely use him again in the future.

Great experience. Joe came to house and provided price upon inspection. Date was scheduled and the work was done promptly. He happily answered all of my questions. Very happy.

The owner responded within hours of our call, provided an estimate and then arrived on time. He did the work professionally, removed all limbs and brush and even wood chipped some other limbs that had previously fallen into our yard. He was pleasant, punctual and did a good job. We would use his service again.

The service was very prompt and efficient in its immediate response and estimate and in arriving and performing the work requested.

I called Joe, the owner, in the morning for an estimate. He came over around noon the same day. He gave me his estimate and I said okay. Since he had his machine in his truck, he was able to do the work then.I was very happy with the results and the fact that he was able to do the work on the same day that I had called him.

Came out to give me a quote within 30 minutes of my request. Set up a tentative date which he cofirmed the day before he arrived. Showed up on time and got to work right away. Completed most of the work in one day - and these were 4 mature trees that were nearly 20 years old. Finished up on day 2 and cleaned up. They were very hot days and I was impressed with his ability to complete the job under these conditions.Will definately use his services again if needed.

The job went well. They did an excellent job.

Mr. Stevens performed a free estimate first and offered good recommendations about the work to be done. I called him again to ask further questions and found him to be very responsive and knowledgeable. The work was done within 2 weeks of the estimate on a Saturday (he kindly made sure my job was squeezed in between his other bigger jobs). Mr. Stevens performed the work alone and did a good job of removing the branches and cleaning up. The price was excellent, I found him to be a hard worker, and he was always very responsive.