PLANTERS PARADISE

Tree in back is not good. The branch they cut was still left hanging, but no longer over our neighbor's yard. There's another branch that could've also been cut to make it look a little better. Trimming the tree in the front hasn't created more sun for our other tree. This was a waste of our money. Strike 2 for Rob. Since he came when were weren't home (he didn't call to tell us he was coming), we had to call him to pay the bill. He told my husband over the phone that it was $225, and I immediately wrote it down. When he came here, I went to hand him the money, and I said $225, right? Just to confirm. My husband said, "I thought it was $250." Rob did not bring the bill with him, which I find very unprofessional. If you're going to collect money from a customer, you should know how much you're charging them. He said he wasn't sure, so I went back in and got another $25. I handed it all to him, and he said he'd check his records. I already knew it was $225, and it wasn't very smart for me to give him the extra money, and we didn't get a receipt either...even more stupid. But I figured a guy who comes to do work at your house and you have to call him to give him money must be a trustworthy guy if he trusts us that much. And, he knew several of the people I grew up with during summers I spent out here with my grandparents. Well, live and learn. Should've given him a check. But, then again I'm sure he would've insisted that it was supposed to be $250. I called him back here on 7/12/13 just out of curiousity to see how much he would charge to remove 2 trees (there was no way I was using him to cut any more trees). He said one of them was out of his scope of work, which I appreciated, and I thanked him for his honesty. I figured I'd discuss the $25 with him, and ask him to start mowing our lawn weekly, and we'd pay the difference of the $25 for the first week. But, first I reminded him about the situation with the $25 and that he was supposed to call to let me know that he checked his records. Immediately he said,"I remember you gave me the lesser amount." Isn't it funny how he didn't even know how much he originally told us it would cost when he came to collect the money, but suddenly he remembers I gave him less money? I explained that I had gone back inside to get the extra $25 and came back to give the full $250 to him. He again said he was going to go home and check to be sure. I knew we'd never see that $25 again. Oh, and to top all of this off, he had the nerve to pull his pickup truck in our driveway, which was recently paved. Any other companies who come here automatically park in the street. He knows it's new because he came here before it was done. My husband still liked Rob up to this point. Once I called and told him what had just happened, he no longer wants anything to do with him either. He will NEVER do any work here again. And, whatever he spends that $25 on, the universe will make sure that nothing good comes of it. So, we let it go, and we know it will come back to him somewhere down the road. What goes around, comes around. You can't go around cheating people and expect not to be cheated by someone else. In the end, he's the one who lost out because we were ready to hire him on a weekly basis to take care of our lawn. Even with the two strikes, we were still willing to give him another chance. We figured maybe lawn care is his forte, and we need to stay away from the other work with him. But, there is nothing we want him to do here again. For a measly $25, after he already made $700 off of us, he cost himself a lot more. We're shopping around for another tree company, and this time we're using Angie's List to find one. One good thing came out of all of this, it's what made me purchase an Angie's List membership. So, in the end I feel like it was a blessing for us to avoid future issues with companies. So, thanks Rob. At least we didn't lose out. Update August 19: Met with Hurricane Tree Experts. They have to trim the two trees that Planter's Paradise trimmed because the job wasn't done right. This guy, also Rob, but totally different person, showed up early, went through everything with us (twice), gave us a good price, and will be here in 2 days to do the job. And, the company has excellent ratings on Angie's List. That's why I picked them.

Workers were supposed to arrive first thing in the morning. I had to leave because I had an appointment. When I returned, they were here and had begun working. There was a message on my answering machine from Rob, the owner saying that they were running late. It would've been nice to get that phone call 4 hours earlier when they were actually supposed to be here. I could've gone out in the morning and ran my errands instead of sitting at home waiting. They did a nice job. We were happy with the work and cleanup, but not happy with the price at all. He said he had to charge more because he had to pay all the workers. I wanted to shop around for someone else, but my husband had already told him okay. I suggested to my husband that we do not use him for such big jobs anymore, but we were still willing to use him for smaller jobs. His landscaping prices for our area were very good, so that's what made us call him to begin with. That's why I was so shocked at the price he charged for minimal work and the only material provided was mulch. The dirt was ours. Rob is polite and respectful, but he got a lower rating for professionalism for making me sit and wait for hours before taking the time to call and let me know what was going on.