NORTHWEST ARBOR CULTURE INC

Once we were on the schedule, they arrived on time and did the work as quoted

Very quick service and communication. The workers who were on site were very friendly and very focused on the job. It was a very nice experience.

My review has been a long time coming as I wanted to reserve judgement until I had a chance to discuss my concerns and issues, with the owner of NW Arbor Culture, to see if we could come to a mutual agreement prior to posting any review. Unfortunately, this did not happen when I finally received a return call from the company on 4/5/16. I have been trying to get this issue resolved since NOVEMBER 2014. I have documented the email exchange I have had with this company since May 2015 and will try to add it to this review as a PDF so there is record of my numerous attempts to get a call from the company and get my issues resolved. Please note- I have removed my email address, home address, and phone numbers from the email thread. Otherwise, it is a true and accurate representation of the complete exchange. You can get a great sense of a company by how they treat a customer during any issue or dispute and, in my specific case, NW Arbor Culture fails miserably. We hired NW Arbor Culture to trim a cherry tree as well as 1 Cedar Tree in our yard. For the Cedar Tree, my wife explicitly stated during the initial consultation that we did NOT want any lower branches removed as they provide a privacy barrier between my yard and a neighbor’s back yard since there isn't a fence separating the two. It has provided a barrier for years so WHY WOULD WE WANT THEM REMOVED NOW?! We always state that we don’t want any branches removed, upfront, with any arborists to make sure we are all aligned on the planned work. My wife explained this to Jon Nash during the initial consultation so we figured there wouldn’t be any issue. Unfortunately, we were very wrong. The extent of the work they did to the Cedar Tree was USING A CHAINSAW TO REMOVE 4 BRANCHES. YES- exactly what we did NOT want done to the tree. They were also completely gone within 3 hours of arriving at our home. I drove back by my house at lunch that day to check on the status and, based on the initial consultation and agreed cost of the thinning / trimming of the Cedar Tree ($1100), I fully expected to find the crew roped up into the trunk of the tree thinning / trimming as agreed. That has always been the case with other companies we have hired to do identical work. They were completely gone. My wife called the company immediately and spoke to Jon and indicated her disappointment and issues with the removal of the 4 branches. He stated that the work was done as agreed?? Again, she stated she was explicit in stating we did NOT want any of the branches removed due to the privacy barrier they provide. He stated he would discuss the work with the crew involved and get back to us. We never heard back from Jon and this started my long-standing email exchange with their company to try to get resolution. For over the past year, we would receive a bill, I would forward my original email below asking them to call me to discuss and I would never hear back. 3-4 months later, I would receive the same invoice and again would contact the company asking for a phone call to discuss my issues. It was like we were in a never-ending loop. Bottom line, if I was just looking to remove 4 lower branches from my Cedar Tree, I would have used a chainsaw myself and got it done in 5 minutes. I would not have agreed to pay an Arborist $1100 to do it! I was seriously surprised to receive a call back from Jon Nash on 4/5/16 but was hoping to come to a resolution on my issues with the work. Unfortunately, he immediately resorted to name-calling and accusing me of avoiding payment: “Oh, you’re one of those guys that thinks he can get work done for free!”. What? Every time I would patiently wait for him to finish and try to ask him if he read my initial email, he would immediately start talking over me and would not let me get in a word edge-wise. It definitely had me scratching my head as all I wanted to do was get some resolution and his petty, name-calling, etc. was definitely not helping. I seriously think he didn’t even read my email or had any idea as to my concerns. HE DID NOT ADDRESS ANY OF MY CONCERNS OR MENTION THE WORK THEY DID OR MY LONG CHAIN OF ATTEMPS TO CONTACT / EMAILS AT ALL! His last comment to me before he hung up was: “I’ve been recording this call and I’ll forward it to my attorney and see how you like it when I put a lien on your house!” I never agreed to being recorded but I would love to have a copy of the recording as it would show how he never once addressed the actual work at my home or even let me voice my concerns. I tried to follow up with another email to the owner (Chris Nash) the following day on 4/6 but never heard back from him either. I would definitely recommend steering clear of this company as there are too many great companies out there who actually provide great service and look to satisfying their customers! Please review my pictures of the extent of the work completed on my cedar tree (removal of the 4 branches) as well as the initial email I sent the company on 5/14/15 below which they finally responded to on 4/5/16! From: Mike Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 1:35 PM To: meagan@nwtree.com Cc: Deborah Subject: Invoice Hello Meagan, I would like to discuss the attached invoice with someone on your team based on the concerns I’ll outline below. The scope of work included two items: Thin / prune 1 cherry tree Trim / thin 1 cedar trees During the initial consultation with your team, my wife, Deb, was told that the company who completed the prior pruning of our Cedar trees did not do a complete job of thinning the trees and that there was still a ton of necessary work that could be done. Deb stated her immediate concerns with the 1 Cedar tree in question which included the branches touching our home as well as thinning the complete tree. She specifically stated that she did not want any of the lower branches removed as it provides a natural privacy barrier to our next door neighbor. Whoever provided the initial consultation assured her that the work would be completed to her request. We were very disappointed when we got home to see that your team did exactly what we had asked you NOT to do which was remove complete branches from the cedar tree. The only work that was done to the Cedar tree was the removal of 4 branches. The specific work we requested (thinning / pruning of complete tree) was not completed at all. I have attached 2 pictures which show the extent of the work your company completed on the cedar tree – you can clearly see the knots where the 4 branches were removed. If I wanted to remove those 4 branches I would not have hired an arborist, I could have easily done that work myself. Work Timeline I was home when your team arrived for the work at 7:45am. They started immediately on pruning the Cherry Blossom tree and were completely done with that tree when I was leaving for work around 8:10-8:15 am. *approx. 30 minutes of work* I work nearby so I came back home at 11am to check on the status of your team and expected to find them roped into the Cedar tree working on the thinning of the tree. I was not happy to find the 4 branches removed from the tree without any thinning work completed to the tree. Also, no sign of your team. 3 hours later and they were completely gone at that point so I have no idea how long they were there but can only guess that they maybe spent 10-15 minutes on the Cedar since the work was limited to removing 4 branches. By comparison, when we hired Urban Forest Pro, they charged us $800 per Cedar Tree but they also spent all day at our property actually roped into the trees and thinning out branches up the complete trunk of each of our 3 trees. They did not remove any branches. Deb called and spoke to your owner? immediately to express her concern and disappointment with the work that was completed on our property. He kept stating that work was completed per the agreement and that the team “raised” the branches on the tree. Deb stated several times that she never wanted branches removed and, again, stated the natural privacy barrier the branches provided. Ultimately, he said he would check back on his notes, discuss the work with the team who was on site, and get back to us. She never heard back from him even after leaving another follow-up message asking for a status update. Now 7 months later and we receive the original estimate amount in an invoice without any call or explanation? Sorry, but that doesn’t work for me. We have never had any issues with any other companies we have hired from Angies List so, again, very disappointed at the amount of time your company spent at our property as well as the lack of work completed. Bottom line, I will not pay $1100 for 30 minutes of pruning on the cherry tree and the removal of 4 branches from the cedar tree. Specifically, 4 branches that we did not want removed in the first place! As mentioned several times, none of the work we had actually requested on the Cedar tree (thinning / pruning) was completed. Please have someone call me to discuss. I can be reached at 503-xxx-xxxx. Thanks, Mike

Johnathan was personable on the phone and said he could be over Friday morning at 9am. On mid-morning Thursday, Johnathan calls to tell me he was sorry he missed our appointment for that morning and that he must have written something down wrong. I told him that our appointment was for tomorrow and he reassured me he would be there. I understand someone getting their day/time wrong every-now-or-then and didn?t think much of it. On Friday morning, Johnathan didn't show up at 9am. At 9:30am he calls to tell us that he had an emergency - a tree had fallen and he needed to tend to it. Again, I understood that they obviously have emergencies and we made another appointment for him to come by the next day (Saturday) at 9am. On Saturday morning we waited around for him for an hour before heading out for the day. He never called or sent an email. It?s been three days since and still no word from him or anyone from NW Arbor Culture. It seems like they don?t want our business and we wouldn?t recommend them.

As stated above, Chris did a terrific job for us.

Very quick and professional service. Did an excellent job would use them again.

On time - crew of 2 - great guys - Jon (the owner) came out to get them started. Worked all day - took dead tree away - cleaned up everything.

We were highly satisfied with the professionalism of Northwest Arbor Culture. We liked the people and appreciated their skill. Each crew member worked hard the whole time he was here. Cleanup was great.

I first had a consultation with Johnathan a professional arborist for a Japanese Maple that I was worried about. The "consultation" charge to look at my tree with discussion was $200. The total time of the consultation was about 15 minutes. I was told of this charge before Johnathan came to the house and agreed to it. He presented himself as a knowledgeable professional. Hearing that my tree was okay was a relief, but I somehow expected that arborists would to take more time examining the tree more closely (with a magnifying glass with soil and bark samples, etc.)...perhaps the tree looked so good no close scrutiny was needed or I have the wrong idea of what arborists do to examine trees? I agreed to having NW Arbor Culture complete a thorough clean-up of the dead branches. This cost was $275. Two men came the next day and using long poles, hit small dead twigs off the tree and hand sawed larger branches. This took about an hour. They did a very good clean up of the area when they were finished. All together my cost was $575. Though I was satisfied with the service, the fee is expensive, so in the future I will need to look for a less costly provider.

We are extremely pleased with their work. The lower grade is only due to them arriving a day late. There was a mix-up due to the holiday weekend. However, I had to call them to let them know no one had showed up, so apparently we never got on the schedule to start with. Also, I paid the crew at the end of the day and asked that they have the office email me an invoice, but that never happened. Jesse was the tree climber that day. It's a large maple tree that had never been maintained before, so it was a huge job and he did excellent work. Joe was in the bucket. He trimmed overhanging branches from some maples, firs and redwoods along the driveway and near some outbuildings. He, too, did an excellent job. Steve was the ground support, alternating between Jesse and Joe and he was working all the time. They all worked very hard, and worked well together. They set aside anything large enough for firewood, and chipped up the rest. They cleaned up the area to our satisfaction. They arrived at 7AM and left at 4 PM. They did as many of the trees as they had time for (we prioritized which trees we wanted done and they did all they could.) I can't say if their price was competitive because I didn't get estimates from any other arborists. We met one of the owners regarding another matter, got to talking about the trees, he gave us an estimate. When I read their reviews on Angie's List, I chose not to spend any more time getting other quotes. We are happy with the work done. Had they been on time, they would have gotten straight A's from us.

We have used this tree service quite some time ago and were pleased with their work at that time so we called them again. Jon came out and we showed him the trees and areas of concern. He gave his recommendations and advice and left us to decide what we wanted done. We needed the work done fairly soon so we could finish another project that couldn't be done until the tree work was finished. He came out on a Wednesday, walked the property in queston, and scheduled the work for the following Monday and Tuesday. His crew was prompt both days. Jon is a certified arborist and his crew (two of which had been with the company for 11 yrs and one had been with the company for 4 yrs) also seemed to have a lot of working knowledge on the subject. They did a wonderful job of completing exactly what we had asked. Very professional and hard working people on the crew. They worked around a lot of ornamental shrubs and other species of trees, as well as an automatic sprinkleer system and a chain link fence and numerous flower beds . Even though they guarantee to repair or replace anything damaged, their work was impeccable and nothing was damaged. They know exactly what they are doing. The cleanup was awesome. I think they left our property cleaner then it was when they arrived. When the job was finished, they gave us the opportunity to check the area to make sure we were happy with their job. Which we were EXTREMELY happy. This is a very professional, knowledgeable and honest company. Look no further...

These guys were great. They were efficient and professional in all respects. We are completely satisfied with the work.

neighbors had just clear cut their previously wooded land, exposing us to an eyesore of a view. chris suggested planting a variety of evergreen conifers along the property line during the winter. he put in a total of 30 2" caliper trees along the bank, with careful consideration of variety and how they would fit with the trees already in place, taking a long term view - some of the existing trees will likely be at the end of their lives within a few years and it's good to know the replacements are in the ground and growing. in december i was called out of state and could not be on site to oversee the planting, so all decisions on placement were out of my hands, but i was kept informed by my son. after the first ten trees went in i realized more would be needed, with more variety too, and chris got the message to enlarge the scope of the job and was able to get another twenty trees in. when i returned home in early march i was impressed with the spacing of the plantings as well as their evident health. each has a strong support and space and light to grow. there was no additional clean-up necessary. i had offered to pay some money up front since i didn't know how long i would be away, but chris suggested i wait until i saw the finished work and was satisfied. i am very satisfied, and heartily recommend this business.

Jay was thorough in evaluating what we wanted, and the possible options, before bidding. A crew of four completed the task within a working day. Removed all trees cleanly and safely.No surprises.

had Jay and the team maintain our trees twice over 5 years, then when a windstorm took one down and badly damaging another he was out there within an hour of my calling, made things safe, and didnt expect payment till we were paid by insurance. cut wood in managable size pieces. whole team professional and polite.

We use them all the time. They come every year. They are very good and very responsive. We have had them for years. The workers that come out are very good. We would rate them highly and would continue to use them in the future.

We had 6 large Elms that require major trimming. We had two trees removed (felled) a large Cherry (30 ft) and a Cypress (60 ft). The crew arrived with a bucket truck and chipper at 7:30 AM (first light). They worked continuously until after dark. All work was done exactly as described in the estimate for the agreed on price. Trees trimmed beautifully per Arborest recommended practices. All debris was cleaned up. All cut rounds were stacked.

Overall, they are excellent. They are based in Newberg, OR, and are bonded and licensed. They are arborists and they take down huge fir trees, trees that are probably taller than 100 feet. They will come out and do a free estimate of the work before they begin. They will work around power lines and all that sort of stuff. They do the cleanup immaculately. They are very professional and will work in conditions where it is hard to get out space. I would recommend them for removing large trees. That is their specialty. They don’t do maintenance work but they do the difficult-to-remove trees. I would rate them highly and would use them again in the future.

Their work is excellent. I have been calling them for about ten years and they get everything done that I need. Their hard work stands out to me. They aren’t cheap but they earn their money with the quality of the work; I think they are worth it.

Everything went fine. They came promptly and protected the fence so it wouldn't be damaged by the branches. The work was done quickly. They cut the wood into 16" lengths and stacked it by the house. They cleaned up. They had estimated some pruning work to be done but I thought it was pretty expensive.

NW Arbor was able to come out within a few days (another job had been canceled), they came on time and worked (I mean really worked it was in the 90's by 10am) from 7am to approx. 2pm. Did an excellent job and left the yard clean and beautiful. All the employees were nice and helpful...let me ask all kinds of questions. They even stopped work so I could close my gates and let my dogs out! I really cannot say enough good things about NW Arbor and Staff.

Jill came over to estimate the job on 12/19/2006. She told my partner Karen that Jay Larson would contact us either the first week in January, or January 8 at the latest. The time line passed, and no one contacted us, even after leaving two messages. We assumed they were not interested, so we contacted another tree service on the list. Suddenly, with no prior notification, Northwest Arbor Culture shows up on 1/22 between 8 and 8:30 AM, and takes the tree down. The tree was supposed to have been pulled down, so the stump would not need to be ground, but the crew cut it down flush to the ground. Karen happened to be home, and heard the chainsaw, so she went out to talk to the crew. Karen then called Jill who came out to to three hours later. Jill apologized, and said she would personally look into it and call us back and set up a time for the 'grinding crew' to come out. As of 1/29, we have not heard from her.

They were prompt, worked quickly and cleaned everything up before they left.

We had a bit of a miscommunication on the day the work was to be done (my fault I put it on the calendar on the wrong day). On the appointed day the crew showed up at the appointed time ready to go to work. The foreman and I walked the job one last time to make sure we were on the same page and the crew went to work. They did an excellent job! Even removed a small Cherry tree that I had forgotten to talk to them about at no extra charge. They cut the trees into rounds for firewood and cleaned the site up better than I would have before they left. I truly dislike hiring people to do work that I can do myself and dealing with contractors, but I would not hesitate to call them again if I need anymore tree work done.

I have used these people twice now and have not been disappointed. They show up on-time and work hard and fast. Any one on the crew is easy to approach and always willing to walk you through what they are doing.