Scott Services LLC

Very polite workmen. Cut down the tree and removed all the wood. Ground stump. Cleaned up very well. This is the second time we have used them. Very pleased with both visits. They will be back to clean up some large tree before winter.

I was told the crew would arrive by 9:00 am, they finally arrived at 11:00 am. No one called to tell me that they would be late. They were expected to treat the surrounding landscape with care and immediately one of the crew members threw a rake onto my bed of ferns. During the work, they damaged several of the shrubs. I asked them to leave one tree behind which was supposed to be stacked but that was never done. Later I found out that they had damaged my gas grill. No one reported the damage when it happened. When I called the company to report the damages, NO ONE would return my calls. I called three times without any response. Then I sent a certified letter with pictures of the damages, again no one responded to my concerns. I would never use this company again.

This was a terrible experience. When we had our driveway replaced a few years ago, our contractor was under the impression that Arlington County would replace it for $700 and suggested we save some money. As it happens, they do that only if you want exactly what you had previously. We were enlarging ours, so the County would't do it. Since an apron replacement job is too small for most masons to bother with, in late September when I noticed two neighbors were having work done on their driveways by Scott Services and asked if they could give me an estimate. Rene, the foreman, called Wayne Scott, who arrived at my house within 30 minutes. He did his estimate and without much to compare it with, I sat on it for a few days. A couple of days before he was going to pour the driveway across the street, my husband signed the contract with him. We had tipped them off that our neighbors were also looking for masonry assistance. He bid out that contract and told us that if he got it, he could do aggregate concrete for our apron and he would take an additional $100 off. As it happened, the neighbors did go with Scott Svcs. Twice, I talked with Rene while he was next door and he told me they would begin work on my one-day job, but they never commenced. After weeks of no activity on our driveway, and limited activity next door, I started phoning Wayne on his cell phone (which he had called me from and promptly returned calls from when he was trying to get the job). I left 6 messages over the course of 2 weeks, and spoke with Rene several times. No returned calls. Not a one. Having assumed he was breaking the contract, I gave up. However, one day I spoke with Rene, who told me that they had the permit, and were getting ready to go, but there would be no aggregate concrete because the County doesn't allow it. Again, no call to have let me know that. After resigning myself to the fact that the apron would stay as is, Wayne showed up at my door one day. He apologized and said his wife had been sick, but he promised he would excavate and pour the driveway that Thursday. They began excavation. But then didn't show up. Or follow through. Between my house and my neighbor's house, they would come for an hour or two each day, then disappear. Finally, I called the main number for Scott's to find out what was going on. I spoke with Angelina, the General Manager. This was the first she had eve heard of us having a contract with Scott's. Angelina was apologetic. I had a yard full of 5-25 lb pieces of concrete from both my job and the neighbor's. The crew made no attempt to clean up, leaving water flowing rapidly down the street at the edge of my driveway, and no way to get across my driveway. Two days later, one of their tree guys showed up to haul away the debris, and was both embarrassed and apologetic that the mess had been left. Then, day after day passed, and nothing. No progress. Open hole at the end of my driveway. 3 small children and a dog. Highly exasperating. As my annoyed calls became more regular, Angelina became more annoyed with me. With Thanksgiving arriving, below 30 degree temps and an open driveway, I demanded that they at least put temporary planks down so that my grandmother could get up the hill to my house. Two days later they did. The entire time, Angelina wasn't apologizing for the impact on me, or for the poor communication, but kept assuring me they were going to reprimand the foreman. I didn't care about the foreman getting canned; I just wanted my driveway completed! A week after Thanskgiving, they finally recommenced work. They started digging the apron because they said the weather was finally nice enough (though it had been mostly fine). They kept blaming the County for the delays (e.g., too many rules, the inspector was unavailable). They said the County couldnt inspect it until Wednesday. I took the morning off to be there for the inspection. The apron failed on 5 of 6 counts. Depth, width, materials, framing (as far as I can tell, they didn't use a tape measure, level or compass to get the angles or dimensions). And the foreman wasn't there for the inspection. Apparently, there are multiple inspectors, and the formean had stood our inspector up the Tuesday prior, then she had a death in the family. Even if she had been there a few days before, it still would have failed. But the biggest problem of all was that they had let the permit expire. Ironically, it had expired before they even began the work! (More than 2 weeks before the inspection). And the office staff had no idea the permit was expired. After several calls to Scott Services and Angelina (not a single returned call from Wayne), Angelina told me that they would pull the permit the day after Thanksgiving and pour it that day. I had to tell her that Arlington County would be closed the day after Thanksgiving. She assured me they would show up anyway to get other work done. On Monday, I called because no one had shown up at all over the long weekend. On Tuesday, the weather was better, and Angelina said she was hoping they could get the permit on Wednesday, but could still not assure me that they could get a new permit and/or pour the driveway that week. As such, we fired them on Wednesday, more than 3 months after our initial contract date. All's well that ends well... We hired Bright Masonry (as did our next door neighbors), who pulled the permit, finished the excavation, got through inspection, poured the driveway and hauled away the remaining debris left by Scott Services. Bright Masonry is awesome and I will never contract with someone who isn't highly regarded for that service on Angie's List!!!

They did a great job and I highly recommend them to anyone in need of tree service.