Sammy Stoneberger Tree Service

Mr. Stoneberger gave me quote for grinding stumps. I accepted his offer and we signed a contract. He asked for half of the fee up front ($130) and I foolishly paid him. Over the next month he gave me six dates that he would come to do the work. He would give a date and then fail to show. He did this six times. After the sixth failure to show, he refused to return my phone calls. Nor has he made any effort to return my $130. Now I am having to sue him in the Small Claims Court for the return of my $130. .

Mr. Stoneberger had arranged for a man named Charles Cook, from Smitty's Tree Service, to climb and cut the top of the tree off at a cost of $1000. As I was driving to meet them at my house, Sammy called me and said they could cut the tree down for $1500. When I arrived with my $1000, the climber and Sammy, seeking to increase their fee while saving time, teamed up to persuade me to agree to having the whole tree cut down for $1200. When they cut the tree, it fell on the top of my buried propane tank. Propane spewed everywhere, and I had to perform an emergency evacuation of my daughter and pets from my home (at the instruction of local emergency services). The very dangerous situation forced the fireman and guys from the propane company to watch, until enough propane finally leaked and dissipated to allow use of chainsaws to cut the trunk off the tank. The tree now lays in the drainage ditch along my driveway. The contract was for it to lay in my front yard so I could get to it at my convenience; I have an injured arm and should not perform heavy-lifting work on it now, but we have to clean it up ASAP or my driveway will not drain correctly. My contract was with Sammy, but Tony from Smitty's paid to repair the tank and replace the lost propane. Sammy bullied me and my husband into agreeing to pay him the full amount for this job, though we had to do a substantial amount of clean-up work. This job was not done as contracted. He told me some story that I could get a logging company to pay me for the tree, and possibly get most of my money back. When I offered the wood to Sammy, so he could take advantage of the "deal" he proposed to reduce our costs, he suddenly lost confidence in the value of the wood--he wasn't sure he could get any money for it. Sammy never showed me a contract nor did I sign anything. Sammy is not easy to communicate with and wants what he wants, no matter how "well" the job is done.