SNIDER'S TREE SERVICE

I had a large dead elm tree in late fall of 2009. I contracted with another company, who had the lowest bid of $1100 to cut down and remove the tree. They subcontracted the first job to Milton Snider. Milton, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend arrived to chop down the tree. They came on time the first day, worked 2 or 3 hours, and left. Then they came on four successive days, about mid-afternoon, and left after a couple of hours. Each night they asked for partial payment--once saying they didn't have enough gas or money to buy it to get home. While not impressed with their work habits, they completed the job very well, if not very promptly, and were pleasant to deal with. They removed all branches and left the yard neat. I later learned that the original contractor had lied to them and said they'd bid the job for $950. I felt bad that they'd been cheated of so much by the original contractor. I had another tree which was dying, and they offered to chop down and remove it for $700. I said that if they wanted to come in winter , when prices were generally lower, I'd listen to their bid. One day in February Milton knocked at my door and said that they'd remove the tree for $450. I had him sign a contract, which he did, to "cut down and remove tree behind deck" for $450. They didn't arrive until two days after they said they would, and proceeded to follow the same practice from the original job--coming late, working a couple of hours, and asking for partial payment. Since they'd done a good job the first time, I didn't mistrust them....big mistake. After they took down the tree, and hauled off the valuable parts, they failed to return to pick up all the branches, which covered 2/3 of my yard. I had only withheld $50 of their payment, which I now realize was very unwise. (I believe they underbid the job, and then took the partial payments, deciding that the remaining job wasn't worth the remaining money.) I called them several times. Each time Milton answered, apologetic, and said they'd come "by the end of the week." They never did. They final time he said, "I promise: I'll be there by Friday." When Friday came, and he didn't arrive, at the direction of my daughter, a lawyer, I sent them a demand letter to complete the job by April 10. They did not respond or come. I hired another company, which charged me $150 to remove the branches.