Design Tree Maintenance, Inc

I have always had an issue with how expensive tree maintenance is; however, Design Tree is has the professionals, equipment, crew and expertise to do the job right. We have used them before and will continue to use them since we can count on them doing a complete and professional job. We used other tree maintenance services in the past, but none have matched the quality of Design Tree Maintenance. They did not call as promised with the crew arrival time. I had to call them, but the crew did arrive within the time frame provided. .

They do a good job of cleaning up what they cut down.

DTM called and scheduled the original appointment for Wednesday, Oct. 5th, between 2-5 p.m. On the day of the appointment, Rachel called from the office and left a message on my husbands phone at @ 3:20 p.m., saying "the technician was on the other side of the valley and would be unable to make it to our property within the appointment time." She asked that we call the office and reschedule. When my husband gave me the message, I was a bit put off that THEY would ask ME to call THEM back when I was not the one to miss the appointment! I did not call. Late on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6th, their office did indeed call back to reschedule the appointment. I agreed to give them another try. We rescheduled the appointment for Sat., Oct. 8th. The girl from the office told me she would have to have the technician call and let me know what time he could be here after he consulted his schedule. On Friday evening, I received a voicemail from the technician telling me to expect him on Sat., the 8th, between 2-5 p.m. I was at my house, on Saturday, between 2-5 p.m., waiting for your technician to show up BUT HE NEVER DID! My husband called the office at 5 p.m. to find out what the problem was. He spoke to a gentleman (he did not get his name) who verified our appointment. The gentleman put my husband on hold while he attempted to contact the technician. He came back on the line and informed us that he was unable to reach the technician but he left him a message with our phone number and told him to contact us because we were still waiting for him. The technician never called us and he never showed up! On Sunday, I sent DTM an e-mail requesting an explanation. To this date, they have never responded or contacted us. On their web site and Angie's List, Robert Kett, the owner of DTM, states "he has built a business that prides itself on dependability, knowledge and friendliness..." Based on just about anyone's standards, I do not believe DTM could be said to have treated us with dependability, knowledge or friendliness.

My Ironwood trees were overgrown and in need of trimming/thinning so I called DTM. I have used them three times and had good results. They were able to schedule Nick, the arborist, to come over the very next day. Nick arrived on time to evaluate the condition of my Ironwood trees. We also discussed my distressed Olive & Citrus trees, and Nick suggested treating them with Arbor Care & Citrus Care bio-fertilizers...2 products they have in stock. He gave me an estimate that included tree trimming and fertilizer products. A week later, DTM's supply truck delivered the bio-fertilizers, and Alex & his crew came out to do the work. Both showed up right on schedule. It took Alex and crew about 4 hours to trim the trees, pick up the branches, grind them in the chipper, and blow away any debris. My trees are trimmed and balanced and look great. And, they left my property spotless....all the debris picked up. Once again, they did an outstanding job.

We've used Design Tree Maintenance for years and always had great professional service. Today was the same great service. Crew arrived on time and worked very hard. They are amazing to watch up in the trees. True masters at work. Used all safety equipment which I appreciate. They did a great job on clean up. Met all our expectations and will definitely use again.

I was not home, but they said they came out and treated four of my trees. The arborist who came out to meet with me prior to the actual job being done was extremely helpful and informative. I was very pleased with my interaction with him. Since I wasn't home when they came, I did not see what they did but I trust they did what they say they did (no other choice but to). I did not see any significant change in my trees (nor do I know if I should have expected to see any), so I have no way to tell if this was a worthwhile expense. They have called annually since then but I have not purchased it again.

On 7/16/15 a representative/sales came to our home to give me a quote to do work on our fruit trees, per my request. He was very pleasant and provided me with a quote upon agreed items. The price was very high but I wanted the trees taken care of before a summer storm did any damage. They called and scheduled an appointment. Our time was very limited because my husband was very ill and we had many doctor appointments. They then called to reschedule the appointment to a day that was inconvenient. We said the new time and date were not good for us. They said they were unable to come on the original day and they would call back to reschedule. I received another call that same day from a manager who asked me to please work with their schedule. I explained my husband was very ill and we had doctor appointments at the time they wanted to come. I asked him if they would be able to keep the original appointment, at which he said no and someone would come cell to reschedule. The next thing we know a crew just showed up one day [without calling]. We were just leaving for another Doctor appointment so I said this was not a good time. They wanted me just to open the back gate and they would do the work, while no one was home. My husband said no [and I agreed] that was not something we were comfortable with. We made another appointment, which they kept. The work was completed. A couple of weeks went by and I was able to take time from my husband and go out in the yard. That is when I noticed the crew left to two large bags of mulch in our wheelbarrow and they had piled some unused brick in the front of the house on top of a drain pipe. They also had not trimmed the grapefruit tree to my satisfaction. I called and explained the situation and asked that someone come out to finish the job. Without scheduling a time, a worker came by the house. Again, we were going to a doctor appointment so again the time was not appropriate. I again tried to explain they could not do the work while we were not home. We scheduled a date and time that was going to work with us [the customer]. The bricks were moved, the two bags of mulch were returned and it was discovered that the first crew had used to much mulch on the trees and the trees could smother. The quote read 2-3 inches but, the crew had put on 4-6 inches. So, the worker then removed an estimated 8 large bags of mulch from our trees. We also discovered the watering circle on the grapefruit tree was not large enough. But he was not able to enlarge the circle and that a different crew would have to come out to do that work. Later another crew came to the house and enlarged the watering circle and used another 2 bags of mulch. We would like to receive a refund for the mulch that was not need but paid for. The quote says 900# of mulch which was an over estimate by approximately 8 large bags.

I have used Design Tree Maintenance several times in the past and always been satisfied with their service. They provided the same high quality service this time as well. Nick the arborist came to our house to inspect the large mesquite tree in our yard and recommended service to be done. We agreed on major reduction in height and sides to get the tree back to a nice balanced shape. Also thin out to reduce bushiness. Nick was on time, friendly and professional. Nick set the follow-up appointment when the actual work would be done. Got a call from the office the day before to confirm arrival time for the work crew. On the work day, Hunter and crew arrived on time and we discussed work to be done. The crew worked very hard and did a super job on the tree. The job took two climbers in the tree and two on the ground - great to watch masters at work. Again impressed with their neat appearance, safety equipment, and professional manner. They also did an excellent job on clean up. I will definitely use Design Tree Maintenance again in the future for my tree work.

It was a waste of money and they didn’t perform satisfactorily.

The service went well. The technicians did a fine job and we had no problems with the service. They were competent and responsive. I had no problem scheduling the deal.

They did an excellent job on the trees. I was very pleased with it. It was expensive but, worth it.

I would not recommend this company. They were not professional. They checked the sprinkler system. The sprinklers were not working correctly, I called them and they sent someone out. I had to call them out again. They were very irritating. They had to come back 6 times and I had to pay for sprinkler heads. They did not charge me to come back out.

Originally was asking Design Tree Maintenance to replace the sprinkler system and provide tree trimming service. They missed the original appointment date we scheduled without any notification to me and I had to call them to schedule a follow up date for the installation. When they were providing the original estimate I had asked the company to replace the entire sprinkler system and prune some trees and bushes. When they arrived on site, I again explained that I wanted the entire sprinkler system replaced "soup to nuts." Several hours into the job, I noticed they were not doing any work on the sprinklers for the grass and asked them when they were going to be replaced. The owner stated that was not what was written down by other person from their company who provided the estimate. He said already he did me a favor by providing two valves that usually cost $700 for free. [Valve prices I looked up were < $60.00.] I again explained that I had asked for the entire sprinkler system to be replaced and that should be included in the cost. After much disagreement with the owner who was on site, I had them finish the portion of the sprinkler system they had already dug up, cancelled the remainder of the job, and had them leave the property. I was extremely dissatisfied with the service this company provided.

On September 26,2014, Ben from Design Tree Maintenance came to give a quote for two properties with many trees, and I wrote him a check for $1200.00 which was a 50% deposit. Sept 27th when the storm hit my renters called to say the Palo Verde tree in the back yard had blown over from a wind gust and part of the tree was in the pool. I immediately called Ben to see if they would take care of the fallen tree, He informed me they were two door down from our rental property, taking down another tree, which had fallen on the neighbors roof and would get our tree out on Sunday the 28th. He called back to say the charge was $470.00 and I gave the o.k. On Sunday evening Design Tree called to say the tree was cut up, removed, and get a credit card number, of which I gave. On Tuesday the 30th the charge showed as $4070.00 I assumed they had entered one extra zero....I made several calls to DTM after 8:00 AM but there were not answering their phone, and finally left a voicemail explaining the error. I then called Ben and told him of the error and his reply was they would take care of it! After several hours DTM called and I explained they had added an extra zero to the charge ........he said they would get ahold of Ben and call me back....................call back never came! I called again the next day and left another voice mail. This went on until Friday Oct 3rd and was able to speak to accounting at which time I was told the charge would stand because it was an emergency.I told them the charge was excessive and to cancel the work they were going to do on our two properties next week and return the $ 1200.00. Phillip in accounting said they would have the check in the mail on Monday Oct, 6th. A few hours later Ben called to find out what was going on.......Ben explained they had written this for an insurance claim and did I understand this would be a write off ! Oh, and that makes $4070.00 o.k. for the removal of a fallen tree ? Once again, I explained the charge was excessive EVEN for an insurance claim!! As a side note my renters said they were in and out in 45 minutes! Once again no refund check, on Friday Oct 10, I called again to ask where the check was and was told by the receptionist, I needed to leave a message and she would have Phillip call me back. No return phone call again! On Monday Oct 13th, I called once again and was able to speak to Phillip, He said AGAIN he would have the check in the mail by Thursday the 16th.......Asked him why it had not come the week before as he had promised........he could not give a reason.! On Thursday the 16th DTM called and said they would put the check in the mail. I have used Design Tree Maintenance 3 times in the last several years and they have always performed well in the field. Do I expect to pay extra for work done on a Sunday, and do I expect them to charge extra for a weekend removal ? Yes, I do! However, the charge is EXCESSIVE for 45 minutes of work. If ever you are given a quote over the phone, make sure you have them Spell it out!

We met with Design Tree Maintenance to discuss the removal of our mesquite tree. We made the contract on 9/19/14 and the work was supposed to be completed on 10/1/14. We explained that they should contact us 30 minutes prior to arrival to ensure we were there to provide payment. We were given a time of 1:00 - 4:00 for the work to be done. On 10/1/14 at 3:30 we still had not received a call. I contacted Design Tree and was told they had an emergency that needed to be taken care of and they would not be able to perform the service. After talking with multiple people they stated they would be able to complete the work on 10/2/14. I instructed them to contact me 30 minutes prior to their arrival so I could ensure I would be there to provide payment and to ensure work was done to my satisfaction. I was called at approx. 2:30 on 10/2/14 saying the work was done. I was not called before that they were coming or that the work was being performed. There was absolutely no communication by Design Tree at any time during this process. In addition the work was not performed per our agreement. I will not EVER use this company again.

I have been very pleased with the service! They do a beautiful job and it's always very well done.

I have used Design Tree Maintenance a few times in that past and been very satisfied with their work. I called and made an appointment for Nick to come and give us an estimate on the work needed. We have 8 large mature mesquite trees that had never really had a proper trimming and thinning done and were now very overgrown into the house, pool area, and neighbors yard - and one of the trees was diseased and needed to be removed and replaced with a new tree. My experience is that the regular yard guys (who are not professional arborists) do not know how to properly trim trees, do not have the proper equipment and safety procedures, are not insured and end up doing more harm that good even though they are really cheap. I will only hire insured/bonded tree maintenance professionals like Design Tree Maintenance. Nick came out to the house and looked things over and gave us an estimate for the work. Although expensive, we thought it was a fair price for large job. We had previously looked at Moon Valley Nursery for a 36" box Palo Verde tree to replace the diseased mesquite tree that they were going to remove. Moon Valley Nursery had nice large 36" box Palo Verde trees. Nick told us he could get a nice 36" box Palo Verde for us and quoted a price slightly less than what we found at Moon Valley Nursery. Based on Nick's offer, we decided to go ahead with the new 36" box Palo Verde from Design Tree Maintenance. The crew arrived promptly on the day promised and the crew lead, Austin, was very friendly and professional. The crew first cleared any items on the property that could get damaged. They then donned their protective safety equipment and went to work. It took them the entire day to complete the work and they all worked extremely hard. Once complete, they went back and re-placed all the items moved in the yard. They also did a super job on clean up which I really appreciated. Austin and his crew did a super job !! The only issue we had was that the new 36" box Palo Verde tree they installed was much smaller and much less mature than the 36" box trees we had previously seen at Moon Valley Nursery. I called Nick and told him about our displeasure with the new tree and that the size of the tree was not worth the price we paid. He stopped by to inspect the tree and agreed it was undersize for a 36" box tree. As a remedy for the undersize tree, he ultimately agreed to an equitable cash refund as compensation. We received the refund check in a couple weeks. We are hopeful that the new tree will grow quickly into a beautiful specimen. Even with the disappointment on the new Palo Verde tree, I still give Design Tree Maintenance an excellent overall rating. At all steps along the way all the folks involved from scheduling to workers were friendly, prompt, professional, and hard working. I plan to use them again.

The service for the big deal from Design Tree Maintenance Inc went fine. There were no additional charges than the big deal. They were very professional.

The sales man gave me an estimate and sent his men out. He promised to have someone there I would understand and that that person would understand me. Work was not done right. Water system was not put in correctly as was written on the agreement. I called and asked for the sales person to come out but he would not come back and did NOT even return my call. He sent another guy who did not understand English. He made a change but it was worse now. Again I called the office for the original sales person to come out but he did not show and never returned a call. THe sales man then made final payment on my credit card without my permission. Unethical to say the least. My water system problem was never made right. No one ever called or cared. I had this company do work for me in 2006-2010 - But something is terribly wrong with them now. I will never use them again. I am appalled that i was treated this way by a company I had used many times in the past - never before had I been unhappy. So why did they treat me so poorly and why are they hiring help that does not do quality work. I was promised an arborist would do the work but that again did NOT happen. Only partial service was done and done poorly.

They were really nice. They fixed the sprinkler.

The sales representative promised a lot, but delivered too little in our personal opinion. He also sold us things we found out later that we did not seem to need. He rarely returned calls and they did not always turn up when they were supposed to. They had one work leader that was good, but others did not seem to do what was paid for. When we complained, they did the work after verifying what was in the contract.

I have a very big tree and they took all the dead branches down. It looks good now. The price was average. They took a deposit, they charged my card, and were supposed to turn up on like Wednesdays. I took the day off, and they didn't show up. I tried calling them, and someone told me that they would come but nobody came. They didn't show up, and stopped answering my calls. Then I checked my statement, and they had charged the rest of the amount. I left a scathing message on their phone, and they made up the next day. They came and did the job. I understand if they are running behind, but what I am upset about, is that nobody could call me back about it. If you miss 2 or 3 calls, you should call them back and say you are running late. The other thing I was more pissed off about was that they charged my card, after not showing up. I gave them the card number for the deposit.

I am DONE with them. I've been using Design Tree Maintenance for almost 10 years, and yes I have the receipts to prove it. No Bob, I am not one of your competitors trying to undermine you as you have said sometimes happened. I'm one of your long standing customers who has talked to you many times over the past year and told you the problems you need to solve. I am done with this company. I had been using DTM for taking care of our ash, pine and palm trees for us, and overall they do a decent job ... but where they fall FLAT on their face is in communications and scheduling. Each and every time I talk to someone there, everything seems to be fine and they promise left right and center ... but there is ABSOLUTELY NO follow up. It frustrates the @#%! out of me. Without going into a LONG history of what's gone right and what's gone wrong, I have to say this ... DON'T EXPECT to get any followup or communications from these guys! They have a real communications problem. If they say their arborist will give you a call back ... he's NOT going to call you. Even if you call him directly on his cell, if he doesn't actually pick up the phone ... don't bother leaving a message for him because it's a complete waste of your time. Either he isn't getting his messages, or else he's completely ignoring them. Most recently, I've had an issue with a mature pine tree pushing over a fence with a neighbor. The arborist (Nick) came out quickly to take a look at it (good), but I wasn't able to talk with him at that time he came out (I was getting yelled at by my boss.) Nick promised me he would get back to me that same night with recommendations on what could be done. I heard nothing from him. After 3 days later, and after I left multiple messages ... I still haven't heard back from him ... this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I am done! Background I've used DTM to help trim and feed my ash, pine and palm trees for 10 years. Quality of work (when they actually show up) is very mixed. Was happy with them for a number of years, then they trimmed one of my ash trees back too much exposing the trunk to blazing Arizona sun. I worked with them to help the tree recover, and DTM was helpful (if a bit frustrating to deal with). I also used DTM to re-design our front lawn area after a bad frost killed off some ficus trees. Bad idea. The owner of the company (Bob) is in charge of landscaping. He's very knowledgeable and is willing to talk your ear off to show it. And then he keeps talking. And talking. Okay, personality wise he's not going to be my best friend. I'm okay with that as long as he does a good job at what I hire him for. They designed the layout of the new landscaping, picked what would work best for our location and installed it all. Fine, looked good. Then in the summer heat, two of the shrubs died on me. After MULTIPLE phone calls trying to get someone out, the owner (Bob) comes out and looks at it and tells me that the shrubs that had been picked out were the wrong species for that spot. (DTM was the ones who had recommended them in the first place ...not me.) He proceeded to lecture me for a LOONG time about what we should have done. But apparently Bob forgot that he personally was the one who helped to install it in the first place. Yes, he was onsite and doing a lot of the work himself, and then tries to tell me that I did something wrong with it. Eventually they do replace everything and all is okay for the moment. But it took me about 14 different pone calls to get this done, and multiple visits by the owner and his crew to fix everything. I'm just fed up and done working with them. Just too frustrating.

The person who came out to my house was an arborist. He was very professional. Told me what I needed. My problem was that he didn't do the work. When the crew came to do the work, they ended up practically killing our orange tree. The rest of the work was just OK. If the original guy had supervised the work, it might have turned out differently. But that's not how they do business.

This was the worst "deal" experience I think I've ever had. It was supposed to be for a "Sprinkler Tune-Up & Diagnosis!", which I assumed might have looked at the actual sprinklers turning on, and maybe, just maybe fixing a drip irrigation head or finding a leak. Instead it was basically a sales call where he audited my trees and presented me with an estimate in the thousands to "fix" my trees. I got *no* work or tune-up from this person, and basically paid for them to provide me an egregious estimate of stuff to fix. Complete waste of money and my time.