Arbor Master Tree Care LLC

I made contact with 3 different companies. I purposely selected only A rated companies hoping there wouldn’t be issues. Two responded and made appointments (including ArborMasters). The second company changed their appointment and then was a no show. I felt comfortable with the bid (considering what my bid was for just 3 trees 2 years ago) ArborMaster gave and contracted with them the same day. They don’t take checks (which I understand) and didn’t have a way to take credit cards (other than through Facebook pay, which was problematic and caused my card to be locked) so I had to finagle getting them the 50% down payment prior to commencement of work. They did show up a day later than originally planned but the owner was very communicative and explained the reason for the delay. They did complete the work in a timely, professional manner and cleaned up well after themselves so I have no problem with the completed work that they completed during the two days they were at my home. However, there were some communication issues and not only with what I thought was included in the original bid price (that we discussed the first day) but after the fact when requesting additional work. We discussed painting the tree trunks of the citrus and the necessity of coming back AFTER irrigation to shoot the root balls with vitamins, etc. to help keep them from dying from shock and to enhance the already deteriorating state of two of the four citrus trees. They didn’t get the trunk painting done right after the trimming but they did come out prior to my first irrigation after the trimming and completed that work. Since his quote was very generic in language and we discussed the trunk painting, I thought that cost was included. When he completed the trunk painting work he explained that it wasn’t part of the original, nor was the two root ball injections that he gave the Eucalyptus trees. This is where the communication issues arise. He told me he couldn’t do the injections until AFTER irrigation (which couldn’t happen for two days AFTER trimming so as not to shock the trees. He did come to the house for a discussion on the potential other work, but I did NOT SEE him inject the Eucalyptus trees and the appointment was PRIOR to irrigation. This was confusing to me. He completed the paint work and sent me an invoice for the tree trunk painting (which I thought was part of the initial bid) and for the two injections he said he did. This was an ADDITIONAL $500 beyond what I had paid, and there was still some work that WAS in the contract that hadn’t been completed. When I mentioned I hadn’t given approval for the injections and that I didn’t understand his estimate as completed (wanting more details) he become uninterested in communicating with me anymore and said that if he completed the remaining work I would owe him another $500+ dollars for work I thought was included and for work I hadn’t approved. I was not inclined to fight the good fight as I had other stressful things going on that required my attention so we agreed to disagree and he gave me a “discount” for the work he did (that was supposed to be in contract and that wasn’t approved) and I agreed to let it go for the remaining work balance. I will reiterate that the work he completed was exceptional, his crew was efficient and friendly and they cleaned up well after themselves. The owner communicated often and in a timely manner. My only comment would be that anyone decides to contract with this company you need to keep them on tact when discussing items and be thorough when reviewing the contract and ensuring there is detailed descriptions and breakouts of what is discussed and included in the final bid. I would also suggest holding the final payment until you review all the work with them the last day.