Rod's Tree Service

Rod was recommended by a coworker who was very please with the value of his work. My job wasn't an emergency and I know all tree services were swamped after the storms. His estimator postponed before one appointment due to workload. Totally understandable in this situation. Rod gave me an estimate half of my next lowest bid. I think other services might have added a "storm surcharge". One contractor met me for the estimate but never submitted a bid. Rod was very fair. He gave a great price for tree removal and stump grinding. His crew did the work when it was scheduled and took care not to damage anything. He ground the stump the next day when I got home from work. I was surprised he was able to come sooner than expected. He was friendly and easy to work with. I recommend him speedy, very affordable tree services..

James from Rod's Tree Service came out right away and assessed the situation. He gave us a very reasonable bid and was the only company willing to do it quickly. They arrived promptly yesterday and went right to work. We had the broken and cracked branches and everything that hung over our side of the fence line taken off. There were several fruit trees underneath where they were working and they made sure nothing was harmed and nothing hit the house. It was no small feat, some of those were big, heavy branches. When they were done they cleaned up the yards, patio and driveway and left everything nice and neat. A big thank you to Rod's Tree Service for helping us out! Great crew too!

A crew of 6 arrived within the scheduled time and went right to work. The entire crew worked together well and never slowed down. All wood was removed and areas completely cleaned up. They also blew the roof off. They had all the appropriate equipment in working order

I contacted Rod from a reference from a friend of mine. What a mistake! I should have checked Angie's List first. My friend had no problem, but I certainly did. Rod came over to give me an estimate and I told him I needed a number of trees cut down, small brush removed, and stumps ground. He asked for 1800 for the job and I agreed. Then, he asked for cash and I said only if he gives a discount. He said no. What nerve. His crew arrived the morning of the date and started to work. I was surprised he was not there to direct them, but being a landlord of several properties and apartment property manager, I know how these guys operate. You have to be there or the job will not get done correctly or it will be done incorrectly. So much for American work ethic.
His crew seemed sort of tired and I will explain this later. I told them what I needed cut and worked alongside them. How often should a client work alongside the people he is paying? Never, but again, I knew I had to be involved or this job would not be done right. I directed the crew to cut what needed to be cut and Rod arrived later and made some smart remarks about pushing his crew to work while they took a break. It was a warm day and I gave these guys continuous water and gatorade. He made comments to keep working hard to me! Can you believe it? If these guys weren't already involved, I would have fired him. We negotiated another tree to cut on my neighbors side and the price we decided on was 2200.00. This was ok. My neighbor is a senior citizen and she stated prior to this project she had no money. The guys continued to work until noon. I bought them pizza and soda for lunch for their hard work. Then Rod calls me and tells me these guys are only supposed to be there for 6 hours and two more jobs scheduled. I live on 5/8 of an acre and this was a 8 hour job easy. It's then that I realized this guy is a real rip off. There was an ad from Angie's List (I got this later) for 4 guys for 8 hours for 2000. I wish I had seen this earlier. I then learned from his employees that he overbooks these guys and works them to the bone. Meaning, they are tired and they cannot do 16 hours of work in 8 hours. No wonder they were tired! They guys started to work again after lunch and then he comes later. He was rude, loud and just a big bully. I'm not scared of these types, but was astounded how he can treat a customer like this. He brought a grinder with him and ground a few stumps in front. Then, the lady next door wanted the chipped wood and he dumped his whole load in her front yard. I had huge cuts of wood that weighed an easy 50 pounds if not more. I asked him can you take this since your truck is empty now? He said no. I personally hauled all this stuff myself and made a pile. I was pretty tired. I asked him to help, but he claimed his shoulder hurt. One of his guys helped load this in my long bed pickup truck and I had to get rid of this myself. I had two more loads after this! He then was angry he had to cancel a job. I told him it was his fault he overbooked. A couple of his guys took off to work on the second job. The other two broke their grinder and were fixing it when I left to get rid of all this wood in my truck. When I got back, the stumps were not ground because they probably could not fix their grinder. I called him a few days later to tell him that the stumps were not ground. I spoke to one of his English speaking employees this time. He said he would relay him the message and that was the last I heard of them. I would not recommend this guy. I even paid him in cash due to the extra work he did for that neighbors tree. He advertises in the Sacramento Penny Saver a lot to hook people. I definitely would not use him. He's bad news and a rip off artist.

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          They arrived on time. Went right to work. Were professional. were efficient. would use them again.

Very quick and knew their job

they did a great job, even came back to remove additional roots

A crew of 7 came to house with 2 chippers and trucks.  We had received 2 other bids.  The other 2 companies said the work  would take 2-3 days.  Rod"s Tree Service was done in 6 hours, and the job was done well.

The service was excellent. They worked really hard. They also came back and ground the stump in the back. I have no complaints and I would highly recommend their service.They were very professional in how they removed the tree.They left no mess behind.

I used him because I saw him in the neighborhood. I was satisfied with what the price was and how quickly they got the job done. The tree is blooming now so it’s okay. They were very trusting. They were very busy because when they were here they got a lot of calls. They were so busy that they couldn’t come out here. They gave me a quote and informed me that they would come back and do the yard but didn’t show up. I called them and they informed me that they will make sure that someone will come and disconnected because of too much business. I had to run down and by the time I got back they were gone; they did the tree so quickly. I had to call them and it took forever to get them online so I ended up mailing them. They are really nice trusting guys. They cleaned up very well. They were there when they said they would be there.

We had a large fruitless pear tree that began splitting and falling. This morning we woke to a loud crash in the bag yard and the tree had literally split and a huge section had fallen. I contacted Rod's Tree Service. Rod arrived first and cut the remaining tree down after giving us a fair and reasonable estimate. The remaining member of the team arrived about thirty minutes later to complete the job and clean up. All employees were professional and timely. They left my back-yard better than I left it.  I strongly recommend Rod's Tree Service for help with pruning; taking down and clean up of fallen or diseased trees. EXCELLENT JOB. We will be inviting them out in a month to remove the stump and prune two other trees. JUST NOTE: They do preferred to be paid in cash.

I think they did a pretty good job.  Their price and quality were very good.  Their professionalism was also good.

I didn't have any problems with their services, and I was pleased with their services. I thought they did a good job, and I would recommend them.

Showed up on time.  Also contacted SMUD for us to disconect electric power since wires were running thur trees.  Contacted SMUD again when job was almost done.  SMUD came and reconnected power wires.  Tree removal was on a Friday.  Stump grinding was next day on Saturday.  Had stump grinder come back Tuesday to grind some more of the terrible Palm tree root ball and roots.  Overall, job was excellent.

They were - F

We liked that they were able to start right away. They got back to us right away but some of the other people whom we contacted took time to get back to us. So that was good. They came and did the work on a Saturday morning. They weren’t like salesmen but the owner was ready to act. They did what they said they were going to do.

Overall, it was fine. The price was well below the other two bids I received. The quality of the work was fine, but communication was a little bit difficult. There was some confusion on when they were to show up, and actually came once unexpectedly when I was out. It was tough to pin down exactly when they were coming, but the quality of the work was very good. It would have been nice to get a window so that I could be prepared when they showed up. They were professional and I would recommend them to others with the caviat that the time may be iffy.

We were told an approximate date of service.  We asked for a call a day ahead to confirm the appointment, so we could move a big rig RV out of the work area.  To our surprise, the workers showed on the doorstep in the afternoon on the approximate date without calling first.  Lucky, we were home.  This caused us to scramble to move the RV.  It also caused the workers to wait.

Called Rod's Tree service for an estimate.  He showed up on time and we went through the yard.  He gave me a $975 estimate for the entire list above.  I also received estimates from other tree companies and told him that I would not make a decision until the following Wednesday. 

Rod called me the following Wednesday.  I told him that I was going with another tree company, but that they would not be able to schedule services for two weeks.  Rod offered to meet the other tree service's estimate and set up the tree service the next day.  Because Rod was so enthusiastic, I decided to use his company, but was unable to schedule services for the next day,   I did schedule work for the following Monday.   

I have 3 dachshunds and scheduled them for doggie day care so that none of us would have a nervous breakdown with the barking.  Rod asked me to be present at 8 am on Monday to go over what needed to be done. 

On Monday morning at 8 am, I loaded up the dogs into the car.  At 8:15 am I called Rod's office to ask if his staff were going to show up.  He informed me that his staff had to make a trip to dispose of some tree waste and that they would be there soon.

The staff showed up at 8:30 am.  I provided them with a list of tasks,  I left the premises, took the dogs to doggie day care, and did errands, etc.  I came back to the house, dogs in the car at 6 pm, and all the tasks were done except for the stump grinding in the front yard.  I assumed that the staff would be back the next day to perform the task.  Since I requested that wood be left in pieces that could be cut for a fireplace,  the staff asked my neighbor, who wanted some of the wood, to remove the big pieces so that the stump grinder would have access to the stump.

My neighbor, his wife and I moved, pushed and stacked the LARGE pieces on Monday evening.  Some of the pieces were so large that it took 3 of us to get the piece on it's side to even roll it.  And we are not weaklings

On Tuesday morning at 8 am, I loaded up the dogs again, figuring that the staff would be by soon.  I called at 9 am and asked if the staff were going to do the stump grinding in my front yard.  Rod informed me that they would be there soon.  I took the dogs to the dog park and stayed until 10 am.  When I had returned, the stump had not been ground.  I decided to put the babies into the house, so that I could go to the bank.  I was gone all of 30 minutes and when I returned, the stump was ground.  I was amazed.

In the task list, I asked that the stump grindings be left.  Eventually I moved the grindings into various planters in the front and back yards to use them as a type of mulch. 

No bill was left, nor instruction on how I was to pay Rod's company.  I called him and asked if he would take a credit card over the phone.  He informed me that there was a fee associated with using a credit card and discouraged it's use.  He said he preferred cash.  I am not comfortable paying for services in cash, so I told him I would pay him via check.  I waited a week to receive a bill.  Ten days later, I called the office and the receptionist informed me that they do not send out bills but use the estimate form presented.  I asked that they send me a copy of their estimate, so that I could retain my copy for my files.  I received the copy in 3 days, and sent off the payment without any problems.

Some little things you should be aware of:  I did not witness the stump grinding, but apparently it is a heavy machine because there were large 3 inch holes in several places around the tree stump.  A small piece of the sidewalk in front of the tree was also damaged.  In no way do I fault Rod's tree service with these problems.  I filled the holes with more sod, and the piece of the sidewalk is a small circular cut and hardly noticeable.  There was some minor sweeping and clean up, but that was easy enough to do.

Overall, I had a great experience.  I did have to call to find out why the staff was not on time, had to move large sections of the tree away from the stump in the front yard, and sweep a bit, but I am happy with the work that was done.

The price was good.  My neighbor had worked with them, which is where I got the referral.  They did a good job.  The people were there on time.  Generally, I was very happy with them.  They had to work in pretty close confines, but they didn't break anything.

The guys showed up one hour earlier than expected and went straight to work.They thinned out a big fruitless pear tree in the front yard and took down another pear tree in the back yard. I hurried home to see the work and they were all done! I was glad i caught them though, because the tree they trimmed in the front yard still had some limbs i wanted removed. I pointed them out and they trimmed them no problem. I think these guys did a great job! They did what i hired them to do. They did a great job cleaning up out in the back yard, but i thought they didn't clean up as well out front. No big deal, i took me a few minutes to sweep up and blow off the driveway.