Arborwell

Prompt service, professional crew. Removed broken and fallen 10and quot; diameter x 20 ft long limb from my tree and roof. This was accomplished with out any additional damage to my home or that of my neighbor. Three men working for 3.5 hours. I have had other tree work done but this company will be the only one to touch my 65 foot Oak tree again.

Despite the completion of the work recommended by Arborwell in the first phase, over the next year we had several emergency downed limbs, dying tree removals, removals of trees causing property damage, one 30 to 50 ft. tree fell over. Fortunately no one was hurt. Arborwell responded quickly to our emergency requests to remove fallen limbs and trees. In some cases they did not charge for their service.
Representatives of Arborwell blamed the dropped limbs on and quot;sudden limb dropand quot; due to an unseasonably hot summer. However other certified individuals including a local certified master arborist opined that the summer was not unusually hot and that and quot;sudden limb dropand quot; was a very rare phenomenon and more typically due to failure to prune or to prune properly.
In the fall of 2012 after completing a random spot check of the recommendations in the updated second year proposal we found a number of discrepancies and errors. Several trees were recommended to be pruned for building clearance that upon inspection already had adequate clearance. Arborwell's definition of pruning back for and quot;building clearanceand quot; printed on the proposal was to prune the trees that were in contact with building. The trees listed had a building clearance ranging from 5 feet to over 20 feet. When questioned about the discrepancy the Arborwell rep insisted that the trees grew horizontally and that it was recommended that they be pruned now because they might touch the building in the next year or two. This does not make sense since standard pruning recommendations usually prune trees only 3 to 6 feet from buildings . In the case of the trees that had 10 feet to 30 feet of clearance the representative admitted those recommendations were in error. He also explained, contrary to our expectations and understanding, that they didn't have time to inspect trees individually thus contributing to the errors. The proposal did not address the couple trees that did touch the buildings at that location. There were quotes for pruning trees that did not exist or trees that did not exist in the location specified. In some of these cases the trees were found at other addresses several doors away. For example, Arborwell recommended pruning 2 purple plums at an address where there were NO trees. Several addresses down there was 1 purple plum tree, but even the representative could not find a second purple plum.
There are instances of trees that are dying or failing to thrive that Arborwell recommended pruning instead of removal or failed to alert us that there were problems with the trees e.g. Pruning was recommended for: 1. A 30 to 40 ft. cypress that has a handful of clusters of greenery - it is suffering because an adjacent tree is blocking the sunlight (see attached picture 2 brown trunks belong to the cypress, the 2 dark green clusters on top are part of the cypress, the lighter green leaves in the background belong to an adjacent tree; and 2. A locust that was infected and had secondary borer infestation. After we questioned the latter recommendation Arborwell submitted a revised proposal recommending removal of the tree. There were inconsistencies such as a mature tree with multiple dead limbs and a large limb endangering a fence was ignored but a young tree was recommended for pruning/thinning. (See pictures)
With the discrepancies in the second year proposal we went back and looked at a sampling of the results of the first year's work. The pruning quotes per tree seem inexpensive, but when we saw the result it was clear that the pruning did not always include basic pruning practices such as removing crossed limbs (the wind causes crossed limbs to strike one another resulting in damage and broken limbs). See attached picture. When questioned the Representative. explained that if they removed the crossed limbs the cost would be much higher. We questioned why a tree looked so bad one year after we paid Arborwell to prune the tree. See attached picture. In that case, the representative admitted that they had missed the tree and it had not been pruned. He promised to rectify the oversight. It has been 6 months since he promised to rectify the matter, but the tree has not been pruned. It may be that he is waiting for the HOA to approve his second year proposal and pruning the tree at that time other pruning is done.

They quoted me a very expensive price. Their work is focused more on condos and commercial work. They did offer to lower the price if I agreed to have the work done while they serviced the condominium. They are certified arborists. I am really happy with their work. It would be reasonable for an individual to use their services if they have a lot of trees.

very frustrating -- the company doesn't keep its appointments

Everything went fine. They did the work according to schedule. I thought they did a good job.

Work is done quickly and completely - no complaints. They have the equipment and experience to make things happen and are priced competitively.

Overall, we can't complain. The arborist came about 3-4 days after we first called, and gave a detailed estimate. Once we decided to have the work done, we had to wait about 2-3 weeks before they could send out a crew. On the schedule day, no one arrived, and no one called. I had to call to see if they were coming that day or not, and found out they were out working on emergency tree removals. Fine, but it would have been nice to let us know that earlier in the day. Once they did come, they put in about a half day and headed over to another job. Another crew arrived later in the week, but we never found out exactly when until we called to get the details from the arborist. That crew didn't arrive until later in the morning due to an all-company meeting. Once all of the cutting and trimming was done, there was a stump to be removed. Arborwell subcontracts this part of the job, and they let you know that up front. The subcontractor only worked our part of the area on Mondays, which meant they would normally have come on Labor day. We assumed they would be here the next day, but no one showed up. The next two Mondays came and went, and still, no stump removers. Eventually the arborist himself had to come out with a smaller grinder that initially broke down, leading to a further delay. In the end, all of the work we agreed to do was done, but it took a long time, and we finally paid a month after the first visit. To their credit, they waived the $200 stump grinding charge for the trouble, and were honest about the reasons for the delays, but it was a bit frustrating. They did a good job at a reasonable price and while we may not automatically call them next time we need service, I also wouldn't say we won't ever use them again.

WE HAD PROBLEMS WITH A 80 YEAR OLD EUCALYPTUS TREE BRANCHES FALLING IN OUR YARD THAT WERE AS BIG AS BUSES. THEY CAME OUT WITH A QUOTE THAT WAS HALF OF WHAT OTHER COMPANIES WERE. THEY ALSO ONLY TOOK A WEEK TO COMPLETE THE JOB - WHERE OTHER COMPANIES WERE GOING TO TAKE 2 WEEKS. THEY DID A VERY PROFESSIONAL JOB.