Bartlett Tree Experts - 101114

They were pretty good and had a nice crew. They were friendly and they did the work pretty quickly. This is the first time I got somebody for this service so I have no benchmark for the cost to weigh them against. Quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism were pretty good. They were pretty dressed. They could have made the experience better by attending to little details like because the trees were trimmed out, there were a lot of little branches on the grasses.

They came and gave me an estimate that consisted of the two different scenarios that we discussed.  One was just a thorough trimming of the tree.   Two was complete removal of the same tree.
We chose removal.
They came and removed the tree in the least invasive manner possible.  Our yard is dense, so their job was a bit tough, but they did a great job.  
The whole removal took maybe 2 hours.  Bartlett did a great job.  I will call them again if I need another tree related job.

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Sorry about the bad review Bartlett trees.  I made a mistake with the company name.  It is Bay area Tree Specialists that I am unhappy with not Bartlett trees.  Please except my sincere apology.

They were professional and even listened to requests from our neighbors for trimming parts of our tree that encroached upon our neighbor's yard.  It was a bit expensive though.

Showed up on time, provided useful information, performed work to my satisfaction

I contacted Bartlett through Angie's List (email) and received a reply that same afternoon.  I booked an appointment to have a tree examined and used the coupon provided on Angie's List.   I was able to get an appointment within a couple of days and the arborist showed up to my home in San Francisco right on time.  I gave him the coupon and there were no questions asked - the inspection was absolutely free.
We reviewed his findings together.   My tree was diagnosed with Phytophthora (a type of root rot) and because of this, my tree became vulnerable to other predators, specifically lecanium scale and leaf spot fungus.    We also discussed possible causes and solutions.   
The same day, the arborist followed up with his proposal which included the total cost of treatments broken down into each type of treatment and how frequent each treatment needed to be administered over the 1.5 - 2 yr suggested period.    I had spoken to my gardener about this beforehand and the arborist confirmed what my gardener speculated. 
My tree is quite young so at my request, the arborist also made recommendations for a replacement tree should I decide the olive tree is not suitable for the environment.
All in all, I was extremely satisfied with the service and the professionalism of the arborist assigned to my area.

It has been like pulling teeth to get any sort for response.  
My gardener told me that we had tree mites in November, and suggested I use Bartlett for the necessary spraying.  
I wish I'd called someone else.   
It took weeks to get someone out to look at the trees to confirm the mites.  I was thinking/hoping that the delay was due to the holiday season.  I was wrong; it's their normal course of business.  
There seems to be only one person, Juan, who is authorized/allowed to make decisions or even appointments.  
He suggested that we spray four times over the course of a year.   So I have to go through this incredibly laborious process four times - ugh.
Every appointment requires me to send multiple emails and leave multiple emails, effectively begging for a response. The woman who answers the office phone simply says "you must talk to Juan, I'll let him know you called".  
I am now far overdue for the March spray.  On my fifth attempt to schedule it yesterday, I got an out of office response saying that Juan is out of the office for a week.  Great.
Oh and they were very late for both of the two appointments (including the initial consultation) that I was able to make after much hounding.
Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.

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We had a somewhat urgent need for tree removal from the courtyard in front of my San Francisco cottage.  I sent a request for estimate through Angie's List and Bartlett got back to me to schedule a visit within a day.  They made an appointment immediately for the estimate, came on time, and the same day emailed us a written proposal with descriptions of the work in a line item detail format so we could choose options and know the total cost easily. I was wondering with one tree whether to have it removed or pruned so we can keep it somewhat longer before eventual replacement.  They gave straightforward professional advice on pruning the tree and an estimate for the cost to replace as well.  They scheduled the work the day after I signed and returned the proposal.
For the work, they came on time, quickly and professionally removed one tree and ground out the stumps (Juniper), thoroughly pruned, trimmed and thinned the canopy of another (Mayten).  Their cleanup of both my courtyard and my neighbor's courtyard where branches hung over was spotless.  The work was done and crew cleaned up and gone within three hours.  We are delighted with the look of the Mayten tree and the light that is coming into our homes and are glad we kept it.
The only reason I gave a "B" on pricing is that I did not have time to get another estimate and so can't compare in fact.  But I have looked around at pricing and theirs was within the range I have seen and expected.  
Bartlett's promptness, responsiveness and efficiency were first-rate.  

They had a lot of turn over so our experience with them, at first we did officially move to this state from Washington State two years ago which is why Angie' List is so helpful because I have had a great that I had found over the years and starting over and finding great people here was something I was concerned about. But we hired Bartlett when we first moved here and they serviced a fairly large property and our experience with them was, at first we were really happy with them, but then a lot of trees weren't looking very well and they weren't attending to the trees.  Part of the service they provide which is into their quote, into their bill is that they provide lab samples for the soil or trees that are constrained to us so that they can adjust the ph about what's going on with the tree. I never received any for a long time to see the lab samples and I would have to call them up and they would have lost it which is why we ended up moving away from them and hiring McClendens because the last five month experience with them was not very positive. The last time they came to look after the trees was august and we had to make issues with them after that. They have a yearly program where they come out four times a year and we scale them back to three because we didn't want them to come out four times.  All the other Arborist think twice is enough, I was able to talk them into just having it three times a year so that three times a year was about $356 each visit. And then we also had them attend to a few Magnolias that were looking bad. Which is what we hired McClendons to fix because it was looking really bad. So then we had two things that we hired Bartlett trees for, one was the yearly maintenance program which was the $356 per visit three times per year and we had just started using them to help us with our Magnolias and that was I think three visits per year at $450. So it was really quite expensive. 

Didn't go at all.  Could not meet with us on appointed date and did not follow up to reschedule.

Called, made appointment for an estimate for trimming a large cypress and smaller tree in front of house.  Local manager came when he said he would, said he would get back to me with an estimate.  A week went by, I contacted him at the email address on his business card, asking when he might be able to provide an estimate.  No response.  When I sent an email today saying I was disappointed got an out of office response, so I know the email address is correct.  Trying to coordinate several projects on a new house, and compare bids (two other contractors gave me bids within 48 hours) so responsiveness is important.  They will not get my business - I am going with another contractor.

I asked for a quote for trimming a cypress tree & removing a ponderosa pine from my property, using Angies list quote system. No one bothered to reply/call after 17+ days.  Guess they don't need the business.  If they can't answer a request for business, how will they behave towards a paying customer with issues.  Can't say I'm terribly impressed.  Go somewhere else where customer service is considered important.

They were extremely professional, arrived on time, were very helpful and knowledgeable. They explained to me what needs to be done to which tree in great detail and also suggested some soil nutrient measurement/enrichment. The estimate I received was very reasonable - but I decided not to do the work at all in the end and did not have the chance to experience their work beyond the initial consultation and estimate. 
I would certainly call them again if work comes up. 

Very quick response to our request for a quote. We accepted and the crew of three arrived on the designated day and right on time. Work was completed on time (2) days. Very professional in all aspects. Everything was cleaned up and disposed of. Pleasure working with Bill Van Horbek. At my request he came out again after job was completed to address my concerns. All resolved satisfactorily and they are coming back next week to prune some citrus.

came and gave an estimate. Work went smoothly.

My experiences with Bartlett have always been positive. I've received several compliments on the shapes of the trees. The crews doing the trimming will adjust what they're doing as I suggest (see previous review).
The fellow doing the Merit injection is very quick and really requires no interaction at all other than unlocking the gate.
Also, the arborist has reduced the number of places I use Merit, pointing out that something I had long believe to be thrip damage was a different problem.

I chose Bartlett since they serve the SF and San Mateo counties.  I would think they have more expertise working in this area.  I try to schedule an appointment online to get an estimate.  I received an email from Deborah fairly quickly asking for schedule times.  She was very helpful and responsive in scheduling the time for the meeting.  Bill came out to meet with me.  He arrived early but stayed inside his vehicle until the scheduled meeting time.  After assessment of the tree work, I was still unable to make my decision on what I can do since I have no basis on the cost of the work.  His experience was questionable since he wasn't able to provide answers to all my questions and did not communicate enough with me.  I asked for a general estimate of the removal of an entire row of trees of which I was shocked when he said it would be around $20k.  I waited until the following week to email Bill and ask for the estimate of trimming or cutting the trees which he previously said he'll email to me after writing up the report.  I never got a response from him..  I went with a different vendor a few weeks later and got better service and seemingly more reasonable prices.

They were very professional.

In mid-May Mr. Juan Carrasco came to my house to look at my tree to be trimmed.  He emailed me an acceptable quote a few days later.  When I called on May 31to schedule the work I was told he had "just left the office" and was put into his voice mail.  I left a message but I have not heard back from Mr. Carrasco.  Today is June 7 and I gave the job to a competitor.

Can't say enough good things about Barlett's.  Everyone from Bill Van Horbek the arborist to the 5 men who pruned the oak tree and removed the birches were a top notch team.  We had the tree trimmed before and there is no comparison between the previous company and this team.  The oak tree is no longer a big blob of leaves which left our backyard in the dark.  They removed about 20% of the structure opening it up so we now have sun, and the tree is so light and airy. They put 3 cables in the branches to supplement its less than ideal trunk structure.  In addition, they removed 5 birch trees which were invading the yard.  The birches were removed 8 to 12 inches below ground so new plantings will be easy to install.  When asked for a recommendation on replacements, they took a soil sample to determine the optimal cultivars to provide privacy and a windscreen.  We were so impressed, that we contracted with them for 3 replacments which were delivered promptly and installed.  Will be doing business with them next year to check on the cables and do any necessary pruning.

Wonderful job. Cost less than other estimates and thoroughly professional. It was a great experience. The trees looked beautiful and not butchered.