Accurate Landscape

Owner had Small Claims judgement entered against him on 4/18/11 for $1983.00 due to illegal work and incomplete work performed and irreparable damage to trees. This judgment is unpaid and balanced owed has increased with additional court fees and court-ordered 10% post-judgment interest.

Due to non-compliance with the court order, executions have been filed against his bank accounts and property.

At the most recent court hearing on 8/17/11, he indicated he retained counsel the day before, on 8/16/11, and 'barring any unforeseen circumstances, he expects to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy with no assets' within 90 days of the 8/17/11 court date.

He previously stated he had filed bankruptcy on 5/25/11, also coincidentally a day before the court hearing on 5/26/11.

No evidence of filing to date.

For additional details, refer to:

• Small Claims Docket SCC-352546
• Small Claims Docket SCC 154691 - another lawsuit and judgment filed against him; history of non-payment in that suit also
• Department of Environmental Protection Notice of Violation File # NOVWSPST11-003 Department of Environmental Protection Notice of Violation File # NOVWSPST11-003 due to illegal and improper work performed, resulting in irreparable damage to trees
• Department of Consumer Protection Complaint # 2010-623, who may revoke his HIC license with the State of CT due to failure to comply with the court order

 

Paul and crew arrived day 1. I was surprised he had no equipment (lifts etc) to get tot eh upper parts of the tree. The tree removal service consisted of unpaid gentleman from a local church who were going to donate the wood. This was a surprise. Day 2 the crew returned to continue. Paul G casually stated that he didn't have a saw big enough to cut the stump to ground level. Today I have a 3 foot stump in the back yard. Day 2 Paul said to call him Thursday night if the yard was not cleaned up. It was not. There were massive holes in the ground. There was a 2 inch thick blanket of chips and branches. I called Paul to come and complete the clean up. Got his voice mail. Never received a return call. I completed the job myself in 7 hours on that Saturday. I took pictures of the yard before I started clean up. Since then my wife has called several times for him to come and fill in the big holes. He said he would come to do so but never did. I advised neighbors not to use this company and would advise readers the same. Previously I used Blakes tree service and regrettably did not engage them again.

Crew of 4 was to be available & owner understood that I would be leaving to go out of town Thursday afternoon. He assured me the work would be completed 'even if he had to work until the sun went down'. WEDNESDAY-MAY 26th - The owner & (2) workers arrived at 9 a.m. By 11 a.m. he indicated it was too hot & they had to leave early because his workers get sick if he works them too hard. To enable them to continue working, I purchases large bottles of Gatorade & ice to pack in a cooler. They left shortly after 1 PM. THURSDAY-MAY 27th - Owner & (3) workers arrived at 8:30, with the reminder they had to leave by 2 PM as I was going out of town & did not want workers at the home with no one there. Throughout the day we continued to discuss what was left to be completed & he was to return on Friday to finish the work. My brother was to be there with a list of the remaining items & he would provide my check to the owner. FRIDAY-MAY 28th - Owner & (3) workers arrived at 8 AM & as my brother tried to ensure the remaining work was completed, the owner lied to him & made excuses as to why he could not live up to his end of the contract. For example, he indicated they were behind because I 'sent them home' on Wednesday due to the heat, which was false. I expect tree & landscaping workers to be prepared to work in all elements & make adjustments as needed. They could have begun earlier in the day to avoid working in the hottest part of the day. Or if the weather impeded their ability to work, they should have come back another day to complete the work. It's the owner's responsibility to factor in weather & any other inherent risks in running a tree service business. And I allowed him to leave all chipped wood to minimize time & expense in removing. He also indicated he was 'doing me a favor'. A contract between (2) parties for which money is exchanged is not a favor. It's a business agreement. But for the sake of argument, how is it a favor if the work is not completed? The dispute here is not if I received a fair or 'good' price. The dispute is the services promised for that price were not fully delivered. BOTTOM LINE: Not all agreed upon trees were removed - (1) is remaining. (12) stumps remain, however I will concede that (9) may not have been reachable based on size of grinding equipment (I was not here when the stumps were ground - brother supervised on Friday). But the other (3) could have been at the very least, significantly trimmed down. Excuse was old fence had grown in but the fencing was in a very small, defined area that could have been completely avoided. The most offensive is not even cut straight across. Not all agreed upon trees to be pruned were pruned & the most troublesome were not pruned to the extent agreed upon. DAMAGES: (1) fence damaged (after I witnessed it happen, owner denied it to my face but fixed it); 2nd fence broken, not fixed; window pane on shed; screen door, mailbox & mailbox post damaged.