Gerald's Tree Service

Gerald çame by to give us a quote shortly after I called him. We could quickly tell that he was an expert in the field, explaining what needed to be done and what our community would allow and would not allow without permission. He showed us a fungus growing on our palm tree that we were unaware was killing it. His crew showed up the next week when he said they would. They efficiently completed the work and cleaned up the entire area. We felt the price was fair and the job was completed in a very timely manner. I was impressed that Gerald called to ensure we were satisfied with the work.

Randy came out the same day as I called to bid the job. The team made quick work of the project and the price was fair. The palms still look great.

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This team is great.  Randall is knowledgeable about tree growth and pruning.  The team is professional and quick.  The firm is in high demand so be patient and persistent when setting up work.  While the cost may seem a little high, in my experience, the quality is well worth it.  This is my second time using Gerald's and I will use them again.

How do you go from an ?A? to an ?F? in one job? First, let me
say I have given this firm GLOWING reviews in the past (see my previous reviews
here on Angie?s List 2/28/12 and 8/18/11). That is the reason I am so
disappointed with my most recent experience. And no, I?m not one of those
impossible to satisfy customers with a grudge. I write far more positive reviews
than negative ones. See for yourself.
The most resent, unfortunate experience, began with a call
to set up an appointment for an estimate. Gerald?s son came out and we walked
the property with me pointing out 2 Canary palms, two Licury Palms,  and Two three-cluster Pygmy Palms to be
trimmed. I also asked them to trim ONE low-hanging limb from one Bismark Palm
and 4 or 5 low hanging limbs from a second Bismark. Finally, I asked them to
cut some Olive Tree Branches off my pool cage. Gerald?s son quoted me $440 for
the job. That price was competitive with other bids and since I?d had great
experiences with them in the past, I gave them the job.
I asked for a date when it could be scheduled and he said
sometime next week, though he wasn?t sure when. I then told him to give me a
call before hand so I could be here during the work. He said ?no problem.? He
did come the next week, but no call and I wasn?t home. My wife was here and
told him that she knew I wanted to be here when the work was being done. He
said, ?don?t worry, I talked to him and I know what work needs to be done.?
Unfortunately, he clearly didn?t. I was fine with the trimming they did on the
Canary and Licury palms and the Olive Tree. But they didn?t trim the either of
the two groups of Pygmy Palms or the Bismark with the 4 or 5 dead/low hanging
branches. They DID however, cut close to half the branches of the Bismark that
I?d asked them to only cut one branch off, leaving it looking like an ?umbrella?
rather than the beautiful ?lollipop? shape it?s supposed to have (and
previously DID have). 
I called and talked to office staff person, explained the
problem, they said they would have Gerald?s son call back. Several days went
by, no call. Called again, talked to Gerald ? he said he would have his son
call to ?straighten it out.? In the meantime, the un-itemized invoice for the
entire job arrives in the mail. I call and speak to Gerald, yet again, saying
they need to finish the job before I can pay the invoice. He said he would
follow-up. It?s now been close to a month, and I get a call from an office
staff person saying I have an un-paid invoice. I explain to her that they haven?t
finished the job. At that point Gerald son calls saying he?ll be out later that
week. I tell him to call before he comes out, and this time, he does. They trim
the remaining trees, and Gerald?s son rings the doorbell to tell me they?re
done and to ask if I still have the invoice. I said I did and would pay it
immediately. He said ok and leaves.
 
I then get on a conference call (I work from home) with a 8
colleagues ? I?m chairing the meeting. Ten minutes later the doorbell rings. I
ignore it because of the conference call. It rings several more times? to the
degree that it was interrupting my call ? plus I thought maybe it was an
emergency. So I put 8 people on hold, answer the door and it Gerald?s son
demanding a check. I told him I was on a conference call and that we discussed,
and that he had agreed that I?d be paying the invoice by mail immediately. In a
very rude and exasperated voice he said, ?Come on it will only take you a few
minutes to write a check? or word to that effect. I said, I couldn?t keep 8
people on a conference call while I wrote him a check. Now in an agitated, near
angry voice, he said, ?Well, I have 5 workers waiting too.? No longer willing
to argue with him, I just told him I?d send the check in ASAP and I closed the
door, and went back to my call and the 8 people who I?d kept wait for that
entire time. I sent the check for the entire amount, with the invoice, the following
business day.
Normally, I would have written the trimming blunders off as ?Gerald
just having a bad day,? since I?d had two very positive experiences on to
previous occasions. But I couldn?t ignore their repeated failure fix their
blunders and complete the contract for more than a month - and then only after 5
phone calls and promises to do so. What I found completely unacceptable was the
nasty, argumentative attitude and verbal confrontation with Gerald?s son DEMANDING
instant payment 10 min after we AGREED that I would simply pay the invoice and
AFTER I explained I was on a conference call. It was not only disturbing
(literally). but a little bazaar.
Despite this horrible experience, I STILL probably would not
have bother to write this review were it not for the fact that I had written
TWO extremely positive reviews about ?Gerald?s? on Angie?s List before (as
noted above). I realize that people often make their contracting decisions
based on these reviews, and I didn?t want to take responsibility for other
having similar experiences based on my positive previous reviews. Worse, I didn?t
want anyone else to be subjected to unresponsiveness of this firm and belligerent
behavior of this employee.  Bad business
practices. This is how you go from an ?A? to an ?F? in one job.

Randell, came out the day I called and gave me a quote. The following week we scheduled the job. His crew of tree monkeys were awesome. Everything was cleaned up. The only evidence of them doing anything was some saw dust and a Black Olive tree that looked great.
Their prices are terrific.

Cheapest prices for tree removal with a smile! Randall and his crew arrived on time and immediately began removing enormous trees, overgrowth, stumps, and even cut and left me some firewood from an old oak tree. The crew cleaned up all debris quickly, and were even asked to do a completely separate job by one of my neighbors! This company did such an awesome job for me that we see their trucks in our neighborhood often. My husband, and neighbors, are very impressed with the efficiency and quality of service this company provides from start to finish.

Called them.
Got a free estimate.
Agreed to a date and time.
They showed up when they said.
Did an excellent job; cleaned up everything.
Did everything they said they would,
Checked with us prior to leaving.
And the bill was what they said it would be.

The work went just as expected. I have used them in the past, and there work is always excellent. They make sure that the work is performed just as we requested, and always make sure that everything is cleaned up after the service is performed.

We are very pleased with the quality of the work completed. The crew was prompt, professional and courteous. They got to work immediately and accomplished the job in a timely manner. We would certainly hire them again!

Great job! Team was quick and thorough. Job done day of estimate due to cancellation elsewhere. Will use again next year! Called after saw great work he did for two neighbors.

I had to try a couple of times to get them out to do a quote. After I agreed to their service and we had set a time range to complete the work and missed the completion date to which they had committed, I had to followup a couple of times to get them to complete the work. They missed a couple of subsequent commitments to complete the work. It was difficult to get them to call back after leaving messages. It appeared that they waited to come to our house until they had two contracts on the same street. They were quick and the work was well done in less than a half hour. $475 for work by a crew of 6 plus foreman and fairly extensive equipment for a half-hour and travel time seems overly expensive to me but it seems to be in tune with the local market.
Inability to keep schedule commitments and to communicate with customers seems to be endemic with contractors in southwestern Florida. When a commitment is and quot;in a couple of weeksand quot; it means that no way in h*** will it be done within the two week period. It seems they don't feel enough competition to maintain their commitments or to keep their customers aware of what is going on.

They did a very good job. They were exceptionally good except when they were here, Gerald and I took a ride down to another house that I own. Gerald gave me a price on another job and he never came back to do it. What they did was exceptionally good but they didn't come back and do another thing they said they would do. I would still hire them because they did such a good job. I haven't gotten back to him. The work they did was exceptional.

Service was performed as agreed in a timely and professional manner. Interaction with Gerald was positive. I called after service was completed to request that remaining stumps be cut lower. My call was returned by someone other than Gerald who examined the stumps and agreed they should be cut lower. I agreed to have 2 or 3 more trees trimmed at the same time. They expected to do the work on May 10. I have not seen or heard from them since then. This is disappointing as I was satisfied otherwise. Perhaps it is because the follow-up was handled by someone other than Gerald.

Very well. Came when scheduled - removed the tree and left no mess. Came back when scheduled and removed the stump to allow for replanting. Again, left no mess.
This is the second time that I have used Anchor. Both times their price was very competitive and their work was excellent.

They came on time and did everything to our satisfaction. The yard looks much better. We would use this company again.

Tree was between neighbor property and portions of tree hung over neighbors house. Tree was efficiently removed with no damage to either property. Workers cleaned up so that you would never know a tree was ever there. Highly Recommend!

He has done a lot of work for me. He is a good, honest worker. He is reliable. He is a good guy and he takes care of his customers. He is there when I need him.

Provided a fast estimate that was more than competitive price. Owner supervised the actual work and checked in with me to make sure it was done according to my wishes. I had used him before for a small trim job and was happy that I went back to him for this larger set of trims. He's definitely my "go to guy" for tree trimming.

This is the first time I worked with the company. They were very efficient and very quick, and did a very good job.

We received a very clear quote. The work was done the following day. All the work was done in a professional manner. Cleanup was thorough. Would definitely use them again.

See Above

excellent, they showed up when scheduled, completed the work as agreed and let the place cleaner than it was when they came

They were awesome. The guy that came to do the work was awesome. He did a couple of things that really impressed me. He came ahead of schedule, and he told me that even if I did not chose him for the work I can call him and ask him whatever I wanted to know from whomever I was going to choose. He kind of helped me on the back ground work on license and insurance work. I would recommend him on a heartbeat to others. He left everything neat and clean. I would rate him high overall.

Overall I was very pleased.