Visions Landscaping Design and Installation

It was the worst experience I have ever had.

For a review of the first job I was involved with this company, see below, for the update, read on...So!, I recommended these guys to my mom and dad.  Holy sh*t what a mistake.  First off, my (and my parents) ignorance on tree work pricing is mostly to blame for all of this.  If we would have gotten a second bid or had a better grasp of how much this kind of work costs, we would NOT have used "Visions".  Praying on our good manners and our desire to trust others, Chuck made us to believe that this job was worth $4500 and therefore his bid of $1900 was a huge savings and favor (since he started with my mother in law and then did work for me and was then referred to my parents, he claims that all that referral meant a great price).  So much a favor that when my dad inferred that he might get a second bid, just for comparison, Chuck, rudely, pulled his bid and job offer.  My parents thought that $1900 sounded high, but since I had had a good experience with Chuck and Visions, I said it might just be because of the inherent differences in access to our yards/trees.  I advised my parents that I bet the price ($1800) was a good one and that, if they wanted to verify, go ahead and get a second quote - betting that it would be what Chuck said ... over and over ... that this was a $4500 job and that his price was "killing him".  So...I call Chuck up and basically tell him that if he was insulted or otherwise upset that my parents alluded to a getting a second bid, that he should, in fact, be upset at me.  W** should he be upset anyway??  Getting a second bid is that outlandish?  So, by the end of our conversations and me informing him that my mom is retired, my dad is a public school teacher and that if they are actually loosing thousands by having to go with someone else, on my advise, that that is sad.  So, he comes back and re-accepts the job and even drops the price $300 - without me asking...seems great! right?...Well, my parents go ahead and sign a contract with Chuck and Visions...despite the unusual tantrum and the overall bad smell of the situation...hindsight...ya' know?  Turns out my parents ended up getting a couple of bids (others in their condo complex are also having to have trees removed - average price? $1000 to $1500 tops) the guy they started to have come out for the second bid never got the message that he was to cancel the estimate.  He comes out and tells my mom ... wait for it ... $950.  I'll let my mom (who is also on Angies and will certainly have something to say) fill in all the joyous specifics of how the job went down (I'll give you a heads up...broken water line (they then shut off the water to my moms house WITHOUT telling her and while she was babysitting my 3 year old...my mom goes the better part of the day assuming the issue is somewhere larger with the complex...not just her unit due to the tree guys, re-nigging on an oral agreement to deliver the wood cut and stacked to my house, and ... get this ... using my mom to go with them on many trips the first day to the local brush site for disposal - for FREE! - what happened to the estimated $750 disposal fee, Chuck?).
I could, literally, go on and on about all the weird and unsetting things that have transpired with this job...and if anyone wants to hear a longer diatribe, go ahead and contact me via Angies...

BASICALLY THIS, AVOID VISIONS.

There are plenty of tree services out there and I have learned my lesson...never get bullied into not getting a second estimate.

Now...on to my previously posted comments re: the job I had done at my place...to be fair and honest, I will NOT adjust anything I typed below nor my grades above...read on...but, if you can DO NOT USE VISIONS.  Thanks.

First of all, the negative(s) - there was a bit of a delay as we waited for machinery (he had one machine in the shop for sharpening and another delay was caused by the need to buy a new saw).  Now, on to the good stuff.  Ridiculously good price for the amount of work.  6 trees - 3 ligustrum each nearly 20 foot tall, 1 silver oak over 40 foot tall, a brazilian pepper(?) way overgrown and nearly 20 foot tall and another tree (not sure what type) that had been struck by lightning many moons ago, split into two at the trunk base and was nearly 40 foot or more.  Hears the cool part - this last tree was the home of a family of woodpeckers - my family and I were upset that the tree needed to come down with the birds nesting in it, so Chuck and his crew cut about a 12 foot section with the woodpecker nest near the middle of the piece and moved it to another nearby tree - tying it to the trunk at about the same height up.  No extra charge and without complaint - the baby birds and their parents could be heard weeks after the move, seemingly okay and happy with their new home.  Needless to say, this made me and my family (including my 7 y/o daughter and 3 y/o son) quite happy.  All in all, delays not-with-standing, I was very pleased with the work, price and ability and willingness to go out of their way to please the customer.  What more could I ask for?  Oh, and I almost forgot, he and his crew, also had to coordinate their work and machinery around a simultaneous re-roofing I had done.  I didn't mean for the timing and crews to overlap, but they did - I'm sure that had some to do with the delays.  Chuck seems a bit "laid back" but gets the job done.

Don't do business with him unless you are paid up front.

To be fair, initially, this company did a great job.  Chuck showed up to speak to my wife and then came back and spoke to me.  We walked around  the yard and he assessed the different issues.  As my wife was very specific, he quoted a price for an initial clean-up and we agreed.  We also agreed on a day in which he would be doing the regular yard work. For the initial clean-up, they showed up and worked very well.  We were very satisfied with the work.Because it was winter, Chuck said that they would come by every other week.  If we had particular things we wanted taken care of, such as fallen palm fronds in the back yard, we were to leave a note on the door.  Our first clue that something was wrong was that no one looked at the notes taped to the front door.  We know this because the work we requested was not being done AND the fact that the envelopes were still sealed
For the first month or so following the clean-up, they did a good job.  During January, as far as I could tell, someone showed up once and didn't do anything in the back yard, something which was becoming a mess.  Repeated calls did nothing but elicit broken promises to show up and take care of the problem.  I talked to Chuck directly who seemed surprised that no one had shown up.  We had to finally give up on Visions.  They are incredibly unreliable.