C & G Tree Service

A technician stopped by the house to see if we would be interested in having our trees trimmed. They were already in the area doing other work, so they were offering a cheap price. I normally do not accept offers from door to door salesmen, but we did need our trees trimmed badly, especially after a recent storm in the area caused some additional damage. They originally quoted $175, and I thought we were on the same page as far as what work would be done. Against my better judgement, I let them proceed. We had gotten quotes from a few companies to trim the trees last fall, and their name sounded familiar, so I looked back through my records. We had actually gotten a quote from them and tried to have them provide tree trimming services in fall of 2011. They were a no show for the original appointment. After rescheduling, they were over 2 hours late with no call for that service as well. When I called to tell them not to bother coming, they were confrontational and hung up. Unfortunately I realized all this after they had already begun work today, or I would have sent them away. They did complete one tree to my expectations. They got the branches that were touching the house or roof in any way, and the work they did looked nice. They also cleaned up afterwards and actively avoided damaging any existing landscaping as they worked. Unfortunately for the second tree they did not do what I thought they intended to do. They trimmed off the branches away from the house, but there was a branch damaged from a wind storm that I thought they planned to remove for the original price. They were just going to remove part of it however, and added $20 (negotiated down from $40) to the price to actually cut it off and remove it. They also did not cut as much away from above the roof as I was expecting, but they were very adamant that it didn't need it, and wouldn't pose any potential risk of damage to the house. While I guess I don't have the knowledge to argue with them about what really needed done, I at least thought more would be done according to what was originally discussed. They offered to clean the gutters for an additional $25 after they began work, which I accepted. I did not see them clean much out of them however, and one of the technicians commented to me that the front gutter wasn't as bad as the back gutter when he realized I was watching them. I'm a little torn as to how to rate this company. While their flier says they are bonded and insured, they do not provide contracts. Wherever their phone number goes to does not have a professional person answering. They were no shows twice for previous work. While they were nice while working today, they were not overly professional as they asked for drinks twice and if we had a cell phone charger they could use. While I don't begrudge someone a drink when it's so hot out, a professional business shouldn't really ask for that. The trees do look better, without being butchered, they cleaned up well, but didn't do all that I thought they would initially. I gave a D on price because while they were cheap, the price kept creeping up as the service went. I ended up paying $220 after the originally quoted price of $175. I gave a C on responsiveness and punctuality because they were no shows in the past. I gave a D for professionalism because while they were friendly, their general practice was not overly professional, they do not provide contracts, I was asked to make the check out to a person rather than a business, and the phone listed for their business I believe goes to a home number due to the way the phone is answered. I guess in the end, you get what you pay for. I'm as much to blame as anyone for going against my gut to begin with, and got marginal service in the end.