Stephenson Tree Service

Bills crew showed up on time, courteous, professional and easy to work with. Great company, great price couldn’t be happier. We highly recommend Bills company.

Went well.

Yesterday 06/05/2014 the company called to confirm that the appointment will be in the afternoon and is their third appointment for the day. I had removed plants around the maple but had not completed the magnolia. In a burst of optimism, I emailed the company the no plants remained. However after the phone call out an afternoon appointment, I decided that I had about 4 hours on 06/06 before they came and enough time to remove 3 plants in the morning AND finish up a bunch of preplanned phone calls and annoying but necessary internet stuff. This plan would have worked EXCEPT they showed up 3 1/2 hours early. Even when there is a stated time, I am ready one hour early because it is not unknown for me to get a phone call that they are n the way and will be here in 10 minutes, which was (about 3weeksago) really 20 minutes early for a 10AM appt. So this case, I was going to be ready at noon for an afternoon appt.

I throw on clothes, run outside to find out what is going on, explain the back still needs cleaned out. We stand and look at the plants and the underground lighting fixture, and he assures me the won't have to disturb the plants. I guess his definition of "won't be disturbed" is different than mine. Totally crushed and trampled is disturbed.

I will take some responsibility for my email. That is outweighed by the confirmation of the time of the appointment and showing up 3 1/2 hours early, starting on the tree before I can get off with the phone and shut down the Ipad, put on shoes and grab the shovel which was already by the back door. Before you laugh too hard, a phone call would have solved the whole issue. Had they called when they were on the way, as does the furnace company, the plumber, the electrician, and even the dreaded Warner Cable, all this would have been avoided. BTW, I I probably would have given them a better overall grade. They cleaned up, took away everything, and were quick about it.

They gave us a very good deal.  We had two trees and we paid cash.  When they left, they took out the woodcarvings and cleaned up.  They're very thorough.  They were all really nice.

I reached out to Charter Oaks in Mid-November 2013.  Javin came out and gave us an $1800?ish estimate plus hauling.  I explained that I did not need hauling, and since I had recently used Charter Oaks for service at my rental property downtown, he agreed to $1250, plus a 10% Winter discount, if the work could be done after 12/1.

I called the Charter Oaks office that day to say that that price would be fine, and they could start 12/1.  I did not sign any sort of contractual agreement, and was not made aware of any cancellation policy, etc. when I called.

Over the next few months, I reach out regarding the status of our job.  It had been a pretty crazy winter with big winds.  It caused many a sleepless night for my wife, scared that the tree would come plowing into our house!  We have 2 small children, which added additional stress.  I did receive some feedback during this time, but never speedy. I got the feeling that they forgot about us.  We got really close to scheduling a job in early February...they said that maybe they could be out on a specific date, and that I should call to make sure they were coming.  That's not an ideal customer service situation, and I felt a little awkward, as if I were the foreman of my own project.  They didn't come, due to weather I'm guessing.  Let it be noted that there were many days since December 1st, where there was no snow, plenty of sun, and ideal frozen ground to drive a truck back on my property.

As we move into later February, Charter Oaks makes me aware of a problem they are having with their bucket truck.  It is in the shop, and it's out of service.  As of that moment, they were not sure when the truck would be back up and running, but would keep me in the loop.  I continue to explain our safety concerns. Again, many windy nights with little to no sleep.  We were also forced to reach out to our insurance company regarding liability.

As we moved into March (90 days later), I had yet to receive any feedback in regards to the status of the bucket truck, and had begun to call/email to get any kind of information, and a target date.  At this time, our tree is dropping huge chunks of bark, and large limbs are hitting our deck. It's getting pretty scary.

Finally, I call, and whomever I talked to was finally able to schedule a date.  They said they would be out there on Friday, March 21st, a week or so later.  I was a little suspect, but they did, indeed, arrive that morning before 10am.  They had not called ahead to confirm, but I was happy this project was finally coming to fruition. I had taken the day off work.  I?m a Sales Manager who?s paid based on performance.  No work, no performance.

I had removed fencing to allow for access to the lower part of our yard.  The team leader decided it best to take out a full corner of fence, and drive directly to the Northeast corner of the house, as the lower yard was too soft.  They did ask if they could remove a limb(s) on another tree so they could move the bucket with more ease.  I said OK, and they were able to get the truck over there.  According to another tree service, the limb was not cut properly, but not a major concern.

The work done once the truck was in position was minimal.  A few small branches, a partial trunk, and a full trunk (the easiest of the 5 to remove since it was leaning away from the house). I documented all of the completed work.  The rest of the morning the crew leader spent on the phone, pacing the driveway, speaking with his boss, I was told.  He came to the door and explained that he did not feel comfortable cutting the limbs over the house, especially with the bucket truck he was given for the project.  He admitted that the truck that was listed to use specifically for this job was not the truck they brought.  He was referring to the bucket truck that was in the shop.  He said that the other bucket truck was not so top heavy, and would have an easier time navigating the yard, and get him up 10-15 feet higher.  As they were pulling out, the truck got stuck.  It took easily 45 minutes to get it out.

When they finally got the truck into the driveway, it was all about getting out of here.  No attention was paid to the ruts in the yard and driveway (I fixed myself).  None of the brush was carried away, and a big trunk just lay on the ground.  No time was spent cleaning up, period.  They did put the fence back up, but it was not in the same condition.  It was leaning a bit more than usual, and our gate wouldn?t latch.  Knowing that we were getting a new fence in the very near future, and it was an old fence I was OK with it.

As they were putting the fence back up, I called Charter Oaks.  I explained what they already knew, that the truck they sent wouldn?t get the job done.  They later said it was not their fault, and blamed Mother Nature, and the soggy ground.  That would have been an acceptable answer to me, if they hadn?t had since December 1st to get this done.  I pushed for an estimated time the other bucket truck would be available.  I was told that they did not know, but the lady was going to put a note on the owner?s desk, and have he/she reach out to me.

I heard nothing.  So on Tuesday, March 25th, I emailed again, stating that this project was ?growing hair?, and was slowing a lot of other projects down, and I needed to confirm a date to finish (once again).  I received a voicemail that same day from Sherry at Charter Oaks saying that unfortunately she could not give me a date because they need their other bucket truck.  They were ?waiting on more parts? for the original bucket truck originally ordered for the job.  She said she ?tried to get around that, tried to use the other bucket, and obviously got ourselves in a jam?.  She then goes on to say ?I am probably saying about a week, but I?m at the discretion of the mechanics?.

On Wednesday or Thursday, we once again had severe winds.  Neither my wife or I got a single minute of sleep. About 4am, we decided we?re moving on.  On Friday March 28th, my wife called two other tree services, and they came out the same day and both gave us quotes.  They both said the exact same thing: that this needed to be a manual job, with a climber.  And they both said that with the weather warming up, climbers would have a short window to do this, as the moisture would soon leave the tree making it impossible to climb.

On Sunday, March 30th, I notified Charter Oaks that we will no longer be needing their services (or lack thereof), citing that the job had not been completed in 120 days (1/3 of a year), and the fact that they left our yard in disarray without any sort of concrete idea as to when they would be returning.  I expressed my disappointment with this experience, and would not be using their outfit again.

They immediately responded that we were under contract, and that if we chose to go elsewhere, our bill would still remain, and that they didn?t want to use ?higher measures?.  I asked for the owner of the company to call me immediately.  No call.  I followed up with another email saying that companies who respect their customers would have called to remedy this, and that we would not be bullied. We exchanged numerous emails that day?.me asking for a copy of our signed agreement?..them telling me they recorded our phone calls.  I said that the fact that they wanted to hash this out via email was absurd, and the owner of the company needed to call me immediately, or stop threatening me with litigation.

Today, Monday 3/31, our job was completed by another tree outfit.  They quoted us on Friday, work was completed

overall the experience was good. We had a few delays in scheduling but those were due to the weather.

One of my neighbours referred them to me.  I called them and they were here in less than a week and took care of my tree.  I highly recommend them.  Actually the two people that came worked well together, they were neat and they even handpicked up little pieces of the twigs.  They were very conscientious and did a good job.  Price wise I have nothing to compare them with.  I will use them in the future.

Initially he did a great job.  In addition to the above he ended up planting 4 new trees for us in an area where ivy had choked the roots of the existing trees.  Stephenson informed us that there was a 1-year warranty on the trees.  These trees were vital to the property because they were part of a natural "privacy fence"  along the path.  He instructed us to water the trees regularly, which we did.  Soon it was winter, then spring, and by the following summer we noticed that two of the trees were clearly dying.  We called him and he advised us to continue watering and see how they did.  By August 2010 (it was a scorcher of a summer) it was clear that they were not going to recover.Fast forward to August 2011.  I have made eight documented phone calls to him and each and every time, his response was "I'll be out there to take care of it this week (or in some cases, next week).  He has never shown.  How disappointing!  I firmly believe that this is an overall decent guy and a very talented tree guy, But it has been over a year now since we drew this problem to his attention and he has yet to get out here to replace the two trees.  I called him earlier this week to let him know that I would be posting a negative report on Angie's list.  His response: "Well I really was going to get out there."  I just wish he would.  I would gladly withdraw the report if the work were done.  We need our trees!

9/14/11--Still no response, though I told them I was submitting this report. 

They came out to give me the estimate the day after I called. I thought the estimate was very good and cheaper than I expected. I hired them and they were out within a week. They did call before they came to tell me they were coming. I was impressed with how welll they cleaned up after the job. They also removed the stump I was very pleased with the job. They were very responsive and I would absolutely use them again.

They did an excellent job.

great

I was working in the backyard on a blustery Saturday--the weather service was reporting gusts of up to 25mph--when I noticed the ground moving under one of our pine trees whenever there was a strong gust. I had already intended to have the tree examined because it didn't seem healthy. In fact it was dying and the root ball was rotting; if the tree fell over that day it would have brought down the electric and telephone lines to our house. The first 2 companies I called that advertised 24 hour emergency service did not answer their phones--but Stephenson did! An estimator arrived in about a half hour and said that a crew could come out that day. The crew was supposed to arrive at 4:30, but I got a phone call saying they would be delayed until 5:30. At about 6:15 I called Stephenson because they had not yet arrived; the crew showed up while I was on the phone. They were polite, professional, and worked quickly. I also noticed they paid attention to safety. The only reason I gave them a "B" for Punctuality is the lack of a second phone call notifying me of the additional delay. I was worried about the tree falling in a hard wind gust, so as more time went by with no felling crew I became concerned. On the following Monday another employee came out to grind the stump, but his machine would not fit through the gate in our fence. By removing the gate and being very careful, he made it through. He was also courteous and professional, and took the time to properly remount the gate when he was done.

Bill called me within 3 hours of me leaving a message. He stopped by the next day to give me an estimate for the work. His estimate was so reasonable, I agreed to his price. He removed the tree that afternoon and did a great job removing the stump. I've already had several neighbors ask me who he was since he did a great job. I would highly recommend him.

They did a great job. Didn't damage anything; cleaned up the mess; trimmed the trees well.

We enjoyed working with Mr. Stephenson. His crew was careful in cutting down the trees so as not to damage the nearby plants and shrubs. They cleaned up and hauled away all the debris from the job. Mr. Stephenson was very knowledgeable about trees, and he answered all our questions about the current conditions of our trees and shrubs. We would gladly recommend his company to our neighbors.

The work was performed in a timely manner and in a very professional manner.

Very well given the circumstances. This quote compared with $6000 and $10000 for the same work by two other service providers. Accomplished almost all the work on the first 2 days of a 3 day scheduled job. Rain delayed the completion of the job on time. Before the job could be finished the wind storm of Ike came through. It was about a week and a half before they were able to come back due to all the emergency work that needed to be done clearing trees on houses and power lines. When they did come back to finish they chipped up all the debris form the storm and clean cut some areas on 2 trees that they had already worked on prior to the storm. They went above and beyond what was in the original estimate.

As noted above, this company bid and performed the work for MUCH LESS than the "top" contractors in the area.

They came when they said. Cleaned up when they finished.

It went really good working with them. They explained the process of the work they were going to be doing. When I called him, he was then here with in a couple of hours and then after he arrived an hour later his crew arrived. They cut up the tree and got it out of here. The tree fell and it was out of here within twenty four hours. He also offer tree tips. He came back the next day to grind out the stump.

We've used this company in the past and they always do great work. Bill provided an estimate and scheduled workers within a week or so. The stump grinder broke in the middle of the job but they were back out as soon as the part was replaced.

Worked around my schedule. Did a great job of cleanup

They did everything they said they would do. Cleaned up well. Price came in right at the estimate. Overall they did a very good job. Even cut up a couple little logs for my fireplace at no extra charge.

It went great! Mr. Stephenson provided a prompt and competitive estimate, winning me over with his friendly professionalism. When, I called several weeks later to authorize the work, his crew showed up that very day, did exactly what I wanted, and did a fine job cleaning up the work site. They even stacked my wood on a mulched area, to avoid any grass damage. Mr. Stephenson promised a follow-up visit, if I were not satisfied with the stump grinding.

I called Bill on a Wednesday and he said that he would be out later in the day for an estimate. Bill arrived a few hours later and quoted the lowest price that I could imagine. My first estimate was close to $1200. Bill was very professional and personable. I asked when he could start the job, Bill said he would have his crew out the next morning about 9am. The next day Bill and his team of 5 arrived around 8:30am and worked diligently. The team did a great job removing everything and the clean up was very impressive. For no extra charge, I also had extra wood from the garage removed. Before the team left, Bill gave me some good advice on my lawn and gave me references for any additional work that I wanted around the house. WOULD DEFIANTLY REHIRE!!