Morton Tree And Landscape Maintenance Inc

Unethical Business Practices; Rude and Unprofessional Business Owner We had an ash tree that hung over part of our house that was scheduled to be taken down on August 3, 2021. My husband noticed on July 16 that there was a limb that looked compromised and just to be safe (since we have a little one that plays in the backyard), we thought we should get somebody out to take it down sooner rather than waiting a few weeks for the tree to be taken down. My husband called Morton’s and luckily they said they were going to be in the area the next morning and could come by and take a look. My husband asked how much it would cost and was told that it’s $135/hour and it should take no more than an hour. Great! (Note: the only context we have is that taking down the entire tree is going to cost us ~$2,000.) Morton’s crew showed up the next morning. I was initially surprised that they would send out all of that equipment and 5 guys for just 1 limb (approximately 10-15 feet), but then my husband told me that they were just down the street taking down an entire tree. One of the guys came to the front door and my husband showed him the tree; he came back and said that he would recommend taking down the limb. My husband then confirmed once again that it would be $135/hr and the guy confirmed and said that he should be in and out in an hour. And that they were. They were courteous and efficient. So it was to my surprise when I was emailed a bill on July 20 for $675. I immediately sent it to my husband who was also shocked. I pointed out that the bill specifies that it’s $135/man hour and not $135/hour, so with 5 guys…that’s $675 for the hour. They sent out 5 guys to take down a tree down the street, but 5 guys did not work on taking down our 1 limb; surely, this HAD to be a mistake. I chalked it up to a clerical billing error. My husband called the next day and spoke to someone in the front office and left a message for Don. A week passed, he had not heard back, so he called again and once again, left a message for Don with someone in the front office. Again, no call back. What are we to do at this point? We were provided with a verbal estimate from two Morton employees that this service would cost $135/hour and that it would take no longer than an hour, so we expected to pay $135. Their invoice even states within the line item, “Please discuss with client how long you think the job will take and the overall health of the tree prior to beginning job”. We can’t get a hold of anyone and we’re not going to pay $675 for a service that we were quoted $135 for. So we wait… We receive a 2nd invoice in the mail on November 28, 2021. This time I called since my husband was not having any luck getting a hold of anyone. The person I spoke to said that the person in their billing department is out and would have to call me back. I received a call back the next day. I explained to the person the situation to which she responded $135/man hour is what they charge. I told her that was not specified to us and that we are not paying $675; she said that I would have to speak to Don. Don calls me that evening and this is how it starts… Me: Hi Don, thank you for returning my call. Don: Now, tell me why you are not paying me. Me: Don, it’s not that I am not paying you, I think there is a misunderstanding…(insert Don’s repeated interruptions, accusations and continued rant). He said things like… When I told him that we were planning to have the tree taken down as a part of the context of the situation, he rudely interrupted and asked why we didn’t use “the other company” to take down the limb (as if that has anything to do with the situation). “You really expect me to believe that you thought it would only cost $135/hour? Do you even know how much it cost to fix a car these days?” I told him that I am not in this industry and the only context I have is what his employees quoted us. He told me I heard them incorrectly. When I told him that I did not appreciate the tone that he’s taking, he said, “Do you hear me swearing at you? I’m not even swearing at you.” I wish I had recorded the conversation, but I was just so caught off guard with his accusatory attacks and overtly antagonistic and condescending language and tone, especially for a small business owner. It ended with him telling me he’s going to send me to collections and his famous last words, “ciao” and then click. I am not going to be bullied or threatened to pay for something that we didn’t agree to. That is just not right. It’s unethical. To recap: 1. The service was great. 2. We were quoted $135/hour. We expected to pay $135/hour. The fact that they were down the street doing a job that required 5 men, so all 5 men showed up to our house to take one limb down (even though only 2 worked on it) is neither here nor there, but a part of the context. Either way, even if 10 men showed up, we were still quoted $135/hour. 3. Don is a horrible, unethical, and rude human being. I ended up writing them a check for $135 in an attempt to “clear our debt”. It was mailed back to us saying that it had already been sent to collections. So now, we’re going to be hounded by collections for a debt that should have never been.

The crew was very professional and efficient and the Morton Tree office was very friendly to work with.

It was a big job. It was several workers.

I have a 100 plus year old tulip tree that sends up sucker shoots annually and has become a monster with it's spreading branches. Morton's bid of $680 exceeded other bids, but because of their reputation, I thought they would do a better job. The first order of business was to notify PGE to cut the sucker shoots close to the high voltage wires above the tree. No company would touch this job without PGE doing its job firs. PGE did far more than they have done in the 40 years I have lived here, eliminating about 80% of the sucker shoots. I nearly canceled the Morton service but I wanted the large limbs cut back, which was never done. Morton crew spent some time looking for work to do, as there was very little. There were in and out in 90 minutes. At $453./hour, I wrote to Morton asking for a reduced bid as I think they had no idea of the extent to which PGE trimmed the tree. My letter was ignored and was sent another bill. I wish I had taken photos before and after PGE's work and again after Morton's work. This is a very professional business but I now regret choosing them as they ignored my letter and I paid far too much for the work that was done.

They did wonderful. I would absolutely use them again.

You know, I don't have a lot to compare their price with, but you know, obviously we thought their quote was reasonable otherwise we wouldn't have contracted with them. Definitely an A for quality. The responsiveness is really good, about that, the owner of the company is really good. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. They're coming back in January. They're our vendor of choice when it comes to tree works.

The crew worked efficiently and effectively to trim several trees around my house. Great job.

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Perfect! His crew got the tree down in under an hour - and this was a pretty big tree. The crew followed proper safety precautions - the man in the tree wore a safety harness and was spotted and belayed by a man on the ground. They lowered the cut limbs carefully, They chipped and removed all the wood and left our property well cleaned. They were all polite and I appreciated their work. I'd definitely hire them again without going out to bid.

I was extremely happy that we chose Morton to do the work. The bid amount was well under the others we received and the final bill (time & materials not to exceed bid) ended up being over 25% less than the bid. The work was completed and cleaned up as expected and they even ground an extra stump we wanted to have removed in the yard.

I was impressed by Don's professionalism when he visited me and wrote up an estimate.  The service was performed within 2 weeks of that date.  Communication with the company was very easy.
Liz arrived on time and performed all services expertly.  She left my property very clean afterwards. 
Overall I was very please with the estimate, work performed and professionalism of all employees, both onsite and at the office.

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The crew was professional, focused, and respectful to other plants and items in garden.   They cut the pieces smaller so they could get them down without harming our bamboo and decks.   It was dangerous work but they were extremely careful and took time and patience to make certain nothing was damaged.    The owner, Don Morton, is a warm, caring person who made us feel confident our home would be safe.  Excellent work and price.

During recent freezing weather we noticed that one of the large three trunks on our 100+ year-old black locust was threatening to split off from the base, potentially landing on a neighbor's house if it failed.  Mr. Morton inspected the tree on the same day we placed the call  (New Year's Day!) and had his crew there the next day to cable it and lighten (remove bulk from) the threatened trunk. The climber, Pikov, and the rest of the crew did a yeoman's work in subfreezing temperatures and high east winds.  They chipped the wood and cleaned up the site upon completion. We will be happy to have this business return for eventual additional work on our trees.

I called for an estimate to trim a couple of trees and several bushes. Don, the owner, came out and gave a great estimate and set realistic expectations. The crew came out a few days later and did a great job.
I am very happy with the work and will use Morton's again.

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My yard has many trees. For more than 10 years I have called Don Morton for my tree needs.  Once his crew came in the ice and snow to remove a tree that had fallen into the street.  His crew always does excellent work with large and small jobs. I have several neighbors who also use his services.

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We've used Morton in the past and have been thoroughly happy each time.  Everyone that you come into contact with provides excellent customer service.  They have always been able to get us an appointment very quickly for Don to come out and access what we need and provide us with a proposal.  The work is then done usually within a week.  Two of our trees are fairly large and they always look fantastic afterwards.  This time I had forgotten to ask them about removal of debris from a fallen tree ahead of time but they were able to add it in that day.  I would highly recommend using this Company.

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Morton is the best tree trimming company in the area, bar none; they are meticulous with everything that they do. You will pay for this, because Don Morton compensates his guys well.

The crew arrived on time, talked with me about exactly what they were going to do so there would be no surprises, and then set up to trim an enormous maple that overhung the house and several other, smaller limbs and trees. They took tremendous care to avoid any danger to structures, and to preserve the health of the trees as they worked, explaining the steps as they worked.

When they were finished trimming each tree, they cleaned up so that each site was far better than when they arrived, shredding all of the debris on site.

If you are looking for rough 'hacking down' of limbs, this is not your provider, but if you want excellent work for the health of your trees, call Morton.

They removed all leaves, branches, and cut down to the trunk as requested.   Will definitely use them again in th future for bigger jobs.   My neighbor across from me used them also to trim such very large branches, and were also very happy with their services.