Stewart Bros

As I explained to them before they started the job, the tree was near a gas line and was being removed so it wouldn't do damage to the gas line later on. It's also the reason why I wanted it cut down, not dug up or pulled out.

To make a long story short, they were not knowledgeable enough to arrive with the proper tools or skills to do the job, they refused to get the right tools because they didn't want to lose money, they were never proactive in communicating with me in this job, they missed deadlines without explanation to me, they disregarded my plainly expressed order not to try to pull down the tree with a truck and towline.

They cut down the branches with a Sawzall and began loading them into the truck, parked on an angle in my driveway. They had to bring a larger vehicle and parked IN THE ROAD, blocking traffic. They raked the smaller branches on the yard, but I had to do much more raking after they left. Their Sawzall and 14-inch Poulan electric chainsaw had little effect on the tree trunk so they began trying to beat it with a rubber mallet and pull it out with a tow-line attached to a truck.

They became loud, vulgar and combative when my neighbor (acting on my behalf) tried to get them to stop hammering the tree with a rubber hammer and tugging at the remaining trunk with their truck. I am not sure if the altercation became physical, but I do know they made threats  to use the rubber hammer against my neighbor. Several of my neighbors witnessed this altercation and reported it to me, and I am deeply embarrassed by their behavior.

Needless to say, these guys got fired!!  The excuse for disobeying my order about NOT pulling the tree trunk was that they were only "loosening" it!  No ownership of responsibility. They still wanted to receive 90% of the $130 they quoted me. We finally agreed on $80, which was more than they deserved, but I counted it the price for the pleasure of seeing them leave.

I'm still stuck with a naked evergreen tree trunk in my front yard.