Total Tree Care & Appraisal, Inc.

"Inaccurate review, according to our records. We show the following: Service Date - 6/27/2013 Price - $900, paid in full. Scope of work - 1) Professionally Fell a large, dead white oak away from the client's home and into the adjacent natural area it was growing in, then reduce the felled tree's visibility by cutting all the exposed branches below the surrounding growth. 2). Professionally prune the large deadwood out of a nearby live white oak, following all industry Standards of Care, including not using harmful "climbing spikes" while ascending and descending the valuable live white oak tree. The work was performed on the day it was promised, at the price promised. All tree care workers on the client's site were fully covered with Worker's Compensation. The client's property was fully covered with Professional Liabiility Coverage. All of the company vehicles on the clien's jobsite were fully covered with Commercial Auto Coverage. While speaking with the client after the complaint, I learned his neighbor later had a single tree felled for a total cost of $150, and my client then used that price as a comparison in reviewing my quote. He also stated that we had chain saw problems while on his property. I'll address the costs further along, but as to the chain saw problem, all I can say is that the job was so long ago, I can neither confirm nor deny that report. But, my client's quote was fixed, and his quoted price was fully honored, regardless of any lost time on our part. I personally feel that his review is unfair. If the client didn't like our price, he had every opportunity to find someone cheaper. Furthermore, I question whether he fully verified the insurance in force and the legality of the employees of the company to which he is comparing us. The simple fact of the matter is that any fully insured, professional tree care firm who is abiding by all Federal and State labor and payroll laws and regulations cannot afford to send a crew to a similar job for $150. They would pay far more out in labor costs alone, before fuel and equipment costs, than they would take in. I regret that the client chose to rate us so poorly. His home was unharmed in the felling of a large, hazardous tree that should have been removed long before he contacted us, and his living white oak was professionally pruned to remove all of the large, dead limbs. He was then charged exactly what he agreed to pay. This review is illustrative of the problems I see with this type of reviewing system. Last year, we had around 25 jobs that we could attribute directly to Angie's List (out of around 1100). Many of those clients have used us again since, and I don't know of any that were unhappy. But, few of them took the time to positively review us. And, that's completely understandable. They needed our services, they engaged us, their problems were solved and then they moved on with their busy lives. It should be easier for a satisfied client to leave a positive review, and those leaving negative reviews should be required to be completely honest, accurate and transparent. There should also be a time limit on negative reviews. The fact that I'm responding now, in May of 2015, to issues from a job in 2013, is ludicrous. Any expectation of me or my client accurately remembering all of the details involved is unreasonable, at best."

"After a review of your complaint, I find that you are right to be upset. I actually met with you on June, 26, 2014 at 9:00 am, not on June 1. But, my office manager does agree that we tried several times to schedule your work, and that it never happened. The fault is completely ours. We should have followed up better. The reason for the delays was that the treatment is not effective in extremely wet conditions, and our applicator had specific instructions to apply your treatment only when the tree was completely dry. As you know, we had a very wet summer. Somehow, after two or three attempts, your treatment fell off our schedule. I give us an F also, and I offer my apologies. A small job to us doesn't ever equate to an unimportant tree for our clients. We will do better."

"Our agreement for service was made on 6/17/2014. Our crew scheduling was backed up longer than normal due to a recent ice storm. This information was clearly shared with the client, and an Aug. service date was mutually agreed upon. The service date was confirmed over the phone, between my office manager and the client. The client was initially given an option for hourly work, but chose a fixed price instead (which is common), and signed her name to an agreement clearly stating that fact. The fixed quote price was for $800. It included her desired tree pruning specifics and, at the clients specific direction, "Debris Loading, Hauling and Dumping". I estimated, clearly on the agreement, that it would take our crew approximately 4 hours to completely perform the work and then haul away the resulting debris. Our crew professionally completed the agreed upon work and loaded the debris onto our truck in the approximate 2-1/2 hours they were on the client's property. There is no dispute over that fact. They then drove that debris to the landfill, :40 minutes away, each way, by large truck. They then had to enter the landfill, dump their truck and pay the landfill to accept the client's debris. All of the travel time and dumping fees were included in the fixed price, and the total time required for the job was very close to my original 4 hour estimation. As to the non-communication issue, my office manager assures me that the client is misrepresenting the truth. In fact, she distinctly remembers speaking the client on the service day, Aug. 14, because the client was upset that she couldn't be given an exact, down to the minute, arrival time for our crew. She also remembers calling the client and speaking with her over the phone as she confirmed the service date with the client 2-3 days before the actual service date. In my office manager's defense, that is how all of our crews have been scheduled over the last 18 years. It's standard practice for our firm not to send a crew to a job site or client that isn't clearly expecting us. No other client, in over 18 years, has accused us of showing up with absolutely no prior notification. But, in an effort to maintain our outstanding customer service reputation, and to validate an exceedingly uncharacteristic complaint, I have requested that my business phone carrier conduct an independent investigation. They are being provided with the client's phone number and the dates that my office manager specifically remembers calling and speaking with the client. They are being tasked with researching our going calls to and incoming calls our clients number. If the independent investigation finds that no such phone calls were made, I will immediately and profusely apologize to our client and then promptly made internal adjustments with our office staff. If those phone calls are proven to have been made, however, I will respectfully ask the client to update her remarks. All we, or any service provider, can do when communication with a client is to call the phone numbers they give us and then speak with with who ever answers them. In regards to our crew member smoking on her property, I sincerely apologize that she was offended. Every written agreement made with our firm has a prominent area labeled "Special Circumstances". Clients with concerns or special requests are encouraged to use that area for specific crew instruction, notes or preferences. The client never asked that crew members not smoke, either verbally or in writing. But, again, I'm truly sorry that the client was offended, and I'm truly sorry that the client wasn't extraordinarily pleased with her overall experience. I also appreciate her admitting that her tree pruning was professionally performed."