Aspen Tree Service

Exceptional company, great job, customer service was amazing. Quick, efficient, very competitive pricing. I've used them for tree and stump removal as well as trimming. Very happy and satisfied with entire process. Highly recommend this company!

Aspen Tree Service was hired to trim live oak trees on our property, specifically to remove tree limbs over the roof to provide a minimum 6 ft. of clearance, to remove dead wood and some smaller branches to open the canopy of the trees, and to seal all the cuts and nicks they made in performance of the work.  I noticed they were not sealing cuts as the work progressed.  When I questioned the supervisor about this, he told me they would seal them after they had finished trimming.  I commented that I would not remember all of the cuts and asked how they would.  He advised they would be sure all the cuts were sealed.  After trimming was completed and while clean up was underway, the sun was setting and it was difficult to see cuts.  They sealed most cuts from the ground using a spray can of sealant on a long pole and a device to operate the spay.  It became too dark to spot all the cuts that had not been sealed and of course being able to see  cuts on top of limbs from the ground is difficult.  It appeared they had done a good job of cleaning the yard of trimmed branches.  I paid them, hoping that later when the light was better, the cuts would be easier too see and they would seal missed cuts later.  They did not respond to a telephone call to Robert Williamson at their office. In response to a complaint filed with the Austin Better Business Bureau, BBB, (via email), Robert Williamson claimed he visited the property and saw nothing to confirm my complaints.  However, my wife and I were home the day he claimed he visited, he made no attempt to contact us, and we neither saw nor heard anyone on the property.  Information they provided the BBB via email said they would visit our property on January 11, 2013.  Although we were not contacted by any Aspen Tree Service representative, we were home during all daylight hours and neither saw nor heard any visitor to our property.  I've counted no less than twenty unsealed cuts on our live oaks. Additionally, branches large enough to damage vehicles, have fallen near our drive way.  Never have we experienced such shoddy work or failure to respond to civil requests to correct deficiencies.

This is the second (and last) time I have utilized Aspen for tree pruning services. If you pull up my last review, you will see they received a rather positive review from me. I guess many things can change in a year....
Quoting and scheduling all went well. I believe the price was fair for the job being done. The day of work, the crew showed up on time. They seemed understaffed, but worked hard. They did a fairly good job, but did some minor damage to the gutters and some small landscape fencing. Overall, they were somewhat careless with my home.
The first problem is they had to fight their equipment all day long. Everything ran poorly, which made the job difficult and take longer than needed. Secondly, the stump grinder did not work at all. Eventually, a few weeks later, they made a random visit back on-site and ground about 3/4 of the remaining stump. When I spoke with rep about not being complete, I was told the grinder was broken again, and it would be a few more weeks. In short, I was unable to get them to ever come back and finish the job.

The service was not good. They came in really early and had to have our car towed out of the way because we were out of town on a vacation. They ran into several issue, including them running out of cement, and blamed us for it I'm unsure how we are to blame for that. The driveway is a mess with a bunch of cracks and it is not smooth. Really dissatisfied. I tried to get them back out but would not come out.

Robert's crew was trimming neighbors trees and came over to give me an estimate. Robert walked around pointing out what he would do. He was very glib and friendly and promised to do everything that I wanted done. He stated that he had a mason who could install rock around my pool to stabilize crumbling coping tile.  We agreed on a price and expanded the project to include both my front and back yards.  The tree guys did a good job but did not clean up the debris as they should. They left me with a pile of wood to burn, which they were supposed to burn.  They broke my gate to my side yard and reinstalled it upside down,  They knocked down one of my fence posts which they dug out, but did not replace.  They laid down about 22 yards of crushed granite, but did not level it and allowed a piece of the plastic underlay to come loose and stick out of the top. I was told not to worry that the parking area would level itself as cars parked on it.  It is still very unlevel. The masons did not adequately level the rock surfaces so there are areas where water stands. There are also areas where the mortar in the walkway has crumbled out and numerous areas in the limestone edging where there is insufficient mortar.  In attempting to correct an area of walkway that held water, they added a broad layer of mortar that is not the same color as the rest of the area. There are numerous areas that have mortar on the rock surface that the Mason told me that he could fix easily by using a wire brush.  He never used the wire brush.  They used a Bobcat to move debris and to haul granite and in doing so, they broke off a lot of edging on my asphalt driveway.  They were supposed to sand blast my front entrance gate which they did not do.  The workers used my push cart without my knowledge and ruined the tires, which I had to replace at a cost of over $68.  Much of the problem that I experienced was due to the fact that Robert was constantly hurrying and threatening the workers, so they got sloppy.  Another problem was that he supervised by phone and rarely showed up on the job site.  Robert Williamson looked my wife and I in the eye and told us not to worry about anything we were not satisfied with or that was not done even though we had paid him in full.  He said he was a "man of his word".  I have called him numerous times only to be told he would be out to fix the problems, but he never shows.  Now when I call, all I get is his voicemail.  My mistake was in paying him in full before everything was completed. I was gullible enough to believe him when he told me he was a man of his word, yet he has not proven to be so.  I finally sent him an email reminding him of his committment to finish the job.  He sent a crew who repaired the gate and removed the trash left by the masons.  I was told the masons would be back to correct their work and bring a bobcat to level the parking area but they have not returned or called.

They cut corners everywhere possible.  It was also hard to pin them down on what each part was going to cost.
They did not pour concrete under flagstone, just laid it on bare ground on top of a thin layer of mortar.  
Originally the patio was not even level but I caught it in time and they were able to re-work it and make it level.  Had I not been there it would have been a huge mess.

Fence-  We were told they only use screws for the construction but when they were almost done I arrived to find they had used all nails.  They told me they would go back and also put in screws when I complained but in the end they only added two screws to very few pickets.  They also failed to cut off the posts along one entire side of the fence.  They did not even support the middle of each picket with a 2x4 rail.

They did a good job on the tree trimming but failed to finish hauling off parts of the old fence and left over rock which they promised they would do the next day.

The stone border around the flower beds and landscaping was also laid without any foundation.  This resulted in a very uneven and not level border.  It has already cracked which they claimed it would never do.  It looks like a water wave. 

Everyday was a new invoice with changes and additional charges.  

I would NOT recommend this company.  Fast talkers and fast to work when no one is watching.

As requested, they called me about 1hr before showing up, and they did arrive and start within 5 minutes of the scheduled time. The original sales guy/foreman walked the job over with me once more, introduced me to a point of contact for the job, then left. A few hours later, the foremen showed back up and did a final walk-thru and had his guys complete a few finishing touches. Overall, they did a good, fast, and efficient job at a very reasonable price. 
Based on some bad reviews on the web and Angies list, I was a little nervous about hiring this company, so I was present to oversee the entire job. What I got from reading lot's of reviews on this company was: Do not pay them until the job is complete, and Do be present for the work.

This group of workers had done some work in my neighborhood, and asked if I needed any work done. I did, so arranged for the above services. Several different people were involved with each area of work. The yard work was mainly completed, although several shrubs were left out. (We had gone over the whole yard and discussed what to do in each area.) The people who actually did the work were not the same people I discussed the work with. The brick steps were begun, but did not actually repair or do what they said they would do to finish the job. The gutters were replaced, but there was a misunderstanding about the color, and I had to pay extra for them to be repainted. They did a poor job with the gutters; they never drained properly, and actually started pulling out from the eaves in the same year. (I have recently had a different company completely replace.) They were supposed to install leaf guards in the gutters, but did not. I paid them in two installments, and the last payment I paid in full before they had finished everything. Bad judgement on my part. They did not return to finish, and never returned my phone calls over several weeks about finishing the jobs. I really thought they probably went out of business, but see they are still working, and after reading favorable reviews on your List, decided I had better put in my report on them. I felt cheated out of a couple of thousand dollars of undone work. I would never recommend them to anyone.

I was offered a discount equivalent to the sales tax if I would pay in cash (I declined and paid by personal check). The agreed-upon service date had to be rescheduled due to rain, which had made it impossible to trim the trees as scheduled. Rescheduling was easy. The crew was very efficient and friendly. The lead/supervisor was present at the start of the job but left while the job was in progress (this seems to happen a lot with all sorts of services involving physical labor; the lead/supervisor assured me he was available via cell phone if necessary, but everything went smoothly). A follow-up call asking to seal some cuts was handled promptly, professionally, and cheerfully.

good new issues with the work, but Aspen Trees has has the tendency not to return phone calls or be late for estimate calls. recently, I recommend Aspen to a co worker. Aspen trimmed some trees but did not finish. they state they would come back when the weather was better to finish thinning the canopy. that was bout 6 weeks and they have not returned. I would still have Aspen provide an estimate, but I will not recommend them to friend. If you do go with them, do not pay the estimated price for the work until the ENTIRE project is done.

very well. Ther wer no glitches at all with this job. It entirely met my expectations.

This company was working in the neighborhood and the sales rep canvassed most of the homes on the street. The sales pitch was a little aggressive for my taste, but I showed the rep what I needed and he seemed extremely knowledgable. He quoted a very low rate for a complete front and back yard tree service, which I considered but declined, preferring to do a roof trim at this time. Crew worked very quickly and efficiently.

They were driving by and noticed I needed some trees trimmed. They gave me some good advice and gave me a quote right there.