Alamow Lawns & Tree Service

Great ! Could not be happier with the job done and the respectful crew and Andy Sanchez. Trees look great, all debris cleaned up, no damage to any property - it was a difficult job but done expertly.

Job that was done was great. Three men showed up early in the morning and worked all day until they job was done. The trees were shredded and left on my property where I wanted to use it. I will hire Andy again.

Fantastic. You should see the difference in our property. It's like night and day. So satisfied and thrilled with the results.

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They were about average. They did a pretty good job. There was an additional cost of $300. They came a day or two later. They did good in getting the trees trimmed. I had a neighbor's tree that was hanging over the ground on my fence and they cleaned that all up for me. Their after-grounds cleanup afterwards was a little less than it could have been. There were a lot of debris in the flower beds. They're very quick and professional.

The lead arrived as promise to review the work scope.  He requested that I needed to purchase additional service because the "Big deal" offers wasn't suffice to cover the job.  I had specific requirements on keeping the backyard tree branches screen / block street views, and trim the front yards as usual way. The lengthy discussion and detail, I asked the landscape lead if he need to write it down the requirement; he said "I am good, I'm a pro,  I emembers everything".
I wasn't home when they showed up for the job.  Afterward, I found the trees were OVER trimmed; all the lower tree breaches used to "screen" out traffic were all removed - up to 8-10 ft high.  Those trees are no longer function as "screen".  The dead tree leaves were not removed; and the  front yard look pretty much the same - despite the additional service I had purchased.
I called the owner about the job, she was defensive - stating "my poor communication".  I said to her - there is no communication error. you staff didn't want to take notes. and didn't do half the service I had purchased. She repeated asked if her staff did a good job; I  can replied -he did a job he WANTED to do.  I can't get my tree back; she said there is nothing she can do, despite I showed her many pictures of  before and after work - even those work I had purchased.
It took me another month to get them back to redo the front yard, and clean up the ground cover;  The crew didn't  trimming /cut trees branches; they teared off tree branches. instead.  Of course, they didn't thin out 3 Texas mountain laurels in the front yard - despite I send the owner pictures of what they didn't do the first time.  I ended up did the work myself.
The company demolished my 15 years of  harboring a natural tree/shrub screen  because they were too lazy to take notes.- They offered no apology and no compensation.
REAL SAD part - she is a realtor and also owns landscaping business ;- she knows people plant tree/shrub to screen out street traffic. They have diminished my home value tremendously. She knows it. 
Don't let the lower service fee fool you.

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They did a great job.  It was a little confusing to get the time scheduled for the work between Angie's list and when they could actually come do the work after the contractor came out to give me a full quote on the work I wanted to have done based on the deal I purchased through Angie's List.

Gave advice on when and if the tree would survive and what to look for.  Cover damaged area from strike point to ground.

unknown

Mission was NOT accomplished!!!  Timeline as follows:

4/6/15  Andy Sanchez showed up in a timely manner to give me a bid.  The bid was given verbally.  The agreement was that he and his crew would remove 13 crepe myrtles, including the root balls, plus remove 10 red tip photinias, two rosemary bushes a small magnolia tree, and miscellaneous sages.  The issue here is that the root balls of the crepe myrtles remain and they were the major issue as they are causing issues with my retaining wall.  I made it clear that I had read they are difficult to get rid of because they tend to grow back if the roots are not taken care of.  I also made it clear that I didn't want to use poison because I wanted to leave the fig ivy growing on the wall unharmed.  Andy claimed that he and his crew would be able to dig them out.  He showed me some kind of tree/landscape credentials...similar in size to a driver's license, so I figured he was knowledgeable.

4/13/15  I called the three references provided by Andie Sanchez, who is Andy's wife.  He got good reviews, though none of the clients had trees actually removed.  I also told their secretary that I wanted a written bid stating the serves to be preformed (which I was never given).  She indicated I would be given the written estimate when the crew arrived.

5/19/15  Andy and his crew of two arrived and commenced working on the crepe myrtles in my backyard.  I asked them several times not to drag the limbs across my rain gutters, but it still happened.  They gave up on removing the crepe myrtle root balls, suggesting the only way they could do it was to pour diesel fuel on them to kill them.  He had no stump grinder with him and he said that he wouldn't be able to use it there anyway.  He really had no other solutions.  I hired him for his expert knowledge. He went to ACE Hardware and purchased some solution they recommended, but it was only to get rid of unwanted shoots on living trees after pruning.  While they worked on removing the front yard trees, I did some research, finding that diesel would in fact kill all foliage.  I did find several articles on drilling holes in the stumps and filling them with Epsom salt, tarping and waiting for them to die.  They did a fairly good job removing the other plants, though at the time I began to replant more appropriate plants, I had to dig out many remaining roots.  I know nothing can be prefect, but in the process of removing the red tips, my porch slab was chipped and rocks on the bed were loosened when they tried to pull the stumps out using a rope tie the his truck.  Many wood scraps were left behind which I needed to clean up as well.  At the end of the work day, Andy agreed the if I paid the full $1500 he promised to return and bring all materials to accomplish the task of removing the crepe myrtle root balls.  I called their office and made an appointment for Andy to return on 6/17/15.  We waited so long because my back yard was quite wet after heavy rainfall and my grass was being compromised with all the foot traffic.

6/5/15 Andie Sanchez called to ask me to reschedule from the 17th to the 23rd because the crew was overbooked.  I told her I couldn't because I had a doctor's appoint on the 23rd.  We agreed he'd still come on the 17th at 9AM equipped with everything necessary to finish the job with the Epsom salt method.

6/17/15  Andy, nor any of his crew showed up, nor did anyone bother to call.

In conclusion, I believe Alamow was not equipped to handle this job, but bid it anyway.  I believe he owes me half of my $1500 back.  The job is half completed and the biggest issue of the crepe myrtles (which are already sprouting back) behind my retaining wall is not solved. 

In his introduction, Andy states:

 "Alamow may be a small business but the quality of work surpasses any commercial business. Alamow stands behind all of its work and has outstanding customer service."

I'm not certainly NOT convinced by his quality of services provided that his statement is fact.

See above.

I was satisfied with them. They were pretty prompt.

unknown

I?m really hesitant to post this because I have seen where

Alamow has been given poor reviews before and just argues everything posted.  However, Angie?s List has solicited the review

from us over 4 times now, so we decided to share our experience with Alamow, as

former customers. Rarely did they show up when scheduled and there were tons of

miscommunications.  I wish I could post

the text messages showing how many times I had to ask why they didn't show up

to show you exactly how unreliable they were. Initially, they would move the

large trash can (which we kept behind our gate in the backyard) out into the

front or neighbor?s yard and leave it there! After the third time, I called and

asked that they start putting the trash can back where they found it. I guess I

should have just been happy they were moving them to mow back there? They

didn't mow the front either, they used a weed eater, until again, I had to ask

that they actually mow, since that is what we had asked for and been quoted

for. They did correct both issues, which was appreciated and I thanked them for

doing. I will say, Andy was very kind and professional when he did get to us

and Andie in the office was nice enough on the phone, and would apologize, they

just had no commitment to taking care of us as a customer. We gave them a

year's worth of time to improve too! There was always an excuse that they were

too busy and just didn't get to us because Andy had taken on other projects.

That shouldn't be the customer's problem though. Even still, I really think

that would have been acceptable if it didn't happen on a monthly basis and if

they'd made an effort to make up for it the following day! Or even 2-3 days

later. But when they missed us, instead of becoming a priority, we still stayed

at the bottom of the list and were lucky to get our yard done once a month, and

even that required tons of follow up. We were stuck though because there

weren't other options in our area at the time. Again, this is all documented on

text message and multiple times I would take Andie's own text, confirming they

would be there a certain day and send it back to her asking why they didn't

come. They were just always too busy for us. 

We have so many other projects we wanted them to do but didn't dare

offer the business to them after all this. And several neighbors we could have

referred but they were already busy enough, according to Andie. We have since

found someone else on Angie's List, who charges us half the price as Alamow,

does a better job, and shows up EVERY time they are supposed to!

unknown

On April 15, 2014, I responded to an advertisement of  $500.00 worth of tree trimming for $249.00.
When I bought the ?deal? that was advertised, I wrote Alamow Lawns
& Tree Service about the job; ?Dead tree in back yard. I was planning on
cutting it down, using the bigger pieces for firewood and chipping the rest for
use in my garden. I have overgrown hedges/bushes that need massive trimming...?
Alamow wasn't very flexible nor accommodating in the scheduling of the
visit for the services to be performed.
The customer service at Alamow (when you could actually speak to a
human) had an ?Up Yours!? attitude.
When the 2-man crew from Alamow did finally show up (the next month) I
walked my yard with the lead crewman and personally showed him and explained
(in clear detail with precise specifics) what was to be done. As I had stated
in my initial communication to Alamow, I wanted to chip/shred a dead tree in my
back yard and use the wood chips in other parts of my yard.
The crewman told me that they weren?t prepared to chip a tree, despite
my having informed them upfront that that WAS the job. As a result, Alamow forced
me to shift the focus of the work.
The photinia shrubs that line my front yard on both sides were to be
trimmed and shortened to a specific degree.
I was clear that I needed to inspect the finished work after they were
done, to make sure everything was successfully completed to the agreed-upon
degree.
The lead crewman stated that the amount of shrub trimming to be done was well
within the scope of the advertised offer that I had pre-paid for. He even
hinted that, since they would likely be finished very quickly, they?d give my
other trees a ?once over? to round out the service visit.
I went back inside my house, expecting to be contacted when the work
was done.
One hour later, I sent my daughter to offer the crew ice-water or tea.
She came back upstairs, confused, and reported to me that the crew was
gone.
I went out to see the yard.
The crew WAS gone.
They had not notified me to inspect any completed work or to seek
approval of work that was supposedly done; they simply left without notice.
I walked the yard to see what they HAD done; almost nothing.
They only trimmed the sides of the shrubs that are viewable from the
front door of my house and hadn?t touched any of the 3 other sides.
They left a fair amount of trimmings on the ground for me to clean up.
All told, they did about 1/10 of the job that I paid for, abandoned the
jobsite at some point well before an hour was up, and left a mess.
 
I called Alamow and complained.
I was told that the owner would visit my property and personally
inspect the job.
That never happened.
I was promised that they would send a crew back out to finish the job.
They never happened.
I asked for my money to be refunded.
That never happened.
 
The conduct of Alamow, and their field crew, is a crime in Texas.
 
Under the Texas Penal Code, Sec. 32.42. 
DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES
(b) A person commits an offense if in the course of business he
intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence commits one
or more of the following deceptive business practices:
(2) selling less than the represented quantity of a property or
service;
(7) representing that a commodity or service is of a particular style,
grade, or model if it is of another;
(8) advertising property or service with intent:
(A) not to sell it as advertised, or
(B) not to supply reasonably expectable public demand,
unless the advertising adequately discloses a time or quantity limit;
 
(9) representing the price of property or service falsely or in a way
tending to mislead;
(10) making a materially false or misleading statement of fact
concerning the reason for, existence of, or amount of a price or price
reduction; or
(12) making a materially false or misleading statement:
(A) in an advertisement for the purchase or sale of
property or service; or
(B) otherwise in connection with the purchase or sale
of property or service.
 
At this point, the only remedies are civil (a lawsuit in JP court for
my damages and losses) and criminal; charges against the owner of Alamow for
violating the Texas Penal Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices/Consumer
Protection Act of the Texas Business and Commerce Code.
 
As a police officer and paralegal, I am equipped to defend myself
against these kinds of criminal predators; for those Angie?s List members who
don?t have these resources, STAY AWAY from Alamow Lawns & Tree Service.

The three-man crew arrived on-time and ready to go, providing all required safety equipment, tree trimming tools and a large chipper to dispose of yard waste. The crew worked as a well-supervised, tightly coordinated team with conspicuous attention to safety. I was dleighted  with the speed, efficiency and overall professionalism of the crew - and so were my neighors. The results of their work were equally impressive; so from now on, I will call these folks first!

An estimate was given at 9:00 AM and the service performed about 3:in the afternoon. Andy and two others worked steadily until all was performed to my husband's satisfaction. They even blew off all the accumulated debris from the recent storms from the roof which saved my husband a lot of work! The men were polite and professional. The actual estimate was close to $500 but we had purchased the special from Angie"s list ( $249 for $500 worth of work)  We will surely use this company in the future

It didn't go well. They were suppose to show up at 9 am. They didn't show up until 3 or 4 pm and didn't call. I wasn't pleased with the results. They had me pay additional for some work they did in the back.

It was a Big Deal purchase. It was a good experience. They did a good job. Their responsiveness was great.

That service turned out okay. They were fast and worked diligently. I did have to pay extra, since I asked them to do some extra work. They trimmed a couple of trees. They did several for us, it was a mixture and some were oak.