Here's the deal, I liked Tyler Burkett., he did do what was agreed to be done He seemed to really know his trees and knew what he was doing. His communication methods are less than I would expect for a business owner, which is ultimately why I rated this company the way I have.
My initial contact with Burkette was a little odd, but functional. I called and left a message, he texted me back the same day. Presumptuous, in my opinion, to assume a potential customer will be able to receive your text. We exchanged texts about an initial meeting to survey the work I needed and met within 24 hours. He was very professional and polite in person. He provided an estimate via E-mail on 10/24/2012, which was fine, that's what I said was best. I tried calling Burkett Tree and Turf via phone several times after that, left messages, but never got a return call. On 11/2/2012 I responded via E-mail saying I would like them to do the work, I assumed maybe he was out of town on vacation, who knows. Several days went by without a response from Burkette, so I started texting asking what was going on. Now I was worried I agreed to this bid and it would never get done. It did take a few more texts back and forth to get a date for them to come out and do the work.
They did the trimming and tree house removal in November, but somebody either forgot or didn't communicate about the brush haul removal from the side of the house which was in our contract. When the treehouse was removed, Tyler took a photo of the unexpected damage done to the tree by the treehouse and texted me a message with the photo to document the issue and why the estimate would be a little higher (~$50). When I got home from work, I examined the trees and I contacted Tyler via text letting him know the trees looked great, but also asked about the remaining brush. He texted back saying his guys just forgot and he would have someone pick it up that week. A few more texts were exchanged trying to remind Tyler. The brush sat there until after Christmas, just before the New Year, before someone did come haul it off. Tyler did not ask for the full payment until all the work on the contract was completed, so I do think Tyler is a good guy overall. He just obviously prefers texting as his primary method of communication when he does communicate.
In the end, they did do quality work, however, I would get fired if I communicated this poorly with my customers, which is why I rated the professionalism low nor would I call them again. There are a lot of tree service providers in San Antonio.