SIMPSON'S TREE SERVICE

Removed trees OK, but didn't grind stump out appropriately; called back several times; never finished job because there were rocks near/under roots and they wouldn't remove even though stump grinding/removal was included in the price.  Finally gave up.

One sunny March morning, a Simpson's Tree Service employee, Mike Stokely, came to our door. He had arrived in a Simpson's Tree Service truck. He stated he had been there the previous year (truth) to take down a large oak in our backyard. He asked if we had any work that needed to be done.  Since we had previously used Simpson's Tree Service and had a satisfactory experience, we made the assumption that Mr. Stokely was here on behalf of Simpson's Tree Service (STS).  He stated the rest of the staff had taken the day off to go fishing (lie), and he was doing extra work.
At first, I gave him permission to take down one tree. $100 cut and hauled away. Verbal only. (My bad.)
My mother, who owns the property, then got involved and agreed to have 4 more pines taken down for a total of $1,100. They verbally agreed that this would include hauling away the trees.  Let's keep in mind that my mother is almost 80 years old and very trusting.
Mr. Stokely quickly took down the 5 trees. Working alone, there was no cushion to the impact of the very tall trees falling to the ground. When he was done, there was a huge mountain of 10-foot sections of pine tree and brush left.  He promised to return the next day to have the logs and brush taken away. My mother, trusting as she was, gave him payment in full. He also asked her to make the check payable to him.  Uh oh.
Two weeks and many voicemails later, we still had not heard anything. We finally decided to call Mr. Simpson directly. After all, Mr. Stokely was a representative of his company having arrived in a company truck AND performing work in the company's name. Mr. Simpson was surprised to hear that Mr. Stokely had done this and promised he would come look at the mess.
Mr. Simpson came soon enough and saw the mess and promised he would get things taken care of. True to his word, it wasn't long before Mr. Stokely showed up with a Bobcat to haul the logs into the front of the house to be picked up. However, by the time he finished, it was dark outside.  He approached my mother and told he needed $500 more to pay for the Bobcat. My mother with her trusting soul, gave him a check. Needless to say, in morning light, we could see the job wasn't done, and our yard was still littered with many logs and brush. We put a stop payment on the check.
Again, I called Mr. Simpson and explained the situation. He promised to follow through and make sure that things were taken care of. I left many messages for Mr. Simpson and Mr. Stokely with no response. I finally had to stop for my own sanity.  It is now October, and we have had to pay another company to clean up the logs and debris.
Beyond the unresponsiveness and flat out lies, our yard was completely destroyed. Also, a sewage line was broken with a fallen tree, and an additional $1200 was paid to have that fixed. Our yard has to be graded and repaired (deep holes and mounds of dirt and debris still abound).  The mess attracted termites and wood beetles.
So... to break it down...
$1,100 cut trees
$1,200 sewage line repair
$1,200 to remove remaining debris and logs
$800 for grading and seeding
$4,300 for 5 pines. Yep. I think we were ripped off.

Everything went well.  Simpson is a man of his word and completed the job quickly and to my satisfaction.