J&M Expert Tree Service

This review is for J&M Expert Tree Service, owner Joshua Woodward, Mineral VA. Do not use this business for tree work. The owner cheated me out of $400 by promising to perform work which he did not do and then lying about it. This is a long story, but I’ll try to be concise. I hired J&M to trim tree limbs that extended over my house. While doing that, Mr. Woodward offered to install cable or wire connecting several branches to prevent them from crashing onto the roof if one or more of them should break. He quoted $400 for this added service, to which I reluctantly agreed. I went back into my house and kept an eye on progress from inside, as tree work makes me nervous. When J&M deemed the work to be finished, Mr. Woodward came to me to collect a check. I said “You didn’t do the wires, did you (suspecting he had not had time)?” He replied, “Oh I already did that.” So I reluctantly paid him. There are no wires in that tree, never were. My fault for not verifying before paying him, but I had a time commitment and needed them to leave. In addition, he cut one of the limbs six or eight feet from the tree trunk, leaving the remaining part of the limb cracked and open to insect infestation and moisture. I have since learned that a limb should be cut only at its intersection with the tree trunk or with another branch. It should not be cut several feet from the Y-intersection, as it will never heal properly. I hired a trustworthy company to fix the problem. A couple of hard expensive lessons learned: 1) verify all work before payment even if it is inconvenient, 2) never hire anyone who knocks on your door and asks for work. Embarrassment at my own stupidity and culpability have caused me to wait months before reporting this, but I feel compelled to warn others.