Tree Harmony Arborists

George and crew came out and pruned our 2 cedars and 3 maples for shape and to get trees away from the house. The did a good job, continually cleaned up as they went and left the yard in great shape. Everyone was great to work with. Price was reasonable.

We highly recommend Scott Sinclair and Tree Harmony. We have a yard the homeowner had not been able to maintain for a long time. The homeowner is a friend and we are renting the home and want to take care of it. Scott and his crew from Timber Brothers Tree Care cleaned out the Kiwi vines from two Kiwi trees that years of unbridled growth had grown into and were overtaking and strangling the neighbors 40’ Douglas Fir tree. In addition, they cleaned out and trimmed and shaped the other trees and bushes in the yard also way overgrown. Great job. They knew what they were doing. Very professional. Responded to emails, phone calls, and text messages promptly. And, in general, just good people, wanting to do the job right. I can’t ask for anything more than that. We will continue to hire them for future work. Also… they brought us a huge pile of arborist tree chips mulch we will spread around the bushes, trees, and plants in the yard.

I have only great things to say about Tree Harmony. In June we hired Scott Sinclair and Tree Harmony to give us a consultation about some unhealthy looking trees in our yard. We ended up having them do so much more (prune bushes, trim tree branches, treat the unhealthy trees, even helped create a better environment for a young dogwood) and they did a fantastic job! Our yard was overgrown and very bushy. Scott’s team cleaned everything up and made it look pretty again. We found Scott to be extremely personable, responsive and knowledgeable about his field. He explained everything they were going to do and why. There were no surprises. Scott also fit us into the schedule rather quickly. We would definitely hire Tree Harmony again and are happy to have found them!

We had a tree leaning into the neighbors yard and another one that was rotting that need to be taken down.  The Tree Harmony crew showed up at 11 am and cut the 2 trees and the stump down.  They blow off the neighbors roof, gutter and yard of all debris.  They cut the logs into about 16 inch lengths and pit them where instructed.  Left wood chips where instructed.  And did complete cleanup by 3:30 pm.

They were efficient and job was done with two workman with the owner supervising the job.  The work was completed in half a day.

The team was extremely polite, professional and experienced.

There was a lot of heavy work involved, multiple hauling trips, etc.  The team worked extremely hard and completed the job within one day (as scheduled).

Scott Sinclair is very knowledgeable and provided us with a lot of information about the health of our trees in his assessment and project plan.

They were on time, finished up the job in one day, and did a magnificent job of cleaning up after themselves. Samuel did a great job of evaluating the current health of my trees, and also had noted that our neighbors had some branches they might want to look at.  The three-man team did a wonderful job, and I would be happy to recommend them at any time.

Tree Harmony Arborists did an excellent project for me recently, pruning several trees and shrubs.   Scott Sinclair responded promptly to my request for help and furnished me with very fair pricing.    The quality of work he and his staff provided was outstanding.   He also noticed a large hemlock in our common area which warranted immediate removal.  I heartily recommend Tree Harmony to my friends and neighbors in Mill Creek and Bothell.

We had a very tall fir which needed to be pruned and a couple of cedars which also needed to be cleaned up. Scott and crew also shaped and pruned our rhododendrons, Camilla, and Vine and Japanese Maples.  All looked beautiful after they were safely and properly pruned and the dead wood removed.

Scott responded promptly to our inquiry about tree removal services.  He got stuck in traffic and was late for our first appointment, but he called and let us know when to expect him.  During the walk-through, he answered our questions and provided an estimate before leaving.  He followed-up with an email proposal which allowed for an adjustment for the cost to dump the debris which would be based on actual costs incurred.  The final invoice was 10% above the estimate.  The start date was changed a couple of times -- actually moved up -- and some confusion around payment terms, but all matters were reasonably resolved.  The crew can on time, did exactly as asked, and cleaned up before leaving.  Well done.

Scott Sinclair and crew arrived when he said they would on April 3rd and completed this somewhat large (for a residence) job in a timely manner working four days spread out over six days.  Everything seemed to go smoothly with him coordinating his tree cutters, the branch haulers/cleaner-uppers and then the chippers.    
About 17 Leland Cypress trees were removed, a maple pruned, and some 75-120' tall trees trimmed of dead, crowded or hanging branches to make them safer in future storms.  They pruned the large maple that 'the other tree company' had recommended removing, but which four tree companies bidding the job after that did NOT recommend removing.  We were glad to have saved this particular large maple as it is a beautiful old tree and provides us a shady corner in the yard.  When they were finished, the yard was raked and clean, as well as the driveway.  
Scott Sinclair sat down with Husband to settle and the invoice totaled much more than we thought it would by about eight hundred fifty dollars.  In review of the original 'bid,' we then saw that he did not include in the diagram several trees.  Husband had not looked at the diagram closely to see that it did not include the Leland Cypress and one large cedar that was actually intertwined with one of the trees he DID include.  Why were they not included?  We don't know.  Removal of the Leland Cypress was the main reason for us collecting bids to begin with.  Then they don't appear on the original bid?  So anyway, Husband wrote the check. When I later reviewed the invoice more thoroughly, I felt this was not right.  The invoice/contract itself was not clear.  The price of clean-up was now increased from 4-7% on the bid to 8% on the invoice.  And we  were overcharged more than a hundred dollars on tax - he charged 12.4% instead of the 9.5% he is supposed to charge.  He also charged 40 dollars for the cable.  This had not been outlined in his bid that he would separate labor and materials and then charge us for the materials after the fact.  
 
This did not sit well with me.  We chose him because he seemed to know what he was doing, and his was one of the lower bids, and then we ended up paying more than the other bids.  

Under odd things happening and things that make you go 'hmmmmmm,' we list this:  A few days after the job was completed, I noticed that our climbing rope that had been draped across a dog house in our yard was not there.  I emailed him and let him know our rope was missing.  He said he packed it up and took it because he thought his workers left it behind.   We found this curious because that rope was there the first day he came to our yard to bid the job and it was rather prominently displayed on that red dog house right outside the house back door all the days Tree Harmony was in our yard and he would have walked by it numerous times.  After a few emails back and forth and phone messages, he called around 9 one night and said he was in the area just down the road and would drop it off, but that we did not need to go outside to meet him.  We left the outdoor flood lights on because we wanted to be aware of when he came.  We stayed up a bit later...until midnight or so, but did not hear anybody pull into our driveway before we turned in for the night.  The rope was in the back yard when we woke up in the morning.  We found it odd that we had not heard him or that he waited so late that we would have been sleeping to go into our fenced back yard.   

I emailed him with my thoughts and let him know his bidding process was a bit messy and unclear.  He told me he appreciated my informing him of a few things.  He has been in business how many years and bid how many jobs?  I had a difficult time believing this information was new to him.  

He did end up sending a check for the overcharging of the taxes.  At first I told him we felt we had been overcharged closer to a thousand dollars given his bid, and still do, but I offered a smaller number for him to refund because I get the sense he would not HAVE more to refund, and also just to be finished dealing with him.   

Too late, I checked with the state agencies.  I find Paul Scott Sinclair is indeed registered with the department of revenue, twice in fact.  He has a current license to do business in the State of Washington as a contractor.   I cannot confirm L&I coverage under either of the two UBIs I found under his name.    
I find no certification with ISA for him as an arborist, so his page on Angie's List is a bit misleading.  While he calls himself a professional arborist, he is not actually certified as an arborist, but he is a licensed contractor.  I always thought a person had to negotiate a certification process by an official authorizing agency in order to claim a title so clients know that person has been tested on mastery of the subject matter.  (He had told husband that he took classes, but never got certified as an arborist.)   I also did not find him on the Master Builders Association roster or the GreenBuilt roster as he has listed on his Angie's List page.
I thought about the fact that he wrote our bid on that small piece of paper while saying he did not have his formal contracts with him, then brought the contract (with the TBDs on it) on the first day of the job as Husband is rushing out the door with no time to examine closely.  I notice two other reviewers on here having some confusion between the bid and the contract amount.  I wondered if this was by design that he does not have his formal contracts with him the day of the bid.  I am curious if anybody else has had this experience.  (?) Can Angie's List contact other reviewers and check that out?  
In phone messages from him, several times he took pains to say that he values the relationship with us and wants to help keep our trees pruned in future.  Reading several articles since, it has been made plain to me that If one of his workers had fallen out of a tree and sustained severe injury or worse, Tree Harmony would have had no coverage to pay for it and it would have fallen to our homeowners insurance policy to cover it.  If the cost to treat the injury had exceeded our limits of liability, say the person needed lifelong nursing home care (perish the thought), our life savings and assets would have been on the line.   We could have lost everything we worked our whole lives for due to his refusal to carry proper insurance.  

In fact, I am coming back in to this site to update it again (5/14/2013) because nothing has been done to change his status on Angie's List, he is still not covered under the state's L&I and he still claims membership in organizations in which he has no membership.   I have also informed Angie's List about my dismay that nothing has changed on his page. 

Additionally, on Saturday, April 6th, one of his tree cutters did not show up that morning due to illness.  He did show up in the afternoon, however, and then worked later than the rest of them.  This meant he was up more than 80 feet in a tree all by himself with no ground support as everybody else had left the premises including Scott Sinclair.  If something had happened and he had fallen or a branch landed wrong or on the neighbor's house, there was nobody there to deal with it.  Is this industry standard to leave one of your tree cutters up in a tree with no support?  I don't see how it could be!  And tree cutters do sometimes fall out of trees.  

We are of the opinion that if you value a client relationship, as Mr. Sinclair repeatedly told us he did with us, you don't put their future finances at risk by not carrying L&I coverage. &n

Good. Very fast and efficient. Some things weren't communicated from the estimator to the work crew, but everything resolved on site quickly. Much better value compared to other estimates we received.

I called and Scott worked around my schedule to find a good time to assess my yard.  I needed to have several trees evaluated.  We set an appointment and he came out soon afterwards.  He was able to save the tree, and remove several others after a careful assessment and with my permission.   Scott is prompt and thorough.  Cleanup is excellent.   I have had him come back out several times to maintain several bushes and shrubs.  Excellent work! 

I initially contacted Scott to help us with some pruning on several of our Japanese maples ranging in height from 8 to 15 feet. When looking at the trees he explained how the inside areas of the trees needed to be opened up and this could be done easily. We further discussed that I like having the large trees in our yard, but would like a bit more light on the house.  Scott shared
some great ideas regarding pruning of large cedars, firs and maples.  We finalized the plan and he and his team came out over two days and completed the work. He and his team did a fabulous job.  There is definitely more light and the large trees look great.  The decorative pruning has made the maples more distinct.  Overall we are very pleased with the work.  The communication from start to finish was very thorough and Scott explained the reasoning behind his recommendations.  His work was competitively priced and his knowledge extensive.  I definitely recommend Scott and will be using him again in the future.

Work was performed on time and per my expectations. Clean-up was excellent. Crew was courteous.

They are fantastic. They came out and gave a competitive bid. They went above and beyond and even did additional work outside of the contract that we had. I highly recommend them.

We initially had a few problems connecting, but I am not sure whose end was at fault, so I have no complaints there. Once a date was set, Scott first sent a colleague to look at overall health of the trees. Scott then came for an hour-long consultation, looking at all trees in the yard. He identified additional trees that would benefit from pruning, but we chose to limit his work to the fruit trees and a few vine maples. We did not feel pressured to have him work on the additional trees at this time. Scott set a date for the work and showed up with a co-worker under training. I felt very comfortable with the attention Scott gave to the co-worker, ensuring a good job on our trees. Critical to me, he also explained to me what he was doing and provided guidance on my pruning project. Very professional, cleaned up the work area very neatly (hauled off all trimmings), and easy to talk with re questions on tree health and long-term maintenance. I will definitely call him in the future for other tree service.