Key Points: * Poor communication and lack of transparency * Work performed without notifying the homeowner * Failure to follow agreed-upon instructions * Left property damaged and cluttered * Unclear and inconsistent payment practices Need to be micromanaged Review: I had a very disappointing experience with Appalachian Tree Co. that I feel others should be aware of before hiring them. I had a large tree on my property and that leaned over into my neighbors yard. My neighbor asked me if I would mind removing it and we agreed to split the cost of removal. We both gathered quotes from multiple companies, and all prices were comparable. Since my neighbor was paying half, I agreed to go with the company he suggested--Appalachian Tree Co. I contacted Jessie, the owners son, to get a quote on a second tree entirely on my property. I signed documents for both trees, and Jessie said he would schedule the work and get back to me with a date. A week and a half passed with no update. When I mentioned this to my neighbor, he told me Jessie had already called him and scheduled the work for December 16th. That was a red flag, but I initially assumed it was just an oversight. The morning of the job, the crew arrived early. I was never notified they had arrived even though the trees were in my yard. Instead, they contacted my neighbor by knocking on his door. My neighbor began texting me, suggesting I come outside to watch them to make sure they were doing what I wanted. I was working from home and in meetings, which made that difficult. He stood out back while they worked. Part of our agreement was that I wanted smaller wood left for firewood and the wood chips spread neatly in a flower bed, with the yard cleaned up of wood chips and saw dust. During a short break, I spoke with Jessie, who showed me a small pile of wood set aside. I asked for more and agreed to pay him extra cash on the side to cut some of the larger pieces down to usable sizes. We agreed on an amount and I gave clear instructions on where to place the wood. About 40 minutes later, Jessie called and asked me to come outside. I stepped out of my meeting just as the last truck was pulling away. My yard was a mess, divots in the lawn, debris everywhere and my driveway was blocked by massive, uncut tree trunks. This was not what we agreed to. When I pointed this out, Jessie said his crew had already left and there was nothing he could do. I asked him to take the wood with him since it was blocking my driveway and I had no way to move or use it. He refused, again saying his crew had left. I even asked how much it would cost to remove it, and suddenly they could be removed for $200 extra. I asked if he expected that price plus the cost to cut the trees into usable pieces as we agreed and he said yes. My wife and I agreed we weren't going to pay extra just to fix a problem they created. I attempted to pay for the agreed-upon tree removal and would give him $150 to take the big tree stumps but Jessie told me to call the office for payment and also they wouldn't take the tree stumps or help me move them out of my driveway. He became visibly upset, got in his car, and left. I was left apologizing to my neighbors for the damage and mess in my yard, something no homeowner should have to deal with after paying for a professional service. To make matters worse, when I called to pay, I was told there would be a 3% fee for paying by credit card, something that was never disclosed in writing. That fee would have been nearly $100. I asked about Zelle and debit card payments; same 3% fee. I then offered to pay by check and was told I'd need to personally meet the owner to hand it to him. After pushing back, they finally agreed to waive the 3% fee for a debit card. Even then, my bank called me because Appalachian Tree Co. attempted to charge my card multiple times, triggering fraud alerts. I had to confirm one charge was legitimate and block the others. Overall, this experience showed a serious lack of communication, professionalism, and accountability. I cannot recommend Appalachian Tree Co. based on how this job was handled from start to finish. Attached are pictures of my back yard after the tree was cut down. My neighbor stood guard and made sure they did that job correctly vs my front yard. Update. After this review Jessie texted me December 18th and agreed to come make things right by fixing the divots in my yard and removing the mounds of sawdust. Unfortunately as of today he never followed through and I ended up fixing my yard myself read more

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Excellent communication. Jesse is polite, pleasant, knowledgeable, and professional. The team arrived in the designated time window, parking the trucks and equipment on the side of the road to protect our septic field and equipment from any damage. The team worked well together to remove limbs from five trees that were hanging over our property, along with performing some much-needed thinning of these trees. The brush was thoroughly raked and placed in the shredder for hauling. We look forward to doing business with them again and are happy to recommend them to anyone needing tree services. read more

Amazing amazing service ! we had a four in one river birch tree that's a dirty tree dropping stuff all year I feel like. Hey were fast and cleaned up wonderfully. Fast forward six years, we have more tree to remove! We hired them again for four more trees. Got the best price and the crew was friendly , José and Jim , were good at explaining and communicating. The kids were entertained watching as they climbed trees and cut perfectly Every time to have fall where they desired! read more

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Only good things to say about Appalachian Tree Service. Jesse is very nice and knowledgeable. The crew finished the job as scheduled, cleaned up the brush and sticks. read more

We could not be happier with our experience with Appalachian Tree Co. We suffered damages from a storm on the 7th of August 2023. Jack gave us a fair and reasonable price with a discount. He gave us all necessary paperwork and we understood the scope of the job. They showed up the next morning, early. His team was hard working, knowledgeable and courteous. We would recommend this company. Thank you Jack and crew. read more

These guys are amazing! I got a very detailed written estimate from Ernesto on my rather complicated tree/yard work that needed to be done and then got some other estimates - Appalachian Tree Co gave me the best deal by far. I have used other tree companies in the past, and I must say that these guys did the BEST job at the lowest price! The company is very good with emailing and staying in touch prior to the work being done. The office is great about returning phone calls in a timely and friendly manner. The crew came out exactly as scheduled and they were courteous, professional, and did a GREAT job for me! This is a family-owned business and they really take pride in providing great customer service. I'm not understanding the bad reviews, but my particular experience - from estimate to job completion - was absolutely wonderful! I will definitely use them again. read more

RUN...don't walk, from this company! I got a flyer in the mail from this company, offering a "25% discount" for tree services. An estimator came out, walked the property and immediately gave me an estimate - without taking time to write anything down or do any computations! I knew then this was shady. The estimate was for $5200 but with a 25% discount ONLY $4000!!! That estimate was over double the lowest of 3 estimates we received. This is a scam company. read more

Scammers. They will lead you to believe they are the longstanding Frederick family owned business "Appalachian Tree Service", even going so far as to make excuses for why Alan (the owner of Appalachian Tree Service" is not present when an estimate is requested, or why Alan's son isn't part of the crew that shows up. Except the reason neither is present is because THEY ARENT THE SAME COMPANY! WHO DOES THAT? Dishonest, deceitful company. They are NOT Appalachian tree SERVICE, simply a shady impostor trying to get by on another's good name and reputation. BEWARE! read more

Do Not!!!!!!! order firewood from these scammers. I odered two chords of premium oak, i recieved one chord of muddy mixed wood, and one chord of mud, wood chips and lousy chunks that might qualify as wood and some rocks. I guess they think its ok to use a loader bucket to clean up and dump their crap on me. Very dissapointed. read more

Delivered a cord of wood that was no where near dry. Smoked up my house. Also charged a $25.00 delivery fee not mentioned until they dumped the wood. Next time another company. read more

Their internal communication is non-existent. Do not expect the work requested to appear in the quote as described. Instead, expect some fragment of a phrase in the quote that could describe what you requested but is so broad that the crew who arrives on site has great liberty to interpret to their liking. Even if you provide emails ahead of time with annotated photos that leave no room for interpretation, that's not what you're going to get. If you complain to the crew, they will tell you that they have to get permission and come back another day if the boss agrees. But instead, expect an email with a relayed message from the boss (with whom you have never been able to speak) informing that to do what you requested in the first place will cost extra. read more

This is DEFINITELY the company to call for tree thinning, removal, etc. I was in and out of town, Jim accommodated everything I asked for! His team was in and out in record time with no "footprint" that they were even present. We had a tree removed, from the front yard, and several trees thinned in both the front and the back yard. There was literally no evidence they were here. Jim made this seamless! Wouldn't hesitate to call on them again! I researched and called several companies, convinced I was getting what I wanted but was even more impressed after the work! Jim is quick, trust worthy, keeps in touch - no waiting for callbacks! His work ethic is superior! Definitely reliable! Thanks Appalachian Tree company!! read more

I needed a big oak thinned and a big stump ground. I submitted a request over the online function and got a call w/n a day or two. Jim came out and did an estimate which was very reasonable, and he scheduled the work for two weeks later. Work was done today and the big oak looks GREAT! Thinned out so artfully that you can't even tell it was trimmed! Really sets the tree up for years of more productive growth. Stump was ground to a pile of chips; looks great. Overall, I give them an 11 out of 10! read more

Originally I would have left a good review from the original service I received but not great because getting the local representative to schedule with me was difficult to say the least. However, I called them approximately a year after having my tree removed for a quote on removal of the stump. The woman who helps me on the phone was very nice however in order to get any work done I had to go through the local representative. I called and left a message for the representative on 2/15 once I signed the appraisal asking about scheduling the work, if the large roots would be included, and who had the responsibility of calling missutility. Understanding we had a recent storm, I waited a week before leaving a second message (after receiving no return call answering my questions). Left another message with same questions on 2/21. No return call. Left a third message on 2/23 with representative practically begging him to call me back with the answers. Cause if it was my responsibility to call missutility I wanted to complete the task before anyone dug because I knew I had utilities in the area of the tree. I called the main office and told her I wasn't getting any return calls. She said they usually call missutility but that she would leave him a message in the internal network. STILL no return calls to answer whether they could even do the roots. On 2/28 I see my lawn has been marked up by missutility, which means my messages were being received and no one had the decency to call back the customer with obvious outstanding questions. I left a curt and upset message with the representative and immediately called the office and left a message to get some answers. The Representative beeped in and proceeded to yell at me for "leaving an angry message on his phone when he was with his family" (it was 4:30pm) and that he "didn't need to return my calls to answer my questions", "that he told me about missutility a year ago and didn't have to repeat himself to me", and that he "didn't need my business". I told him to cancel the appraisal, his response was "good". I was so surprised I wrote down exactly what he said. I called the company and left a message that the appraisal was to be cancelled and that I would never do business with them again. read more

I've had this company out twice now and they are as good as it gets for quick, excellent service with reasonable prices. They always clean up after themselves and my trees look great. They accommodate minor additions to the contracted work without batting an eye lash. I recommend them to all our neighbors and friends and won't call anyone else for our tree work. read more