Yelp 100 Challenge 2016 - Review 16 of 100…read more..
After realizing that two very overgrown trees on my father's property were (potentially) causing damage to piping and cement in his complex AND were a nuisance to the neighbors, I searched Yelp for places to contact to gather three estimates...
* The first was with Bennett Landscaping around the corner: I was very unhappy with the entire process - I received returned correspondence much later than anticipated, the estimator showed up at 7am after being scheduled for an 8:30am appointment time despite saying I was available to meet earlier than that during the phone consultation, and it took two days to get an estimate emailed to me. Not cool!
* The second was with Finley's in Torrance (thanks, Joan S, for your thorough review!). The phone conversation, consultant who provided an estimate after a thorough investigation of the property, emailed estimate I received that night (that matched what the consultant quoted), and follow up estimate for prices to consider in the event that my dad wanted to utlilize them for upkeep were amazingly efficient. The only down side - they are popular and needed a three week lead time to set an appointment.
* International Tree Service was the only "mom and pop" / non-corporate estimate I sought. It has great reviews on Yelp and I wanted to get a variety of opinions before making my decision. I called the number on Yelp and received an answer that did not detail the name of the company. I introduced myself as a potential customer and asked if the number was for the business tied to it - Raul replied "yes" before telling me his name and asking how he could help me. We scheduled a consultation for two days later, and, by the time I saw Raul that Thursday, he was the breath of fresh air I needed after a long day of trying to work in between the consultations.
Raul is a handsome young man in his early 20s who came off a little more timid in comparison to the first two estimators, but he's just polite and a sweetie. Once he got outside, he told my father and I what types of trees were there, asked questions about how to get the debris from the back to the front (there is no gate door), told us about his insurance and licensing, quoted an estimate ($50 more than Finley's), and - here's the clincher - he noticed a hummingbird nest I never had and said he would protect it so the mother could return to her eggs. I don't like birds of any kind (they always attack me - no joke), but I was impressed by his respect for nature! He was ready to return the next day to complete the job, but we scheduled to have him come the following Tuesday.
The following Tuesday as I was waiting for Raul's scheduled 9am arrival, I realized it was trash day and the normally early trash and recycle trucks had not yet passed through. I called Raul to inform him and ask if he would be able to move his truck and equipment when the trash collectors arrived (I had no idea what type of truck and equipment he would be bringing and how much of the fire lane in the complex it would block). Not only did Raul and his business partner, Hugo, move out of the collectors' way, they moved my father's AND the neighbors bins for easier retrieval!
Raul and business partner Hugo are young Latin tenders who have been in business for themselves for five years after previously working for a mutual friend's landscaping business. They decided to go into business for themselves and have been pretty successful ever since. Raul said Yelp and word of mouth helps a lot, but they would like to earn more business and new customers. They seem to work very well together - Raul seems to be more of the "face" of the business and would gather the debris from across the top of the fence before neatly stacking it to be fed to the wood chipper (I'm not sure what exactly that is called). Hugo was up in the trees smoothly and quickly sawing off sections of branches before handing them over to Raul on the other side of the fence.
In my opinion, here are the only "help needed" areas for this partnership:
* I didn't like that I had to call for another reason the day of the appointment to find out that they would be late. It wasn't very late, but it would have been nice if they called to inform me instead of me finding out the way I did.
* This business currently accepts cash and checks - no credit cards.
Other than these two points, I would definitely recommend International Tree Service with Raul and Hugo - especially for those who like to support local smaller, independent businesses. They were the most responsive and most engaged, and they did a wonderful job of clearing up the back patio area!
