I hired Kalamazoo Tree Service to trim a huge burr oak. The tree is likely older than Kalamazoo, and is probably the namesake of Burr Oak St, where it is located. I first spoke with the owner, James, last Summer. We talked about how special this particular tree was, and he seemed genuinely enthusiastic to do the work. He asked me to call him back during Winter so there would be less risk of disease. I called him in late February, and we met again to talk about the job.
The oak has seen better days. It has been hit by lightning, and damaged by storms. It has dangerous dead limbs, which he planned to remove. It had been dropping live limbs, in part due to the fact that pruning was badly needed. It crushed 2 cars, and was threatening power lines, a house, and a garage. I told him that I would be leaving the state mid-March, and would be gone for a month. He assured me that if the work had to be done while I was away, I could count on him to take good care of the oak.
He called me in early March and gave me a time the following week that he would arrive. I spent hours contacting the tenants and owners of the several properties surrounding the tree to inform them. I arranged alternate parking, and did all I could to make sure the site would be ready.
I was out of town on the day James arrived, and got a call from him that morning. He told me that there was still a van and rowboat under one side of the tree. I found out from the property owner that it was OK to cut the lock on the boat, and that the van owner would be back at 10:30am. James offered to wait until 10:30am, but at that point he would have to move on to another job. I checked in with him around 10:15am, and he said that he had already left, and would not return until Monday.
I asked why he hadn't waited until 10:30 as he had offered, and explained that it would be difficult for me to coordinate parking again on Monday.
He then launched in to a rant about how he doesn't wait for people - that he had other work to do, and could go up to practically any house and get another job. He didn't trust the word of the owner who told him that the vehicle would be moved shortly. He said that I was trying to "persuade" him to stay on the job (which of course I was) and that he did not appreciate it. He said that we had to "call it off".
Though disappointed, I understood that time is money, and told James that I would plan on Monday, as he had said. Then, he told me that when he said "call it off", he meant that he would not do the job at all. He went on to say that the tree was "telling him" not to do the job. He felt that I was mad at him, and that it made him "sad" and therefore he was leaving, and would not return.
I again explained how much effort I had put in to the project, and that if he refused to do the work we had shook hands and agreed on that I would not be able to get it done until next Winter. I don't want this amazing old tree to drop dead limbs on someone's car, power lines, house, or head. I don't want any more of it's few remaining live limbs to fall, either. I asked him to call me back when he was not busy, and to please reconsider doing the job on Monday for all of the above reasons. He told me that he would call - at least to recommend another tree service.
I have not heard from James since, which is too bad, because I liked the guy. He's an interesting and intelligent person - a renaissance man of sorts - and I was actually looking forward to being friends.
I am out of state now, and will have no opportunity to work on the oak until next Winter. I believe that James may have done good work, but he is unreliable due to his neurotic hang-ups. I also think that he is overly concerned with his time, and the time of his crew. His time is important, of course, but he was completely dismissive of the value of my time. His attitude was that he didn't have be flexible in any way that did not suit his ambitions because there is so much work for him that he didn't have to deal with customers like me who presented the slightest challenge. Perhaps he is right, and he can continue to selectively disregard customers. On the other hand, he may be wrong, and if he keeps burning bridges, it will catch up with him some day.
In a subsequent conversation with the neighbor who had the van and boat under the tree, I also learned that James had a fit that morning, and was so intense with the neighbor that he wondered at some point if James was going to harm him physically. I don't think James would harm anyone, but I do think that he is unstable and has a thing or two to learn about how to treat people. My time was wasted, and something or someone could be damaged or hurt unnecessarily.
Incidentally, the van owner returned at 10:30, The boat and van were moved by 10:45 just in case James changed his mind again and returned. It is unfortunate that he didn't have the patience. read more
