I've worked with Arturo for 3 seasons. The first two times, I was impressed with him and his crew. Quotes and jobs were easy to schedule, they did a great job on the tree trimmings. I've seen companies clean up palm trees, just letting the fonds fall on the ground. His team rappelled the fronds securely to the ground. They cleaned the place nicely upon leaving, were nice. Arturo showed up both times, I think, before leaving. Arturo is very nice and seems knowledgeable.
This time was very different. I've put some thought into posting this review because it may have been an unfortunate occurence or we got the B team but I was encouraged to do so by friends as people should be aware of pros and cons before making the call.
First of all, the process of getting Arturo to visit for a quote was long and frustrating. My husband and I both work and can't take time off at the last minute. We finally scheduled a visit and he didn't show up - glad I didn't take on my vacation time for that. When I contacted him the next day, he had lost my text and info. I tried to plan ahead, even asking to schedule something 2 weeks ahead of time if that could help everyone but he said to schedule that after the Thanksgiving week. Then he would call me, some day, asking if I was home so they could come. No, I was working.
When we met, we talked about removing a palm tree. I asked if there would be damages to the wall of the house which is close, we had just finished repainting the house (it should have been done the other way around but again, it took a long time to schedule this work and we couldn't postpone the paint job). His answer was no, no damage. In the meantime, we decide to remove an old stump in the front yard as well, also close to the house.
Several weeks later, we finally scheduled the work. It was trash day. The team arrived and put the bins in the parkway crushing small plants so they could park. I was not happy but didn't say a word. They looked at me dragging the bins out of the parkway, up to the driveway. We've had several workers at the house, painters and landscapers, the guys would drive the bins up the driveway without my asking, even when they didn't need the room to park. If you're not going to be that courteous, at least, ask the client to take care of the bins.
Then one of the crew members started refilling the gasoline into the stump grinder tank, spilling all over the wall and driveway. Thankfully, the brick chimney took most of it. No wiping down, no cleaning, no sorry; I was right by him.
Three hours later, they were done. The crew member who was giving directions to the team, and spoke the most English (although I try to speak Spanish too), asked me to quickly check the places where the palm tree was and then the stump in the front, adding to not worry, that they would blow the front porch since it was quite dusty. Plants were damaged, mind you, not where the guy told me it would happen, by the palm tree, they either lost limbs or were covered in new mulch. Sprinkler heads were buried under mulch too. I didn't say a thing, they had to maneuver their big machine in a tight area, with several plants (not your usual lawn), it was to be expected. Nevertheless, they could have said that they were sorry but there was no other way. They just couldn't care less.
Then, part of the crew left with the small pick up truck, two guys waited here for about 30 minutes. They sat looking at their phones. I get it, it's a very tough job, rest is good, as long as there's nothing else to do while you're on the job.
When all of them left, I got the electric leaf blower, a brush and dusted the walls and windows by the stump, as well as the porch which were covered in a thick layer of fine dust. Every single nook and cranny was. Now, call me picky, but the two guys on their phones could have reached out and offer to clean a bit better while they were waiting. Also, I picked up stuff left on the patio from their lunch. Painters, tile installer, hardwood floor people, plumber, and landscapers never left the job without a somewhat good cleaning, even if they were here for weeks.
A few days later, we realized we weren't done. Part of the wall by the palm tree and the driveway were covered in oily spots. I sent pictures to Arturo and told him about a few other things mentioned above. To his defense, he offered right away to clean up and was very apologetic, but we couldn't wait longer to clean the wall (we still have visible oily spots) so I declined his offer. And finally, we realized the crew had damaged a beam of the carport.
Okay, so it's one time out of three. I don't know if it's an unfortunate event (or rather, series of small events) because the boss wasn't on site or if the company is going downhill. In any case, it was painful enough to make us reconsider hiring them next time we need a tree service company. That's sad. read more