The crew arrived late which caused us to cancel plans, overcharged us while doing a minimal amount of trimming, despite the contract including trimming back from the street and sidewalk. They also had very poor delayed communication. I would never recommend them to anyone and will never hire them again. read more

I hired Gary to bid on a small project that involved trimming a medium-sized Live Oak and removing a large overgrown Pittosporum bush. He quoted me $2,100 for the job, which included trimming the oak, cutting down the bush, and hauling away the debris. I had received two other bids, and while Gary's wasn't the cheapest, I decided to go with him. (I also received a 4th $2,500 bid to completely remove the Live Oak.) I signed a contract that clearly stated the "TOTAL PRICE" was $2,100. On the day of the job, Gary arrived at 2 PM with one other worker. The second worker climbed into the oak and trimmed it by hand, except for one 4-inch branch he cut with a chainsaw. They completed the work in under three hours, including loading all the debris into their truck. There was no chipping or trunk bucking since there were no large branches. The Pittosporum stump was 10" in diameter and had split into multiple smaller trunks, each 3-4" thick. This was clearly not a big job. A couple of days later, when reviewing my credit card statement, I noticed the "10% deposit" charge and the remaining balance, totaling $2,100. But there was also a third charge for an additional $800! When I texted Gary, thinking it was a mistake, he claimed that the tree removal and pruning work resulted in "two truckloads" of debris, hence the extra $800. He insisted it wasn't an overcharge, just the actual cost, and that they always aim to get as close as possible with estimates. He also claimed that the truck they loaded could hold "multiple truckloads." This explanation made no sense, especially since the contract NEVER indicated that the "TOTAL PRICE" was just an "estimate." The entire job took two workers less than three hours, with all the debris fitting into one truck without any chipping or bucking. Despite this, Gary billed me almost 40% more than the contracted amount, claiming this was "as close as possible" to his now questionable "estimate." I had to dispute the $800 charge with my credit card company. There's no way I would have signed a contract with an estimated cost based on some vague "truckload" criteria that was never mentioned, must less quantified. Save yourself the trouble and look elsewhere for your tree removal and trimming needs. read more

Arborist Appt - Today 04.08.22 btwn 1-3pm. Requested it on 03.17. 22, providing photos, contact info and property location. Request was confirmed on 03.22.22 for site visit today (3wk wait). No proactive outreach from them since then. I phoned this morning and I also emailed them at 2:25 pm (per their voicemail outgoing message)... He (Gary D. Kearcher, Jr.) called back at 2:35 pm. He asked me to pay $175 for a diagnostic Appt. (not disclosed previously website says free). He said the tree looks to be in poor health because of my great photos that I had sent. The appoint fee would be for a diagnostic to take samples etc. He said that he had emergency tree removal work that distracted him, from being in touch sooner. He said we didn't have your address (bold lie, and made it seem like it was somehow my fault). He said he's not sure why the confusion and that he could tell that I was frustrated, and although it's also not been their practice to take on new clients during the pandemic, he proposed that he could reschedule "for perhaps sometime next week" and I just hung up on him. Unprofessional, Unreliable, Unapologetic, Arrogant (assumed that I was unfamiliar with tree care - wrong), and an Aggressor vs Customer Service focused. read more

Unfortunately, my experience with Gary and Sequoua Tree Service LLC. was awful! Gary and I agreed on contract that he would cut down a tree to 50% which would have been half way the heights. In stead Gary and his helpers cut the tree to 20% even after we discussed the heights of the tree. I left the premises and returned 2 hours later only to discover that the tree was still standing at the original heights and only the branches had been removed while the tree stood over 75 feet in the air. I ask Gary a second time to remove more of the agreed length of the tree and he did agree, to no avail. I did not return to the property a third time that day , because I was waiting for Gary to text me that he and his crew had completed the tree service and my retun visit would be to approve his work and then the balance would be paid. Instead a couple hours later on the same day , Gary notified me by email that he completed the job, left the premises and charged the balance to my credit card on file never waiting for my approval and or satsification of a completed job. He thanked me for the opportunity to gain my business. I hired Gary and Sequoia Tree Service LLC. in good faith . He breached the contract and did not complete the job as agreed costing my thousands of dollars. I have filed a small claims court on this business against Gary D. Kaercher Jr. and Sequoia Tree Service LLC. My review is one star with no trust ever in this Tree service company again. I will not recommend this company to anyone ever. This incident took place and happened on February 27, 2021 read more

Considered taking this business to small claims court. Gary of Sequoia Tree Service charged me the full amount of his ~$5K estimate but NEVER COMPLETED THE WORK. He repeatedly said he would return and complete the work but never did. This was in July of 2019. Please do not trust this business. read more

Sequoia Tree Service - Gary repeatedly made excuses for not completing work, but charged me the FULL AMOUNT of his estimate. Still not complete. - Tree Services Near Me - Oakland, California

I had Gary and his team heavily trim four redwoods at my home. He was by far the most thorough during the estimate (I even learned more about trees), sent a quote within a few days and happily scheduled the job within a month of signing. He was always kind and appreciative of the business. Tree work is one of the most dangerous jobs and these guys do it with courage and a smile on their face. If you want quality tree work done, you have found the company to do it. read more

Gary was professional, prompt, organized, and had a fantastic crew who got the work done in record time. Thank you so much for helping us through the permitting process, for helping rid us of this very dead tree (and my fears that it would fall and squish me in my bed while I was sleeping), and for leaving the stump at just the height we wanted it so we can turn it into a neat table! read more

Sequoia Tree Service - Post-cutting down tree stump--the perfect height for turning into a BBQ prep table...! - Tree Services Near Me - Oakland, California

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Gary provided tree trimming services at my rental home. He trimmed the sidewalk trees that required a City of Oakland permit (which he took care of) and a bunch of trees in my backyard including a Japanese maple and bamboo that had gotten out of control. Gary trimmed back as much as was feasibly possible and to the extent that didn't damage the trees, which I appreciated so I wouldn't have to call him to come out again in a few months. I would recommend using Gary and plan to use him again when needed. He was very easy to communicate even though I was not in the area to meet with him. read more

Initially everything went well, the quote process, the felling of two trees and they cleaned up really well, however they accepted cash from my neighbour to take off limbs from a tree in my yard that was not apart of the project and without consulting me. I can't tell you how upset I was and they offered no apology when I called them after viewing the exchange on my security cameras. Because they took the extra time to accommodate the shady cash exchange from neighbour they did not have enough time to finishing pruning the tree that I had actually hired them to cut. read more

Gary was prompt and professional throughout the whole experience of working with him and his company. They did a great job trimming several medium size trees that hadn't been trimmed in years. I had gone back and forth with another tree trimming company which was less than responsive but Gary was on top of things and didn't waste any time getting ne a proposal and finishing the job. I would definitely use Sequoia Tree Service again. read more

I always have a parking space in front of my house. I can thank my giant black acacia for that. When it isn't dropping leaves, it is dropping seeds, or blowing pollen on everyone's windshields. The best parkingspotguaranteers are the pollen balls that drop like small sacks of yellow chalk then roll to their destination leaving trails of spores all over my neighborhood. "You want to keep it?" Says Gary, eyebrows raised. Yes, I like trees... And my parking spot... And free mulch all year 'round. Without further ado, he went to work, measuring and walking up my street to get a good look from all angles. He gave me his professional advice on how to reduce the crown and make my monster blob of a tree into an attractive street tree. Clearly, he is passionate about his job. ...Just ask him about "topping" the tree and you will get educated. (Psst, don't top your tree, ever.) I like passionate people, so I hired him. In two days my family marveled as our tree came back to life. The broken and dangerous branches were removed. The crown was lifted and reduced. Ah! A beauty from the beast. Thank you, Sequoia Tree Service! She is so pretty! I am sure Gary does a fine job taking down a tree, but he did a fabulous job lifting my tree up. The consultation is free; see if Gary can make your messy monster beautiful, too! read more

These guys did a great job, I have really big live Oaks and they knock it out. On time, cleaned up great, trees look beautiful. Most important they are affordable. I will definitely have them back in the Summer to do some more. read more

Gary and his team a really stand up job with my huge, 40 foot tree. The tree was in a state of either being trimmed or taken down and with future plans in the works for my backyard, I chose to take the big guy down. Gary was prompt, timely, and gave plenty of solutions of removal after the cut job was done. He was also very generous with information about tree types and best uses of what trees I decided to keep. Self trimming to keep things healthy. Lastly I have to say Gary was very understanding with financial choices in paying off the work. I felt he adapted well with what I could manage. read more

Gary of sequoia tree is one of the most professional people I've worked with in my time of being a home owner. He was very responsive to my inquiry, followed up, confirmed our appointment the day before and called on his way over. He explained what he recommended doing to our trees in a way that we could understand without being condescending. He followed up quickly with a quote which was incredibly reasonable and even offered up cost saving options. When he came to do the work, he was incredibly respectful of our space and our trees. He continued to explain what he was doing, ask us questions before making major decisions about what limbs to cut and clearly took his work very seriously. The guy he brought to haul the trimmings, Pedro, even helped us with some other work around our yard while they were there! You read this right--Gary is a kind, professional and respectful guy who does great work at a reasonable price. Couldn't be happier. read more

I have used several different tree services over the years and Sequoia is one of the best. They were knowledgeable and careful to protect the health of the trees and worked extremely hard to be sure the work they did met our needs. Whenever I look out at our view (which they restored by carefully reducing the crowns of my neighbors trees) I feel lucky to have found Sequoia. Thank you! Barbara Oakland read more

Gary completed my tree removal quickly, professionally and thoroughly. He also charged a fair price for his work. The tree was enormous. It reached the top of my 3 story building and was growing into a standpipe on another residents' building. I had it cut back before, but it was getting too dangerous and destructive and I wanted the light that it was taking. The project was difficult because the tree was situated between two other yards and it was growing into the other yards at points. Therefore, the arborist needed to be extremely good technically to take down the tree safely and dispose of it. Gary was fantastic. He got the job done in record time and nothing was destroyed in my back yard or other property's backyard. He did it quickly, didn't break anything and the team cleaned it up like it was never there in the first place. Great job and I'd use him again if I ever need tree work again. Extremely competitive rate as well. read more

We have two huge pine trees on our lot, and recently had a huge branch crack in half. It was dangerously close to falling down into the yard, or on the power line below, so we called Gary based on the Yelp reviews for his business. He was polite, responsive and courteous on the phone, and came when he said he would come. His price was reasonable, and he gave us the option of leaving the branches, in pieces, in our yard for us to put in the green bin in order to save the cost of having him haul it for us. He was aware that this was an unexpected expense. He removed the huge branch, being careful not to damage the nearby Japanese Maple. As a piece of the pine branch fell, it collided with our (old) plastic play structure on the ground, cracking one of the corners. He climbed down and came inside to tell us, very apologetically. He explained that he was being very cautious around the power line (!!) and this was a minor casualty. We weren't the least bit worried about it, but very much appreciated how apologetic and professional he was. Before he left, we spoke about a few other tree needs in the yard that we would contact him for in the future, including taking down a small pine that was being crowded out by other trees and not thriving. We noted how he showed concern for the trees themselves, as living organisms, not just yard decorations. We were very pleased, and hadn't thought twice about the play structure. Then, a few hours after he had left, he called to say that he wanted to come by and take down the small tree for free, because he felt bad about damaging the play structure. Unreal! It is so rare to encounter great customer service on this level, that I was compelled to write a review right away. Highly recommend. read more

Gary does a good job. I have a Japanese Tea Tree that split and he got out here quickly, with his people, and took care of the job. No nonsense. No bullshit. And at a fair price. The tree, right next to the rear of our house, split. About a quarter fell across our patio onto our jasmine hedge and the other quarter fell onto the roof. Gary and his guys were out here and cleaned up the situation with 24 hours. I like this guy because he gets the job done and he doesn't f**k around. read more

Gary did a great job felling a large tree in the small space of my back yard. His prices were the best in the area and he was done in a few hours. read more

Gary's crew did a great job trimming and cleaning up a large redwood tree in our backyard. They arrived when promised, were very efficient, and cleaned up when finished. Gary seems very knowledgeable and passionate about trees! The quote process went very smoothly and his price was competitive with the other bids I received. I only deducted one star because we played some phone tag trying to get the work scheduled. But, as I said, once we connected everything went very well! read more

I needed a tree removed and Gary was quick and efficient. I sent him a request on his website after finding him on yelp. And he was able to make an appointment the next day to come check out the tree and take measurements. With in the next week his crew came and got rid of the tree. Good services and a efficient crew. read more

We hired Sequoia to take out a tree that was growing between our house and a neighbor's house. It was a tricky job, with some definite safety/damage concerns. They did a great job of explaining the process, and performing the removal. The price was extremely reasonable and the work done was excellent. I would definitely recommend them. read more

I hired Gary to remove a leader tree in our backyard. He was awesome! He is extremely knowledgeable about, well, trees. He clearly isn't just a level-all-the-trees kind of guy. He explained how trees heal from cuttings, and how they continue to grow and thrive after part of it has been trimmed off. He definitely approaches tree cutting as cut only if you have to. I would recommend his company to anyone hands down! Call him! Use his services! read more

My husband and I had an estimate from Sequoia Tree Service four months ago and there was no follow up from Gary Kaercher. As a result, we followed up with him a few more times in the hopes of getting a response and moving forward with tree service but still no response...until yesterday, four months later. We received a generic "courtesy follow up" email from him offering a free estimate, which we already had done and he had no idea who we were, despite the fact that he had already paid us a visit and not to mention the multiple follow ups we made with him that went unanswered. Although it had taken four months to get a response, I was still hopeful that we could get someone out to take care of our trees. Hopeful until I read Gary's email below: "I appreciate your getting back with me. I climb and remove very large and dangerous trees for a living with chainsaws, as a professional arborist. We get inundated with emergency work sometimes, resulting in work related injuries, colds, and all sorts or related items while doing one of the most dangerous professions in America, according to the U.S.Dept.of labor statistics. I'm not sure if you work full time in an office or not for a living, but I can assure you the work we do is quite different. I would be most happy to set up a follow up meeting with you, if you have some time again in your calendar. My sincerest apologies for any inconvenience we may have caused you, while trying to provide you with a free estimate, while we were probably busy with life threatening emergency work. Please Advise & thank you!" If I wanted a million sorry excuses as to why something didn't get done, I would have asked my 9 year old son why he didn't write down his homework. Also, the last time I checked, customer service skills didn't include responding to feedback with nine lines of excuses and inferences that his line of work is more important than ours. Just apologize and be done with it! And to end his email with a BS "sincere" (insincere) apology that falls on deaf ears and another offer for an estimate, I'm thinking to myself "why would I want ANYTHING from this joker"?? Bad business, Gary. Time for some Carnegie Mellon courses in how to win friends and influence people. read more

My husband and I hired Gary to bring in more light to the gardens around our home in the Oakland hills. This involved trimming five large oak trees and removing half a dozen slender but very tall and bushy acacia trees. The acacias were actually growing in from our neighbors yard but the bulk of the trees were overhanging a fence into our yard. We are not well acquainted with our neighbor and Gary negotiated an agreement between us to get the work done. The icing on the cake was how we saved money on the clean-up and contributed to the Oakland Zoo at the same time. Gary has a contact at the zoo who came out and took the acacia trimmings to use as feed for the elephants. Brilliant! The elephants, my husband and I are all very impressed with the excellent, affordable and thorough way this complicated job was executed by Gary Kaercher of Sequoia Tree Service. read more

After repeated calls were unreturned by another Tree Service company whom we've used before, my wife and I called Gary to help us figure out what to do with our Loquat Tree in the back yard that has some overgrowth and some sporadic dead limbs throughout. He was very prompt in getting back to us and scheduling a consultation. He came out to our house - dressed in his company's notable Blaze Orange T-shirt. I was struck immediately at how much passion Gary has for his work. Compared to a previous experience with another company that was all about geting In-and-Out as quick as possible, giving our tree the equivalent of a Buzz Cut, Gary is quite the opposite experience. He's careful, meticulous with his notes - and talked about his creation of his own database of the trees he has worked on, that he even discusses his data collection with local arborists and scientists. He's obviously well-schooled in biology and other life sciences. He explained his philosophy about working with trees to help them thrive and prosper. I was quite impressed. Gary's bid was very reasonable - and the work was conducted incredibly carefully and in a quick time frame. He's even coming back out to our house afterwards to take a bark sample to help address a possible tree ailment. I am very pleased to have met Gary, and we will certainly be calling him again for our tree needs. read more

Contacted the company for a bid to trim 7 trees for me. The trees had not been pruned in 6 years. The bid was well developed and Gary worked on the details. An agreement was reached and Gary set up a schedule to complete the job. He was punctual and trimmed each tree to my specifications. All material was removed and my property left clean daily. I am 100% satisfied. Several neighbors hired Gary after seeing the work he completed. read more

We feel ripped off by Gary. After much difficulty about getting him to be there when the owner would be there, he came did some work for about an hour or two and then left without notifying the owner he was leaving. Because the work was minimal, the owner thought he was coming back. But he never did. He charged for a lot more than he did. Do not use Gary. read more

Gary gave us a very competitive bid on the removal of several large trees as well as pruning of several others. Gary and his crew got the work done over a couple of days as was very mindful of my schedule as well as limiting the disruption to my neighbors. The work was done very efficiently and did a great job of cleaning up afterwards. Would strongly recommend him to others. read more

Gary was very communicative and did a fabulous job getting us educated on what needed to happen with a large dead tree in our back yard. As soon as we had clearance from the city and the weather was decent Gary was out and got the tree down safely in a few hours. His clean up crew did a great job leaving our yard nicer than when they started. Very pleased with our choice. read more

Gary is a smart, introspective guy...part arborist, part philosopher. Not the usual kind of person you hire to do work at your house. He took a lot of care with the job and checked in regularly with me. Really, you just don't see people for hire that engaged and attentive very often, he was awesome. He seems to really love what he does, and takes it, and his customers, very seriously. And his pricing was very fair. I wouldn't hesitate to work with him again. read more

I liked working with Gary. My favorite moment was when I came outside to see how he was doing. I found him up in our citrus tree, calmly and carefully hand sawing branches with a small saw. He uses words like "ecology" and knows what it means. Another guy we had out to do our trees was about speed and his team hacked away without seeming to care much about the overall aesthetic. Gary's vibe was very different. Gary said the following a couple times to me "Trees in nature don't need pruning. Trees have survived fine forever without people pruning them" (to paraphrase). So, he's not all about hacking up the tree because he can and moving on. Also, his price was really good compared to some other tree services we checked out. And, the tree looked really good when he was done. read more

Called to arrange for an estimate. No response. Emailed to arrange for an estimate. No response. read more

Gary bid on a tree trimming job. We even gave him a photo with a mark of exactly how much we wanted trimmed. We paid 10% down, for a two-day job. Hard to get ahold of but he finally called back to schedule a date. After the first day, he thought he underbid the job and wanted more money. We reluctantly agreed to pay for 1 extra day the total amount he asked for. We paid by check each of the 3 days and the work was completed the third day. Then the next day a new charge came through on my credit card that I used for the down payment. I couldn't believe it. We called him and he wanted more money. I put a stop payment on the credit card transaction. Don't trust this guy. read more

Gary and the Sequoia Tree Service team did a great job! They were professional, courteous, and prompt. We had a 30ft Eucalyptus tree (widow maker) that was making a huge mess in our yard. He came back with a competitive quote, included a copy of his insurance liability information and made himself available for quick scheduling. The tree was growing in a very difficult spot in the yard - mainly due to several TV, cable AND power lines on both sides of the tree. They did an excellent job removing it, paying particular care to the surrounding plants. They also did an excellent job of cleaning up. We would recommend them to any of our friends who need tree trimming or removal. read more

I contacted Sequoia Tree Service on October 11 to inquire about having a large dangling branch removed from a Monterey Pine in my backyard. Since the limb was 60 feet above the spot where my dogs poop, Gary rearranged his schedule to come out the next day and have it removed. He was prompt, polite, knowledgeable and tidy. He even removed an unsightly broken off stub below the damaged branch. After he left, one of my dogs went directly to the tree and pooped wear the branch used to hang, lol. We can highly recommend his service and would not hesitate to call him again. read more

Gary has been wonderful to work with as we removed five trees from our property. He was prompt returning my initial call where other services either did not call back or did not return our call for four to five days. Gary costs were very affordable. He followed up with us throughout the permit process and also provided us with all of the needed information. Gary has first class customer service, and after working with him through this process we have asked him to provide us quotes for additional projects. We would highly recommend Sequoia Tree Service! read more

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Great service. That's how this business operates. I needed help quickly and it had to be perfect. (A tree fell in my yard and was hanging over the house...on a Sunday morning.) Gary showed up; gave a fair quote and got right to work with his team of workers. The work was done, house unscathed and all the debris cleaned up in short order. If you need a dependable tree company, this is the one to call . read more

I gave Gary five stars. He earned every one of them. I asked for his help cutting back a tree that had overgrown my property line and was impinging my neighbor's roof. He did an initial evaluation and came by to complete the job within days. He was prompt and thorough and went above and beyond what I had asked, giving the tree a complete assessment and addressing other issues that I had not noticed. He asked for a fair and competitive price. His integrity and conscientiousness stand out and I would hire him again if I need help. Also, he has a real passion for trees. Annie Dillard once said, if you want to be a painter, you gotta love paint. Gary is an arborist who loves trees. It shows. read more

Waited without pushing while the city processed the paperwork. Quoted a fair price, did the work promised, and cleaned up after themselves.