I've had this company to trim our trees and larger plants back two times, once a year since we have lived in our current house. Mostly a positive experience but let me list both positives and negatives. This is also considering that I have not had anyone else trim our trees yet. Pros: The owner is friendly and pleasant when coming to do the quote. Seems very knowledgable. Trimmed the trees to a point where they still look nice but reduced the size to where we needed. Time spent working vs cost seemed fair and quality of work in most areas was good. Cons: While removing the plant waste, they were bumping and rubbing the doorway. So it's smeared with the liquid from the cut plants. Some of the paint looks to be rubbed off as well. They didn't trim back an area very thoroughly where there are some succulent plants. It's possible they may need to be removed though instead of trimmed. Long process from quote to actually having the work done. Would have liked more of an update from the office. I would consider using them again but I would address some of these issues during the next quote appointment. read more

I am so impressed with the outstanding job Travers Tree Service provided. My very old and very dry California Pepper trees were in awful shape. I have been avoiding having them trimmed because I feared they would look worse, but yesterday Travers worked magic on 9 trees. They look so much better! They are not "scalped" as I feared, they look like works of art. My entire yard looks amazing and every last branch was raked and the driveway cleared when they finished. None of the ground plantings were harmed and the cuttings were all chipped for mulch. I highly recommend them and will use them again as needed! read more

This is the fourth time we have used Travers over the past 20 years. They are absolutely the best- always efficient, clean and professional. They just finished removing some old overgrown trees and trimmed and reshaped multiple trees in our backyard. I'm sure our neighbors will appreciate it! read more

I wish I had read the reviews prior to investing time with Travers to obtain an estimate and schedule work. The experience started off well. The meeting for the estimate was timely and professional. I had to follow up to get the estimate, but it arrived after one call. I had planned to turn around the requested documents immediately and schedule work. However, I could not get a date from Travers and was treated incredibly rudely when I tried to understand how their process worked to allow coordination with painters that would follow the tree service. I was told that returning my signed paperwork would initiate 3 weeks out, but that they could not schedule 3 weeks out to provide a date. They do not provide the service date until a week ahead of the work. I explained that I had to schedule the painter's team and could not do that without at least a "no later than" date. This did not seem like an outlandish request. Poor business model and very unprofessional. read more

Travers tree service is a zero in my experience. Called them 2/5/19 woman on the phone was a bit off.........told me they don't service my area.......then they were very busy and would get to me in 2 months. Waited..........on March 26 I called again, she had no memory of prior call, ok not expecting much. Told me she would call me the next day, did not want to drive off business? Had to talk to owner to see when they could get to me for an estimate. No call back......about what i suspected would happen. Sent an e-mail to them, response next day asking for address and phone number. I replied with both, they replied they could probably come by in next couple of weeks, asked me to draw where the trees are on the lot? I thought maybe meet and I could show them? They are an interesting group and I wish all Luck to anyone that engages with them. For me I am moving on to a more mainstream tree service. read more

Hey Richard, I said Rick came out for an estimate, not that you did any real work for me. If you would have read the ENTIRE post you would have seen that. Just the fact that Rick was rude to me & sent a nasty letter is the whole reason I didn't use you guys. It isn't fraudulently posted & Finley's is anything but desperate. If you would heed their politeness & hard work, maybe you would be a real competitor rather than just another name in the business. read more

I'm not sure how places like this stay in business. This place is completely incompetent: STAY AWAY. Their tree trimmers came to our house this morning. What they left was a path of destruction in their wake. They trampled our roses, knocked over and stomped on our plants (yes, seriously), and were completely rude and disrespectful on top of that. Now, not only do our trees look horrific (it looks as if they just chopped everything off randomly -- this was not even close to "trimming"), but we need to hire a crew to clean up the destruction they caused. If you need more details, contact me... I will send you detailed before and after photos of their truly disgraceful job. read more

I'm glad I did not use this company, they did not make any return phone calls, poor customer service, everything they wanted to do contact wise is in the mail. Message to Brad the Arborist, CALL BACK is important. read more

I have used most tree services in the South Bay since I have many trees in my yard including the guys that leave their cards on my door. I heard a lot of good things from them but have not done business with them so I gave them a call for an estimate and talk to a lady on the phone and I was told that they will return my call for the date of the appointment and estimates are only done between 11 and 2 or something. Anyways I never got a call back. I guess this falls under customer service? read more

Deserves ZERO stars..This is a terrible, careless company that will send unskilled laborers to HACK and CHOP your $$$$ landscaping, trees, and shrubs, basically any which way they feel like. The arborist they send first time round is a front, who comes to write up your estimate only. Bye bye, you won't see him the day the work is done. The actual work is performed by unskilled day laborers who can't understand and don't care about what you expect or want. They will not say when they are going to be there. You cannot reach or speak to the owner by phone. A total waste of time and money at best -- but for us, very upsetting and aggravating company to deal with. Do not use them. read more

Pretty sad when after 10+ years of personal and business contracts with this company means nothing especially after years of giving positive reviews and several dozen references. I received a quote for 100% more for a lesser job from the last trim- same exact tree- easier job- 100% price increase. On the 2nd quote, it was 33% higher than any other company's quote for the same job. Oh well...time to find a new company. Too bad, this was a great family owned business. read more

This business is impossible to deal with. I have a tree that needs immediate treatment. I called them to set up an appointment and they would not give me one until I mailed them a check for $75.00 and they received it. They would not take a credit card over the phone or let me pay cash when the tree person arrived at my house. I mailed them a check immediately. It is now three days later and they still have not called me to make an appointment. They should have received the check because their office is within 10 miles of my house. When I called them, they said that they did not have time to go to the post office, so they do not know if they received my check or not. They refused to set an appointment and said a manager would call me back today. No one called. I am making an appointment with another tree service because this service will not give me an appointment despite the fact that I have paid them. read more

Not good. Why didn't I read the overwhelmingly poor reviews of this place before trying to use them??? Dang it! Wasted a week!

Travers just trimmed our tree in the parkway. Living in Manhattan Beach the city only has two acceptable trimmers on their list. Finley's is one of them and not sure about the other one. Travers was about 1/2 the cost of Finley's estimate. After reading some of the reviews on Yelp I was concerned about the job that Travers would do but I am very happy with it. They protected all of the plants, the fence, and the outdoor lighting so nothing was damaged and they did an excellent job of cleaning up. The only downside is the wait. I contracted with this company at the end of August and was told it would be between 6-8 weeks. It was literally 8 weeks. If you have an emergency, maybe they are quicker but the long wait seems inefficient. I am happy with the end product, however. read more

Terrible response time. Called for estimate. Got one. Signed the agreement to trim trees. Had to call back 6 times to arrange time. Tired of waiting for their call back finally used another tree trimming company. After 35 days they called to schedule for same day they called. Had to laugh at the caller lady ... 1 hour later another call ... this time a man asking whether he can stop by since he was in the neighborhood. Heads Up they are doing business under another company name as well. Besides Travers Tree Service they also have a listing under Ester Tree Trimming. read more

Do not let these guys anywhere near your trees! They give you great lip service that they understand what you want done, then unleash their brutalizing crew with chain saws on your unsuspecting trees. I cried when I came home and saw it. They completely ignored our instructions although we were very specific. Completely denied that they hadn't followed our instructions. Branches broken off. Stubs of branches cut out in the middle of nowhere. Why was that cut a good idea? Owner couldn't find time to come out and see the damage on the weekend when we are home. So, obviously he didn't have to answer for the crappy job. If you love your trees, trim them yourself. Got a ladder? read more

Travers Tree Service stomped all over my property without my permission while I was gone! Ruined an entire ice plant section on a slope which will be extremely difficult to grow back. 2 trees between mine and the neighbor that hired them have been raped and ruined. A terrible job. Also everything in their path has been left in ruins. They left a mess in the street, left a mess all over my yard, and my gardener had to clean up. I have lived here 30 years, and it is so awful, I feel sick looking at my yard now. I am almost in tears. The red tailed hawk nest that was a staple, used year after year, is GONE. I hate what has happened, and it has ended a nice neighborly relationship with the next door people, that hired this horrible company. Should be named Travers Tree Destruction. read more

We had a very disappointing experience with Travers tree service. Rosie was very rude on the phone. Workers damaged a large stone, plants and left cut branches in the yard. We have used them before, but will never use them again. read more

I really don't know where some of the other reviewers are coming from. We have had nothing but great experiences with Travers. They do NOT use unskilled day laborers. Their teams are led and manned by workers who are experienced and hard working and don't just hack away. They actually put their names on their trucks so that you KNOW they are not un-licensed hacks. Their Arborist is not a front; he comes out to give you a fair and knowledgeable estimate and then brings in his teams to do their job. Of course he's not there every step of the way once the job gets going ; but he's been available if ever we've had a concern or complaint. They've done beautiful work in my parents' courtyard and backyard for years. I would highly recommend Travers. read more

My neighbors and friends all use Travers Tree for their tree trimming so we got an estimate which seemed very fair. The owner who did the estimate was very knowledgeable and explained exactly what he had in mind. The men who did the work were on time and professional. Will certainly use them again. read more

Not a direct customer. Travers were conducting work on my street. I work from home and this was impacting on my work day when on calls. I asked the crew for an estimate on how long they would be there so I could amend my schedule, the response was a shoulder shrug and saying "We're just doing our job". I called their number to ask for an estimate on how long it would take. The first response was"it's not our job to notify neighbors". They finally gave me a time estimate. I told them I appreciated they have a job to do which is unfortunately a noisy job and can understand if they don't have a legal obligation or otherwise to notify neighbors but that their dismissive reactions left me with a bad impression of the company. The employee on the phone reiterated they were under no obligation to notify and hung up. All I wanted was a time estimate, but now I'm leaving this review due to the rude treatment read more

I recently had Travers Tree Service trim and thin all my trees. They did an excellent job and were prompt and professional. My trees look amazing and they did a fantastic job of cleaning up all the debris when they were done. read more

Just called Travers back to remove the stump of the Queen Palm plus a very difficult shefflera root. As usual they did an outstanding job at a very fair price -- far less than I would have imagined. They cleaned up and were out of there within an hour. I am very impressed and highly recommend this company. read more

The scope of my job involved trimming and removing mature trees and two large fan palm trees; one approximately 40' tall. Travers came with a crew of nine workers and completed the job quickly and professionally. They cleaned up and hauled away all the debris. Their arborist, Don, gave me sound advise and a fair competitive price. Their crew supervisor Salvador was also great. I will use Travers again and recomment them to others. This is definitely "the A team". JRA, RPV read more

This is the third time we've had Travers trim our tress and have never been disappointed. I love that the entire team works together as a team. They all have great attitudes, too. Today the trimming took place at the end of a 90 degree day and they were all still smiling. Plus, they did a thorough job of cleaning up post trim. Highly recommend them. read more

First let me say that my parents used Travers tree service and now I've been using them for the past 10 years. They do a great job and I have no complaints on their work...however, there is one terrible receptionist that I know of and she is terrible!! The past three years she has forgotten to schedule my appointments. She forgets everything and I leave work waiting and find out she never even wrote down the appointment. I plan to talk to the owner about her because if this happens again, I will go elsewhere and give a terrible review based on this certain woman. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had this happen to and maybe she's related and can't be fired but I can definitely tell her voice!! read more

I got a half cord of wood from them for $180, hard wood soft wood mix. They're fine by me. Didn't knock anything over backing up our sloped driveway. read more

We have used Travers annually for over 20 years. They are excellent. Today they took down our 75 foot canary island pine that was killed by bark beetles. Great aborists, great work crews, great clean up, great work. We have adjusted to the work date -- they give you at least 2 days notice before the work will be done--so sometimes you have to wait especially during high season like now. It was worth the wait because the job was done right without damaging our newly remodeled backyard. The tree died after the remodeling. I am always happy to recommend them to my friends and always do so. Thank you Travers!! read more

Travers Tree Service - 75 canary island pine killed by bark beetles. Limbs removed first then the huge trunk, section by section. Precision work. - Tree Services Near Me - Lomita, California

I write this somewhat sadly because Rick Travers is a relatively nice old man. He's been around PVE for a while, and should know what he's doing. However, Travers Tree service is HORRIFIC. Let me make that crystal clear. The service and prices are of a low and high level, respectively. This is not just my opinion -- I've heard it from a dozen in PVE and it may be why he's been in the courthouse more than he'd like. Let's go through each of those. SERVICE: I don't know if they are just arrogant or don't care, but the job is just done half-a$s. There was little evidence of any of the normal precautions like cleaning w/ bleach the cutting blades between trees (disease control), avoiding mid-branch cuts, etc. Plus, they missed the scheduled date and only arrived a day late without apology. The trees looked horrible when Travers was "done". PRICE: Here's the simple math -- when you call Travers, they won't quote you by the man hour, because if they did you would have a heart attack or think they were kidding. They'll say they have to "see the job" and then "quote the job" because they don't price it "by the hour." That is total nonsense, because what Travers does is go to the location, ESTIMATED THE # OF MAN HOURS REQUIRED, and then multiply that times a certain $/MAN HOUR. If you can determine the man hours required and then divide that into Travers price, you'll realize you are paying $50+/man hour for workers getting close to $8-10/hour to do extremely easily learned work. Even adding in overhead and hauling away, it's insanely marked up. ALTERNATIVE: Find anyone on Craigslist or waiting for work at a Home Depot (or other labor supply location), pay them $8/hour including an hour to read/watch on Internet any of 100s of "How to Prune a Tree" primers or videos, and set them loose. Pruning a tree is incredibly easy, and what you are paying Travers could be spent on pruners and saws that you will own for your home forever. This is precisely what I have done .. bought the saws/pruners for around $100 (and used chainsaws on CL are cheap if you want one!), with the worker watched the video and gave 15 minutes guidance (again, tree pruning is a joke: Travers pricing should be what a medical doctor gets per hour vs. a guy trained to do it in 20 minutes), and let him go to work. SUMMARY: DO NOT HIRE TRAVERS IF YOU CARE ABOUT SOMEONE'S REPUTATION. THE WORK IS DANGEROUSLY BAD, THE PRICES SCARY HIGH. IF YOU HAVE TO HIRE SOMEONE, ASK AROUND FOR ALTERNATIVES. read more

I hired Travers after interviewing three other companies. The office staff could not have been nicer. I had concerns for the trees I wanted removed as it was a very difficult location, no room to work. We agreed on a price, (which was considerably less than the competitors) and agreed on a date and time. They showed up at exactly at the time they said they would. I showed them the work I requested. I told them I would go to the store and get a soda for the crew. They thanked me and began working. By the time I returned from the store, the work was done!!!!! Not only that but they did a little extra. The clean up was perfect. Past experience with tree trimmers has been spotty at best. I will never use or recommend anyone look further than Travers! They know the meaning of Customer Service. Salvador and his crew were so knowledgeable, efficient, and quick, I still don't believe it.......... BEST IN THE BUSINESS!!!! read more

Travers Tree Service is great! I contracted with them to have a tree removed and do do some trimming around my property. The crew showed up on time and did a great job of cleaning up after. Nothing but positive things to say about this company. Great service for a great price. Highly recommended!!!!! read more

The bid (estimate) that I got was reasonable and competitive, unlike a couple of other bids I got. The work was scheduled for about 2 weeks later, which was perfect for us. The crew showed up a few minutes early (before 8:00 AM) which was impressive. The work that was to be done was reviewed with me prior to the men starting. This was good. This way we knew we were on the same page with no misunderstandings. Then they got right to work, and the job was finished in about two hours. (Another company estimated 1 1/2 days, although the other company had a crew of 3 men, and Travers had at least 5 or 6.) The job was completely in line with what we wanted. I did ask that one large bush be trimmed just a little bit more and that was done immediately with no questions asked. The entire experience was a very good one. As long as they keep their prices reasonable (forever, we hope), we'll continue to do business with them. And by the way, we've had Travers do work for us in the past and it has always been a good experience! read more

Time for me to let my neighbors know NOT to ever hire TRAVERS Tree Service. I bought my home on Avenue B in 1978. There were two beautiful Pine trees in front to make my summers shady and comfortable. They were quite tall and lovely so I didn't want to trim them. When they started to grow some low hanging branches, I decided to have just those trimmed and the arborist at Travers agreed so I hired them to do only that. WHAT A MISTAKE! They came out with a foreman and crew after telling me it was OK to trim them in March (WRONG). They started trimming them both at the top. I came out and told them to STOP that was not what I wanted and had hired them to do. They REFUSED! I called the owner but still couldn't get them to stop! They trimmed both tree the way they wanted! I WAS SOOOOO ANGRY! A couple of months later, one of the trees got bark beetles because it was trimmed to late in the year. I hired another arborist who stopped by and knocked on my door to talk about it. It was too late to save one but we were able to save the other. Hiring Travers Tree Service not only cost me a tree but $1000.00 to have the dead tree cut down. BEWARE! Travers gets a minus 10 rating! read more

I've never written a yelp review, but after being a Travers customer for 6 years, and having a management guy tell me, "If you don't pay your bill, we'll take you to court," here's a review. Every year for the last 6 years I have my trees trimmed. Same service every time. This last time they did the work, they way under cut the amount of trimming on a date palm. When I asked about it, the arborist (Dustin, nice guy) said I should talk with the city representative about the city's requirements for date palms. So I did that. The city rep said he had no issue Travers taking off 3 more levels of fronds, and called Dustin to let him know. Btw, that would equal the same level of trimming Travers has done every year in the past. I asked Travers if they could either take some more fronds off of the palm when they had a job nearby, or take something off of the bill. The answer from the management guy was, "No. We did what was in the proposal." (note: it's the same proposal every year. Nothing was different--except the work.) "You need to go read your proposal. We won't do "additional work" without charging you for the revisit and we won't take anything off of the bill. And, if you don't pay us, we'll take you to court." (note: that was the clincher for this review. I never suggested I wouldn't pay their bill. Sounds like other clients do.) Obviously, it's not a pleasure dealing with Travers if they under-perform. If you use them, make sure you document your proposal carefully. Personally, I will never use them again. There are many other (nicer and more ethical) tree trimmers to choose from. read more

I have never had a problem with Travers Tree Service in the several years I have been using them. Their pricing is very competitive, their work professional. I have used them for not only trimming but removal as well. Their office has been very good about communicating with me via email and phone. I have read the other comments and can say that I have not experienced the problems mentioned. Scheduling may be a problem due to the volume of work that they do. read more

This company is too busy and is no longer customer oriented. When they said they would call me back with an appointment time, they did not, and then said that they did and I did not answer. I explained there was no incoming call on my cell phone. Then they said they would be there the next day and, after I called them, they told me they were not able to come. Why they did not call me is beyond me. Not a away to run a business and I have gone elsewhere. They seem to not know that their customer's time is also valuable read more

Some of the best people in the business. Travers and his staff are great! Definitely exceeded my expectations with their service and price. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the South Bay looking for tree service. read more

I can't speak to the quality of Travers' work, but I can attest to how poorly they treat those who have grievances. I was stopped at a red light a few months ago near a large tree that was being trimmed by Travers. Though I was stopped outside the coned-off area which had been designated underneath the tree, a tree branch fell and hit the side of my car, visibly scratching and denting it. I pulled over, spoke with the foreman, and got the company's contact information. After contacting Travers and sending photos, I was told "Travers will pay $30.00 - $40.00 towards a buff out of sap" and "The dent on your car was already there!" No one at the company took the time to speak with me or ask my side of the story before making these statements. In addition, my only communication with Travers was through the front office representative who answers the phones - I was never directly contacted by a manager, even after requesting to correspond with one. My insurance was able to negotiate a settlement of approximately half of the repair cost estimate. In my opinion, you'd be hard pressed to find a less professional company when it comes to handling disputes, so buyer beware if you are considering doing business with Travers. read more

I called Travers Tree for an estimate, and they came out within a day to give me the estimate which I accepted on November 1. At the time they told me they would come to trim my tree in about 6 weeks. I called mid-December and they said it was just six weeks then and to wait a couple more weeks. I called again the first week of January and was told it was marked "priority". Two weeks later I called again, and was told they "don't normally come to North Torrance". I asked why they would come out within a day to give an estimate if they don't come to North Torrance? I was then told they would be out within two weeks to trim my tree. That additional two weeks has come and gone and now nearly three months later I need to hire someone else to trim my tree since they are not coming out to do it. WHY do they make estimates and pretend they are going to come out to do the work and then they never do? read more

THIS COMPANY DOES NOT DESERVE ANY STARS!!! The only reason, I was considering using them is because the do work for the city. In any case, the owner's son came out to write up an estimate and was over an hour late. I called the office and they said, if we would have know you were waiting for him we would have made sure he was on time. He finally showed up walked the job. About a week later I received a bid IN THE MAIL even though, i gave him my email address and fax number. Their prices were about 30% higher than other large tree/gardening companies in the area. This did not stop them from continually calling me asking me if I wanted to use their service or had any questions. Finally, after the second or third call, I just told them their prices were too high and when they agreed to match the other companies prices, I told them their company was too disorganized and rude. I would NOT use them under any circumstances!!!!! read more