I used Tree Care, Inc. for a large maple tree at my rental property in October 2024. At that time, I paid $1,590 total for the work. The scope included elevating the tree away from the house, reducing weight as needed, removing dangerous deadwood from the canopy, and lightly thinning the interior to allow wind through.
About 21 months later, a large limb from the same tree broke during a storm. I contacted the company again and asked them to inspect the tree and determine what needed to be done.
I was then sent Proposal #25453 for $2,650 for "trimming of limbs over the home back to fork." I did not accept the proposal because I felt the price was extremely high, especially considering I had already paid nearly $1,600 less than two years earlier for significant safety-related pruning on this same tree.
After I didn't respond, they sent another proposal with the same proposal number and same basic scope of work, but the price had suddenly dropped to $2,120. That's a $530 difference without any explanation as to why the original price was $2,650 or why the price could suddenly be reduced.
Before making any decision, I emailed them and asked some very reasonable questions: Why was this much additional work necessary less than two years after the previous pruning? How did this work differ from what they had already done? Did the recent storm reveal new structural problems? And why was the new work more expensive than the previous work when the description was actually less detailed?
They never responded.
That's ultimately what has left me most disappointed. I'm not opposed to paying for necessary tree work, and I understand that a major storm can cause a limb to fail even when a tree has previously been maintained. What I expected was an explanation from the company that performed the original work.
Instead, I'm looking at roughly $3,700 in tree trimming over less than two years, and at that point I'm seriously questioning whether repeatedly spending $2,000+ every couple of years makes sense versus removing the tree altogether.
I gave them an opportunity to explain the pricing and the recommended work before leaving this review, but they chose not to respond. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend them and will be getting other opinions before spending another dollar on this tree. read more