GET IT IN WRITING (DON'T MAKE MY MISTAKE)
- You don't want Mr. White to "Space Out" like he did on my job -
I had Mr. White out to give me an estimate on the removal of a dying 30-ft. maple tree in our tiny patch of suburban woods. I got quotes from three other arborists, but I was impressed by Mr. White's ease of manner, combined with his shrewd observations of our other tree maintenance needs and a reasonable quote. We agreed to have the maple tree cut down to a snag height of about 12 feet, along with some other minor pruning of nearby trees. When I asked for a written estimate describing the work and the price, Mr. White told me he didn't do written estimates. At that point, I still had a "good vibe" about our interactions.
I guess that was my mistake. In May of 2017, we contracted Mr. White to turn our dead tree into a wildlife snag. The results were quite negative.
On the afternoon after White's crew showed up and did their work, I discovered that--despite our agreement--they had cut our maple tree down to a stump, rather than create a 12 foot snag for wildlife habit--as had been our verbal contract. I was stunned, outraged, and saddened at the loss of this important piece of our property.
We had decided to turn this tree into a wildlife snag to protect against potential damage from the unmodified dead tree falling over and damaging our outbuildings (or other nearby trees), while also adding value to the small patch of woods (.25 acres) on our suburban property via the ecosystem services provided by the snag. The plan to create a snag, rather than cut down the whole tree, reflected the recommendations of numerous government agencies, including the Washington State Departments of Fish & Wildlife and Natural Resources, and the US Department of Agriculture (search these agencies for snags and you'll see what I mean). Instead, White and his crew left that wildlife snag in ruin, as heavy immovable pieces of cut trunk, scattered on the ground in an area we planned to use for both habitat development and backyard recreation.
When I spoke with Mr. White by phone the afternoon after he and his crew had damaged our property, he apologized and admitted that he had "spaced out" (presumably meaning "forgot") the terms of our verbal contract. During that brief phone call after our wildlife snag had been destroyed, White also freely suggested that I wouldn't have to pay him because of this mistake. Of course, this was appropriate, given the terms of our agreement.
However, this does not compensate us for the permanent damage to our property, nor does it compensate for the additional work I had to do to deal with the four large, heavy pieces of our now-destroyed wildlife snag that littered the ground around the bare stump. One of them had fallen directly onto a beautiful sword fern, and I don't yet know if it will recover. I've used leverage and muscle to shift these heavy trunk pieces around into locations that I hope will be useful for wildlife as they decay. It is what it is, and so it shall be.
In the meantime, though, I suggest you avoid White, unless you get a clear written contract, and, even then, you should assume the need to supervise the work directly, rather than leave it to him. After all, who knows what he might "space out" next time around.... read more