We had Davey Tree out to trim a large spruce tree, and then fertilize our trees and shrubs (not many). The team came out to assess/quote, and we reviewed exactly what I wanted done (which included trimming the branches that hang over the fence). We spent a fair amount of time on this, and everyone seemed to be on the same page. I went ahead and booked for a short time later.
The team came out as I was leaving, and it turned out no one had told them the height of the tree so they didn't have the right truck. They'd have to come back another day with the correct truck. I then reviewed again with them exactly what I was looking for, since it seemed some info had gone missing.
They came back within a day or two, but I didn't even notice at first. Not only were the branches over the fence not touched, but there was still a large, visible layer of deadwood along the bottom branches. I called Davey Tree and got no answer, so left a message that I'd like to talk with someone about the job because I thought it hadn't been completed.
It took some time to finally connect with someone, and I was told that the manager would come out the following day to take a look. Great. But then didn't hear anything back, until I got an invoice in the mail. I called and eventually got ahold of the same person as before, who was very apologetic and said she thought the manager was coming out right away, and she'd follow up and make sure he came. Still heard nothing, until another follow up letter about the invoice. I left voice mails and sent emails trying to explain that I wasn't going to pay the invoice until I'd at least reviewed the work with someone and come to an agreement that it was complete. (This time I tried contacting through other methods just in case the person I kept speaking to was somehow the bottleneck, despite her always being apologetic and polite...but things still hadn't been happening, so I figured a different approach was in order.)
A couple of months went by with still no response. I figured maybe everyone was just giving up on this. Then I got a much more firm letter about the amount owing. I called during daytime hours again this time (although I think that still took a couple of calls to get someone), and pointed out the issue. The woman on the phone couldn't believe no one had contacted me, and said she'd relay this to the manager yet again. I called again a bit later when I hadn't gotten confirmation and she said he'd be out the next day.
Right after all this we went on vacation. We got back and there was an updated invoice (that included the fertilizing that had been done during the second trim). I was still catching up on everything and went a couple of days without addressing it (this put it at approximately 2 weeks). I then got a voice mail saying that this really had to be paid (and admonishing me for taking so long to pay and not contacting them or making arrangements, which was clearly BS).
I'm still not at all thrilled with the entire situation, but I'm sick of the whole thing, so I just shrugged and mailed the cheque. I called after work and left a voice mail indicating that I'd done so. A couple of days later I got a call that they were considering sending me to collections. I exasperatedly pointed out that I'd left a voice mail two days before telling them I was sending the cheque. The woman apologised and promised to make a note of it.
Finally, the cheque has been cashed, and I very much hope I never heard from Davey Tree again. This was one of the worst experiences I've had with a company. I only gave the 1 star due to the receptionist at least being apologetic, and the fact they didn't actually cause *damage* when failing to do the work.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $450.00