Design Tree Maintenance, Inc.

Review: [redacted]

I hired Design Tree Maintenance after meeting [redacted], an employee who represented the company and came to give me a bid. [redacted] wore an arborist uniform and seemed to be very professional. I hired them to remove 4 large trees and all the root systems from my backyard as they were causing trip hazards for the children in my care. They were to also put tree wells in that neither the children nor the dogs could dig into and replace the old trees with 24-inch box majestic ash trees. What I got was 15-gallon trees they tried to convince me were 24-gallon box trees. They finally confessed and said these 15-gallon trees looked better at the nursery. I agreed to the new trees if they gave me a discount on the smaller trees. I did not receive the discount and I have paid them in full 4.5 months ago after telling [redacted] I didn't want to pay because the work wasn't complete and he emphatically promised me he would not do that to me. That they needed the money for their small business for payroll. I said I understood that because I am a small business who has payroll. But I have been forgotten, the work is not complete. I own Small Wonders, LLC, a small child group home for 10 children under the age of 5, many whom have special needs. I was guaranteed this work to be completed in one week. We are now going on 5 months and the work is not complete. The latest date I had for the work to be completed was today at noon. It is now 1:25 and none has shown up to work and I received a fax stating if I didn't sign the fax that they wouldn't come. The fax wants me to give up my rights to warranties that I received with the initial contract. When I refused to sign the owner, [redacted], told me then they would not come. This is after months of promises to come and do the work. I have many text messages between [redacted] and I about finishing the work but nobody comes. There has only been two times they showed up to supposedly fix the yard and I was so excited they came but then they changed my FRONT yard! I never had a contract to do anything to the front! The other time they came they put jagged rock in my back yard! I called immediately and told them this was not safe for the children and that I am required to have the children in the backyard a minimum of one hour per day. The staff and I have struggled to keep the children safe for almost 5 months now, we are exhausted. Some of our children have orthotics on their feet or legs and are unstable when they walk. This is unacceptable to not come and complete the work. I am state licensed and if DTM doesn't show up to complete this work I could get fined. I was also not informed that I would be held responsible for the evening out of the dirt under the fake grass after the roots are taken out. I incurred additional costs for this of 850.00 for some roots that were taken out...but then found they did not remove all the roots. Currently I am out almost 5000.00 It is a huge sum of money for such a small business. We are highly regarded in the community and we hold a level 4 star with Quality First, one of only 5 in the state of Arizona. I have been nothing but professional with this company so you can imagine how I felt today when [redacted] told me his "girls" who answer the phone are sick of me. I called them to inquire about this and they say they said no such thing...I have only spoken to them about 3 times in the 5 months until today.Desired Settlement: I would like all the tree roots taken out as promised. I would like the fake grass put back down after the dirt is pressed and even once more. I would like 24 inch trees planted and warranted, I would like the tree wells to be completed as promised with red brick around the edge and the rock buried half way and the dirt sealed.

Or a complete refund including the 850.00 I gave his friend Peter to put the grass back down.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern, It is not ourendeavor to get in a battle of words with Mrs. [redacted], we will simply try to tell the story from our perspective and will attach a copy of the contract/workorder to support our reasoning for making the decisions we have made. Our crew went to Mrs. [redacted] property on 6/10/2015 tostart order# 82571 and completed a very large portion of the job, the rest ofthe contract was completed within a couple of weeks of the start date. As Mrs.[redacted] mentioned, the paperwork stated for 4, 24” box trees to be planted,and the field superintendent mistakenly picked up 4, 15 gallon trees of thesame species. Our arborist Nick talkedto Mrs. [redacted] while the crew was still at the property and offered toeither give a $100.00 discount for each of the 4 trees totaling $400.00, ortake the 15 gallon trees back to our grower and pick up the larger 24inch Boxtrees as per the work order. Mrs. [redacted] chose to accept the smaller 15gallon trees and the $400.00 reduction from her bill. Mrs. [redacted] is correctin saying she did not receive this refund, and as this was only an oversight,we have, at the writing of this letter certified mailed her a refund check inthe amount of $400.00. That is where our agreement of her complaint stops. Wehave, since June, on warranty, replaced one of the trees that was dug up andkilled by her dog. Let me stop to point out that our warranty covers bad treespecimens and helps alleviate the risk to the customer that their tree will notrecover from the shock of being transplanted, and does NOT cover a customer’s dogdigging up a newly planted tree. In aneffort to appease Mrs. [redacted], we replaced her tree at no charge. Theattached contract shows that we charged her $200.00 to install ½ ton of ¼’’minus Madison Gold around the base of the 4 Ash trees and apply 4-5 gallons ofpathway stabilizer. This was completedper the contract on 6/16/2015 however, we have been back to the property onmultiple occasions ( no charge to Mrs. [redacted]) under “warranty” to place avariety of different materials around her ash trees in an effort to prevent herdogs from digging up or damaging the trees…again, not really our problem, orcovered by any sort of warranty but we were trying to appease the customer. Mrs[redacted] also stated that we were hired (in her words) to remove 4 sissootrees and all the root systems from the back yard. This is clearly not what thecontract states. We were only contracted to remove the 4 Sissoos at the base andto GRIND the stumps and exposed roots only. We were also contracted and paid onlyto lift the artificial grass and grind the exposed roots underneath. This wasall completed per the contract. There was no mention of grading the area orrepairing the turf as she is asking us to do complimentary. We gave her areferral to an artificial grass company that we have referred in the past andSHE hired them to repair and place the grass back in its previous location. Letme repeat, to that we were ONLY contracted to lift the grass and grind theexposed roots, which is precisely what was done. In response to Mrs. [redacted] desired settlement, I will respondto each line individually. 1.“ I would Like allthe tree roots taken out as promised” Per the attached contract, wewere only contracted to GRIND the EXPOSED roots. there is no possible way toremove all the roots without completely destroying her yard. This would be ahuge expense for the customer and was never contracted with our firm. This workwas completed as written on the contract 2. “I would like thefake grass put back down after the dirt is pressed and even once more”. Asyou can see on the contract, we were never contracted or paid to do anything ofthis nature. 3. “I would like 24inch box trees planted and warranted”. PerMrs. [redacted] admission in the complaint, she agreed to keep the 15 gallontrees with a $400.00 discount to the original contract. We acknowledge thatthis unintentionally slipped through the cracks and at the writing of thisresponse, a refund check in the amount of $400.00 has been mailed via certifiedmail to the customer. 4. “I would like the tree wells to becompleted as promised with red brick around the edge and the rock buried halfwas and the dirt sealed.” Again, look at the contract, there is nomention of anything of this nature. We have re-done this work with differentproducts at our expense to try to appease her. There has been a couple of fixesrecommended and attempted all at Design Tree Maintenance’s expense to no avail. 5. “Or a complete refund includingthe $850.00 I gave his friend Peter to put the grass back down.” Asstated previously, the entire contract has been fulfilled with multiplenon-warranteed items being replaced under warranty. We do not feel obligated toreturn money for a completed contract. The Peter mentioned here, is the ownerof Evergreen Synthetic Lawns & Putting Green, he was hired by Mrs [redacted]to completed the $850.00 job mentioned and has absolutely no connection of anykind with our company. It would not be a refund, It would be a donation as Mrs.[redacted] never paid us for this service. We feel that wehave gone above and beyond to try and make Mrs. [redacted] happy and are unableto do so without great expense to our firm. We are at this point, willing, andhave offered to replace the 4, 15 Gallon Ash trees under warranty (even thoughone has already been warrantied, and there are external factors contributing tothe death of her trees, not faulty workmanship) with the understanding that wehave more than fulfilled our contract and will not do any more work at thisproperty, warranty or otherwise. Mrs. [redacted] is unwilling to accept and signoff on these terms, which is why her trees have not been replaced and the Revdex.comwas contacted. I would be happy to further discuss this with a Revdex.comrepresentative if so desired. Design Tree MaintenanceROBERT L. K[redacted] 602-312-7900

Business

Response:

Design Tree Maintenance has patiently extended a professional

outlook during our attempts in bringing a satisfactory resolution with our

client. Therefore we will be taking the appropriate measures necessary to bring

closer to this matter. To conclude, we are scheduling a meeting with the Register

of Contractors to further solidify our position and to successfully propose a resolution

with our client.

Consumer

Response:

Regarding ID # 10835350I apologize I did not receive the response from Design Tree Maintenance until this morning. Please do not close the case yet. I will include my rebuttal in this email as well as additional documentation from the ROC in regards to their upcoming investigation appointment next week. I will also include a notarized affidavit from my lead employee who handled many of the conversations in the beginning for me when Design Tree Maintenance in fact did not complete the work as promised before I was going to be out of town. Rebuttal Response:Our crew went to Mrs. [redacted] property on 6/10/2015 tostart order# 82571 and completed a very large portion of the job, the rest ofthe contract was completed within a couple of weeks of the start date. The work is still not completed as of October 27,2015. Nov 10, 2015 will be the 5-month mark from when the work was promised to be complete. As Mrs.[redacted] mentioned, the paperwork stated for 4, 24” box trees to be planted,and the field superintendent mistakenly picked up 4, 15 gallon trees of thesame species. They were not mistakenly picked up. The crewman tried in earnest to convince me they were in fact 24-inch box trees. I told him I knew they weren’t. He argued with me until I got Nick on the phone and the crewman finally admitted they were in fact 15-gallon trees. It’s never ok to lie to a client like that. I asked for a discount on the 15-gallon trees because the crewman finally said the 24 inch boxed trees just didn’t look as nice. I believed him but you can see how this looked like a scam. The discount was not given to me until I filed with the Revdex.com. Our arborist Nick talkedto Mrs. [redacted] while the crew was still at the property and offered toeither give a $100.00 discount for each of the 4 trees totaling $400.00, ortake the 15 gallon trees back to our grower and pick up the larger 24inch Boxtrees as per the work order. They never offered to get me 24 inch boxed trees. I would have said yes. I need shade fast and they knew that. Mrs. [redacted] chose to accept the smaller 15gallon trees and the $400.00 reduction from her bill. Mrs. [redacted] is correctin saying she did not receive this refund, and as this was only an oversight,we have, at the writing of this letter certified mailed her a refund check inthe amount of $400.00. Yes I received this discount after I filed with the Revdex.com. Before that Mr. L[redacted] told me over and over that I had already received the refund. That is where our agreement of her complaint stops. Wehave, since June, on warranty, replaced one of the trees that was dug up andkilled by her dog. In three different ways the crew, Nick and the office secretaries and Mr. L[redacted] were all told by the Lead Teacher and separately by me in text and phone calls interrupting my trip yet again that if they left with the tree in the back yard not completely planted on a Friday afternoon and with me out of town, the business closed and the dogs unattended using a dog door for potty, that the dog would eat the tree. I pleaded with them to finish the work to not risk the tree. They in fact suggested my employee leave my dogs on the side yard with no indoor access, no water, and food or shade access all weekend instead of finishing. She told them she would not. It was 112 degrees those days and they are indoor dogs. I told them if they left I would insist they replace the tree if it was chewed. They said the dogs would not bother it. I said they would. The dogs did, but only the one tree that wasn’t finished, not all four like Mr. L[redacted] has told various people. I still have 3 original trees, two dead and two alive with zero bite marks or scratches on them from the dogs. Let me stop to point out that our warranty covers bad treespecimens and helps alleviate the risk to the customer that their tree will notrecover from the shock of being transplanted, and does NOT cover a customer’s dogdigging up a newly planted tree. In aneffort to appease Mrs. [redacted], we replaced her tree at no charge. Theattached contract shows that we charged her $200.00 to install ½ ton of ¼’’minus Madison Gold around the base of the 4 Ash trees and apply 4-5 gallons ofpathway stabilizer. This was completed When I hired them I spoke with Nick, he assured me he could put quarter minus down around the tree wells and make it HARD so neither children nor dogs could dig in it (for a clean house) and for safety reasons for the children in my care (I cant have small rocks children can choke on). They did put it down but the stabilizer did NOT make the ground hard. The lead teacher and I both called Nick and told him, he asked us to give it 3 days to set. We did and called back when it still was not hard. He asked us to give it a week, we did, and when it still wasn’t hard Nick began suggesting different things to do with the tree wells instead. I was open to trying other things if it reached the original objective and was safe for kids and dogs and if the kids and dogs couldn’t dig in it. They came back and installed riprap. I immediately said this will not be ok! They are large, medium and small jagged rocks; children can fall on them and throw them at each other. I have several children in our group home that have special needs and fall easily. He said they would come and take it out. They never have. Mr. L[redacted] called me at 8:30 at night to tell me I could have dogs or trees but not both. For some reason he is fixated on my dogs ruining everything but they in fact have only bothered the one tree that we clearly warned him they would if left unfinished. He then came up with the idea to install a border around the wells of red brick. He said he would install them scallop side down then bury smooth river rock halfway down inside the tree wells and put mortar around them to solve the choking hazard of the small loose rocks and the digging issue for the children and dogs. Since Mr. L[redacted] is now saying he didn’t say that then I have no choice but to follow the original contract which means he needs to install quarter minus and make it hard ground around my wells, replace the two dead trees that died because of shock. I also have one tree well continually full of water for some reason. per the contract on 6/16/2015 however, we have been back to the property onmultiple occasions ( no charge to Mrs. [redacted]) under “warranty” to place avariety of different materials around her ash trees in an effort to prevent herdogs from digging up or damaging the trees… Again, they only tried ‘one thing’, not a variety, and they didn’t finish installing that ‘one thing’, the riprap. It’s still loose; only one tree well has half buried riprap and no edge. again, not really our problem, orcovered by any sort of warranty but we were trying to appease the customer. Design Tree Maintenance hasn’t provided what was asked for. Not once have my tree wells been stable or hard as requested. Mrs[redacted] also stated that we were hired (in her words) to remove 4 sissootrees and all the root systems from the back yard. This is clearly not what thecontract states. We were only contracted to remove the 4 Sissoos at the base andto GRIND the stumps and exposed roots only. This is not true; there were never exposed roots as I have fake grass so none could be exposed. They knew which roots to grind, the ones that are a trip hazard for the kids, under the fake grass but sticking up. They realized they forgot to remove them and did remove one large one after I called Nick back and showed him, but they still left the other large root. It is still there. These are the roots Nick told me would go into my house and cause 35,000 worth of damage so I hired them to remove them. We were also contracted and paid onlyto lift the artificial grass and grind the exposed roots underneath. This wasall completed per the contract. There was no mention of grading the area orrepairing the turf as she is asking us to do complimentary. I have never heard of someone being hired to do a job and then not put things back the way they were to begin with. I assumed they would pull back the fake grass, take the roots and then lay it back in place. Instead they ripped sections out… even cutting large areas around my tree wells!! So that now my tree wells are HUGE! I never asked for them to cut my artificial grass and when I caught their crewman doing so I rushed out and stopped them but it was too late. I had just spent 10,000 on that grass the year before; I did not want it ruined. I did pay their referred man Peter to fix the grass at a large expense I was not warned about of 850.00. We gave her areferral to an artificial grass company that we have referred in the past andSHE hired them to repair and place the grass back in its previous location. Letme repeat, to that we were ONLY contracted to lift the grass and grind theexposed roots, which is precisely what was done. Nowhere on their contract does it state that they were only to lift the grass and not replace it. In response to Mrs. [redacted] desired settlement, I will respondto each line individually. 1.“ I would Like allthe tree roots taken out as promised” Per the attached contract, wewere only contracted to GRIND the EXPOSED roots. there is no possible way toremove all the roots without completely destroying her yard. This would be ahuge expense for the customer and was never contracted with our firm. This workwas completed as written on the contract Let me clarify, all large trip hazard roots were to be removed which is exactly what Nick knew I asked for because of state licensing and the children’s safety. There is still one very large root. 2. “I would like thefake grass put back down after the dirt is pressed and even once more”. Asyou can see on the contract, we were never contracted or paid to do anything ofthis nature. 3. “I would like 24inch box trees planted and warranted”. PerMrs. [redacted] admission in the complaint, she agreed to keep the 15 gallontrees with a $400.00 discount to the original contract. We acknowledge thatthis unintentionally slipped through the cracks and at the writing of thisresponse, a refund check in the amount of $400.00 has been mailed via certifiedmail to the customer. I don’t have 4-24 inch boxed trees, Mr. L[redacted] can have his 400 back when that is complete since he never offered to follow the contract and plant the size I asked for. 4. “I would like the tree wells to becompleted as promised with red brick around the edge and the rock buried halfwas and the dirt sealed.” Again, look at the contract, there is nomention of anything of this nature. We have re-done this work with differentproducts at our expense to try to appease her. There has been a couple of fixesrecommended and attempted all at Design Tree Maintenance’s expense to no avail. Considering Mr. L[redacted] is not telling the truth about what he agreed to do to fix my current yards condition because I don’t have it in writing I will accept the original contract to be completed, it is not. I have no quarter minus that is hard around the tree wells, I have two dead trees, I have a large root that was contracted to be removed, I have a flood in one tree well since their work that he was told about, it’s still there as well. 5. “Or a complete refund includingthe $850.00 I gave his friend Peter to put the grass back down.” Asstated previously, the entire contract has been fulfilled with multiplenon-warranteed items being replaced under warranty. We do not feel obligated toreturn money for a completed contract. The Peter mentioned here, is the ownerof Evergreen Synthetic Lawns & Putting Green, he was hired by Mrs [redacted]to completed the $850.00 job mentioned and has absolutely no connection of anykind with our company. It would not be a refund, It would be a donation as Mrs.[redacted] never paid us for this service. I would like to know what “multiple non-warrantied items being replaced” are? This hasn’t occurred. The contract is not complete. I will seek whatever means are lawfully mine to have my funds returned to me so I may have another company finish the work. I have consulted with one company and the owner is appalled at how long this is taking and at the state of my yard. He is concerned for the safety of the children and the undue stress this has caused for my staff and myself because of the limited use of our yard. The ROC began to believe the statements from Mr. L[redacted] too until they Google mapped my backyard and saw that in fact I do not have the elements purchased through contract in my yard. Now they are coming to investigate next week. We feel that wehave gone above and beyond to try and make Mrs. [redacted] happy and are unableto do so without great expense to our firm. We are at this point, willing, andhave offered to replace the 4, 15 Gallon Ash trees under warranty (even thoughone has already been warrantied, and there are external factors contributing tothe death of her trees, not faulty workmanship) They only agreed to replace the trees IF I sign away my rights to all the rest of the work that still needs completed and if I sign away rights to any warranty. I must point out yet again, only two trees are dead, and the dogs have not touched them because they were properly planted and not left exposed by crewmen. Again, only one tree was the fault of the dogs because as we warned them multiple times it would be if they chose to leave the tree exposed in the same yard as the dogs for a weekend while I was out of town. with the understanding that wehave more than fulfilled our contract and will not do any more work at thisproperty, warranty or otherwise. Mrs. [redacted] is unwilling to accept and signoff on these terms, which is why her trees have not been replaced and the Revdex.comwas contacted. I would be happy to further discuss this with a Revdex.comrepresentative if so desired. I would love anyone from the Revdex.com or any other organization to come and inspect the “completed work” It will speak for itself. I am in the process of having 3 landscaping companies give affidavits about what they see in my back yard for court. Since the amount I paid for the work is over 2500 I have no choice but to enter into a civil lawsuit. I no longer feel comfortable with their work especially now that they are being investigated and I am seeking the full amount to be refunded as well as attorneys fees, time from work, the stress of my staff, children and myself and whatever else is legally due considering they know exactly what they are doing and it is abundantly clear the work is unfinished. It is not okay to treat good paying customers like this. I have been more than nice and easy going while trying to brainstorm ways to fix the wells when Design Trees idea didn’t work. I have faith in the justice system. The truth will come out in court.

I Do Not Recommend Design Tree Maintenance of Phoenix. I called them because they boast about their wards and certifications, but don't deliver quality service. [redacted] came out and quoted me $850 to thin and tightly shape 13 small to medium size ficus trees. Claimed the cost was so high because he was a certified arborist. They couldn't do the work for three weeks and rescheduled due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. Three guys came out, but [redacted] was no where around. I asked the guy who showed up with two mexicans if he was an arborist. He finally admitted that he was NOT a certified arborist. I was beside myself, but decided to let them do the work anyway. I should've stopped them when I had the chance because they did not have the appropriate tools for the job. They were climbing up the wall and sitting on the limbs of the trees. Completely unprofessional. What's worse is that most of the tree limbs they removed are severely torn and splintered. They aren't clean cuts by any means. When asked why they ripped the bark and torn the limbs he replied, "we did the best we could". What a shame.

Review: In November of 2013 I accepted a quote from Design Tree Maintenance to trim 2 trees in the front of my house: $175 for a Mesquite tree and $75 for a purple mountain laurel. The service was scheduled for 12/20/2013. Ten days before that on 12/12 as instructed I called the office and provided credit card details to secure their service. They didn’t show up as scheduled, yet my credit card was charged as if the service had been rendered! Needless to say at that point a courtesy phone call would’ve been appreciated, but that didn’t happen. I immediately called Design Tree Maintenance and left a voicemail asking to call me back with an explanation. No one returned my message. I called the next day and received an answer that there was some mix-up on the schedule as there was another person by the same name on the schedule as mine and the crew had gone out to their address instead of mine. I’m originally from Russia, so I highly doubt there might be another person in AZ with the same first/last name. When they finally showed up 3 days later they only trimmed 1 of 2 trees.

After countless phone calls left with Design Tree Maintenance and over a week of waiting to hear back, I finally received a call from scheduling. I asked them to come out on a Saturday to finish the job, but they couldn’t accommodate. I then asked them to come out Tuesday, January 7th at 4.30 pm to complete the trim (I have a full time job). After what they had put me through, I wanted to be present at home when the crew was there. The crew showed up at 1pm (!) saying they had cancelations and therefore they decided to arrive early. Never mind 4.30pm confirmed schedule!!! I told them my entire turmoil and whoever was on the phone with me (he didn’t give me his name) agreed it was unacceptable and he’d call the president of the Design Tree and call me back right away. Needless to say, I never got a phone call back and my tree is still not trimmed!!!!!!!!!

I’m appalled and stunned by the lack of professionalism and customer service! I’m also done playing phone tags with Design Tree Maintenance. Considering excessive delays and numerous attempts to get this company to correct the situation, I’m requesting the full refund of $250.00 to be sent to me in a form of a check.

That is only fair after what they have put me through.Desired Settlement: I’m requesting the full refund of $250.00 to be sent to me in a form of a check. That is only fair after what they have put me through.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern,

In response to the complaint submitted by [redacted], we will agree to refund her the $250.00 that was charged by our firm. It will refund it within the next 5 business days to the card that it was originally charged to. This will conclude our business dealings with the customer in regards to contract #[redacted].

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: On 7/16/15 a representative/sales came to our home to give me a quote to do work on our fruit trees, per my request. He was very pleasant and provided me with a quote upon agreed items. The price was very high but I wanted the trees taken care of before a summer storm did any damage.

They called and scheduled an appointment. Our time was very limited because my husband was very ill and we had many doctor appointments. They then called to reschedule the appointment to a day that was inconvenient. We said the new time and date were not good for us. They then said they were unable to come on the original day and they would call back to reschedule. I received another call that day from a manager who asked me to please work with their schedule. I explained my husband was very ill and we had doctor appointments at the time they wanted to come. I asked him if they would be able to keep the original appointment, at which he said no and someone would call to reschedule.

The next thing we know a crew just showed up one day [without calling]. We were just leaving for another Doctor appointment so I said this was not a good time. They wanted me just to open the back gate and they would do the work, while no one was home. My husband said no [and I agreed] that was not something we were comfortable with.

We made another appointment, which they kept. The work was completed. A couple of weeks went by and I was able to take time from my husband and go out in the yard. That is when I noticed the crew left to two large bags of mulch in our wheelbarrow and they had piled some unused brick in the front of the house on top of a drain pipe. They also had not trimmed the grapefruit tree to my satisfaction. I called and explained the situation and asked that someone come out to finish the job. Without scheduling a time, a worker came by the house. Again, we were going to a doctor appointment so again the time was not appropriate. I again tried to explain they could not do the work while we were not home. We scheduled a date and time that was going to work with us [the customer].

The bricks were moved, the two bags of mulch were returned and it was discovered that the first crew had used to much mulch on the trees and the trees could smother. The quote read 2-3 inches but, the crew had put on 4-6 inches. So, the worker then removed an estimated 8 large bags of mulch from our trees, which we had paid for. We also discovered the watering circle on the grapefruit tree was not large enough. But he was not able to enlarge the circle and a different crew would have to come out to do that work.

Later another crew came to the house and enlarged the watering circle and used another 2 bags of mulch.Desired Settlement: We would like to receive a refund for the mulch that was not need but paid for. The quote says 900# of mulch which was an over estimate by approximately 8 large bags, which were installed but later removed.

Business

Response:

To Whom it may concern, We are more than willing to offer some sort of resolution to ANY customer that feels like they have been slighted. Unfortunately Mrs [redacted] NEVER contacted us requesting any sort of refund, and we were unaware that that she was unhappy or there was a problem of any sort. We would have very much appreciated the opportunity to resolve the issue prior to the Revdex.com being contacted. The purpose of the Revdex.com is to step in as a third party intervention when there is a conflict that is unable to be resolved between a company and a client, we feel it extremely unfair that we would get a ding on our coveted Revdex.com record over a small grievance that we were not even informed of. Mrs. [redacted] was charged $850.00 for building the tree wells, root berms, filling a small sinkhole, installing scalloped border, cutting out plastic from under the trees, and installing the 900 pounds of mulch. We did not refund the money for the additional mulch, as she did not request any money back, not did she offer to return the extra product to our company. The 8 bags of mulch in question have a value of approximately $100.00 and we will mail a re-fund check to the customer in that amount.

Business

Response:

To Whom it may concern, We are more than willing to offer some sort of resolution to ANY customer that feels like they have been slighted. Unfortunately Mrs [redacted] NEVER contacted us requesting any sort of refund, and we were unaware that that she was unhappy or there was a problem of any sort. We would have very much appreciated the opportunity to resolve the issue prior to the Revdex.com being contacted. The purpose of the Revdex.com is to step in as a third party intervention when there is a conflict that is unable to be resolved between a company and a client, we feel it extremely unfair that we would get a ding on our coveted Revdex.com record over a small grievance that we were not even informed of. Mrs. [redacted] was charged $850.00 for building the tree wells, root berms, filling a small sinkhole, installing scalloped border, cutting out plastic from under the trees, and installing the 900 pounds of mulch. We did not refund the money for the additional mulch, as she did not request any money back, not did she offer to return the extra product to our company. The 8 bags of mulch in question have a value of approximately $100.00 and we will mail a re-fund check to the customer in that amount.

Consumer

Response:

Dear Sirs,I would like to take this opportunity to answer Design Tree Maintenance Inc. response dated, November 9, 2015. I first want to apologize for not responding sooner. I can only submit my husband’s and my health as cause, and want to thank you for this chance to clarify with further information related to clam #[redacted]My claim goes back to Design Tree Maintenance Inc. invoice # [redacted], signed by myself on 7/6/2015. In the original complaint I said in error the date was 7/16/2015…I do apologized.Design Tree Maintenance Inc. stated in their response, we were charged $850.00 for the material and time to complete the work. This figure does seem extremely reasonable, for their time and materials. Therefore we agree to the amount of $850.00. And, would like to thank them for the Cashier’s Check #[redacted] for $100.00, for the 8 large bags of mulch that were over estimated and removed.Now that Design Tree Maintenance Inc. stated the total charge for material and time is only $850.00, we would very much like a refund for our overpayment of $!000.00. We made two payments to Design Tree Maintenance Inc….$900.00 on 7/6/2015 with our check # [redacted], which was cashed on 7/9/15. Then upon completion of the work, we made another payment [a duplicate] of $945.00 with our check #[redacted], which was cashed on 7/30/15. I would be glad to present copies of these two cashed checks if needed.I sincerely thank you for allowing me this chance to present this information and know the Revdex.com would like to see that better customer service and business practices are used in Arizona.Sincerely Yours,[redacted]Claim #[redacted]PS: If you would want me submit this information in another form [website, mail] please advise.

Review: I called re two citrus trees that were losing bark, They charged me $1365 to treat the trees one time. Two men came in a truck and were here for only 15 minutes. They only went 2/3 around one tree. I called and complained about the price for 15 minutes service and no one has called or come out. I feel they are bilking the elderly. I would have never paid that amount of money for 15 minutes work.Desired Settlement: I have already paid $800 of the $1365 and even that sounds way too much. I would like the remaining money adjusted off and an explanation of why 15 minutes of work was worth the $800 I paid in advance

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern, Design Tree Maintenance has been a finalist and a winner of the Revdex.com Ethics award. We take great pride & diligence in providing all of our customers an honest service withquality and integrity. We appreciate feedback from our customers, however it is unfortunate that such drastic and unnecessary measures were taken in concluding thisaccount. Our customer had signed an invoice including various tree trimming, fertilizer products and also soil treatments to be done that totaled $2,390.00. Shortly after that, ourcustomer conveyed her interest in revising the work order thus reducing the amount to $1,360.00. The revised work order included less trimming, soil treatment andfertilizer product. When the first technicians, being the soil treating crew, had done the job there was a concern that the crew had not completed the job. This was confirmed by our office. Due to a misunderstanding of the crew, only a small portion of the soil treatments were done. We immediately rectified the situation with the customer and revisited the property to completethe treatments. This initial point in communication occurred within less than one business day. Our customer confirmed with the estimator that she was pleased with the work that was done and understands her revised invoice. Although she is not going to reschedule the rest of thecanceled work she agreed to contact the Revdex.com to rectify her complaint. Sincerely, Design Tree Maintenance Management

On April 23, 2013 my husband and I met with [redacted] from Design Tree Maintenance. We used another Arborist with their company in 2009. [redacted] gave us a quote for tree trimming, removal, fertilization and a large $1200 tree replacement, all totaling $2325.

On May 15, 2013 I called [redacted] to contract for most of the the work and fertilization. He told me he would put me on the schedule and call me back. On May 20 I called [redacted] again and we made an agreement for work to be preformed Friday, May 24 in the afternoon.

Friday came and went and no Design Tree Maintenance, no phone calls, nothing. Sat morning I called [redacted] only to get his voice mail that he was on vacation until the 28th. I called the company phone to see if they could help me out. I left three seperate messages on their company phone on Saturday the 25th. I talked to Andrew their scheduling manager on Tues the 28th. He said he could reach [redacted] and would call me back. I never heard from him either. Today, the 29th at 3;10PM [redacted] called and apologized saying he had lost my phone number prior to going on vacation.

From my initial call with [redacted] on May 15 I told him we were leaving AZ for the summer on May 30 so I needed to be sure this work got done. Because we didn't hear from them we went ahead and fertilized our trees thisd past weekend. At this point, since we are leaving tomorrow, we decided not to have the new $1200 tree installed until we return in Sept so it doesn't sit here all summer without anyone to check on it. The work we need done now is a dead tree removal and tree trimming. After much chit chat [redacted] said he would call his tree workers and see if he could get them here in the a.m. before we leave tomorrow. I didn't hear from him so I called him back at 4PM and 4:45PM., no response. At 5PM I placed a call to the owner, [redacted]. After talking to the secretary she came back on the line and told me Mr. [redacted] wasn't available to me and for me to call back to the office tomorrow and talk to [redacted], the office manager.

It obvious that Design Tree Maintenance doesn't want to do my maintenance work if I'm not buying the $1200 tree, and $475 work of fertilization from them.

Now we're leaving for the summer tomorrow and will probably end up with a fine from the HOA for the dead tree and may loose big limbs off the trees that need to be trimmed because they will be to top heavy by Sept.

I've used DTM twice now in the past six months and I've been very pleased with their services. We initially used them to remove a very large tree in our back yard. Since we live in a patio home, the removal had to be very surgical and pin-pointed, and DTM completed the job with perfection. The tree and stump were removed in one morning, and there was no damage to walls, roofs, patios or gates. It was like the tree was never there. When we had issues with our queen palms, Ben, the field arborist, correctly diagnosed our concerns and implemented a maintenance program for the trees. Within weeks of their fertilization, the queens are looking much better. Other than a rescheduling issue, which was unavoidable and no big deal, DTM exceeded my expectations. In fact, they went above and beyond by repairing two drip valves that were leaking prior to their initial arrival, and they did this at no additional cost to me. They are pricey, but there is definitely a value to their services. I will use them again, and I would definitely recommend their services.

Review: This company cut down a tree and were supposed to fix it so it couldn't grow back. About a week later they came and did a "stump grind" that was supposed to solve the problem. Now the tree is growing back and, first I was told that I would have to put stuff on it to kill the tree and then they would come back and grind the stump again. I asked for help in determining how I would "fix it" and someone was supposed to call me. No call. I have called the arborist from whom I ordered the service twice and he has not returned my call. At age 82 I am not physically able to take care of this and do not think I should have to pay again to get the stump removed. I have done business with this company before but will not trust them again.Desired Settlement: I want the tree stump removed or destroyed so it doesn't come back again, and I want it done NOW, not after the tree grows back up, and I do not want to have to pay someone else to do any part of it.

Business

Response:

We are sorry to hear of Mrs [redacted] frustration in this matter. Mrs [redacted] paid to have her stump ground, which consists of taking the tree stump below the surface for aesthetic purposes. In 99 percent of cases the tree will not survive grinding procedure, however a tree is a living organism, and a particular hardy specimen will sometimes produce sprouts from the remnants of the stump in a last ditch effort to survive. The stump grinding WAS properly completed as per the contract, however we offered to regrind Mrs [redacted] stump at no charge once she complained of sprouting growth(we cannot guarantee that the stump will not grow back, we offered this simply to appease Mrs [redacted]), We requested that she put some sort of stump killer on the stump prior to the regrind, as a simple re-grind will not prevent the sprouts from returning yet again. Let me bring to point that Design Tree Maintenance is NOT a licensed applicator and CANNOT apply pesticides of any sort at a customers property. At this point we are unable to provide further assistance, as short of breaking the law and applying the chemical ourselves, any further grinding will be a very temporary solution without assistance from the customer in applying over the counter chemicals. We were contracted to grind the stump, which has been completed as per the contract, we feel that any further services at the customers property will be outside of the range of the contract and will be billed accordingly.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am not satisfied with their response because it was a LIE! The vendor did not fulfill his obligation to me, nor has the Revdex.com done anything at all. I have since had a stroke and am not in physical condition to continue this back and forth game. Meanwhile another person has tried to remedy the problem and we are waiting to see if it has been solved, no thanks or effort from the people who created it. I described in detail the original problem and you should have that info in your files, unless you have deleted it. In any case I have no confidence that you would do anything more so forget it. That does not mean I have agreed that Design Tree Maintenance was not at fault.

Regards,

very disappointed, said they would trim the citrus and pick off the remaining fruit. When I called they said they would come back out to do what they said they would do in the first place for an additional $200. Will never use them again and neither will my neighbors

Review: We had five Sisu trees removed. We were told that they would get rid of the stumps affer a period of time and we would have NO regrowth. They scored the stumps and we were told to pour a chemical on the stump weekly to kill the stump, which we did. They came back and drilled out the stumps to the ground. We were also told that they would drill out some of the larger roots that were showing through the grass. My complaint is that we have regrowth where the stumps were as well as growths popping up in our lawn. We have contacted a number of people at Design Tree from the esitmator to the owner. At that time were were told there was no guarantee that they could get rid of the regrowth completely. This is absolutely the opposite of what we were told by the estimator ([redacted]). My husband spoke to the owner who said he would come and look at our yard. It has been MONTHS and there still is no resolution. The tree in our front yard that was removed is now a HUGE bush. I do not have the exact dates that we contacted the business, however, it has been at least six times since June, 2013. My husband even went to their place of business to speak to them.Desired Settlement: Get rid of all the regrowth and complete the job as we understood it to be done.

Business

Response:

Design Tree Maintenance quoted the customers Sissoo trees to be cut at base and the stumps ground in March 2013. At time of sell the Arborist informed the customer of the resilient nature of Sissoos and warned them of the potential chance in the Sissioos growing back even after the stumps were ground. The customer then inquired as to any suggestions we could give to counter the risk in shoots growing back. At that point the Arborist did consent to our crew cutting grooves into all the stumps so the customer could apply chemicals to them before we did the grinding. Please note, by law Design Tree Maintenance is not a licensed applicator for any form of chemical or pesticides, therefore we were unable to assist in any function of the chemical treatment process. It was agreed and we followed up with the customer over a period 1 1/2 months after the removals to insure plenty of time was allotted for the chemicals to be applied. We then ground the stumps May 18th. It is not within Design Tree Maintenance overall policies to guarantee ‘no grow back’ on any tree removed. We were hired to cut the Sissoos at the base and grind the stumps, the contract was entirely fulfilled. We are not responsible for any matters outside the contact.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

We were NEVER told that there was a possibility of the trees growing back. We were told that they could not apply the chemicals and that is something we had to do, which we did. Again, we were not told that there was a possibility that there would be offshoots. We were told if we applied the chemicals and they came back and ground the stumps, that would kill the root system. We were told that is the reason the chemicals were applied and the stumps were ground down.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Design Tree Maintenance proudly maintains a firm company policy and high standard regarding all 'guaranteed' work. Our Certified Arborist's strongly uphold our excelling ethical business procedures as we strive to maintain perfect customer service. This would include that any guarantee given to a customer is recorded in the contract and signed by both Arborist and customer upon time of sell. The Arborist who provided this particular work order adamantly confirms the customer had a clear understanding of the entire situation. There was no guarantee given to the customer at any point, regarding the Sissoos growing 'off shoots' or anything like of that nature. The Arborist also confirms that the customer was clearly excepting in the understanding that the Sissoo's had a high probability of 'off shoots' growing back after the trees and stumps were removed. This fact is made very apparent by the common knowledge that the customer asked the Arborist about applying chemicals to the stumps before they were ground to help reduce the risk of 'off shoots' growing back. Again, because of the information given to the customer about the risks of grow back after removals, this was the only reason for the grooves we cut in the stumps and why we agreed to prolong the time period which is specifically required for the customers chemical treatment before the stump grinding. Design Tree Maintenance is not responsible for any services not stated on the invoice. Given the clarity of this situation we will not render additional services to this customer with or without charge. Our contract has been completely fulfilled and we respectfully acquit any accountability in relation to the unfounded claims from this customer or any other terms outside the contract.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I can go back and forth until the end of time and it will be my word against Design Tree Maintenance's that we WERE NOT told that there would be offshoots after the chemical application and grinding.

Initially, prior to hiring Design Tree Maintenance, I received two other estimates. I had one estimate that was considerably lower than Desing Tree's. I told this to our estimator and his response was, "what can we do to get your business. We will match what your lowest bid is". He told me they were certified arborists and the other place was a landscaping operation. He convinced me that they were the better choice. We eventually ended up paying $500.00 more than my lowest bid because of the assurances we received from Design Tree personnel. UNFORTUNATELY, I trusted that this was a reputable business and did not get every word of what was discussed in writing. Had I known that this company would not stand behind their work, they never would have been hired. I am beyond disappointed.

Regards,

I have used this company for approximately 5 years. Their work has been highly satisfactory and their attention to service exemplary. Today, [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted] did a beautiful job on three huge trees. They were here at the precise appointed time, worked solid for nearly three hours, cleaned up their area spotlessly (including the street.) I am always happy to recommend them.

We purchased a tree and had tree work done by DTM in October 2014.

We received very poor service, but in addition found out that we were charged 400% mark-up on a Sonoran Emerald Tree. We spoke with the manager, owner, and wrote letters asking for a partial refund. We were verbally abused on the phone and received no reply to our requests. I recommend that anyone considering having tree work or landscaping done by DTM--- DON'T.

They sent out for the bid an "arborist(?)" But a very rude, unprofessional crew arrived that hardly could speak English. They arrived 4 hours late and did not clean-up correctly. Most importantly the tree I found out was $325 from the nursery. We paid $1500. We made a big mistake by believing they were a reputable company and fair. They had been recommended by a friend.

Please do your research and avoid this company.