Giraldo was hired to plant 11 arborvitae trees In our yard and in about 1 month one by one they started dying. 9 out of 11 are dead. After numerous attempt to contact him to see how to prevent dying trees, and to replace trees that died he has not answered our requests. We followed his instructions on care. Planted on May 29, 2020. Sent first text on July 15 about dying trees.
He kept saying he would stop by but never did and eventually stopped returning our texts
Want others to know they must get everything In writing with a signed contract.
Giraldo Ground Control Response
• Oct 20, 2020
I received this complaint in the mail late last week. First I would like to let you know that the $2350.00 was not only for the purchase and installation of the Arborvitaes but it also included removal and disposal of existing shrubs and mulching the entire bed along the back fence which backs up to a commercial parking lot. When *** gave them the quote for the work, there was no discussion of any type of warranty. *** had given them the quote which he gave them our company’s cost of the shrubs because he was trying to help keep the cost down for this couple and not the retail price. He had added the labor and cost of material for all the other work that was done as well. If they would have mentioned wanting a warranty we would have marked up the shrub price to cover if there would have been a possibility that we would have to warranty anything. The wholesale nursery we purchased the shrubs from does not give us any warranty on the shrubs which is not out of the normal. Most wholesale nurseries do not supply warranties. Our company did the work as discussed. They had sent a message and said they were happy with the service. Over the next month and a half the weather was very hot and dry. About a month and a half had gone by and we received a message that a few were dying. *** had answered them back and told them to make sure the water was penetrating the soil and not running off with how dry the ground had been with the current weather. At the beginning of the next week again they sent a message that they were dying. *** had told them he would try to stop by during the week and take a look. We are a small family business and that week *** and I (Keiths wife) had worked 12 hour days in the field and didn’t get a chance to stop by. We don’t sit in an office, we are the people actually doing the work. That weekend we had left for our family vacation and stopping by was accidentally overlooked. During our vacation they again sent us a message and *** had let them know we were on vacation and he would come by when we returned. They replied and seemed to be ok with that. When we returned from vacation, there was another message that they had talked to the city prosecutor and that they decided they were going to take us to court which is why we no longer returned their message. We never heard from them after that. I did hear from another company that we had been doing work for in the area (which is where this customer found us from) that this customer had been calling them and harassing them trying to get a hold of us after they were supposedly going to take us to court. *** would have tried to work with them until they threatened to take us to court. We don’t believe our company is responsible for unforeseen circumstances because of weather or possibly another company spraying anything along the fenceline on the parking lot side of the fence. If you need anything else I would be happy to answer any further questions you may have.
Thank you,
***
Partner
Giraldo was hired to plant 11 arborvitae trees In our yard and in about 1 month one by one they started dying. 9 out of 11 are dead. After numerous attempt to contact him to see how to prevent dying trees, and to replace trees that died he has not answered our requests. We followed his instructions on care. Planted on May 29, 2020. Sent first text on July 15 about dying trees.
He kept saying he would stop by but never did and eventually stopped returning our texts
Want others to know they must get everything In writing with a signed contract.
I received this complaint in the mail late last week. First I would like to let you know that the $2350.00 was not only for the purchase and installation of the Arborvitaes but it also included removal and disposal of existing shrubs and mulching the entire bed along the back fence which backs up to a commercial parking lot. When *** gave them the quote for the work, there was no discussion of any type of warranty. *** had given them the quote which he gave them our company’s cost of the shrubs because he was trying to help keep the cost down for this couple and not the retail price. He had added the labor and cost of material for all the other work that was done as well. If they would have mentioned wanting a warranty we would have marked up the shrub price to cover if there would have been a possibility that we would have to warranty anything. The wholesale nursery we purchased the shrubs from does not give us any warranty on the shrubs which is not out of the normal. Most wholesale nurseries do not supply warranties. Our company did the work as discussed. They had sent a message and said they were happy with the service. Over the next month and a half the weather was very hot and dry. About a month and a half had gone by and we received a message that a few were dying. *** had answered them back and told them to make sure the water was penetrating the soil and not running off with how dry the ground had been with the current weather. At the beginning of the next week again they sent a message that they were dying. *** had told them he would try to stop by during the week and take a look. We are a small family business and that week *** and I (Keiths wife) had worked 12 hour days in the field and didn’t get a chance to stop by. We don’t sit in an office, we are the people actually doing the work. That weekend we had left for our family vacation and stopping by was accidentally overlooked. During our vacation they again sent us a message and *** had let them know we were on vacation and he would come by when we returned. They replied and seemed to be ok with that. When we returned from vacation, there was another message that they had talked to the city prosecutor and that they decided they were going to take us to court which is why we no longer returned their message. We never heard from them after that. I did hear from another company that we had been doing work for in the area (which is where this customer found us from) that this customer had been calling them and harassing them trying to get a hold of us after they were supposedly going to take us to court. *** would have tried to work with them until they threatened to take us to court. We don’t believe our company is responsible for unforeseen circumstances because of weather or possibly another company spraying anything along the fenceline on the parking lot side of the fence. If you need anything else I would be happy to answer any further questions you may have.
Thank you,
***
Partner