s/o Contractor post... (long)

PearlieGirl'sMom

Since my response was so long, I thought I'd write my own post..

Yeah... we just got taken by the Tree Service guy. A month ago, DH had a few people do an estimate on a tree we need taken down. We went with a company that seemed to have a good rep, knew about the houses on the block and had just taken the neighbor's tree down across the street.

This old man comes to do the estimate. The whole time he is talking about wanting to have a beer. But, he isn't the one doing the work, just doing the estimate. He claimed he couldn't find the papers to write the estimate, so DH writes an agreement and has him sign it. We gave them a month to get the job done (until May 21) since we didn't have the money anyway and needed to save. He wanted cash for a deposit and I said No, I'd write a check. We gave a $200 deposit and the check was cashed the next week by the owner.

Last week, DH called because they had not come yet and the owner had still not returned DH's call from the night of the estimate. The man that did the estimate calls back and says they are "backed up" but will call and give DH a date. He never calls back and we still have no paperwork from them.

It dawns on DH yesterday that he has no liability waiver, no proof of their insurance and no idea how they plan to take it down -- it is not written. So, he comes home and types up a document. He saw on the web that if a company is not willing to sign it, they are not reputable.

So he calls the owner and the estimate guy and leaves a message. The estimate guy calls back and DH says he is drunk off his a**. He gives a bunch of excuses why it is not done yet. And says he'll have the owner call. My DH says, I hear what you are saying but that is not my problem. I have a contract signed by you saying it will be done by May 21 and that is Friday. It is going to rain Tues and Wed.

The owner calls back. He starts giving a whole bunch of excuses. Then says, well, when will you be home? We'll do it then. DH says he is not going to let that guy use him as an excuse now. He says my wife is home all day and is capable of making the decisions. Then, he tells they owner that he has a liability statement he wants the owner to sign along with proof of liability insurance. The owner says he isn't going to sign it, he brings his own paper and won't show DH the proof but DH can call the insurance company and get them to fax him something. Then, he says to DH, "I don't have to deal with this ***." So, DH says, give me my deposit back.

The man is supposed to come today... not here yet..

What the hell is wrong with people?

JOEBunny

You definitely want to verify the insurance, not just see proof.  We had a tree taken out ($3,900 for one tree, and that was the best quote by $2,000 and one was $8,000).  The ropes broke and they dropped a limb on the deck.  They sent someone to fix it and I withheld a portion of the payment equating to what I thought it might cost me to fix the damage.  They took a week to fix it, then hounded me like debt collectors for the money.  I send checks from my bank and only have a few paper checks, so I never use them if I don't absolutely have to.  I paid them within 4 days (how long the bank took to process the payment) and you would have thought they had been waiting on it for 4 years. 

Tree people are odd.