Tree Doctors

In the summer of 2018, I hired Tree Doctors to remove a tree on my neighbour's property that was posing a threat of falling and damaging my property, namely a brand new fence and landscaping. Initially, of all the companies I vetted for the job they were approachable and relatively organised. I opted to move ahead with Tree Doctors based on the positive reviews I found online, and the work was scheduled shortly after. Sadly, during the removal of the tree, a large limb was dropped resulting in significant damage to the fence I was aiming to protect by hiring Tree Doctors to remove the sickly tree.

Accidents happen, that's understandable. However, after hearing the crash, I approached the crew to find out what had happened and they initially tried to convince me that a broken fence post could merely be hammered back into the ground, not mentioning the damage caused to an 8-foot section of the fence at the time that later had to be rebuilt.

After working my way through customer service representatives on the phone and explaining the issue and the crew's response on site, I was relieved to hear the matter would be dealt with immediately and the fence would be restored to its original state. The customer service manager moved quickly after that point to request a quote from the company that had recently installed our new fence to ensure the repairs were done properly and with respect to our property.

After receiving a quote for the repair, Tree Doctor's general manager called me directly requesting I allow them to find an alternative solution "because they need to make money too." Ultimately, I agreed to look at alternative contractors of their choosing, all of which turned out to be priced significantly lower than the original fence contractor I had hired, which raised my concern. When asked about the company names, materials planned for use, the scope of repair work and warranty on the repairs, Tree Doctors declined to provide any response to my questions and agreed to hire the company that installed my fence initially.

The repairs were finally completed approximately two months after the damage took place and I paid the remaining balance owed to Tree Doctors in full after withholding it until my satisfaction in the repairs. At that time, I believed the ordeal was over, and we could put everything behind us.

Sadly, three months later I was brought back into a contract disagreement between the two companies. Tree Doctors had failed to pay the fence contractor in full based on their "feeling" that the work performed by the fence company was not worth the amount approved in the contract, citing a service that was apparently discussed between the two companies on a phone call, but was not present on the contract signed by both companies.

Fortunately, after several days of back and forth via email, phone and failed in-person visits, Tree Doctors paid the fence contractor in full for the agreed upon, contracted amount, but not until everyone in this matter had wasted days and weeks of time squabbling over something that was not part of the contract.

Within an hour of paying the fence company their due amount, Tree Doctor's staff took to the internet to leave the fence company a negative review on the basis that Tree Doctors felt that they should have been able to pay less than the agreed-upon fee for the repairs because a service that was not included in the signed work agreement was not performed on the day of the repairs. Confusing, I know...

I'm not a person that typically leaves a review, good or bad, but in this case, I felt obliged to share my experience with Tree Doctors as they proved to operate with a lack of maturity and professionalism in my opinion. I hope that in future, should you hire them, you do not encounter the same experience I did.

I would not recommend this company.