Check Background Of Tree Services, Bureau Advises

If you’re about to get your trees trimmed, do as Valley resident RoJean Gabel did.

After a worker from R&C Tree Service left a business card at her Opportunity home, Gabel made calls to get two other estimates and to check that R&C was licensed and bonded.

Well done, say representatives of Spokane’s Better Business Bureau.

Since November’s ice storm, complaints and inquiries about local tree service companies have increased, said Lisa Stephens, president of the bureau.

“Whenever you have disasters, you’ll see itinerant yard-care workers showing up at your door,” said Stephens. “We give a lot of advice on how to check out those operations.”

Tree service companies rank among the 15 most-asked-about businesses and among the top 5 for complaints against a business, she said.

Gabel’s not complaining.

She had seven trees topped and two removed. She paid $1,400 for the work after getting estimates of $2,300 and $2,700 from two other companies.

“I saw them working in the area and looked in the phone book to see they were licensed and bonded,” Gabel said, adding that she is pleased the work they did at her house.

One of the workers told her she’d have “a canopy of green to look at by springtime.”

The company hauled off most of the debris but left behind some wood which a friend of Gabel’s will use as firewood.

But many jobs haven’t ended as satisfactorily as Gabel’s.

Residents have told Better Business Bureau representatives that some tree trimmers have left behind a bigger mess than before the work was started - with dirt, gravel, grass and wood chips all over their driveways and yards.

“The problems we see are incomplete work and not doing the job the way the customer asked,” said Stephens. “Residents put a large amount (of money) down and the trimmers say they’ll be back to finish.”

Some never return. Others, she said, prune the trees so badly that they’ll never grow back.

Her advice: “If someone just shows up in your area and says, ‘Hey, I was in the area and saw you had a tree down,’ that’s when you should be checking.”

Such on-the-spot hiring increases the chances of consumers being ripped off because they are caught off-guard or give in to high-pressure pitches, she said.

While elderly people are most often taken advantage of, Stephens said seniors are more thorough than any other age group in checking out the credentials of companies.

“Consumers need to get that information in writing and get all the specifics,” she said. “Otherwise they could be left with a complete mess.”

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DON’T GET RIPPED OFF The Better Business Bureau offers these tips to avoid getting ripped off by unscrupulous contractors: Get a minimum of three written estimates. Check with Better Business Bureau for a reliability report on the companies. Verify that the companies are in compliance with licensing, bonding and insurance requirements. (Call the state Department of Labor and Industry at 324-6200 to find out about licensing requirements. Ask companies for insurance cards and call the listed insurer to verify information.) Have a written contract that includes specifics such as who will be responsible for removing debris after trees are trimmed. Never pay more than one-third of the total price before work is complete. Never pay cash, and always make the check out to the company, not to an individual.