Tree Care Horror Stories In Northern Va

We’ve talked about the risks of using uninsured and unlicensed companies many times; however, in honor of Halloween we have brought you real life tree care horror stories! We collected these stories from yelp and other review sites to demonstrate how things can go dangerously wrong when you hire an unprofessional, inexperienced company.

*For the privacy of the companies and individuals all names have been removed.*

Hard Prune: Posted On Yelp

“I contacted ******** to trim three trees in my backyard to get the branches under control that were hanging in my neighbor’s yard. He agreed to come out the next day and take care of things. When I got home, I was shocked – every branch and leaf from all three trees was GONE. He took it upon himself, without my permission, to do a “hard prune”.

I have had a certified arborist come out and the trees are not going to be able to come back. It is going to cost approximately $2000 to have the damaged trees removed and replaced. Even then, it will take years to get back to where I was. -Posted on Yelp”

“Miscommunication” Mishap: Posted On Yelp

“Very upset with their work – they “accidentally” cut down a tree that was NOT part of our work order because the work crew did not understand the order and gave a third tree a nice gouge with a chainsaw. The management was apologetic, and tried to explain the accident away due to “miscommunication” but that will not replace our maple tree that was over 3 stories tall.    Bottom line – if the work crew does not follow the order – all of their work is a gamble.  If you want to get rid of all the trees in your yard – go ahead and call them.  I even showed them the tree and verbally confirmed the order….still shaking my head.-Posted on Yelp”

Collateral Damage: Posted On Yelp

“Based on a good review, I hired ********** Tree Service.  they came out to take down an old cherry tree.  It had rained for days. A large truck was driven onto the property leaving many deep grooves in my lawn and the fence was inadvertently torn and partially ripped down. When they came out to repair damages they filled in the gouges in my lawn with gravel and bent the fence up a bit.  Its still a mess. Never again! -Posted on Yelp”

Going The Extra Unwanted Mile: Posted On Yelp

“They cut down a 200 year old magnolia tree without permission. They had tied ribbons around all the trees they were supposed to cut down, and there was no ribbon on the magnolia. Then, there was another tree they were planning to let fall in the front of my house. I said, ‘don’t you dare let that [blasted] tree fall.’ ‘Oh it’ll be okay, we know what we‘re doing’ ‘Yeah’ Well it just about cracked my driveway. So, they’re in litigation right now.” -Posted on Yelp

Runaway Expert:Posted On Yelp

“Well, it started out okay.  ********* showed up as promised.  My husband and I took him around the yard and showed him what we needed done and got his advice on a few things.  He gave us an estimate, which was mid-priced, compared to the other estimates we’d received.

He did about 2/3s of the work and said he’d come back the next day with his helper to finish a tree that he couldn’t do on his own.  My dear trusting husband paid him for all the work in advance.  And yep, you guessed it, ****** did not show up the next day, or the next, or the next.  He has not returned any of our phone calls.  This was 3 months ago now.  Guess he’s not coming back, huh? He sure cashed our check fast, though — the same day!  -Posted on Yelp”

Don’t let your tree care experience become a tree care horror story remember to check all certifications, licences, and insurance before hiring a tree care company.