Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/18/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Sunday, January 20th, a tree fell on our cabin in ***********, **. January 21st, I reported the claim to our insurance company and began urgently contacting roofing companies. Southern Tree Care, **** responded promptly. They understood it was an insurance claim. ***** visited the cabin. Despite snow on the roof, he assured me the job could be done, even in severe weather. I mentioned that my policy had a $1000 debris removal limit and questioned their $5450 charge for tree removal. ***** insisted that the cost was justified, explaining that the tree, though small and living, required substantial work. He added that their customers often don't understand the complexity, but we agreed to hire them as emergency services were needed, and our insurance confirmed coverage.The following day, I received a call from ******* stating that they wouldn't be able to proceed due to weather conditions, and the work would be delayed until Friday. We expected emergency service as they promised in their price. Fortunately, when they did arrive on Friday, the snow had not melted.Afterward, I contacted companies for estimates on removing additional trees that could pose a threat. The first company that visited questioned why the debris was left from that job. I then asked for their estimate without disclosing what we paid.They quoted $2000 to remove the tree. This led me to ask all other companies for their estimate would have been. Every company was shocked by what we were charged. The other estimates I received ranged from $800 to $3500. Some apologized this happened to us and said there was alot of price gouging since the hurricane.We tried to resolve this with Southern Tree Care, asking them to reconsider based on the multiple estimates and confusion on debris removal. However, they refused and stated they will be taking legal action and filing a lien on our property. I have photos and emails that may also be reviewed. I'm only able to upload one here.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/20/2025

  they did not perform the services they charged us for, the debris removal. They included a charge for $1000 for "debris removal" They did not take anything.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/09/2025

  Most of this is completely false. We started the work the same day that she gave her permission. Although we did remove a tree off of the roof of this woman's cabin, her complaint is completely ridiculous.  She knew exactly what we would do for the clean up and how and where the wood and brush would be left. She knew the exact prices that she would be charged before she gave us permission to do the job for her.  I can supply text messages and emails that prove that she knew the work and the price and approved it as well as telling me that her insurance man approved it. She is simply a dishonest bully that needed us to respond in an emergency and then she decided that she did not want to pay the price that she agreed to. She says she got prices before from other companies before she hired us but she told my husband that day that he looked at it for her that no one else had been out there to look at it. When he returned to do the job within the next day or so, there were no foot prints in the snow other than my husbands. She may have gotten some companies to come out after the work was done but they did not see the *********, slippery conditions and inclines of the roof, etc. Estimates after the fact mean nothing. Even if she did get much lower prices, different companies charge different prices and plain and simply , she chose us and our price. She probably does this to businesses all of the time and she is not used to it when they don't back down and she doesn't like it. I am happy to provide the proof of everything. I am currently not communicating with her as I told her I would not. We are in the process of legal action against her and she will be hearing from our attorney soon.