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9/30/16

Ghosted by Tree Guys

9/30/2016
So we have this tree. Its a nuisance tree. And its on our property line, smack dab in the way of a new fence which is our latest home project. Our current fence is 23 years old and has way exceeded our expectations in longevity, but now that our dog is gone we can get a new one and not have to pile a bunch of junk along the bottom edge to prevent escapage from happening. Its part of our retirement plan to install a fence that will last longer than we do. I certainly do not want to have to install another fence when I'm 75, so this one will last 50 years. It will be beautiful, a white PVC fence where both sides look great, and if we keep it clean it will sparkle for a long, long time.

We knew this project would be a tough one and we have been blessed with nice, cooperative neighbors who are also looking forward to a new fence. Especially since they don't have to look at our old ugly one anymore, plus they will enjoy the beauty for free. For us it will cost a lot of money, but it is necessary since we have a pool that must be secured. So, the neighbor part and property lines are not a problem. We actually are using our original home property survey we received when we purchased our home so we save a few bucks there. We tore down our old blue gazebo building where we kept pool supplies and hauled it to the dump with a friend and saved a few bucks there by not getting a junk hauler.

We also sold our 60 ft shade canopy that ran along the side of our house, and made a few bucks there. We're also going to sell our utility trailer when we're done since we don't use it anymore for garage sales, and this will be our last home project so we won't need to rent equipment from Home Depot and haul it.

Anyway, back to the tree. Its so tall, we need a climber. We thought we could do it ourselves, like the other two trees we already cut down, but this one needs a professional with a really tall ladder, or a boom lift or a climber. Of course we think the job is probably worth about $100, but that's not what the tree services think. We've been trying to get quotes from tree companies and we're finding out they are the a difficult business to do business with. We tried references from friends, looking at craigslist, using referral services and even calling a number of a tree guy from the local bar.

We've gotten quotes for $800 down to $250 to cut down one scraggly tall tree. Of course the cheapest quotes are from tree guys on craigslist and they only text. I've sent pictures and videos of the trees and they just can't get their shit together and commit to a time.  So we arranged a deal with the cheapest one (I guess you get what you pay for here) to do it Saturday. Last Saturday we agreed, and here we are a week has gone by and we do not have confirmation the dude is coming tomorrow. I texted early this morning and have not heard back. It's like I've been ghosted, like the dating game that millennials do. They just quit responding without the courtesy of an ending salutation. The guy could have said I changed my mind, I'm too busy, This is too small a job, I don't want to work the weekend, etc. You get it. But this dude doesn't. You would think he would want the money, but it seems like tree guys only want to make a minimum of $500 a job, they don't want to waste time on less than that. But, for me it takes a lot of hours to make $500, certainly more than a half day of work.

Anyway, I shouldn't be to surprised since its happened with two other tree services this week. One was a service we used a year ago and figured they would like the repeat business. The boss comes out and looks at the tree and quotes us $350 plus $75 to grind stump. We are learning that this is the market rate and probably have to accept that. So we made a counter offer, made 3 calls to the boss and they all go to voicemail and for many days we have not heard back. We were ghosted again.

Meanwhile we need to order a new shed that takes three weeks and we notify our choice of a fence vendor and make a deposit to install in 5 weeks. But it all depends on the dumb tree. And the dumb tree guys.

So, if anyone in Tampa knows a reliable, affordable tree guy send him our way.
 
 
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