Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/09/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  About a week and one-half after the City Forester had warned my neighbor about damaging other neighbor's trees, the same neighbor had Blue Ribbon Pruning do work on my trees. On October 13th, 2022, WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION, Blue Ribbon Pruning did work on at least four of my trees near the property line. In my opinion, the work was poor and unprofessional. The work was not done at an ideal time of the year and at a poor time of year for disease prone trees, such as the American Elm and the flowering crab. It appeared that they used a power pole saw and attempted to trim the trees in a straight line along the property line/fence line. Many of the cuts were rough & jagged. Many stubs were left. There was torn bark on some of the cuts. Some of the cuts were made on MY side of the property line. The cleanup was poor in my yard and also in the alley where they apparently chipped the brush. When I called the company regarding work, they denied doing anything illegal, but eventually did offer to send somebody out to give me an estimate to do a proper job (declined!). Then the person on the phone hung up on me. When I checked with *** to see if the the person who did the work was a Certified Arborist, there was no record of anyone with Blue Ribbon Pruning being a Certified Arborist at that time.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2023

  Per the law in ********* when it pertains to trees along property lines, it is completely legal for a homeowner to prune a tree that crosses into their property and is a nuisance, as long as it does not risk the health of the tree. 
  
  
  We do have a Certified Arborist on staff who follows all *** guidelines and local laws passionately. Complainant *** have searched the incorrect name as he has held a *** ******* for around 8 or 9 years. 
  
  
  The complainant and the neighbor who hired us have a long standing feud to the point where there are accusations of one killing the others pet. 
  During the time of the project we were hired for, complainant did not allow us on his property. Due to this, we were unable to make proper cuts in some areas, were unable to clean up any mess that *** have been made on his side. 
  Our Certified Arborist follows all *** standards rigorously when it comes to pruning in season as well as making proper cuts, as long as he is allowed to reach the tree properly. Some cuts *** have been made on complainants side, as my Certified Arborist was attempting to make the most proper cuts he could as to not leave the tree at risk. 
  As stated, we offered to have a Certified Arborist come back and provide an estimate for the trees we originally werent allowed to get to, but he declined our offer. The requested resolution was already offered, apology as well as having a Certified Arborist come out. 
  The work we did was within legal limits in the *********** and the complainants concerns could have been avoided had they let us over into their property to make proper cuts and do a proper clean up. 
  During our phone call I kindly explained all of this as well as sent him the ********** of ********** PDF explaining laws regarding property line trees; the complainant refused to accept what we did was legal and also refused to accept our offer to remedy his concerns.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/20/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  This is a response to complaint ID ********. Regarding state law to trees along property lines, I believe that a neighbor can prune trees up to a property line, but NOT beyond the property line. And, it must be done so as not risk the health of the tree. As stated in the complaint and to the business in a call I made four days after the work was done, there were some cuts made on my side of the property line and that the work, in my opinion, was poor & unprofessional. There were many rough & jagged cuts, many stubs left, some cuts with torn bark and there was a poor clean up. The work was not done at an ideal time of year and a poor time of year for disease prone trees, such as the American Elm and the flowering crab. When I checked ***** list of Certified Arborists in the area at the time the work was done, I did not see K***'s name, nor any other name from Blue Ribbon Pruning on the list. I will not comment on the one statement on the neighbor, as it is irrelevant, other than to mention that the neighbor has a decades long history of property damage in the neighborhood & I believe had been warned by the City Forester about doing damage to neighbor's trees about one and one-half weeks earlier. Blue Ribbon Pruning NEVER asked permission to work on my trees. Blue Ribbon Pruning NEVER contacted me before the work was done, while doing the work, nor since the work was done. It was only in my call to Blue Ribbon Pruning after the business told me three times that they had done nothing illegal and I responded each time that some of the cuts were made on my side of the property line, that they made an offer to have someone come out to give me an estimate to do a proper job. This offer was declined as they NEVER had requested permission to work on my trees previously and that I felt had done a poor job originally. They should not get paid twice for not doing a proper job the first time (without asking permission!). Blue Ribbon Pruning NEVER offered an apology, NEVER sent me an *********************** PDF regarding property line trees, and hung up on me after I declined their one offer.

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/22/2023

  The response has not provided any new information, only repeated statements we have already covered. 
  Permission is not needed to cut limbs that cross the property line. While I understand the frustration, there was no ill intent or misdoings. 
  Proper cuts could have been made had the home owner allowed us on his property and to climb his tree. 
  We did not attempt to get permission as the homeowner who hired us informed us of the ongoing feud - so we knew that even if we asked, we wouldnt get permission. My Certified Arborist did the best any Certified Arborist could do given the circumstances and the feud between neighbors. 
  Since the initial complaint I have spoken to our ground guy who clearly remembers the clean up. He said he raked any debris up and over the fence line and cleaned off the driveway. 
  Finally, the trees were not pruned out of season. Actually fall is the perfect time to prune Crab Apple trees. While it is best to prune trees in the winter months for all trees, only Oak trees should not be done in warmer months.

  We apologize that you are unhappy with the work we did for your neighbor.  We hope you guys can figure things out and work together next time either of you need tree work done so you can avoid all of these problems as this whole situation resulted from the feud between neighbors and has nothing to do with the quality of work we do.