Customer ReviewsforTrees By Jake

I have the same situation as ******** *. We signed the same contract. The amount charged our insurance company was very very high for an amount of time far below the eight hour minimum charge for very expensive equipment. I will never again use this company and would warn all others to seek other tree services. They took advantage of people in an emergency situation. I give stars only for the work done not the bill.

I’m giving two stars instead of one or none because I had used them in the past and still believe that they have good knowledge, skilled workers, good equipment and were responsive when I needed them. However, I now deeply regret the fact that I had previously recommended them to my friends and neighbors, as I take issue with their business practices. To do emergency work, Trees by Jake requires that you sign their contract, which did not give any bottom-line estimate of what the cost would be. At the time that I signed the contract, it seemed like an advantage, because I was told that it would enable the business to deal directly with the homeowner’s insurance company and be paid directly by the insurance company instead of requiring my involvement. I suspect that I am not the only person who, under the impact of a sudden severe adverse event on my property, could not fully appreciate the implications of the legal jargon in the contract. The requirement to let them bill for 8 hours of work includes the considerable equipment costs for the full 8 hours, and they repeat those 8 hours of charges for each emergency client they serve that day regardless of the number of hours actually worked. When they had not been paid 27 days after they had submitted their large bill to my insurance company, which was two days after the visit by our third and final insurance adjuster, (insurance issues had been delayed by the need to combine our two homeowners’ insurance claims in less than a month) they threatened that if payment was not sent in 3 more days they would bill me directly, put a lien on my house, and charge me for their legal fees and a 10% late fee. My friends may be unable to restore their damaged property because Trees by Jake took such a large share of their total amount. DO NOT USE THIS BUSINESS TO DO ANY EMERGENCY WORK WITHOUT FIRST AGREEING ON A BINDING ESTIMATE OF THE COST.

Jake and his crew did a wonderful job reducing risk to our house from the mature oak forest surrounding it, while understanding and respecting our desire to protect the habitat of the birds in our neighborhood. They also did a beautiful job pruning and reshaping a difficult-shaped pear tree (non-Bartlett!). The areas where we had two smaller trees removed looked great when they were done. I would highly recommend Trees by Jake to anyone, but especially for anyone interested in preserving urban forest habitats. The crew took a lot of care in protecting our yards and home from any impact from their trucks and equipment. The price was reasonable, understanding that excellent and responsible tree work requires good equipment and extensive education and training of all involved (not to mention maintenance of certifications and insurance). We will be calling them again when it is time for some more work on our little piece of forest.