Price Shock!

[JoGee]

We still have those dead trees in the backyard.. Since E hadn't done anything about it, I called to get them removed.
$400-500 to cut the trees down, another $200-300 for stump removal.
Since they will be hauling off the trees/stumps, I won't complain.
But still, WOW ... more than I anticipated.

E asked if it's okay to leave the stumps, but I said no, I want to replant trees --- not dessert willow this time. We have an entire root system to destroy after these guys are done. I have been using my trowel to pull out new tree clumps that are pushing up through the ground near the house and block fence.

[determined]

Jo if you then consider that they are going to charge you for removing the wood and then turn around and sell it to someone else for firewood they will be making a tidy profit.

[JoGee]

Darla, I know they sell the parts they can cut for firewood. The rest goes in a shredder and gets sold for mulch.
We don't have a vehicle to haul it off in, and it costs for a special city pick up as well as for putting it in a landfill.
But I found a list of prices on the Internet for doing this job, and they are within range.
Dead trees are considered a hazardous job (along with trees with hives and insects, and trees in electrical wires. With luck they will discount the hazardous bit - workers often split the lowest cost figured in, just so the customer feels good about paying the lesser amount. (Business psychology. )

But saving us the extra hauling work and expense is worth it when the weather is so hot and humid.

[Deborah]

Jo, my DMIL was frightened into paying a guy $500.00 because he came down the tree and said he was ant bitten, and she had to pay. None of her son's were around, and she paid them the extra. Since then, from a friend at church,I found out that there is a paper that should be signed that entails what, if any extras, they can charge for.

She was in the beginning of Alzhiemer's, but he says a lot of people are taken this way for a few hundred extra. His company wouldn't do that, but some of the fly-by-nights do.

[JoGee]

Deb, I did some research on pricing this, and he is in the bounds of the lists. Should he be bitten by something, I would ask him to get a statement from his doctor. I also have bug bite topical medication on hand. He knows the trees are dead, so should be prepared. I know there is a fee for hazardous trees, and dead trees are hazardous.

Also, these guys work for the county. They should be pros. I have spoken with both of them on the phone.

I may be mild mannered, but when someone takes advantage I spit fire. Dragon lady.
I spoke up in businesses, getting louder each time I had to repeat myself. They don't want customers/witnesses to hear it. (Even though I do this without a single bad word.)
I can do that here, and the men next door will come running.

Also, they get paid when the work is finished.

I will keep my cell phone on me in any case.

[spring]

Just to cut one tree down, it was $900...my oh my!! Mom called my brother...he did it for free, he had to come down, drove 8hrs...she gladly offered to pay his way.