A-1 Tree Care

Top notch business. I was just looking this company up again since I have more trees to trim at another property. The receptionist is clear and friendly, the estimator is knowledgeable and thorough, and they show up on time, work quickly and have a definite art to the way they trim. The property looks beautiful when they are finished. Highly recommend

If 2 stars is «Meh, I’ve experienced better» and 3 starts is «A-​OK», I’d have to give 2 stars.
Tree trimming is like haircuts, you never know what you’re going to get until it’s done. You try to describe what you want and cross your fingers they get it right.
Let’s start with the good news. A-​1 Tree Care did many things right. Courteous on the phone, good cleanup, workers were good at following the work order, and they did well what they were told to do.
Now the shortcomings… we have a lot of melaleucas in our front yard. For those that don’t know what they are, they look like eucalyptus trees, but have the paper-​y bark.
When Todd, the estimator, wrote up the job, he wrote (at least on our copy) «Trim and reduce» to take weight off. And that’s what we approved when booking the job.
What I was disappointed to see when I got home were trees half the size of what they used to be with a couple token sprigs of leaves on each trunk/​limb. in tree trimming land, there are two specific words, «lacing» and «topping». I thought «trim and reduce» meant «lacing». These trees were topped (cut off) to half of what they used to be.
So I couldn’t figure out where the miscommunication went until the worker leaving the job handed me the work order, the white top copy of the job estimate. After leaving our house, someone (I assume Tood) had written (40%-50%). Clearly, the workers did what they were told to do, but why didn’t Todd write that on my copy? It’s a leap from «trim and reduce» to top at 40%-50% original height.
Had I seen the comment 40%-50%, I would have said, «no, that’s not what we want. We want trimmed and reduced, not topped in half.
The trees will grow back, and in a couple years it will probably be alright. But until then, we have some broccoli stalks in our front yard.

Fire season freaks me out in general, but it doesn’t help that we have a huge canyon behind our house. The City of San Diego graciously took care of cutting back the overgrowth in the «open space preserve» earlier in the year so that made me a little less paranoid. BTW, those guys at Alpha Project did a great job for us and we were very grateful to the City for this cleanup!
Unfortunately, a very large pepper tree in our yard had grown out of control and hung menacingly above the canyon and our house as well. Very dangerous, so it was time to get this guy trimmed, but who to call?
Tried Unilocal first … no good referrals for a tree service, just reviews on who not to call (which was helpful in its own way). I then received a Pennysaver Coupon-​Saver booklet with three tree services from which to choose … two were BBB members, so I thought we’d start with them first. No answer at the first company, so we then tried A-​1 Tree Care.
A-​1 Tree Care answered their phone, the saleswoman was very helpful, and she said they’d get someone out to do an estimate and automatically apply the coupon. The next day, an estimator showed up when we weren’t home, and then gave an incredibly fair price on the work to be done.
We gave them the go-​ahead, and they came out the next business day, on-​time and with great attitudes. We even threw in a couple more palm frond trims and the removal of an ugly fan palm, and they were happy to oblige … no complaints, just excellent work and positive attitudes … loved it!
After the three-​man crew completed their work very quickly, they said the saleswoman would call with the new price (for the extra work we threw at them) and that we could pay her with a credit card. Within two hours, she gave us a revised estimate for the work that was completed and then put the balance on a credit card for us.
We were VERY pleased with A-​1 Tree Care’s work … very clean work-​site, great attitudes, and an excellent price. They are licensed and fully insured as well so that made me feel more comfortable with them being totally legit!
Most importantly, I wanted to be sure to review them on Unilocal so I’ll remember who to call next year when trimming time comes again … A-​1 Tree Care!