Sand in the vaseline?

[Rx7man]

We had a tree service come out and trim up our BIG willow, cut a branch out the overhung the house and take out the dead stuff.
Guy was here with 2 workers and a bucket truck, it was done in 3 hours, no chipping or anything.. the two guys on the ground really had nothing to do except lower one branch to the ground on a rope.. we're 45 minutes from town when driving the big truck. so it wasn't more than 5 hours total

We're happy with the work, but we feel there was sand in the vaseline when it came to a bill of $2100... Are we just out of touch with the cost or is the guy on glue?

Here's a 'before' pic.. I'lll get the 'after' pic in a bit.. it's the branch on the right side there that was worrying us, it's gone now.

 

[jwade]

dont know about the price, but that is a beautifl place there

 

[Rx7man]

dont know about the price, but that is a beautifl place there

it certainly is, and that tree, even though it's a bit of a hazard, is quite a landmark and invaluable for shade when it's 100F out

 

[hanniedog]

Was there no estimate prior to work being done?

 

[AGoodSteward]

That's like $1575 USD.

 

[ATH]

as hanniedog asked, was their an estimate? I'll add to that: did you get more than 1 estimate?

The time it took and their per-hour rates are, to me, less relevant than comparative pricing within the market. Did he have special equipment? Were there excessive risks involved (have to bid those higher, because too many of those will result in damage which has to be paid for by all the other jobs that didn't cause damage...). Maybe he is just really fast. Might have taken another crew a day and a half to do the same job for the same price???

 

[Rx7man]

Yes, there was an estimate, and it was close to the estimate...
He said it would be an all day job, which made it sound reasonable... No excessive risks in my opinion... Bucket truck is the only requirement... They're from Kamloops, about 2 hours drive away and were in town for several other jobs.. yet they charged us 3 motel rooms as well as all meals AND full drive time (2 guys did nothing the ENTIRE time), which I think should be divided up between the jobs... It sounds like the hand is in all the cookie jars if he's charging other people for the same meals and motel rooms...
Seriously, for actual work time, he's charging over $600 hr

 

[ATH]

Yes, there was an estimate, and it was close to the estimate...
.......

Sounds like all is fair to me (unless he tacked hotel and meals onto the estimate without telling you ahead of time that was the plan.)