I recently requested a price estimate from Jose Castillo (owner of JC Total Tree Care) for a tree care project involving cutting down one large oak tree and several medium size beech trees, grinding the stumps to below grade level, and pruning or thinning another dozen large oak trees.



Jose visited our home and within a few days provided a price estimate for the project, with a detailed breakdown (as I requested) for the individual components of the project. I had several specific followup questions and Jose came to our home a second time to see and discuss these items with me.



I agreed to hire Jose for the project at his proposed pricing (slightly on the higher side but still reasonable). Jose set a time range when the job would be completed (2-3 weeks), and set a specific date on the weekend prior to the scheduled appointment.



The morning of the appointment the weather was rainy, and Jose called at 7am to reschedule for one day later.



On the day of the service, Jose and his team of about 5 other workers arrived around 9am with all the heavy equipment and vehicles (the job took 1 1/2 days). The team worked diligently until about 5pm, and showed up the following morning to complete the job.



Jose and all of his team members were professional, polite, conscientious and hard working. They worked together well and were very efficient. In fact, the team far exceeded my expectations in cleaning up fallen branches from a recent storm, as well as many leaves from the prior autumn (not included in our contract but provided free of charge).



The project was completed on time and at the agreed upon pricing estimate. (My only negative comment is that you need to be sure you understand the terminology of the business, and specifically ask whether your pricing proposal includes grinding the stumps to below ground level, or only to 2-4 inches above ground level. I thought our proposal to cut the stumps down to "grade level" meant grinding the stumps, but this was a misunderstanding on my part and we subsequently agreed to another short appointment to have the stumps ground down for a reasonable additional charge.)



I would rate the work performed by Jose and his team as EXCELLENT (9 points on a scale of 0-10), and would highly recommend him to family, friends, neighbors and any potential new customers. You will not be disappointed. (I intend to hire Jose for any additional tree work we may need in the future.)



T.Jendrock

Westport, CT

May 2010