I've never personally had a tree removed but I know several people who have, and it seems like they've had to specify how far down they want the stump ground down or else they'll pretty much leave it like yours. I would be specific as to how far down you expect them to grind it so there's no confusion on their part.

We had a verbal agreement before the job was started to remove surrounding root system and stump, and to grind it below grade, none of the visible stump in the pic is below grade. I just received a call from the owner of the co. and I informed him I wasn't happy with the work, he immediately cursed me up and down and said he was done with the work.

I offered to pay him $200.00 of the $300.00 he bid on the job and he told me to shove it up my a**!, he doesn't want my money. Then he says he'll have a lein put on my house (LOL!) He kept refusing my money and did nothing but scream at me on the phone. There was only a verbal agreement on what I wanted done, I want to pay the guy something but not $300.00.

How should I handle this? Do I pay him $300.00? $200.00? or nothing?

HAHAHA! He doesn't have an office, he lives up the street from me, and works from home.

Next time, get a professional who's recommended by trusted neighbors, friends, family. This company's behavior is beyond unacceptable.

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A & J Tree Service

We're a well established business with over 20 years of unmatched expertise. Customer and priorities are always first. We're very timely with our work and never lose attention to detail. We strive to meet and exceed all of your expectations and look forward to doing business with you. We do have liability insurance.

Couldn't be further from the truth.

http://www.treeremoval.com/stump-removal/#.V0CMYma2CDU

I used to own a pet vaccination service and as part of the service we carried drugs to treat dogs or cats that had an allergic reaction to the vaccine. We didn't charge for giving a shot of Benadryl because it cost us about 8 cents and was a life saving treatment. I found out that by not charging the law assumes that we are treating for free because we were at fault. The disclaimer that we had customers sign stating that allergic reaction is a risk was discounted by our admission of guilt by not charging for treatment.

In this case, because he did work, ethically I would want to pay him something. But paying him anything implies that you did have a contract. Then he is in a much better position to get a lien and force you to pay more or fight it out in court and pay an attorney at least $150 and hour.

Sadly, doing the right thing can place you in a bad legal position.

Interesting Jennifer. There was no written contract though, only a verbal agreement and promise by him that he would grind the stump and the root system, anyone providing a sevice of this type without a contract in writing is rolling the dice on if they'll get paid or not. He low balled his bid to get the work, half assed the job, then wants full payment. In other words, he bit off more than he could chew.

What is interesting is his claim he will provide work done in a professional manner. Does he not know the value of good recommendations? One or two remarks on YELP could be disastrous for his business. I just don't understand people like him. I guess bottom line is he has no pride in work, nor does he care.

Joe, my point is that payment of any type can be used to show that there was a verbal agreement in place. It strengthens his legal position. Written contracts are much more easily enforced than verbal contracts, but verbal contracts are still enforceable.

this is why we never agree to plant over top of where there used to be a tree, unless we're the ones who removed it. Grinding is great for smaller and mid-sized stumps and bigger softwood trees like pines, but I've never seen anyone get all of a huge oak or maple stump without an excavator. We did a planting job a few years ago where the clients' tree guy did his best, but essentially all he did was create a polished maple "bowl" six inches below grade. You can't plant over that.

Regardless, if you hire someone to grind stumps for you, it's up to you to ensure that you and your contractor have agreed, in writing, on what "removed" means. For my purposes I typically want the entire stump AND large roots gone, but that's not happening for $200 and a small grinder.