Pasco Tree and Crane Service - A Thumbs Down Review

They Fooled Me Once. Don't Let Them Fool You

Having just moved into a house, we've had to seek the service of various local companies - a plumber, a sprinkler service, a lawn and landscaping service, a concrete contractor, and, unfortunately, a tree service, the latter to remove some large trees from the property.

Let's get this straight, they can remove trees. Of course, during that part of the operation the boss/owner was there. Though he didn't identify himself as such, he was operating the crane. Unfortunately, when his work was done he left, leaving the stump grinding to his son and his crew. They don't have the same sense of honor nor the impulse to do good work as the owner. Not realizing this, I was operating under the premise that they wanted to do a good job for me. That's why when their foreman Sean approached me and suggested that instead of hauling away the chips from the biggest tree, a camphor tree, it might be a good idea for him to spread them around so the lawn, once sod was placed on top of the chips, would slope away from the house. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I said okay. That was a mistake. One, I didn't realize the mass of chips that stump and its roots would produce; and two, I didn't realize, as my landscaper later told me, that sod would not grow on top of the camphor chips and that it would take 5 or 6 years for the chips to compost.

My landscaper figured that PTCS had just been trying to save the cost of disposing of the chips. I think they were just lazy. BTW, did I mention that they covered a few of my sprinkler heads?

Anyway, I called the company and explained that my landscaper had told me the chips would have to be hauled away before sod was laid down and wondered if they would come back and pick up the chips. I was told they would get back to me, but they didn't. They weren't inclined to come back. Why should they? They had been paid their $2,000+.

I wanted to make sure I was operating under the proper premise regarding wood chips and sod so I googled for answers. It's pretty clear that it is not a good idea to place sod over wood chips. Check out this video:



And this article: How to Plant Sod Grass Over Tree Stump Grindings which suggests you "Remove any large wood chunks or sticks from the area. Remove as much of the wood chips and sawdust as possible and work the remainder into the soil."

So, I asked my landscaper to remove the chips. He and his two helpers did so for $275. In the process of removing the chips they uncovered parts of the tree, roots and stumps, that hadn't been ground down below ground level. He suggested I call PTCS and tell them to come back and finish the job. I called and was told by the girl who answered the phone that she would get back to me after she conferred with the men. She didn't get back to me. Before I called again, I emailed them some pictures.

That produced the desired effect. The boss came out to examine the unfinished job and told me they would be out the next day to finish the job the way it should have been finished the first time. They did. I was so pleased with the outcome that I was tempted to give this review a slight boost but, in his haste to leave the property, the foreman ran over a lawn sprinkler that he had been told he had to avoid. As a consequence, I continue to rate them "Avoid". If you do decide to use them, do so with caution.

Review: The Valley View Dental Consortium of Hudson, FL

My lowest rating: Avoid 

Are we supposed to address dentists as "Doctor" this or "Doctor" that. Probably not - they're just dentists. Anyway, my nightmare began when my previous dentist, an ex-marine who always treated me square, went out of business one day without notifying his patients and abruptly closed up his office. I was due for a cleaning so I called Valley View Dental. Oy vey!

To be honest, I've neglected my teeth most of my life and only for the last several years have I been taking care of them like I should have all along - brushing three times a day, flossing, rinsing with tartar control mouthwash. At 70, I can finally say "I'm on top of it."

No, these are not my teeth.

So, what I'm looking for from my dental consortium, unless I have an emergency of some kind, is a cleaning every 6 months, and a free toothbrush. Thank you very much. Cleaning my teeth isn't all that much work since my upkeep prevents much in the way of tartar buildup between visits. Candy, the girl at my previous dentist's office and Miranda at Valley View agreed on this. Unfortunately, dentist Wilson Maddoff of Valley View Dental wasn't happy with this arrangement. He decided it was necessary to improve my dental health - big time.

First, he decided the cleanings I was getting from Miranda were not sufficient. What I needed now was a deep cleaning. Cost? A slight difference, he said, but it would be well worth it. Later, his assistant informed me that the deep cleaning was going to cost me $1500. I went along with it.

Next, after that was all done he decided I needed some whitening. Really? You'll be amazed at the difference it makes, he said. Now, I've always been a realist when it came to my teeth. I do not have a Hollywood smile and my teeth, except for one souvenir of a long ago root canal which is brown, are hardly what you would call white. So, I went for it. $800. That's $2300 of dental improvement. I should have been feeling good but I didn't because, to tell you the truth, when I checked myself out in the mirror, my teeth looked exactly the same as they had when I was under the care of the ex-marine. Maybe, I thought, the benefits weren't readily visible. Yeah, that was probably it.

During my next visit, Miranda cleaned my teeth, told me how good everything looked, then took x-rays and called in Maddoff to check out my mouth. Things didn't look so good to him. Bone loss. Well, I'd been told about this before but my former dentist had been satisfied that it didn't seem to be getting any worse. Not so with Maddoff. I needed laser surgery, right away. $500. I left his office without enough for cab fare. Thank god I didn't need a cab.

By the next time I was due for a checkup, I was a little wary. Wilson Maddoff was into me for $2800 and my teeth didn't look any better. So, when Miranda finished with the x-rays and said she was going to fetch the dentist to have a look, I said, "Please, don't. Everytime he looks into my mouth it costs me money. I don't feel like another unneccessary treatment, today." Faithful to her employer, she reported what I had said and two days later I received a note in the mail advising me to find a new dentist. I don't believe my teeth were his primary concern - my money was.

I imagine if I told Wilson Maddoff that I only had 6 weeks to live, he'd try to talk me into some last minute dental treatments to make my dwindling time more enjoyable. No thanks.

There's a guy up in Spring Hill who offers free x-rays on the first visit for new patients. Next time, I think I'll try him.

ABC Pest Control Inc (New Port Richey, FL) - Thumbs-Down Review

I'm not a fanatic about my lawn, but I do care about it and have fallen into a pattern that has rewarded me with a pretty nice yard, much better than most of my neighbors. Like, in early spring, I hit it with Weed Be Gone, once, sometimes twice. Then, if any bare spots appear, I rake them clear. If they're not too big, I can count on the surrounding grass to fill those spots in when the rains come, especially after I fertilize. That's how things were going this year. In fact, I was feeling pretty good about the lawn - it was green, there were only a couple small bare spots, and I had just applied some Scotts Turf Builder.

Then I come out of the house one day and find the bug guy going back to his truck with a spreader. "What were you spreadin'?" I ask. Without getting specific he answered fertilizer combined with some kind of insecticide. Somewhere along the line, the bug people had volunteered to be my lawn people, too. They never asked me if I wanted them to do that, they did it on their own so they could come more often and make more money off me. I told him I had just fertilized myself a few days before but that brought no reaction, even though it's possible that too much fertilizer can cause fertilizer burn. He just left his bill and took off.

Now, let me reiterate  the day I spotted him with his spreader my lawn was green. I didn't think to take any "before" pictures because, at the time, I didn't realize there was going to be an "after." Suffice it to say the overall impression one got upon looking at my lawn was this:

Green

Two weeks later, I began to notice some yellow patches appearing here and there. Three weeks later, I had a mostly dead lawn. Here's some pics:

East of the Trailer - Not Green

North Side Rear - Nope, Not Green

North Side Front - No Longer Green

West Side - Dying Fast

South - Dead

Well, to tell the truth, and I told the girl at ABC Pest Control in New Port Richey, FL, the same thing, the lawn looked like someone had sprayed it with Round-Up. "We don't use Round-Up," she replied. "I'm just telling you what it looks like," I said. Finally, she said she'd have someone come out and look at my lawn. Unfortunately, he came the morning I had a doctor's appointment and, though I got home by 9 AM, he was already in the wind. Below, find the form he left me.

Front 

Rear

Here's what he said: "Areas of drought and some winter weed dieing. (on their own) out such as carpet grass. (etc) I advise rake out and put down (Bahia Seed. Keep) watered -" Below, he added "As you Travel  Thru out the park you will see simular. In other lawns." [Misplaced periods, misused parentheses, misspellings and grammatical deficiencies have not been corrected. I'd like you to see for yourselves the quality and brain power of the dude they sent out to view my lawn.]

Of course, having been dealing with this lawn since we moved here in 2000, I had a much better idea of what was going on with my lawn than he had. Fact is, even though I had two or three different kinds of grass growing, I didn't care. It was my lawn, it was green - I was happy with it. Plus, I ride around the park on my bike every day and am perfectly aware of the sorry state of many of the lawns. The thing is, mine was fine! My was not burnt up, mine was not brown like theirs - IT WAS GREEN! Besides, I hired these guys for pest control. What in hell makes them think I want them screwing around with my lawn? I called the office and voiced my displeasure to the girl who answered the phone. She had the guy who had come out give me a call. He repeated what he had written on the form, concluding that his company had done nothing to destroy my yard. Trying to make it simple for him, I repeated my position - my lawn was green when your man spread his chemicals on it, now, it's yellow, it's brown, and totally burnt. He didn't want to hear it.

I imagine if I lived down in Trinity or some other relatively affluent community the company would have been more accommodating  But, since I reside in a 55 plus mobile home park, he couldn't care less that his company destroyed my lawn. Fine. I mean we all make snap judgments, don't we. For instance, he thinks people who live in an old fogy's trailer park have mush for brains, and I think he's a nitwit. At one point, he bragged, "I've been in this business 30 years." How embarrassing for him! You'd think in 30 years, this minion of veracity, with his ample supply of writing and verbal skills, might have made something more of himself.

ABC Pest Control

8320 Massachusetts Ave.

New Port Richey, FL 34653

May 25, 2013

Please cancel my account. I do not desire or require your services any longer.

Michael Toscano

  

Michael Toscano

No sense bogging them down with details. That would only confuse them.