Cedarbrook Nurseries Inc. Charged exhorbitant fee for simple work; marks up labor over 300%; inflates cost of materials Powell Ohio

Cedarboork Nursery owner Larry Burchfield came out to my property and looked at the trees thatat were staked and wired.  Once he saw what was done, he offered to make it right, and adequately compensated me.  To his credit, he admitted an error in pricing had occurred, and made it right.

As the foreman on Mr. Charles S.'s project, I would like to fill in some facts missing from his report.

First, the trees that were originally $120.00 were most likely 6' tall when they were installed. Those same trees are now 20' tall with 8"-10" diameter trunks. I would guess that they have been in for over ten years.

Secondly, the trees are in the back yard against a fence. In order to attempt to straighten the trees my men had to dig the soil in a ball shape along the good side of the tree to prevent the roots from tearing away from the trunk when moved.  I mentioned to Mr. Charles S. that this would take some time and that once we staked the trees the cables could not be taken off. I also suggested that he may want to consider taking the trees out. 

Finally, I made it clear to Mr. Charles S. that the large size of the trees would require heavy cable instead of tree wire. I quoted him $48.00 per man hour, not per hour. This is normal landscape rates. It took 3 of my men 2 hours each to upright the trees and install the cables.

Although I regret Mr. S's disappointment, I believe I was clear on the scope of the work and the possible cost. 

M. Baker

Cedarbrook Supervisor