Recently, a birch tree in my elderly (94 years) mother's yard needed removal. I called 3 licensed and bonded contractors to give estimates for the tree removal. When I called the third company, HLI, and spoke to Leonard, he said he had worked for my mother in the past and knew just which tree it was and he was in the area so he would be happy to remove the tree and surrounding ivy for $300. I told him to go ahead but please don't bother my Mom (I don't live there), and I would be there at 4:00 p. M to pay the bill. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and found much more work done than I had contracted for. To top that off, he charged my mother $2,000!
I am in shock that this unscrupulous person had nerve enough to take advantage of my mother and make sure they were out of there before I arrived that afternoon. I had to stop payment on the check and spoke to Leonard. I advised him that the deal was between Leonard and me and that my mother has dementia and he went around me to take her money. He said she signed a contract. It was written by hand on the back of a birthday list of my mother's. These were his words "I can give u a good deal on the whole property tree timming/Total whole house. $1300.00 (scratched out) 700=$2000.00! Thank you." I am sure my mother had no idea of what was happening and Leonard agreed they didn't do the "whole house" and they left a big mess so he said he'd be back on Monday (this happened on a Saturday) first thing so I took the Monday off and he nevered showed up. Then he said he'd be there the first thing the next day (Tuesday) which I also took off. They showed up around 8 A.M. And then pruned several trees and removed another. Since I was afraid to upset my mother anymore, I wrote him another check for the $2,000. I feel sick about it. I never met or saw Leonard.
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