Media contact: Janet C. Hart, APR, CFEE (704) 927-8617 office
CHARLOTTE,
N.C. - As the rainy and windy weather finally moves out of the Carolinas, the
big clean up begins. If you have fallen trees in your yard or limbs that
are perilously dangling, you may need to hire a professional tree service to
help clean up your property and remove debris.
The
BBB has the following advice for hiring a tree service contractor:
- Do
not hire any contractor without first checking them out. It only takes a
few minutes online at www.bbb.org to look up
the company’s reliability report.
- Do
not hire a contractor who is driving through your neighborhood looking for work
unless that contractor works for a local company that you can quickly check out
at www.bbb.org. Con artists follow storms in
order to scam homeowners who need help out of their money. The contractor
may offer a lower bid and have you sign a contract requiring cash upfront.
Then, he will tell you he will be back later that day to do the work after
another job he has to finish first, but unfortunately, you may never see him
again.
- Do
not pay money upfront. Tell the contractor that you will pay him when the work
is completed.
- Ask
the contractor if he and his employees are licensed, bonded and insured to
protect you, your home and your property in case of any damage the contractor
may cause while removing trees.
- If
you need to find a reliable, trustworthy tree service, go to www.bbb.org, put in your zip code, then click on
the orange button that says Find a BBB Accredited Business, then click on “T”
in the online keyboard and scroll down to Tree Services. There are 25
tree services in the Southern Piedmont area that all have excellent records for
reliability with the BBB.
For
more information, please visit www.bbb.org or
call the BBB at (704) 927-8611 or toll-free in N.C. and S.C. at
1-877-317-7236.
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