Thought about BIG TREE CO ETHICS

macrocarpa

macrocarpa

Branched out member
Location
Midwest
This may be a controversial subject but what are your experiences with the big tree companies? You know who I'm talking about, there's only 2 that are in every major city nation wide. Quotas come before ethics? Selling excessive and unnecessary PHC? Using high nitrogen ferts for all? Sending out techs with minimal experience? How do you other small fries out there like competing with the big chains?
 
I used to work for one and never realized the quota over ethics practices that were going on until my more recent studying.
They would penalize their sales reps if they didn't sell a certain amount of tree feeding jobs. This means " feed every tree possible no matter if it is required or not". They also would sell as many spray jobs as possible with little or no diagnosis.
 
I totally agree with kairon. Similar situation. Educate your clients about proper tree care, and watch your referral business grow.
 
I think hes talking about Davey,Bartlett and not sure about the third other than the line clearance guys.Neither has a territory in my city but they are in Dallas but very small.My sales guy actually worked for davey.We really dont do much Phc work unless totally needed so im not really sure what goes on at those other companies.When you become large and have shareholders involved im sure the bottom line is king.
 
Our big co is run like a small co we have 3.5 guys and 1.5 Arb. reps. in the summer we may have 5 guys. So we are a big name small shop
 
Both are good companies. Many ex=employees of one say they oversell N fert and insecticide and some other chem stuff. I've followed up the other one on inventories and they have sent out greenhorns who condemn good trees for little reason.

I like competing with them because they are high priced, and also because in general they keep the arboriculture bar higher than it would be without them/
 
I don't mind competing with them. My overhead is way lower than there's. I don't have a district manager, main office, etc. that I have to support. I got my start with Davey Tree 25 years ago. At the time it was a great company, it gave me the opportunity to work with guys that had been climbing at Davey for 30 years, also the opportunity to work with a crane when not many companys owned one. Alot of great practical experience and a great knowledge base. I'm not sure what's going on there now though.
 
I started with davey too after forestry school, davey and bartlet really are a major source for training a large population of arborists and contribute a lot of educational resources to the industry.

I just can't believe what some customers tell me they sold them on from time to time. Maybe thats why I'll never make a lot of $.
 
davey has not evolved from the 1980s. They do not have a progressive climbing program and severely limit the amount and types of gear one can use. They only allow climbers to use 13 mm lines on predominantly closed systems. their advanced arborist program is a joke. In some of their manuals they still advocate the use of concrete and foam to fill in cavities. They use a high nitrogen fertilizer. they generally have a closed mentality on getting information from outside sources. my company was bought out by Davey two years ago and ive been trying to run ever since.
 
I looked at a job for a new home owner the other day, she said she wants to make her ugly tree attractive for property value purposes. It was a previously topped/decayed box elder, 3 main stem split at 6ft, all with included bark, 50% declined and hanging over the house. I told her remove and replace this piece of shizzyte. Bartlett told her: prune, fert, cable, treat for box elder bugs.
 
u can only polish a turd so much. I think people should be given realistic expectations. yes you may prolong the life of the tree but it will never be what it once was. be honest with a client and they will appreciate it.
 
My limited experience is with a regionally big company here in the NW.
A woman called her daughter who is a customer of mine. The mother is an elderly lady with health problems. She became scared because this company's salesman told her she needed wind thinning, deadwooding, canopy raising, and balancing, just like there flyer indicated people need for healthy and safe trees over her home.

My client called me to ask for an eval on her mom's trees. They were fine. the could have used a little bit of pruning, but nothing was a red flag.

Seems like big company's systematic greed taking advantage of an elderly lady, alone, at home, recovering from surgery.
From an aerial rescue seminar with STARRS, hearing some of said companies employees talk about their work situation, sounds like chew up treeman and spit them out when they are not able to produce up to quota, with slimy salesmen.

I feel like I have gained more trust in my community by this interaction, and so I benefited a bit from their greed by my willingness to pass on bidding on unnecessary work.
 
A few years ago Ken Casey, Spidey, shared an insight with me.

There are tree care companies and there are companies that care for trees.

A not so subtle difference...
 
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All I'll say is, I'm not impressed with how they practice arboriculture and business.

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i completely agree
 
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