Kevin Raftery Horticultural Services

I would rate Kevin with high marks for skill & knowledge and a zero stars for customer service. While his team is competent and they get the job done, the bill was 33% higher than his estimate with no explanation. When asked about this he did not want to go by the landscape designers plans but ended up charging us for the time he spent consulting on what we wanted without telling us we were being charged. On top of this, his chipper kept overheating during the day which meant he had to come back the next day only to complete the disposal process. When we confronted him about the overcharge, his basic reaction was ‘the bill stands’, I’m done here and this is what you owe me. My wife an I own a consulting company and value customer relationships much more than Kevin does. If it were us, we would charge the customer what we quoted or engage them during the project if an adjustment is necessary. In any case, the customer is always right by my measure but apparently not by Kevin’s. If he could fix this part of his business, I would be a fan. As it stands, I will pay him and never use his service again.

I met Kevin Raftery thru Common Ground in Palo Alto where he has given classes in tree pruning for years. I attended a class he gave for fruit trees and then invited him to consult with me for trees in our yard. He is very knowledgeable, certified, and able to readily communicate tree wisdom. He gave good advice on how to maintain our 20+ trees. I recommend him to anyone needing tree service — especially for fruit trees. His suggestion for helping the yellowing leaves on one of our lemons was just what was needed and well worth his modest fee.