Modern Tree Service

I’ve used Modern for years, but with our latest experience with the extremely rude lady on the phone, we will be looking elsewhere. Just like all the other reviews about this same lady, she is terrible. She must be related to the owner because there is no way she should have a job talking to customers. Plus the prices have gone up significantly in the past couple years and the 3 week wait time turned into 3 months.

We’ve been using modern tree service for more than 20years. It’s a family ran operation with excellent crews. They have removed four 60 to 100 foot tall pines from our yard over the years and we have them back to trim out olive tree each visit. They do every job with extreme care for your home and surrounding property. Just a top notch operation who always brings in the right equipment and experience crew for the job.

Today I had to have my 28 year old Ficus tree cut down because of our Nazi-​strict Association and their rules! Needless to say I was heartbroken to see it go. Its been home to me and thousands of birds for years! Gary and David were absolutely sweet to me and did a good job, making things as less painful as they could. They gave me recommendations also,.how to get the rest of the stump out. I recommend this tree company highly! :)

We have used Modern Tree Service for years. They could not be more caring about clients and kinder to the trees. Today Jim went above and beyond any call of duty to be perfect in dealing with differing opinions. I could not recommend him more highly. If there were ten stars, he would get them all.

Called to deal with rudest lady ever. I would never pay for a tree removal if I have to deal with such a rude lady with a terrible attitude. I would rather pluck the tree out (root and all) with my bare hands before doing business with them to suffer the attitude of this angry bird.

Have been very happy with their services over the past couple of years (2 large trees removed, 3 trees trimmed). They were very punctual, worked efficiently, work was done to our satisfaction, and our yard was left in a clean manner. May have to wait to be scheduled, but that process was handled very well by their office. No complaints here.

We have used Modern Tree Service to trim our trees for several years. This year they were somewhat busy and were scheduled out about six weeks. Tried to check on schedule several times and communication between their answering service and their office leaves a lot to be desired. However, when they finally did get out and do the job, they did an excellent job. Their workers are friendly and efficient and they clean up everything before leaving.
Again, thanks Modern Tree for another great job.

This company roger doesn’t know they have THE WORST PERSON EVER to answer their phone or they DON’T CARE. I’m going to assume they don’t care and leave it at that.
I’ve never been spoken to so rudely. I decided to nicely hang up rather than speak back to her in the same tone and mean demeanor she was using to talk to me.
My experience was so astonishing I ended up signing up to Unilocal (I don’t use much by way of social media) to share my experience.
Our neighbors use this tree service company and I was really just calling to give them easy referral biz. Nope.

Boy most of the reviews were right on the money! What a BITCH the woman was who called me back after I left a message to have someone come out to give me a quote. I used this company years ago and they were great! Too much competition out there. I don’t need butch the people to take my hard earned money. I hope the owners read this.

Wow. The prior reviews were really true. The lady who called back in reply to my request for a bid was extremely rude and unprofessional. Additionally she would not listen and made me NOT want to use this company within 30 seconds of the conversation. They will never get my business. Unfortunately she reflects poorly on the image of Modern Tree Service. Completely lacks customer service. I learned how not be of such disservice to the company you are working for. Hope she can have better days ahead of her.

We’ve used Modern for at least 15 years. The owner, who recently passed away, was a little gruff and eccentric, but he was a man of his word. His son now manages the company and carries on the tradition of excellent service and the best pricing I’ve ever seen. Tthey show up with their three or four trucks and several trimmers and they have my 8 queen palms trimmed in about an hour, they clean up everything and are gone. Most of the complaints I read are about office staff and inflexibility on scheduling. I’ve never had a problem with the staff but it is true that they might tell you two weeks then call two or 3 days later and want to come out. This I can live with considering the finished product. They tell me their scheduling is based on how many jobs are in the area at any given time. Makes sense to me.

I was very disappointed with the service we received. We recently had MTS at two locations. At both locations they showed up at different times than were scheduled. At one location they left cut branches and leaves on our roof. At the other location, they barely trimmed a tree and overcharged us. When I called to complain I got the answering service, a lady from MTS called back and could not help, then the owner called back and was sarcastic. We will not use them again.

After two months of trying to get someone to trim a single tree, Modern/Jim’s Landcare showed up a week later, as scheduled, & did a great, very quick, clean job. Staff was very polite – always appreciated by a woman handling jobs like this alone – and was $ 200 less than the last estimater (who refused the job anyway). After 10 dead end calls & two months of my time wasted on the others, I’ll now call Modern for the next job, which will be a big one. Highly recommended. I’ll refer them to others with confidence. Thank you, Modern!

I’ve used them for 15 years. They call back immediately and are priced very good. They have always done a good job and cleaned up after themselves.

In the past I have been happy with Modern Tree. But this last time, I discovered they are not friendly when problems arise. They trimmed my trees but trimmed other trees not authorized. This caused sap to drop on my furniture and patios. They declined to come and look at the problem. I took photos and provided receipts for the damage. They claimed it was not their problem.
I later researched Modern Tree and Modern Horticulture (the company name on my invoice). The CA contractors board lists MT as a licensed contractor but not MH. Neither has workmans comp insurance per the CA site listings.
The company does good work but when there are problems, they do NOT take responsiblity. Also, the lack of insurance and license troubles me. I could not recommend this company to others.
PS I agree with others that the answering service is unfriendly.

The employee answering their business number is very rude and the owner should reevaluate the telephone image of Modern Tree Service. I called for an estimate and was told they would come anytime within the next 3 days. I explained they could not gain access to the backyard and I needed a specific day and window of time so I could be here to discuss what I wanted done and to allow them access. She stated that if she had a crystal ball then she would be able to give me a time! Some kind of service! I’ll take my business elsewhere.
Update: 09÷10÷11
I gave modern another chance after getting a quote from Superior Tree Service. Modern came in $ 300 cheaper and did a great job. Gary the foreman was easy to work with and his crew was very quick and clean. I will use Modern again but just have to find a way to avoid the office. My first post gave modern one Star but Gary and his crew helped them get two more. Thanks Gary for a great job.

First of all, the customer service representative was consistently rude and very vocal of her annoyance that she called me back on a cell phone, which is the only phone I have. Secondly, while many use Modern, they don’t conform or even try to conform to anyone’s schedule. Also, unlike most companies that ask you what you’d like done, Modern asks that you mark each tree (in my case about 30, most unreachable do to other foliage) and expect the person doing the estimate to guess what it is you want. This might be okay if there weren’t several thousand dollars at stake. I will not be calling back or recommending their service to anyone I know.