Family says they were scammed by tree removal company

ROSWELL, Ga.

A north Fulton County family says contractors cashed their check for thousands of dollars, but never removed the tree from their property after a recent storm

The Atlanta Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about contractors trying to take advantage of people who have storm damage on their property. Representatives with the BBB said theyve received an increased number of calls with similar complaints.

Homeowners Pao and Ryan Strickland showed Channel 2s Rachel Stockman the storm damage to their Roswell home after a recent storm sent huge brancheson their home.

Pao Strickland said she posted on Facebook asking for referrals and two men showed up to her home. The Stricklands said it was the weekend, so they were having trouble getting any other contractors to return their calls.

I had a feeling they knew we had nowhere else to turn so they took advantage of us, Ryan Strickland told Stockman. The Stricklands signed a contract and wrote a check out for $2,300 up front

I felt like that was a bit of a red flag, but we felt between a rock and a hard place, we didnt know what else to do. It was the weekend, rain the next day, Ryan Strickland said.

Ryan Strickland said the contractors did remove some of the branches from their roof, but in an attempt to cut a branch off the tree they caused more damaged when the branch smashed into their home.

Not only did they not do their work that we paid them for, they never finished the job and they addedinsult to injury by damaging our property, Ryan Strickland said. The tree is still sitting on the Stricklands property

Channel 2 Action News tracked down the Stricklands contractor on the phone. He said, despite what the contract said about tree removal, he never agreed to take down the tree.

See the original post here:
Family says they were scammed by tree removal company