Taylor’s have been good in the past but this time they sent a crew of subcontractors without advising me. The job was not urgent and I had not asked for it to be done by any date. I contacted Taylor’s afterwards to advise that I was not happy with that happening. The response was that normally they would advise the customer if they’re sending subcontractors, but that this just hadn’t been done in my case. I would not have agreed to it. If I had to use another company I would have chosen them myself, checked reviews and obtained a couple of quotes. Disappointing service.

I've just booked Taylors Trees in for a second job.

After having a terrible experience years ago with an arborist, the ordeal put me off removing a cypress pine that has been uprooting a shared fence and brushing against a powerline. Meanwhile the longer I sat on my hands the bigger the trees get.

After researching just about every company I could and getting several quotes from various arborists, I decided to take a chance on Taylors Trees. Met them on site halfway through the job to see how they were operating and one of the guys and answered all my questions and put me at ease. Must say, I'm very impressed with the professionalism and care the arborists took.

The girls in the office are lovely to speak to and very helpful and Nick who came out to quote the job was equally professional, knowledgable and courteous.

I've now booked in a really big job at another property knowing that I can trust Taylors Trees to do it right. And the prices were actually well below the majority of quotes I received.

I've found a winner... and my fear of rude, shonky arborists wanting to take me for a ride has finally come to an end.

Approximate cost: $1000

I've used this company twice, and while they do good work once they arrive, getting them to arrive is a different matter.

In the first instance, the person arrived on time to quote on the job, and I booked them for the job to be completed in 4 weeks time - the next time I had a weekday off work. In the morning I received a call to say that because of equipment failure, they were unable to come to do the work, so the work was completed 4 weeks later.

In the second instance, the person was unable to come to quote. A mix up in the office had him double booked, so he was unable to come.

I wasn't prepared to give the company a second chance.

After getting several quotes, I booked Taylor's to remove a 30 foot blue gum which was in poor health due to borers and was threatening a house if it fell or dropped limbs. A late quote came in which was substantially cheaper again. I phoned Taylors, they agreed to match the cheap quote so I confirmed the booking. They did a great job and left little mess afterwards. These guys know what they are doing and offer great service and price. Highly recommended, I would use them again.

I'm always nervous when I have a job around the home or garden that requires the services of any sort of tradesperson. I'm the type who has trouble changing a light bulb, so when something needs doing by an expert, I have to choose carefully, because I'll be relying totally on their advice and expertise. I'm always worried that I could be ripped off, so I rely on sites such as WOMO to sort the good tradespeople from the bad.

This firm appears to be one of the good ones.

I have an enormous gum tree in my backyard, taller than a 3-storey house, and it was becoming dangerous. Several branches had already fallen down, one of them onto a neighbour's roof, and I was worried that a strong wind or a storm might bring more of them down.

Ian from Taylors came out to look at the tree and give a quote. He arrived well within the two-hour window he'd specified, which always gives a favourable first impression. He said the tree was basically healthy, but agreed that several of the branches were dangerous and needed removing. He quoted $1430 for their lopping and removal. I accepted the quote and asked him when he could start, expecting an answer something like: maybe this side of Christmas if you're lucky. I was astonished when he replied, "Tomorrow, if you want." I picked my jaw up off the ground and said yes, indeed, I did want.

Taylors specified a two-hour window during which they'd get started the next morning. I like tradies who do that; don't you hate the kind who say they'll be here sometime between 8 and 4, as if you can take the whole day off work to wait for them?

The men arrived very promptly - half an hour early, in fact - and set to work quickly and efficiently. Within two hours they had the offending branches lopped, chopped, mulched, and carted away.

The mulcher was as noisy as hell while they were working, but at least it was mercifully brief. I had expected them to be at the job for the best part of the day, and was pleasantly surprised at how little time it took. They also cleaned up after themselves and left everything very tidy.

I'm very pleased with their work and would not hesitate to use them again.

Don't be too concerned if you live outside the list of suburbs in the catchment area above. I live in Coburg (inner north), which is nowhere near Bayswater (outer east), but that wasn't a problem. I told Ian I was surprised he'd agreed to take a job this far away, and he said, "We go everywhere," and reeled off the list of far-flung suburbs and country towns to which he'd been recently, much further away from Bayswater than Coburg is. So don't take the list as gospel; if you live in Melbourne or anywhere near it, ring them anyway and ask whether they're willing to come to you. You have nothing to lose by asking.

This is the third time I have used Taylors. I've been pleased with them each time. They give you a 2-hour window for arrival, they come on time, they do the job with a minimum of fuss, and they accept personal cheques.

The fellow was courteous and respectful.

When I queried the price of the third visit compared to the other two and compared to the size of the other trees, they immediately knocked $20 off. I was happy with that.

I'll ask them back again if I have to.

I have used them twice now, once for trimming/balancing and the other time more recently to completely remove a large elm.. The price was fair, they did the job well and cleaned up after themselves, hence 5 stars..