I Might Have Been in the Wrong

It seems to me that the guy was way out of line. It doesn't matter if he had to drive an hour out of his way to get you a FREE estimate. If that's what he's offering and that's what was scheduled to be done, then it's not your fault whatsoever. So what if you didn't seem "confident". What he was probably looking more for was "confidence" in the idea that you would sign a proposal ripping yourself off right that day.

Any asshat contractor who says that he's a salesman first and then tries to make you out to be the bad guy is looking to get some money out of you and screw you over. What kind of company was this? Was this "guy in a truck" or was this a larger established company with insurance and an actual arborist?

If it was the first, he's a wicked piece of work and should never be hired by you and yours. If it's the other, that company just lost a job due to how terribly unprofessional its free quote and consultation was. The most this guy should have said was, "I'll check back with you when you're sure of what you'd like to have done (after the questions he asked), but here are some things that we can do for you."

You just interviewed a person for a job and he showed how wholeheartedly unworthy he is of your further dealings with him. Getting a free estimate is as much an interview from a customer to a contractor as is your going into a store and interviewing for a position with its manager.

I'm trying to get some tree work done as well and have never seen anyone act so unprofessionally. I have a story or two about terrible work, but it's nowhere near about this kind of caustic attitude.

The worst you did was to be unsure of something. That's not something for that asshat to get all bent out of shape over because plenty of companies try to upsell more work and some are devious enough to try to take advantage of inexperienced customers. The best you could have done there was to bring out this contractor's true colors and that went so well that you seem jarred by it. Don't let that guy get to you.

Drop a review on his Yelp if he has one and move on to another company on the list. Make sure you have a good number of estimates, price numbers, proposals, and written examples. This guy is a hack and you don't need to keep his bullshit in the back of your mind whenever you feel indecisive with this job.

You can try better later to make sure your parents wishes are explicit, to make sure you know what you exactly want done, but it's not that douchebag's place to tell you that. Hell, it's not mine to tell you what to do, but here's a bit of advice. If the contractor or his representation is an asshole or tries to give you a now-or-nothing ultimatum, fuck 'em. I know that from experience.

/r/TalesFromTheCustomer Thread