Jeff Doyle, owner of MLS Tree Service, came to my home to look at my sick trees. He told me he was a master arborist, an adjunct professor at MSU, and that he teaches classes in tree diseases. He spoke rapidly and left quickly after securing my business. His men drilled a few holes in the ground and poured some granules inside. He treated all the trees the same, despite differing problems with different species of trees. I thought it odd when he made a comment about a ring I was wearing at the time and asked to see it more closely, but everything was happening so quickly, I brushed it off at the time. I was billed almost $1000 for that day. He said the treatment would be good for 3 years.\r
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When I called him back a few months later, stating that my trees looked worse, he came back out, said he would do a different treatment, but instead did the same granules for yet another $500. He said that the biopsies he took showed that the borers were dead. I asked, when did he take the biopsies, he said he couldn’t remember the date, but that he sent them to Michigan State University and got the results. I asked to see the report, he said he would send them to me. When I brought up that there were some very bad reviews online about him, he countered with some of the good reviews. I said that anyone can enter a review, and I looked at them with skepticism, since he or his family or his employees can enter good reviews to counter the bad ones. He just looked at the ground and said nothing. Again he spoke rapidly and left quickly. \r
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I phoned him back, stating that he told me that these treatments would be good for 3 years, but that he repeated them a few months later. I could not afford this since I'm a retiree on a fixed income. He offered to refund my $500 and I agreed to that. He said he would mail a check to me at the end of the month. I asked again to see the biopsy results, he said he would bring them to me on his next visit. I phoned him a third asking for the results and he said he would send them in the mail. Three requests, no results.\r
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I waited for my refund to arrive at the end of the month, and it never came. I called him yet again and a different man returned my call stating that Doyle had sold the company to him and that Doyle was in Florida. My phone calls after that were ignored. I believe he had one of his employees lie to me in order to get rid of me and keep the money he promised to return. I recognized this man's voice, and he used the exact same language and persuasive lies that Doyle had previously.\r
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I went to MSU's website, could not find him listed on their faculty page. I called the University and was told they had no one on staff with that name. I also spoke to an arborist that recently graduated from MSU's arborist program and he also never heard of Jeff Doyle. I did my own research on the supposed treatment for one of my broadleaf trees, and found that what he told me he was giving the tree is actually a treatment for needle cast for pines. I don't believe he ever treated my broadleaf tree with anything other than some fertilizer granules. The disease is much worse now and I have hired another legitimate, certified arborist to treat it. His credentials have checked out.\r
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I agree with the previous reviews that this man is a scam artist, taking money from trusting people. In my opinion, he doesn't know proper tree care or diseases and treatments, and didn't believe I would check out his credentials or research his supposed ""treatments"". His behavior is classic for taking advantage of innocent people. I wish I would have seen these negative reviews before I gave him any money. Do NOT trust this man or his company. \r
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