Tree trimmer won’t finish job – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

A South Florida man hired a company to trim his trees. He paid them, but they didn’t finish the job and disappeared. Trying to get the job done, he called Help Me, Howard with Patrick Fraser.

Jimmy doesn’t get around as well as he used to. But in his day, he didn’t horse around.

Jimmy Cangemie: “I was a professional jockey, yes. It was exciting, it was fascinating.”

Racing horses for 20 years, winning hundreds of times with the pictures to prove it.

Jimmy Cangemie: “I won seven in a row on him.”

The victories, the injuries, and so many stories to tell.

Jimmy Cangemie: “Where I rode a mile and a sixteenth like this.”

Patrick Fraser: “No stirrup.”

Patrick Fraser: “You were sitting on your leg?”

Jimmy Cangemie: “And I finished second.”

But now Jimmy wanted to tell us about a problem he had been saddled with.

Jimmy Cangemie: “Next thing I know, the big guy comes up to the fence, shakes the fence,”

Jimmy Cangemie: “‘I’m a tree guy. Your trees are really in bad shape.’”

Jimmy has about a dozen tall trees he planted 40 years ago, with branches reaching the ground.

Jimmy Cangemie: “Just like we all go to the barber shop.”

Jimmy Cangemie: “They needed to be trimmed.”

And so he paid the fellow named Joshua $1200 up front to do the job…

Jimmy Cangemie: “I said, ‘You’re the tree doctor. I don’t have to tell you. You see what needs to be done and you do it.’”

Jimmy is a man of his word, and he trusted the tree fellow to do the work.

Jimmy Cangemie: “Not looking to see what’s going on and how far could I see? Bad judgment.”

After they left, he checked the work.

Jimmy Cangemie: “I don’t want to say it on television, but I was burnt.”

Three trees were trimmed, seven were not. Jimmy called the owner of the company.

Jimmy Cangemie: “And he said, ‘I’ve had complaints about Joshua. I’m gonna call you tomorrow.’ Tomorrow never came.”

Jimmy said if he was younger, in horse racing shape, he would have tracked them down. But those days are gone.

Jimmy Cangemie: “Take advantage of an old man and a cripple.”

Leaving him with a simple request.

Jimmy Cangemie: “I wanna see my trees done. That’s what I paid for.”

Whether it’s a general contractor, a roofer, or a tree company, how do you get them to finish a job you paid them to do, Howard?

Howard Finkelstein: “Good, honest people who think other people are honest get taken by people who don’t mind walking away without finishing a job. Legally, after it happens, your only recourse is to sue, but that costs time and money. The best thing to do before it happens? Pay in installments as the job is completed, and if they walk away, you have money in your pocket to finish the job.”

I contacted the owner of the tree-trimming business. He told me he would get Joshua to come back and finish the job. He told me that week after week. Finally, he got tired of me and said he would head out to Jimmy’s to do the work.

He kept his word, trimming all the trees and even cutting up one that had fallen down.

Jimmy Cangemie: “I think he did very good. Exceptional. And I said to him, ‘Now you can get Patrick off your back. Oh yes.’”

Jimmy’s tree trimming project has crossed the finish line. And now he’s happy to join the crowd of people who call Help Me Howard.

Jimmy Cangemie: “And you really, really get the job done. Every time I see something on television, I say, Patrick did it again and made somebody else happy. Yeah.”

Talk about characters, Jimmy is a rare one.

How do you avoid a headache like Jimmy had? Go online and check reviews.

Also, if they tell you they need the money up front to buy supplies, be careful. And you can always tell ’em, take a hike.

Saddled with a problem? Tired of horsing around with it? Take a furlough from it and let us race in to rein them in.

With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.

CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: [email protected]
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at [email protected]
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN

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