I have a huge Silver Maple in my backyard that has limbs over both my and my neighbor's garage (both detached behind house) and coming right up to my house. I hired a company trim it and asked them to 'cut the branches back that are over my house and mine and my neighbor's garages'. The language in their written quote reads 'prune back 10 feet from house and both garages' (mine and my neighbor) and they quoted me $765.
I interpreted 'prune back 10 feet' to mean that once they cut the branches they wouldn't be over either garage anymore. After they finished the work, I pointed out that there were still limbs over both garages. They said that prune back as written in the quote meant they would lift the elevation so no branches were within 10 feet of the garage (they would still be above it, just not within 10 feet vertically from the roof). Essentially, they took a lot of the smaller, lower branches off but left some of the larger, higher branches.
I told them that was not what my understanding of the work to be performed. They said they performed the work according to what was quoted and even called their sales guy who told me the same thing on speakerphone. Before this miscommunication, I felt they had been reputable and honest in all their communications.
I still owe them half the balance, $382.50. Should I bother fighting them on it or just chalk it up to a lesson learned to be more specific and careful in the future? Just want a gut check if I am being reasonable or not here. Thanks!