Putnam: Haslett man has been waiting 5 years for a tree from a Mason nursery

HASLETT – The row of tall, evenly spaced white pines along Steve and Barbara Decker’s backyard property line had a gap like a missing tooth.

A tree had died, and the Deckers wanted to replace it. They put down $400 — half of the cost —  with Discount Trees in Mason.

That was July 2013. The hole in the tree line is still there.

Steve Decker said he recalls that the tree didn't get planted in 2013 at first because the ground wasn’t ideal.

“We talked to some guy. It was too cold or too wet, and then delay after delay after delay. Then we had a hard time getting a hold of them,” he said.

He estimates he contacted them 10 times asking about his tree.

“We just got tired of making phone calls. We got lots of voice mails,” he said. “I’d knock on the door. We taped notes on the door.”

Finally, he stopped by the business again a few weeks ago and explained the situation to a new employee. Decker no longer wanted the tree but he did want his $400 back. The worker promised to get their money refunded quickly, and he offered to drive the check to their home.

Decker said a week went by. No check. He called me Nov. 6. The next day, a Wednesday, I called Discount Trees and spoke to Kim Dudley, the owner.

Dudley said she was planning to call the Deckers and had only heard about the effort to get their money back on Monday. She said the tree had  “got lost in the shuffle."

She called the Deckers that day and promised a check. She said she also offered a tree at no additional costs.

Dudley said 2013 was a bad year for the family.

"We feel bad about it. A lot of personal life things were going on at the time," she said.

Her husband, Dan, now 60, was injured in a fall and broke his hip and leg, then contracted pneumonia and ended up in a coma for six months. She said he never recovered. He’s now in a nursing home and cannot walk.

Kim Dudley said she jokes that instead of back luck coming in threes, it comes in 33s in her family. 

In November 2006, the Dudleys reported to police that a group of masked men broke into their house, tied up family members, held them at gunpoint and robbed them of more than $100,000 in cash and goods. Besides Kim and Dan Dudley, three of their five children were home as well as a family friend.

Four men later pleaded guilty, and one was found guilty on multiple charges in connection with the robbery. Three months after the robbery, a fire destroyed their house. 

Despite their problems, Dudley said she’s continuing the business, which operates out of an old schoolhouse on Hagadorn Road. It marks its 40th year in business next year.

"We always try to work with everybody. You can’t stay in business for 40 years if you’re not trying to take care of people," she said. "...We have thousands and thousands of happy customers."

On its website, Discount Trees calls itself the largest nursery in mid-Michigan. Christmas trees sales are also a part of its business.

The Better Business Bureau reports no consumer complaints about Discount Trees. A search of online court records showed eight times the Dudleys were ordered by courts to pay creditors since 1995, totaling $80,000.

Kim Dudley said a major one was a dispute with another nursery after trees were delivered dead. Other cases were disputes with tenants on tree farms they purchased, she said.

She said none involved a dispute for failing to deliver a tree.

It took more than a week, but the Deckers' refund finally arrived Thursday.

Decker said he was disappointed that it took so long to get Discount Trees to do the right thing.

Since they put money down for  a tree, Decker said he and his wife have grown used to the gap.

They no longer feel a need to close it with a new tree.

Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam.