Oh yeah that's rough. I had a local crew do a crown reduction on a big old live oak in my backyard a couple years ago, they took off way more than I asked for and it looked like a hat rack for months. What finally worked for me was I started going out with the crew before any cuts and literally taping off the branches I wanted left alone, and I told them to only do selective thinning on the outer canopy, no more than 10 percent. The tree bounced back way faster and actually looked natural instead of butchered.

Yo that's wild cause I just had the same thing happen with sandpaper grit lol. I was stuck on 80 grit for years and my coworker kept saying 120 would be better for final passes. Finally tried it and now I feel dumb for being stubborn.

Ugh, that is so frustrating I'm annoyed for you. I shelled out $750 for a "full funnel audit" a few months ago and got back a report that literally said "your ad copy is too boring" with zero examples or suggestions. One of the "insights" was to add more negative keywords but they didn't list a single one we should add. I tried to get a refund by disputing it with my credit card company, but since the report was technically delivered they said it was nonrefundable. Total waste of money, I feel your pain.

I feel for your neighbor, that sounds like a total waste of money and time. People think fancy words make things better, but most of us just want straight talk. You're right, there's nothing more trustworthy than someone who just says what they do and means it.

Wait till you hear about the time I spent 6 months trying to dial in a distortion pedal, swapping out pedals and cables and even my amp. Finally took it back to the shop and the guy behind the counter looked at it for two seconds, flipped a little switch on the back I never noticed, and handed it back to me sounding perfect. Felt like such a goof. At least yours was a factory problem and not you being completely blind for half a year.