You could call it the giving tree, but all it was giving a Boston woman was a headache, leaving her car a mess for years. And to make matters worse, it wasn't even her tree, so she reached out to Consumer Investigative Reporter Leslie Gaydos for help.
Jo-Ann Alleyne was tired of cleaning up after a large tree on the lot next to her Roxbury home.
"It hung over my driveway, it hung onto the house," explained Alleyne. "The leaves and the branches fell and messed up my car in many places over the years.”"
Alleyne says she paid to have the tree trimmed for years, even though it's not actually on her property. It's on a lot owned by Eversource, and now she says she can no longer afford to pick up the tab.
"Since summer last year, I've reached out to Eversource," said Alleyne. "Kept sending letters and calling. They put me off. I've called the mayor's office several times, and they connected me to 3-1-1 -- 3-1-1 says we're going to keep ticketing them. That's all we can do. I got nowhere."
Following this, Alleyne contacted NBC10 Boston Responds for help, and we reached out to Eversource, who cut the tree down. Eversource tells us they had never received a complaint from Alleyne.
"Once we became aware of the situation, we immediately contacted a tree removal contractor ... to address the issue and remove the tree," Eversource said, adding that they "Encourage customers to reach out to us directly should they have any concerns."
U.S. & World
Alleyne is thrilled with the outcome.
"I can see the street from my house," she exclaimed. "I was so happy, that even if nothing was done, someone took notice, someone helped!"
