Privacy Policy

Text messages (SMS)

SMS opt-in consent is not shared with third parties.

If you tick the box on the estimate form that reads “OK to text me about my estimate.”, that consent and the phone number it applies to stay with me and my crew. I do not sell, rent, trade or pass your text-message consent or your mobile number to anyone else for their own marketing, and I never share it with another business, lead broker or advertiser.

The phone number you give through the estimate form is used to respond to that request — to call or text you back about the job you asked about, and to sort out details like access to the yard or when I can come look at it. It is not added to a mailing list or a marketing campaign, because I don't run either one.

The box is never ticked for you, and leaving it unticked still gets your estimate — I'll just call instead of texting.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by replying STOP to any text message from me. That ends the text messages. Replying HELP gets you my contact details. You can also just tell me on the phone, or email flatoutstump@gmail.com.

Message frequency depends on the conversation — these are replies about your estimate, not a recurring campaign. Message and data rates may apply. The text-messaging terms are in the Terms of Service.

What the estimate form collects

Everything on the form is something I need to price the job or get back to you. In full, it collects:

• Your name and phone number — so I know who to call back, and on what number.
• Your email address — optional. If you leave it, my reply can go to it.
• Your town, from the list of places I work, so I know how far out the job is.
• What you need — the service or services, how many trees or stumps, how soon you need it, and whether it's an emergency.
• Anything else you want to tell me — the optional message box.
• Photos — optional, up to three. They go straight into the email I read; they are not published anywhere on this site.
• The text-message box — whether you ticked it, the exact wording you agreed to, and the time you agreed, so the record matches what was on screen.

I don't ask for your street address on the form, and I never ask for payment details through this site.

What I do with it

I use it to answer your request: to call or text you back, to price the work, to turn up at the right place, and to follow up on a job I've quoted. I also keep enough of a record to know which estimates turned into work — that is the business side of it, not marketing.

I don't sell your information, and I don't hand it to anybody who wants to sell you something.

Phone calls and call tracking

This site uses a call-tracking service, CallTrackingMetrics, so I can tell which calls came from the website. The number shown on these pages may be a tracking number that forwards straight to the line I answer — your call reaches the same phone either way, and it records the date, time and number you called from.

Calls may be recorded. I use the recordings to check what was agreed on a job and to make sure nothing was missed. If you'd rather not be recorded, say so at the start of the call and I'll make a note instead. The call-tracking service holds the call record and recording on my behalf; it is not shared with anyone else.

Who else handles your details

Only the services that make the site and the form work. Each one sees your details because it has to, and none of them is allowed to use them for anything of their own:

• An email delivery provider (Resend) — the form email is sent through it to reach my inbox.
• The web host (Vercel) — it serves these pages and processes the form submission.
• The call-tracking service (CallTrackingMetrics) — described above.

I may also have to share information if the law requires it, or to deal with an insurance claim on a job I did. Beyond that, no.

Cookies, analytics and your IP address

There is no advertising pixel on this site, no social-network tracker, and no website analytics. I don't build a profile of you and there is nothing here following you to other sites.

The call-tracking script described above may store an identifier in your browser so that a phone call can be matched to the visit it came from. Your IP address is visible to the web host as part of serving the page, and the form uses it briefly, in memory, to stop the same sender flooding it with submissions. It isn't stored with your lead.

How long I keep it

Estimate requests and the emails they arrive in are kept while they're useful — through the quote, the job, and the warranty conversation that sometimes follows a year later. Call records and recordings are kept by the call-tracking service for as long as that account holds them. If you want yours gone sooner, ask.

Seeing or deleting your information

Ask me and I'll do it. You can ask what I hold about you, ask me to correct it, or ask me to delete it — including your estimate request, any photos you sent, your text-message consent and any call recording. There's no form to fill in and no charge for it.

• Email flatoutstump@gmail.com with “delete my information” and the phone number you gave me.
• Or call (910) 445-7060, any hour.
• Or write to 532 McClammy Rd, Hampstead, NC 28443.

I'll deal with it within 30 days. The one thing I may have to hold on to is a record tied to a job I've already done, where tax or insurance rules say it has to be kept.

Children

This is a tree service. The site isn't aimed at children and I don't knowingly collect anything from anyone under 13. If that has happened, tell me and I'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

If I change how any of this works, I'll change this page and move the effective date at the top. The SMS consent statement above stays, whatever else changes.

Questions

Flatout Tree Service, 532 McClammy Rd, Hampstead, NC 28443. Phone (910) 445-7060, email flatoutstump@gmail.com. The phone is answered around the clock.

See also the Terms of Service and the contact page.