verbal contract question

[tmoore]

What is the name of your state? Arizona
Last October we had received a business card for a company that removes unwanted trees, ect. on the door of the home we were moving into. We had called them for an estimate only to remove a 25 ft. palm tree, a 5 ft. palm tree in the front yard, and a 15 ft. tree in the back by the pool. They gave us a verbal estimate of $600.00. We had told the company that the price was rather high and that we thanked them for their estimate, but we were going to get other estimates from other companies. The company said they would have their scheduling department call us and set up an appointment if we had chosen them to do the work. The next day the scheduling department left a message on my husbands cell phone asking to set up an appointment. My husband never spoke to anyone to set up an appointment, nor did he or I authorize any trees to be removed from the yard. The house was empty and we had not moved in yet. The day after the scheduling department called trying to set up an appointment we had come over to the house to do some painting and the trees were gone! We called them and asked what had happened since we never authorized any work to be done, and they claimed that they had verbal confirmation from us to remove the trees! We spoke to a gentleman at the company and told him that we were not paying $600.00 for the removal of the trees that we never authorized. We had gotten an estimate from another company for $100.00 per tree for a total of $300.00. We told him we felt we were being bullied and if they would accept the fee of $300.00 for the removal that the other company had quoted, he said ok. We sent the $300.00 and thought the drama was over. The company is now calling and harassing us saying they only received $100.00 and that we we still owe them $490.00 and that they are going to be placing a lien on the property and take us to court if we don't pay. The guy we spoke to about settling for the $300.00 no longer works for the company, so it is our word against the company. We didn't feel that we should have paid them anything since the work was done without our consent, but being honest people we felt it was right to pay them something since they did remove the trees. We are now being threatened with a property lien and court, what are our options with this situation?What is the name of your state?

[seniorjudge]

If it were me, I would take the $300 cleared check (or however you paid it) to the tree company and then give them another $300 and ask for a receipt paid in full and then forget it.