Sigh. This sucks.

The backstory is that we tried to get this tree trimmed last fall, as a LOT of it was over our neighbor's back yard (which they've turned into a parking lot for their car), but we couldn't get anybody out. When I told them last fall that we were looking for a trim trimmer and having no luck, they totally brushed it off "Don't worry about it! The tree is fine!" is literally what they told me.

Then about a month and a half ago, I get a peeved message from them about trimming the tree because it's dripping sap on their car. I apologize, and we once again look for a tree trimmer. Now I'M peeved too, because if they'd have said something before springtime, we'd have been sure to take care of it. The "Don't worry, the tree is fine!" let me to believe that they had no problem at all with the tree. I honestly don't understand why they didn't say something like "That's great, thank you for taking care of it" if they had a problem with the tree.

Also, to be clear, we bought the house and moved in last fall, and so this tree was dripping sap on their car for YEARS, and yet they didn't contact the last owner of the house about it, despite having his phone number and calling him about other issues over the few years he owned the house (Which the last owner told me. He actually gave us the neighbor's number, which they asked him to do when we were closing).

Anyways, it takes a lot of looking, but we find a tree company about 3 weeks ago who comes and does an estimate of $700, then we book an appointment for Tuesday (The soonest we could get). I tell my neighbor that we got an appointment for July 3rd. They're not happy about it, and suggest looking for someone in the neighborhood to do it for a lot less money (I didn't tell them how much it cost). I asked if they had any ideas on who could do it, and they say "no", so I say "well, this is the first person out of a dozen we found who actually made an appointment with us and showed up to check the tree, so we're going with these guys". No answer (and thank heavens we stuck with the guys with insurance!).

Tree trimmers come, do the job, it all seems fine.

Until today, when I get photos of their car, with 2 dings in the top of the door. They want me to call them IMMEDIATELY about this.

First of all, it's 4:30 on a Thursday. I'm at work. In a meeting. So no, I'm not calling right away.

I do immediately forward the photos to my partner, because he booked the trimmer. He's sending the trimmer an email.

Now we're waiting to hear back, and I'm just wondering if anybody has dealt with this before. In theory, do we give our neighbor's the tree people's info and/or vice versa? Is it a problem that the neighbor's didn't tell me about this until 2 days after the job is done? Should I be worried that the damage was from something else and the neighbor's want to blame it on the tree? I have absolutely no proof that's what they're doing. But I honestly don't understand why they didn't move their car (just to be safe! not that they HAD to!), especially when I gave them the info on when the tree guys would be there. And I have a weird feeling in my stomach about the fact that it took them 2 days to tell me about this (the dings/dimples are at the top of the door frame on the driver's side, so like, very within range of eye level).

Any advice? I feel really stressed about this now, because I do want to keep good neighbor relations, but honestly, these guys have been kind of starting to bug me a bit lately. They're significantly older than us, and we're renovating our basement - they keep kind of pushing/strongly suggesting people they know to do our work. I always thank them and say we already have it covered, but the way they keep on doing it...I don't know. The last time we have some surprise issues with our house, they almost scolded me for not asking them if they had someone to do the job. I kind of looked at them weird and was like "We already had a recommendation for who should do this, and we like the work he did, so we're sticking with him" and then wished them a good day and went in.

Any ideas on what to expect here would be HUGELY appreciated!

Edit: A couple of things - because the neighbors keep their car in their backyard, they have a camera there. I spoke to my homeowner's insurance myself, and the first thing they said was "You know it was their responsibility to trim the tree if they had a problem, right?", so I am very much in the clear there. My husband spoke to the tree people, who basically said "I hope they have proof we hit the car, because I'm not under any obligation to take a complaint seriously that comes two days later without proof." So if this is for real, the neighbors should have camera evidence to send to the tree people.

Depending on how the neighbors respond, Is it OK to say "I sympathize with your car getting dinged somehow, but I just learned from insurance that any part of the tree on your property was your responsibility and we paid close to 1k to have it done. We also gave you the date we were having it trimmed for you. I don't know why the car wasn't moved from under the tree on that date, but we've done all we can and hope you have success getting the trimmers to fix the car once you send them proof of the accident" and then if they persist, say something like "we've said everything we have to say on this. best of luck getting it resolved", repeated as needed.

Does that sound reasonable?