March 13: Ron, of American Backyard Structures, visited my home to review my needs for a privacy fence designed to contain two small dogs. We discussed using wood pickets versus vinyl panels because of the topography of my yard and the need for the fence to closely follow the terrain. We also discussed that both gates would open from the inside of the fence for privacy and security.
May 2: The materials for the fence were delivered and construction started. I received a phone call from Kelly at the store who informed me that the quote that I received was incorrect and that I needed to pay an additional $183 for materials that had not been included in my total cost.
May 4: I requested that the crew leader, David, give me a call about 30 minutes prior to completion of construction so that I could leave work, meet him on site and confirm that everything was correct. Although I did not receive a call, I arrived at home in time to meet the crew for a walk through. What I found was appalling.
O The rails were installed on the inside of the posts and the pickets were installed on the outside. (I was told that this was a decorative look.)
O The fence was an average of six inches off the ground in all places. Because the crew had seen my dogs and knew that this fence would not provide containment, they placed two by fours along the ground as a supposed fix.
O One of the gate latches was installed on the outside of the fence and a hole was cut in the fence so that the latch could be accessed from the inside.
O I spoke with Ron immediately to inform him of my dissatisfaction. After giving me halfhearted excuses for some of the work, he assured me that his crew would come back within the next few days and correct all of the mistakes.
May 8: I inspected the fence to find the following problems:
O Fence was about four inches off the ground in several locations.
O There were several loose pickets that were not secured to the rails.
O The gate latch was still on the outside of the fence.
O The tie in to the existing fence left a four inch gap between the structures.
O Several concrete bags and other construction debris were left in the front and back yards.
May 9: I met with Robert of American Backyard Structures to walk the site and discuss the additional items that needed to be addressed.
May 10: Robert arrived at my home to perform the remaining work. Because I had already missed several hours from work and couldn't stand to take any additional time, I asked a friend to assist in making sure that remaining items were addressed. Robert was extremely responsive to a male presence and was more than anxious to work through all of the problems. He even called my friend within a few hours to indicate that the work was almost complete, which is a courtesy that had never been granted to me. When I arrived home from work, however, I saw that there were still several items that were not performed to my satisfaction. Please see Attachment B for a representation of the final product of the fence.
May 11: I spoke with Robert via telephone to give a brief list of the items that were still not correct. He assured me that he would take care of those final items and asked if I would contact the store to give final approval. I noted that I would certainly give approval once the work was done. To date, no one has come back to my property for any of the final corrections and subsequently, I have not given the final sign off to Lowe's.
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