July 6 - I signed contract with Mike Tafflinger of Northern Divide Fence Inc to install a 6 foot chain link fence around my property for the sum of $9,800.00. I paid half up front, $4,900.00, with the balance due upon completion. I told him at that time that I was going to install privacy slats in the fence. He said that he would sell them to me at his cost, $53.00/box.
July 22 - With the work partly completed, Mike asked for another $1,500.00, even though that was not the agreement. Mike said that he needed the money because he had some bills due and he was very adamant about it, so I gave him the money.
July 25 - Mike said the work was completed and asked for the balance, $3,400.00. I pointed out to Mike that day that I found several of the fence posts were loose in the ground and moved easily. Mike said that it was probably just air pockets and that they should firm up after a couple of weeks. So, I paid him the balance due.
Part of the agreement was that the fence would be tight to the ground all of the way around. There were large areas, especially across the back (south) side of the lot where the fence was as much as 4-5 inches off of the ground. Mike left piles of dirt, rocks, and cement chunks everywhere. I cleaned up the yard myself and hauled all of the extra dirt and rocks over to the low places and tried to fill them in as well as I could.
I went to Menards and bought 52 boxes of privacy slats for $46/box and spent the next month and a half straightening all of the numerous bent wires, spray painting all of the rusted or discolored wires and posts, and installing the privacy slats (approx August 1-Sept 15). I worked very hard on it and made the fence look as nice as I possibly could. The fence posts still hadn't firmed up and continued to be a source of worry for me.
Early October We had a really windy day and the fence on the west side of the property started leaning. I called Mike at least eight times. The final day, I had to call him three times in one day. Mike came over to look at it and said the footings were loose and had to be reset. Mike blamed it on the slats. I reminded him that I had said right from the beginning that I would be installing privacy slats. We went around the yard and I showed Mike the other loose footings, the same ones that I had showed him before, and reminded him what he had said about the air pockets and the posts firming up. They didn't firm up. Mike said that he would come back and reset all of the loose footings before winter came. Mike came back with a couple of other guys and pushed the leaning part of the fence back into place, but he never did come back and fix any footings.
November another windy day. The east side of the fence started leaning. I called Mike several times again, at least once a day, every day for two weeks until he came to look at it. Mike said the ground was frozen and he couldn't do anything about it until spring. Mike said that he would come and fix all of the footings in the spring. I asked Mike to promise that he would and he said that he promised.
February The gate was dragging on the ground, making it difficult to open and close. I called Mike. Mike said that he was working in Indiana and couldn't do anything about it. He said that he would be back in Duluth for a couple of weeks in April for the home show, but that he would be going back to Indiana after that until May. Mike said that he would call me when he was back in town in April. I called Katey and asked her if there was someone else or another fence company that they could recommend who could come and help me. She said no.
April 9 The last day of the Home Show, I hadn't heard from Mike all week, so I called him. I got his voice mail and left a message. Mike never called me back.
April 14 Gate acting up big time. Fence post that the gate latches to leaning and coming up out of the ground. Concrete footing sticking up and preventing gate from closing all the way. I called Katey, who informed me that Mike was still in town and that he weren't going back to Indiana. I told her about the gate problem. She said, Yeah, I know you're having gate problems. I told her this is a new, worse problem. She said that she would have Mike call me. Mike called later that day and said that he would be in town on Saturday, April 15, and that he would stop by between 10:30 A.M. And noon.
April 15 After calling Mike three times, he finally showed up at about 3:30. Mike went around the yard and repeated that many, if not most of the footings need to be replaced because they had either broken or they were loose. Both the east and west sides of the fence are leaning. The footing for the gate post is also broken and the gate itself is very loose and leaning. Mike shook the gate and it and the fence waggled back and forth all the way down like a snake. I showed Mike the problem with not being able to shut the gate. Mike said that he had a job to do and wouldn't be able to do anything about the gate for at least 10 days. Mike said that he would call me on Monday (April 17) to schedule a day when he could come and fix the gate. Mike also said that it would cost me (him) money to come and fix my fence footings, that he would have to fit it in on days when his workers got done early on other jobs, and that they would only be able to do a couple at a time.
April 17 No call back from Mike.
April 18 I called Mike again. This gate problem is too much for me. I have to lift the gate to close it and it is too heavy. I need help now. Mike said he would fix it within the next 7 days.
April 24 The 8th day. I called Mike. When can you fix my gate? He said that he was behind because of the rain and that his goal was for Wednesday. Mike said that he would call me the day before.
April 25 I called Mike again. Mike said that he was still hoping to get to my gate on Wednesday.
April 26 I called Mike again, 7:08 A.M. And got Katey instead. She said Mike is working in Sturgeon Lake today. She said she would have him call me.
April 27 I called Mike again, he said that he was running behind (the same old story). He also said that he was still planning to get to my gate yet this week. I reminded him that it is Thursday already. Mike said, Yeah, I know, everybody wants their jobs done. We're working through the weekend. He said that he would get to it as soon as he can. I feel like my job should come first, since you started it way back in July and it hasn't been right since.
April 28 I called Mike again. No answer. I left a message. My back is messed up from pushing and pulling on that gate. I am in pain. You keep saying that you are going to come and fix it but you don't. I know you are busy but I am a customer too. I paid you and I deserve to have my gate and fence fixed. I called back a few minutes later and you answered. Of course it's you. I will get to it as soon as I can, calling every day isn't going to make it happen any sooner. You're on the list. Then Mike said, You act like you don't think I'm going to fix it. I fully intend to honor my contract with you.
I asked, But, when is that going to be? Mike said, I'm not a fortune teller. I have issues, too. I said that I didn't want him to put other people ahead of me on the list. Mike said, I will do the jobs in the order that I have to do them.
April 28 I talked to a paralegal who works in an attorney's office. She said that she can't give me legal advice, but she suggested following: Get an estimate from another company for the necessary repairs. Write Mike a letter.include the estimate and give him a deadline in which to complete the work. Notify him that I will be suing him for that amount if the work isn't complete by then. She also said that I should notify Mike that I will be filing a complaint with the MN Dept of Commerce at that time also. We discussed other repercussions, but she suggested that I not include them in the letter. She also gave me a print out of the MN Dept of Labor and Industry's web site on how to file a complaint against a contractor.
May 17 I got a phone message from Mike to call him. I called him back and he said that he wanted me to know that he hasn't forgotten about me and that he will be over to start working on my gate in a few days and that he will fix the rest of the fence later. He said that he was running behind because of all the rain. I told him to please come and fix it as soon as he can and to not wait for me. He has a key.
May 26 Still nothing from Mike. I called another fence company (fence company two) for an estimate on how much it would cost to fix my fence. He said it sounds like bad concrete and that I will probably need all new footings. He is going to look at it on Tuesday, May 30 and call me with a repair estimate.
May 30 Fence company two called me back, said all my fence footings are too shallow and will have to be re dug and all fence posts will have to be replaced. He said the posts should have been set eight feet apart instead of 10 feet. He said the top rail is bent from the fence shifting and will need to be replaced. He also said that all the materials Mike used were cheap and thin, no better than what I could have bought at Menard's and that none of it would last. Mike did not use professional grade material. He recommended that I replace the entire fence except for the gate. I told him that I had put a lot of work and money into the slats and that I wasn't ready to start from scratch on that again. I said that I would rather replace parts of the fabric as needed, as long as the framework can be made solid. He agreed that he could reuse the fabric and leave the slats in it, but repeated that the only way make the fence sturdy to do that is to replace the whole framework. He will call me back when he has a proposal ready. I called a third fence company and asked them to also look at my fence.
May 31 Got a call from the third fence company. He said the same thing as and fence company two, the footings were not set deep enough. He suspects that they are only a little over a foot deep. He said all of the footings will have to be dug to a minimum of 4 to 4 feet deep and all the posts will have to be replaced. He will mail a repair estimate.
June 1 Called fence company two and he said that he is still researching info for me regarding manufacturer's specs, etc. To take to court. He also said he estimates the repairs at this point to be upwards of $7,000.
June 3 Took still photos of fence problems. Not able to show how loose and wobbly fence is with still photos. Daughter said I can use her Sony Handicam to make a video.
June 8 Daughter and son in law came over and helped me shoot a video of the fence problems with their Sony Handicam
June 16 Still no response from anyone at any of the three fence companies. Mailed letters to Mike, both certified and regular mail, demanding that he fix my fence by July 1 or I would pay another fence company to fix it and then sue him for the cost. I mentioned the upwards of $7,000.00 quote that I was given by the other fence company.
June 20 Received green return card for letter that I sent Mike. The card was signed by someone named Teri Mailing. It looks like someone signed the name Elaine first and then crossed it out.
June 21,22, 26 Left messages for fence companies two and three.
June 27 Left messages for fence companies two and three. Fence company three called me back. He is coming over at 6:00 pm today to give me a written estimate. Fence company two stopped in to the office and brought me a packet of information including a proposal which quoted $7,130.00 to repair my fence.
Emailed MN Dept of Labor and Industry's Residential Building Contractor's unit at DLI. Contractor@state. Mn.Us to ask if they could help me recover any of my loss. I sent them a copy of this chronology. Later, I received a response from them stating that they can't help me because the State of Minnesota does not license or regulate fence contractors.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau at MND. BBB.org.
7:00 P.M. Man from fence company three. He walked around the yard and looked at my contract with Northern Divide and pointed out three contract violations:
1. The contract specified four-inch gate posts. The posts that were installed were only three inch.
2. The contract specified 1 5/8 inch top rails. The top rails that were installed were only 1 3/8 inch.
3. The contract specified that the fence be installed tight to the ground. There are many areas where there are gaps under the fence (and I filled in many other areas with dirt myself).
He said that the two top wheels on the gate were supposed to have covers over them and they don't. He said that is a code violation. He also said that there is supposed to be a cross piece between the gate posts to hold them up straight and in place and there isn't one and that the gate posts are crooked. He stated that he would write up a proposal to replace the gate posts, the line posts, the top rails and any corner posts that are loose.
0 comments