I contracted in November with Port Jeff Fence for replacement of a wooden gate, a dozen sections of stockade fence, posts, and replacement of a chain link fence and gate with a Gemstone aluminum fence and gate (wrought iron look aluminum).installation occurred in December.
After installation, there remained some minor problems. The wooden gate wasn't hung quite right, but self-latched most of the time. (These fences surround a pool, so self-latching is required.) Also, a single section of fence that was replaced was misaligned with the two existing sections adjacent to it. (How it is they couldn't align it with at least one side, I'll never figure out.) They installed an extra picket on one side. I had to request that they install an extra picket on the other side. Was told they'd come back the next day.
Subsequently called multiple times, and was told they would come take care of the issues. Never showed.
About a month later, I discovered that the top hinge on the aluminum gate had been ripped off (presumably in moderately heavy winds we had earlier). Called PJ Fence and told them that the screws had sheared. They responded something to the effect of "That can't happen!" I told them, it had happened. They expressed surprise and said they had never seen such a thing before.
Said they'd send somebody out, but never showed. A few weeks later, the screws on the lower hinge sheared also, and the gate fell against one of the fence posts, chipping a little bit of paint on both.
I called again, and advised them of the now exacerbated problem. Was told they would come out, and would bring touch-up paint, also.
After many weeks and many calls, finally got the service manager out. He expressed surprise, but agreed that the hing screws had sheared, just as I had said. Said he'd have a crew out to fix it, and the several other issues.
Many calls and many weeks later, a crew finally shows up (at a time I'm not there), and rehangs the aluminum gate. However, the lower hinge is not installed properly, and the fence is not hung even, so it won't self-latch. They don't touch-up the chipped paint, and in fact, make a bigger mess in redrilling holes for the hinges.
They bring an extra picket for the stockade fence, but just leave it and don't install it. They don't do anything about the wooden gate that, by this time, never self-latches, and must be lifted a half inch in order to manually latch it.
Many calls and months later, I give up on the service manager, Ronny, who never calls back and just glad-hands you when you catch him in. I end up speaking with Greg, owner of the company. He says he'll get a crew out shortly. A few weeks later, still no repairs. I call again, and speak with Greg again. This time, I arrange an appointment for a Saturday two weeks out, so that I can be home to make sure everything gets done, and done correctly. I tell Greg I'm putting it on my calendar. He tells me to call that morning to get a timeframe from the service manager, Ronny.
I call in the morning, but Ronny's not there. I'm told I'll get a call back. I call back after 1:00, and after speaking without yet another person, am told I'll get a call back in 10 minutes from Ronny. About 20 minutes later Kevin calls me back and tells me "It doesn't look like we're going to be able to get a crew out today." This is July 1st.
I begin to tell him "Look, after 6 months I've had it. If you can't get a crew out today, don't bother sending one..." intending to make clear I've had enough, and it's going to escalate. (i.E., I'll have somebody else make the repairs, and give them the bill. Then we can go to court if they refuse to pay.)
Before I can finish, he says "Ok, goodbye" and hangs up on me.
So I hop into my car, and drive to their store. Walk in and see the salesman I had wored with. Explain the situation to him, and at first he's sympathetic.
I tell him I wish I had checked their BBB record before buying from them — they have a bunch of unresolved Repair and Service issues. He tells me, "Oh the BBB is not the place to check, we have no complaints with the Consumer Affairs Dept."
Then we go and find Kevin. I complain he hung up on me. He proceeds to tell me that I had gotten "nasty." I said hardly, and told him I wasn't going to argue with him any longer.
Walk back out, salesman want to understand the issue, so I explain. Then he says, "Oh yeah, I remember somebody saying something about that. That can't happen. They said you're landscaper took down the fence."
I said "My landscaper? You've got to be kidding? Landscaping in the middle of winter? And they ripped the fence down, shearing the hinges off?"
He says "Well, maybe it was a tree or something."
"You've got to be kidding. If a tree had hit it, it'd be pretty obvious. There's be a hell of a lot more damage to it than sheared screws and a little chipped paint. And what the hell, are you saying I'd lie because I didn't want to spend $50 to have a gate rehung?"
I proceeded to tell him I would have the repairs done elswhere, and give them the bill to pay. If they didn't pay it in a timely fashion, they should expect two things — 1) for me to take them to court, and 2) for me to become a familiar fixture in front of their store with a sign advising people to check their BBB record before buying from them.
He again gives me his shpiel about how Consumers Affairs is the right place to check. I tell him to go ahead and explain that to potential customers, after they've checked their BBB record.
It's always amazing how places like these manage to stay in business. I guess there's enough new business from people like me who fail to check the BBB beforehand. (An unfortunate departure for me.)
In any case, the amazing thing is that these are such simple and minor repairs that need to be made — yet they refuse to even deal with them. Imagine if you had a difficult issue.
After more than 6 months, and more than a dozen calls, I am confident that this isn't mere incompetence. So far as I'm concerned, there's no explanation for being repeatedly told they'd deal with the issue, only to get nothing — and to know I'm not the only one — other than that they don't give damn about service once they've collected the sales price.
And to have the gall to 6 months later defend themselves by suggesting that I'm lying? So far as I'm concerned, they're just plain crooked.
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