To begin, an order was placed on April 16 and I was told three to four weeks lead time for installation.installation did not occur until June 24. This is a ten week lead time not the three or four week timeframe as originally indicated. I was never called regarding any delay nor was I given any credit or consideration for this inconvenience.
The contracted job included 187 of aluminum fence and 170 of chain link. Upon installation of the job, the aluminum fence had to be shortened by one section of fence as there was a large tree in the way. Although the contract states that trees will not be removed, the tree was in place at the time the contract and the estimate were made. At the time of install, I chose to compromise and move that piece of fence to the left side of the yard as their crew already started to cut in an extra seven feet on that side as well. The fence was used and it was paid for; however, if a proper estimate was created to begin with, I would not have ordered or paid for this piece of fence.
No one came out to check on the finished job and when I called to say that although for the most part the install went smoothly, there were some concerns that I would like someone to take a look at and I was told someone would be out to take a look. As I never received another phone call from S.N.K. Fence indicating when someone would be out to take a look, I called again to indicate that the damage was more serious than originally thought. I was told that the problem described doesnt sound like their problem and someone would get back to me. No one ever got back to me" and I finally put a dispute on the charge. This dispute is still ongoing as we delivered proper payment as per the contract but materials were not delivered as such. We have been given a damaged product, whether that is the fault of the manufacturer, the shipper or the installer; it is not the problem of the homeowner.
Once the dispute was placed on the card somone came out on July 12 to take several pictures of the damage, thirteen days after an initial call was made that there was a problem and and indicated they would take a look. At that time, the company clearly stated that 20 sections of fence were damaged, this equates to approximately 80% of the job.
At that time I was told that normally when it is an install problem, there are fewer, deeper scratches; however the pictures would be forwarded to the manufacturer and we'll see what they say. Based on this statement, it is not clear who caused this damage; however, once again I argue that it is not a homeowner problem. Additionally, during this visit it was clearly stated that they would email pictures that I had to call and request twice before they were finally emailed on July 18.
Finally I was told that since this is a manufacture problem I should deal with them, however, I was told by the manufacture that they do not deal with the customer directly. I was also forwarded an example of the warranty information that would be faxed once this issue is resolved and this paper indicates that there are registration cards that need to be sent out. It was not until after I questioned this statement in an email and fax, that it was specified this was no longer the case.
Based on the above discrepancies, it is very unclear S.N.K. Fences policies or practices when dealing with issues. As a homeowner I do not believe I should be held responsible to pay full retail price on admittedly damaged material. The contracted price was paid in full at the time of completion of the job. Payment was released to the company and I am still left with damaged fence.
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