We just had our stairs and walkway redone, and the contractor recommended a friend of a friend, Wayne Graham, to replace the rusted iron gate and rail. I tried calling him half a dozen times before I could get him to come estimate. As the mason did a good job, I didn't think to get a second quote before hiring Melrose Forge, but I should have known something was up because the evening he came out he REEKED of booze. OK, it was in the evening & may have been a long day for someone, but still...
He estimated about 3 grand labor for the work we wanted done and said it would be about 2 weeks before everything was ready and he could come to install. He did not ask for a deposit, though he is a big guy and a little intimidating (especially true as he was apparently inebriated) so we would have paid him one. He also had no sense of personal space-would talk right on top of you, maybe 6 inches from your body and also kept he kept patting my wife's shoulder, she later said that he kept winking and otherwise gave her the heebie jeebies
Three weeks later, no word and the weather is starting to change to cold and rainy. I called 2 or three times then drove down to his shop twice before catching him there, he said that he was waiting for stock, nothing in the way of an apology, and said he needed 'the rest of the $'. I told him I didn't pay him yet and he said 'oh', went into his office and brought back an invoice sheet for SEVEN grand. I reminded him that he had quoted 3 & he gave me some line about it being a custom job. I pointed out that it was a significant increase, so he said maybe he could cut some corners but it would be @ least 5. Stupidly I gave him a deposit with the implication that everything would be done in 2 weeks... Then we waited a little over a month before I had to again drive down there (he must screen the calls). Then he said it would be about another week, and UNBELIEVABLE he actually calls us the next week to set up the install.
He came out on a friday, we weren't home that day but everything fit (it's a tight space between our house and the neighbor's property line) but instead of solid, the gate and railing were hollow! We also discovered a good sized crack in our new concrete... There was fresh concrete near where the rail was attached, it washed away after a couple of storms to reveal an 8 inch crack One of our neighbors told us later she smelled marijuana that morning and that their truck was blaring sports talk all the time they were there.
I called him to complain & he said he had had to cut corners to do the job as he explained, and that I owed him the balance of 7 grand!!! I told him to go suck an egg... But THREE days later I got a letter from his lawyer stating that Melrose Forge was going to put something called a mechanic's lein on our property if we did not pay within 30 day, so I was over a barrel and had to pay. I did call our step guy, who expressed surprise and said I should have called him after Wayne's quote and that it should have cost no more than $1500 with install for the hollow railings, he knew people @ Home Depot who would have done it for that but recommended Melrose Forge because we wanted solid iron. He also said he wasn't going to refer anyone to him again. So I guess our only revenge is relaying our experience with this guy in the hopes that others steer clear.
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