On 4-29-08 we signed a contract with Gerald Cooper of Cooper's Fence / Cooper's Contracting of 680 Ford Pond Road, Pelion, SC for the tear-down and removal of a four-foot wooden fence, and its replacement with a four-foot chain-link fence. Per the contract, the work was supposed to begin on 5-5-08 and be completed on 5-6-08. We paid $1,178 on 4-29-08 for materials. The balance of $922 was to be paid upon completion.
On 5-6-08 (one day late) Gerald Cooper and one assistant showed up and partially tore down the old fence and attempted to set the posts for the new fence. On 5-7-08 Gerald and 2 assistants began stretching the chain-link fence.By the end of business on 5-7-08, most of the chain-link had been stretched, but a few of the corner post had pulled out of the ground with the stress of stretching the chain-link. Gerald came to me and told me that he had less than an hour of work to do in the morning. He had re-cemented some of the loose corner posts and needed the cement to dry before stretching the remaining chain-link to fully enclose the yard. He asked for a partial payment so he could pay one of his assistants. He stated that one of the assistants was not coming back the following day. I agreed in good-faith and paid $422 toward the remaining balance.
Now, I was in the midst of recovering from ankle surgery, wearing a cast, and using crutches to get around. I could only visually inspect that the fence was standing. I could not physically test that the fence was standing strong. When my wife got home from work, she almost fell when she leaned on the fence. This is how we found out that only the corner posts were cemented. The contractor only pounded the line posts in the ground about 12 inches without digging a hole or pouring cement.
Three years ago we paid for a chain-link fence to be installed where we lived in Illinois. Every post was cemented. We called another fence contractor in SC and simply asked him when installing a chain-link fence, should every post be cemented. He responded definitely, yes. We then checked several internet sites that confirmed the same thing.
Needless to say, I should have never given him a partial payment.
On 5-8-08 Gerald Cooper showed up with one assistant. My wife informed them that every post needed to be cemented. Gerald claimed that cementing every post was not necessary. The contractor mixed some cement and poured about a shovel full on one side of a few line posts without even digging a hole. Gerald then re-stretched the chain-link and cut an additional 3 feet of slack out of the fence. He blamed the assistant who was not present on this day. Gerald then claimed he needed more supplies and would return later that afternoon. Neither Gerald nor any of his assistants returned that day.
On 5-9-08 Gerald Cooper showed up again with one assistant. My wife sat and watched the contractors work to make sure that the job was being done correctly. Gerald made several references to his anger management problem and that he should not be working because of his temper. He told us that he did not return the prior evening due to a fist-fight he had gotten into. We took his comments as an indirect threat that we should not be pushing him to do his job. Again Gerald and his assistant left, stating they needed more supplies.
When the afternoon came, my wife called Gerald and stated that all of the post needed to be removed and the job re-started and completed correctly. Gerald's reply was that he didn't think he could do that. Gerald left an unstable fence in most areas, missing areas of fence on both sides of the yard, and 2 uninstalled gates.
No one from Cooper's Fence ever called or came back to finish the job. No one from Cooper's Fence came back to pick-up tools. There were also 10 posts from the old wooden fence still cemented in the ground, which were supposed to be removed.
We recorded a video of the product that was left behind. Over the next week my wife and teen-aged son dug holes for each fence post, put a bag of cement in each hole, stretched the remainder of the fence on both sides of the house, and installed the 2 gates which were left in the yard.
I contacted Gerald Cooper on 5-19-08 requesting a refund of the good-faith, labor money I had fronted him ($422). Gerald's response was that he was not going to refund anything.
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