A1 Fence Installation

On March 25, 2020 I received a phone call from *** to install a shadow box privacy fence. I went out to her property that evening around 3pm to get measurements and find out where the fence was to be built. When we were discussing the fence, she had mentioned that *** had come out to give her an estimate the day before. She had asked how much I knew about *** fencing. I informed her that I didn’t know a much about it but I was filling out paperwork to go work for them. On March 26, 2020 I received a text from *** that stated “Here’s what I’ve decided, if you can do my job for $4500.00 its yours.” I had originally bid the job for $4800.00 and am now taking a $300.00 cut to get the job. I called *** that day and had them go mark utilities. On Friday, March 27,2020 I went out and received a check of $2600.00 for materials and we signed a contract and warranty for the fence. On March 31, 2020. The utilities had been marked and she had notified me around 630pm. On April 2 we had begun our work at approximately 1030 am. *** was outside with us making sure everything was good. We laid out our stakes and string where we are going to be digging the holes and setting the posts. I asked *** if this is where she wanted the fence because it was going to be in front of the gutter, since she was outside with us. *** stated “yes that looks right to me”. So after we had figured out where we are digging the holes, we marked each hole with black spray paint and began digging. I had another estimate I had to go to in Neosho, MO at 12pm. I left there around 1115am and everything was good. When I came back around 130pm, I checked in on how progress was going and left again for more bids. I had arrived back to *** home around 3pm. I spoke with *** about another job she may have for us and finished digging the holes and putting posts in the ground. Around 330pm it began to rain pretty good, I informed *** that with it raining, we would be back tomorrow (April 3rd) to set the posts. She was fine with it. On Friday, April 3, 2020 we went to *** to get cement around 9am. After we loaded our cement, we made it back to *** house around 1030am. She came out and talked to us, she let us know we could use her trash can to put our empty cement bags in. Around 12pm, my dad showed up to help us finish setting posts as it started to rain. We had approximately 9 more posts to set when he arrived. We ended up finishing setting the posts around 1230pm. I informed *** that all the posts were set and good to go except for 1 (that had a root in it) in which I explained that my bar was sharp enough right now. I will sharpen it over the weekend and get it out on Monday April 6, 2020 and that we were going to use a hardner with the cement so it would set up that day. *** stated “that should be fine, as long as it don’t hurt the post” which I informed her it will not. On Saturday April 4, 2020, at 930am, *** had messaged me asking for a copy of her contract with my license and insurance. I informed *** that I would bring that out to her on Monday when we returned to work. Later on around 1pm ***, had messaged stating that she would like to see me on Monday regarding the job. On Sunday, April 5, 2020 I asked my grandfather to go out and get measurements for the 2x4 we were going to need so we could grab them on our way there. My grandfather showed up around 430pm to get measurements. He stated that she yelled at him and told him to leave because she wasn’t informed that he was coming. He complied and left. On Monday April 6, 2020, I showed up to speak with *** around 1045am. She had informed me that she wanted her posts to be moved over 2 ft on each side (4’ total) which is approximately 17 holes because that is not where she wanted the fence to go. *** had informed her that where the posts were, were going to be an issue because of the location of the gutter. She had also stated that she didn’t want to wait til Monday to have the root dug up and had called Halls Fencing to come dig the root up. She said that would be taken out of my pay. She stated that she was very upset with how little we have worked and accused my crew of being on drugs. I apologized for how upset she was and informed ***, that if she wanted us to dig more holes it would cost more money due to the fact that before we began to work, we asked your approval and you agreed. I even offered to buy *** new guttering out of my pocket to stir the water away from the posts she was concerned with and she declined. I also informed her that my crew was not on drugs neither. I had also informed *** that with *** coming out and working on our fence without my knowledge or approval voided her warranty with us. She was very upset, she stated she could not get anymore money due to having to take a loan out to get the fence anyway. She also stated that since she suspected my crew to be on drugs, she did not want them back there. Later on that day, I had messaged *** stating, “We will not be out to finish the job, I was going to take the labor out for the work that we did do and we would be issuing a refund check back”. She stated this is not an acceptable solution and that we are not charging her for labor. She stated she will sue me and spend every moment making sure I was a crook. I informed ***, that I was not refusing to do the job, and that we would do it where the posts are set but we would not be moving the posts over that were dug and set with her approval for free. I informed her that I have given her options to work around the concerns she had and she had declined them all, so our only option was to return the money back. I wrote a check for *** on April 20, 2020 for $1100.00. I mailed it off with certified mail so she would sign for it. It was signed for on April 28, 2020 To my knowledge as of 5/4/2020 She has not cashed the check.