Affordable Fencing

Review: I paid AF a deposit of $830 on 6/24/13 after being told that if I quickly got back to them after receiving a quote, that they could install my fence within a week or two along with another job they were doing in the same neighborhood. I quickly paid them over a weekend in order to get our "order" in and get the fence installed timely. I therefore was unable to make a copy of the service quote that AF left me. I signed it and put it with a check in my mailbox, that was promptly picked up on the morning of the 24th. It was a Monday, and I didn't get a chance to take it to work with me to get a copy. The deposit was to be half of the estimated job. The fence was not installed that week or the next week. Approximately 4 weeks later, I was contacted by Mike Finney, the owner, to let me know they were ready to install the fence. The reason I had not contacted him sooner to inquire about the status of the fence was because we had found a home we wanted to purchase and had decided to put the house on the market. When he called, I told him I wanted to put the project on hold because we had the house for sale. He said he wouldn't bother me again and would wait to hear back from me. I called him several weeks later to let him know that we had sold the house and I would like to get my deposit back. He was very friendly and congratulated me on selling our house so quickly. I have placed 3 follow up calls to him directly about getting the deposit back and he isn't returning my calls.Desired Settlement: I don't mind paying a minimal re-stocking fee of perhaps $100, but no more. Mike Finney told me when he was giving me the quote that "they kept a large inventory; not like other fencing companies in the area". He didn't say anything about it being a special order type of fencing. I am certain that they can use this fencing on another job. It is a standard black chain-link fence and it was only to fence a small section of our back yard (large dog run).

Business

Response:

Thank you very much for the correspondence regarding Ms. [redacted]. I apologize for taking the extra time in responding. I have attached a copy of the signed agreement with Ms. [redacted]. I do not think she provided a copy for you. On June 25, 2013 Ms. knicely agreed to purchase a black vinyl coated chain link fence for her home at [redacted] Roanoke. We special ordered this material out of North Carolina, as usual, and received this material. After approximately 3-4 weeks [redacted] called and said she would like to delay installation because they may put their house up for sale and if it sold she would not want to install it there. However, she may want it wherever they buy or perhaps when she sells the house she may suggest having the fence installed by the purchasers. I have spoke with Ms. [redacted] on three occasions regarding the fencing since then and I told her on each occasion that the fencing is nonrefundable because I cannot return it and I already have an investment in it such as shipping and handling, storage, and I my supplier made me pay for it in full in June when I received it. I have been atempting to sell it to another customer, but as yet have not sold a black vinyl coated fence. I circled on the agreement " No refunds on special orders," however, I am willing to refund half of it if Ms, [redacted] would be interested. Of course I would ask that Ms. [redacted] be kind enough to respond that she is satisfied. I enjoyed meeting [redacted] and am happy that she was able to sell her house, however, I still have the fencing that she requested and have spent my money almost five months ago that for me is a loss at this time. Thank you, Mike.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.I would like for the record complaint to show that Mr Finney was not corresponding with me regarding the status of receiving a refund and didn't respond to 3 separate voicemails. Nor, was I ever told that this was a special order fence and therefore non-refundable. I was given the impression that if I responded quickly to the quote, my fence would be installed with the fence install they had in the neighborhood in the next week. This, apparently, was not the case, and I believe he purposefully misled me in order to get me to sign and pay quickly.Regards,[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. I filed a complaint against Affordable Fencing, ID [redacted], on 10/21/13. I accepted a resolution/settlement via your website, and the complaint was closed. I have not received my refund back from them after contacting them via email and giving my mailing address. Thanks for your assistance.Regards,[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved. Regards,[redacted]

Review: We signed a contract with AF on 1/22/2014 to install a wood fence on our back yard. Before we signed the contract, the AF owner, Mike looked at and measured our back yard. He told us that the wood fence would be better for us for several reasons, and he happened to have some beautiful cedar wood in stock that would fit our back yard. We signed the contract and agreed to do the installation when the weather gets warm.

In April, we contacted Mike again to do the installation. Mike and his crew came couple times, but didn’t install the fence, because either the utility line was not clearly marked, or we couldn’t be sure where the property line is. In May, after having a survey company marked the property line, we looked at both property and utility lines with Mike and decided where to put the post/fence. Couple days later, the crew came to install the post without Mike’s supervision. My wife saw the workers were about to drill the holes closer into our property. She asked them to drill closer to the utility line (exactly 2 feet away from the line); so it won’t cut into our property too much. The workers refused to do that and left.

After that, we called Mike several times, but didn’t get answer from him until a week later (around May 20). Mike told us that he could not build the fence to our satisfaction, and he would refund our deposit immediately. After waiting more than a week, we still didn’t get the refund check. I called Mike again on May 28 and asked for the refund. I also told him we would be out of the country at the end of May. He promised me that he would put the check in our mail box the next day.

After coming back from oversea in July, I still didn’t get the refund. I called Mike on July 7 and asked for the refund. At first, he told me that since he and his crew came so many times and he had to pay them, he is going to deduct $270 from the deposit. I told him that is not reasonable, since it is they who won’t finish the job, and we still want the fence built. I told him either he finishes the job (since we still want the fence finished) or refund us. He said that he couldn’t build the fence within 2 feet of the utility line, which would violate the law. I told him that is not what we asked; we never asked them to drill within 2 feet of the utility line. Then, he told me that the contract said there is no refund on special orders. I was never told that it is special order, and I recalled he told us that he already got the material in the first place!! I even said the most I can tolerate is to have $200 deducted for his labor. I asked him to consider that and give me a call back about his decision. After that, despite repeated calls every day with messages on his phone mail for a week, I never receive his response since.Desired Settlement: Mike had been courteous and patient when he came to visit. That’s why I told him that I still like to have him finish the job. However, given no response despite repeated calls gives me the uneasy feeling. I would like to get the full refund ASAP.

Business

Response:

Thank you for the correspondence. I have been gone for the last few days on vacation. The cedar planks were definitely a special order item that cost me over $785.00 that I was not able to return after 5 months. I still have them. The estimate itself is no charge, however, we arrived on three separate occassions to start the fencing, but on each occasion they demanded that we drill approximately 75% of the holes much closer that the minimum 24" that is required by law. Those are dangerous conditions that could result is loss of life, injury and of course great expense to the utility company and ourselves. Therefore [redacted] told me he would be happy if I returned $200.00 which I did over 10 days ago. I hope he is satisfied as we are. Thank you very much and I hope the best for [redacted] and [redacted]. It was still a pleasure meeting them both. Mike.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. I want to clarify that we were never told the material is special order. In fact, Mike told us he already had the material when we signed the contract. Also, we didn't ask them to drill within 24" of the utility line. The marking was farther than 24", and we asked them to get closer, even to measure it with tape if they want to. Since I offered Mike that I would take $200 loss to compensate for the labor cost, and I did received the check after I filed the complaint, I consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,