Coastal Fence Company

Unauthorized changes made to a previously completed fence without consent of the property owners. In December 2011, Coastal Fence Company was hired to complete a fence on our property at [redacted] New Bern, NC XXXXX. The work was completed to our satisfaction and the contract was closed and paid in full. Last year, 2013, we spent a great deal of time and money to stain our fence. On 04/03/2014, unauthorized changes were made to the gate of our fence by Coastal Fence Company without prior discussion or authorization of service by us, the property owners. The gate remains locked and cargo strapped to ensure that it is not opened without our authorization. On the aforementioned date, the company jumped over the gate/fence, removed the cargo strap then proceeded to remove the latch due to being unable to remove the lock, and removed the gate and hinges from the fence. Boards of the gate were then cut and altered to facilitate the installation of large wheels with the supposed intent of modifying the gate positioning, which was no attained. The gate was then reattached to the fence in poor alignment leaving additional holes and cracked boards that now require replacement and re-staining. The company was contacted the following day, 04/04/2014, regarding the situation and requesting an explanation of the circumstances. The owners were informed that the company was "fixing their gate free of charge". The damage that now ensued from the event was described and further face to face discussion was requested from the owners of the property with the company at the property site, but only with the property owners present due to the current circumstances. The manager that was handling the call for the company was unprofessional and no apology was received for the intrusion of privacy/breaking and entering/trespassing ** the property and modifications made without consent. No return call was received, the owners then had to call again three days later, 04/07/2014, due to the weekend, and the company owner arrived on the property that evening with a less than professional manner of discussion for the situation. No agreed upon method, date, or time was determined for repair of the gate, and the company owner now refuses to speak with one of the property owners regarding the situation. Additional calls were placed on 4/10/2014 and 4/11/2014 with messages left requesting a return call which were not received. After another call on 4/11/2014, the owner of the company then states that he will not dispatch a crew to fix the fence, and that the property owners would have to wait until there was work in the area to have the gate fixed, with again a date and time unknown to have the situation resolved. No further contact has been made with the company by the property owners since the last discussion on 4/11/2014 and no follow up calls have been received by the property owners. Desired SettlementFence gate returned to previous unaltered state in it's entirety to include compensation for staining required due to unauthorized alterations. Business Response On a date prior to 4/3/2014 a Coastal Fence representative was visiting a home next to the home of the customer filing Revdex.com case #XXXXXXXX herein referred to as "previous customer". Our representative noticed that the gate on the fence of the "previous customer" was sagging and unable to open and close properly. Since this was a fence we had installed, all be it over 2 1/2 years ago, we wanted to help them, free of charge. We do not keep our records by address and were not able to remember the name of the customer. However, our representative spoke with the neighbor whose home we were working at and he understood that they communicated and that the "previous customer" was OK with us repairing the gate. This is obviously where the confusion began and we apologize for fixing the gate without personally speaking with the "previous customer". We did do the repairs that would normally be a $250 charge. The office staff was not aware of this situation, as it is something we sometimes do for our customers so that their fences continue to look good throughout the years. When the "previous customer" called on a Friday afternoon the office staff needed to get all of the information so she could give the "previous customer" the most accurate explanation. The "previous customer" was called back within a few hours and given the explanation that it was a service we were providing, free of charge, so that her gate would work properly and that we were under the impression that she knew we were taking care of it. The "previous customer" informed the office staff that she was very unhappy and did not want anyone going to her house to inspect the work done to her gate unless she was there. This was late on a Friday afternoon (4/4/2014) and she works during the day so our representative met her and her husband out there on the very next Monday evening (4/7/2014). The professional opinion of Coastal Fence was that the gate was now straight and operational, but he would be happy to have it put back to the state it was in prior to 4/3/2014. The Coastal Fence representative and the husband of the "previous customer" have previously agreed that Coastal Fence would resolve the issue by returning the gate to it's original state on 4/2/2014. No conversation regarding staining or compensation for such staining ever occurred. They also agreed it would be a few weeks before we were able to make the changes as we would be working on a home in the area in just at that time and would have the crew adjust it then. We have not gotten to that home yet as it is just now 2 weeks since our last discussion with them. The Coastal Fence representative and the husband of the "previous customer" have an open line of communication and we welcome a phone call from him at anytime with any questions regarding our schedule. The Coastal Fence representative has tried to contact the husband of the "previous customer" since reading this complaint to try and work out the details with him, but so far he has not responded to us.