Like many here, we hired Keith on the basis of his excellent reviews - he was not the cheapest quote but we wanted excellent quality and peace of mind. Unfortunately our experience was not what we had hoped for. Keith took our details for the fence several months in advance, and gave us an approximate installation date. Several weeks before that date we called and spoke with him about changing some details - from a ‘good neighbour’ fence to a full privacy fence (easier to stain and maintain), and vertical-horizontal lattice instead of diagonal - he assured us this would be no problem. The fencing was delayed for several weeks and we had to keep calling to ask when the work would be completed, as we had already taken down our old fence and could not let the dog out into the backyard. When all is said and done we have 4 major complaints - there was a miscut on the fence post closest to the house and instead of fixing it, Keith tried to hide it by stapling his card over it then left it (see picture #1), there were cracked pieces of wood used (see picture #2), the fence is quite high off the slope of the ground so we are unsure if our dog will be able to get under it once the snow melts (see picture #3), and worst of all he did not install the style of fence we asked for, although he did remember the vertical lattice request from the same conversation. When we called to discuss these concerns Keith would not come to the phone but we could hear him in the background speaking with his female business partner, telling her what to say. She told us that if we wanted the full privacy fence we would have to pay him to do it again, and asked us “What are you upset about? He built you a beautiful fence.” To this day Keith has not contacted us about our displeasure with the project or tried to make amends. We have to replace other sections of fence in a year or two and will be looking for another contractor.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Keith could have written down our original request (I wonder if he tried to remember it and only recalled the lattice) and should have addressed our concerns in person instead of refusing to come to the phone. A redo of the entire project at no cost would not have been unreasonable.
- Company Response
Hello Kirstin thanks for your feedback. I trust that anyone reading your review here will do their due diligence, read the many reviews we have posted on this site and elsewhere (all oddly with 10/10 scores), as well as my own account of the events below, and then make their own decisions about the truth or falsehood of your claims
1 Justin Purchased a eastern white cedar fence 6ft high & one fence panel 7ft high inc semi private diamond lattice the style was boards on both sides & the date was on the 02 June 2013 as with all of my clients I do not give an install date this is due to bad digging on pervious jobs & also all work is subject to weather conditions in which case I always contact the clients & keep them informed especially when they are taking the old fence down this is due to clients who have swimming pools & especially dogs as I do not want the gardens to be open to the neighbors for to long I always offer temporary fencing at no extra cost
As per my contract any major changes due to the style of fence height or extra footage I encourage each client to complete a contract modification form & sign it due to any extra charges that might accrue as for changing one piece of lattice from diamond to square was no problem as there both the same price
When I notified you with the install date week beginning July 15th you told me that you was going on vacation & your neighbor was going to take control of the job you gave me his phone number so I contacted your neighbor & gave him the installing date for the fence posts & then returned three day later with my crew to install the fence at every stage of the install your neighbor was informed plus due to the nature of the fence going down a slope I kept the bottom of the panels as close to the ground as possible but not touching the ground as the ground was uneven
The post next to your house there was an error made which was noticed when the seven foot section was being constructed I was going to remove this post but your neighbor told me not to remove it & put a piece on top which is what I did also due to the cut fence board this must have been done at the mill so sometimes boards like this do get passed me as I can’t check every board
When the job was completed both me & your neighbor walked around the fence & he was satisfied he then told me he is a carpenter & very impressed with the tightness of all the joints & the position of the fence boards & the uniform of the top & bottom of the fence going down the slop
When you returned from your vacation you did phone me & my Business partner answered the phone because I was driving she made a note of your concerns & I did try to call many times but you did not return my calls
The entire cost of your fence was $1’379.00 not $3000.00 as you stated
.Please rest assured that I take great pride in my company and our dedication to quality workmanship and customer service, and that has not and will not change. Sincerely, Keith Bryan President Keith Fencing Inc