Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  06/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I entered into contact with Superior ***************************** (SF&R) They installed a fence on 4-16-24 they made several breaches to the contract which I have been trying to get them to resolve. They never asked for final payment as the work is still unresolved. I guess they decided they were not going to negotiate anymore because I got notice today that they planned to file a lien on my property on 6/7/24, that's 4 days before I received the notice which hardly seems fair. I was to have had a walk-through on the day of installation, this never happened and would have avoided many issues, I was available the entire day as requested. SF&R changed the layout of the fence and the materials to be used. One issue was resolved and that is why the lien is for $100 less than the original amount due. The lien is for $2,210.70 The outstanding issues: The contract called for a 5' gate but they installed a 6' gate and switched the direction that the gate swings, which makes the gate obsolete for my purposes. Please note there was an issue, the gate can not open as per our contract. I was home to troubleshoot but SF&R chose not to utilize me & made choices for me without my consent. I have asked them to replace the gate/post with a solid panel and a post without holes drilled in it (for rust purposes) or keep the fence as-is, either way, I want to be reimbursed for the cost of the gate. SF&R also damaged my irrigation system when installing the fence, per the contract they are not liable except that they attempted to fix the problem and failed, again this was done without my knowledge or consent, which now makes them liable. Furthermore, they have refused to tell me where they broke the irrigation system, so now rather than fixing the problem I have to replace the wiring which is an expense I should not have to pay. I want SF&R to be accountable for their actions. They can not make change orders without my consent and expect me to pay, those decisions are mine to make.

  Business response

  06/10/2024

  Our number one goal is customer satisfaction. However as it shows, ************** refuses to let us go back to accomplish her request if we don't accredited her $1,500.00 out of her balance of  $2,210.74, plus labor and materials needed. We never mentioned an extra charge in order to accomplish her request, but she refuses us to go back if we didn't agreed to the $1,500.00 prior going back. At that point we felt like he had no other option more than sending her a 10 day letter.

   

  I'm attaching the conversation with ***************. There you may see our intentions and responses regarding this situation.

   

  Thank you

  Customer response

  06/11/2024

   
  **mplaint: 21828856
  
  I am rejecting this response because: SF&R needs to read the Intent to Lien summons that they initiated,It is NOT a 12 day notice, it is a 7 day notice from the date it was written on 05-30-2024.  Per their instructions the lien was to have been placed 7 days later from the date the notice was written which means the lien would have placed on 06-06-2024.  I attached the tracking info from the notice, it wasn't even mailed until 06-05-24; they did not overnight it to make the 7 day deadline.  The letter was received 06-10-24 so my understanding is that the lien was placed on 06-05-24, how am I to know that they didn't follow their own rules again?   

  Again, SR&F never answered any questions:  I asked why they needed to visit the site that they had been to on a least 3 occasions.  I heard nothing.  I asked why the refused me the walk through, I got no answer.  I asked why they changed the layout of the fence, I got 1 of 2 answers on that one.  The outstanding answer being that they made the choice for me for the gate and are not satisfied that I want an option that they are unhappy with.  Mind you, even thought they requested I be home all day to troubleshoot they did not utilize me.  I asked them why they changed the width of the gate, I got no answer.   Per our contract, if I wasted their time and wasn't ready( I was ready and compliant) they would fine me $500.  They breached the contract 5 times and wasted my time, should I not be entitled to receive the same fine?   Seriously, 5 breaches of contract, is that not gross negligence and shouldn't they have to pay a penalty?   

  I have not asked SR&F for an exact dollar amount. Period.   I have said that I expect to be credited back for the cost of the gate and that I am not to be charged for any costs of the correction, I did not ask to be paid for the cost of their correction.  You see SR&F does not want to correct the fence.  They want me to either keep it as-is or move the gate, at their cost to a different spot.  If they move the gate they want to leave the post that has holes drilled into it for the swing hinge and I have requested a new post as I don't want the fence to rust out.  They insist that I must keep the gate, which is moving forward from their breach and that wrong.  Time gets set back to contact, I don't have to accept the breach.  My solution would have been to eliminate the gate but they did not give me that option.

  I have made three appointments for them to come to my home, including one time this week.  They continue to waste my time and insist they can not negotiate unless they are on my land but won't explain why, I think the intent is to bully me. which they have clearly been doing made perfectly clear by the 5 breaches of contract they have made.    I don't think we're going to learn anything new from an onsite inspection but have humored their requests, I have told them that I prefer to negotiate via email.  They have been dragging this out for 2 months now.  I respond promptly.  They are just mad because I want a different solution than they do, how my fence works for me is my choice and how I spend my money is my choice, they don't make those choices for me.  Isn't that why contracts exist?

  Then there is the matter of the irrigation system.  They damaged it and refuse to tell me where they broke the line, that's a huge repair cost for me.  They weren't liable until they attempted to repair it, now they are liable.  **nsidering I have to have the irrigation system rewired because they refuse to communicate is insane. Once you add on the costs to replace the irrigation system I think the $1500 is low.  Because the $1500 that they pulled out of thin air does not include the irrigation. 

  I have offered that they can leave the gate if that is a more cost efficient solution for them even though it's of no use to me but I do except the price of the fence to be credited back to me.  I honestly think that the balance due should be forgiven when you add in the headaches, time, total disregard to our contract, changes of layout, material, no walk-through.  

  I have not paid the balance because the fence has yet to be fixed.  They have never asked for the balance due, never sent an invoice or requested it by phone, mail or email.  Instead they filed a lien on 06-05-24.  I ask, is that fair business practice? How can I work out a solution with a ** that refuses to communicate unless I accept a damaged fence post and a gate that doesn't work for me?

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  contracted superior to install fence and gates at my property, job never completed correctly, already falling apart, was strong-armed and forced into paying in full before work started , i refused to sign off on the project when asked because it was still not done, was emailed last week saying they were cashing my check and i told them not to as almost 3 months later the job is still not complete or working correctly

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Installed March 14th. for $17,049.37 At first glance it looked great, upon closer inspection it is very poor workmanship, not what we were promised. The photos attached are just a few of dozens of areas. I contacted *********************** the sales person who came out, and agreed it needs repair/completed. Never heard back from him 3 weeks later. I've text and called him several times as well as contacted my contact at the company via email, **************************They are clearly ignoring the request to properly complete the job. I More details: Boards don't meet at several areas. Cuts off.Gate rattles.Boards spaced leaving openings in several areas. top rail and many other places, only one nail, so wood is twisting and bending, should have dozens more nails, at least. Top rails bared nailed and twisting. Stained post tops turned white within few days, posts not aligned, uneven, nails showing everywhere; missed boards, wood cracked at installation, and much more. I'm requesting a supervisor schedule with me to go over the fence togther, and then have it completed. thank you

  Business response

  07/05/2023

  Business response taken verbally by BBB:

  We are currently in the process of resolving this complaint. We are on the schedule to go out there on 7-13-2023 to resolve.

• Initial Complaint

  01/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contracted with this company to install a white PVC fence. The fence was installed 5 feet from the community aluminum fence rather than 5-6 inches. There is 5 feet of property behind my fence that I cannot access without trespassing on a neighbors property. There are sprinkler heads from my yard behind the back of the fence so obviously the set back is not correct. I called them multiple times and it took weeks before a rep came out. After several more weeks the rep who did the initial measure came out and stated to me that "the builder required a 5 foot setback" so that's why it was installed that way. I told him that he was mistaken and reached out to the *** and they sent back an email stating that he had no idea where that came from and that it is not true. SF told me that I since I had a picture of their measurements it was my fault for not catching their error. They also then blamed the *** for not catching their error. They want me to pay for the additional fence materials and labor to take the back of the fence down and install it correctly even though it was clearly their error in either measuring the property or assuming that there was some required setback that does not exist. What makes me even more upset is I sent a text to my sales rep with a picture of the sprinkler heads at the back of my property the day before install as I wanted to confirm that there was enough clearance from the fence so had their rep even bothered to respond to me his error would have been identified and caught before install. The 5 feet behind my fence and in from of the community fence cannot be maintained without trespassing so I need Superior Fence to come out and fix their error. I paid them to do the estimate and was clear in my description of what I wanted and the property line was clearly marked . The sales rep either made a mistake or went with his flawed assumption that there was a required 5 foot setback required by the builder.

  Business response

  02/21/2023

  Business response taken verbally by BBB:

  The fence has been installed per the contract. This customer got additional approval from their HOA to have the fence up to their property line and wanted us to make the change. As this was not part of the original contract she would need to pay for the additional work. We offered to do this additional work for her at only the cost of labor and she refused to pay and withheld payment for the now completed job. If she wants the additional work to be done she needs to pay us the remaining balance on the completed contracted job and for the additional work before we begin on the work due to withholding payment for completed contract.

  Customer response

  02/21/2023

   
  Complaint: 18887530
  
  I am rejecting this response because their response is untrue.  From the start I requested that the fence include all of my property and watched them measure (there were property stakes clearly marking my yard) at the time. They made the error in setting the fence back 5 feet from the community fence and the sales person who came out to look after I contacted them regarding the error stated that he thought the builder required a 5 foot set back which they did not.  At no point did I "change my mind" and they required HOA approval to even install the fence not after the fence was installed. 

  This was their sales person's error in setting the fence back that far and they need to correct their mistake.  I did offer to pay for the materials but I will not pay for their labor charges as it was their error in the first place. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  02/22/2023

  Business response taken verbally by BBB:

  Please see attached signed contract the customer approved showing the 5 foot setback.

  Customer response

  02/22/2023

   
  Complaint: 18887530
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
    There is no dispute that I signed the contract.  I did not review the picture as I watched them measure so didnt think I had to check their work. I was in process building my house and It was my first experience submitting to an *** so I was focused on getting that done. My *** didnt catch the error either. Superior Fence told me that I should go back on the *** as they approved it

   I sent an email to my sales rep the day before install stating the sprinkler heads were 6 inches from community fence and asked if that was enough clearance.  He never responded. They could have caught the error as well had their sales rep responded to me. When the sales rep came out to look at my complaint he told me the builder requires a 5 foot setback. I emailed the *** with copy to him and the *** stated he didnt know where the sales rep got that idea.

  There was clearly no meeting of the minds with this contract!

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  01/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We bought our house in April and used the survey we received at closing to build a fence. Superior Fence and Rail built our fence in July. Our neighbors immediately claimed that the fence was built on their property so they got a survey done showing that one side of our fence was on their property and they threatened to *** us over it. So we reached out to Superior Fence and Rail to inform them of what was happening. After paying over $13,000 in cash for our fence we would have expected them to help us resolve this is***. After months of back and forth over email we were finally able to get one of the guys out to our house to discuss this. When he was at our house ********* only agreed to move 4 panels of our fence at no cost but ultimately was not willing to move the side of the fence because he believed it was installed correctly despite our neighbors survey showing otherwise. He said he wouldn't do anything though until we got a survery. ********* had given us his cell phone number and said that was the best way to contact him since emailing the company would often take days for a response. So we had reached out via text on a Tuesday to schedule moving the 4 panels of fence that he agreed to do at no cost and have received no response despite reaching out everyday for the rest of the week. Superior Fence and Rail should be responsible for moving this fence but instead they avoid responding to us over email and text so we have gotten nowhere. It has been almost 6 months of back and forth with them. We kindly ask that they move the fence that they installed incorrectly so we can put this behind us. Superior Fence and Rail should be responsible for redoing the entire side of our fence that shows it's on our neighbors property but since ********* only agreed to move 4 panels we would at least like him to follow through on his word.

  Business response

  02/21/2023

  Business response taken verbally by BBB:

  We have advised the customer to get their property surveyed once more to determine exactly where property line is. We strongly encourage the customer to resolve the survey dispute prior to having to make any moves with the fence as it was installed per the contract with the customer's survey. To move the ********************** we would have to charge the customer and we do not want to charge them more then needed on the off chance we are requested to move the fence multiple times. We will still move the fence at cost if the customer insists on getting the ********************** moved without resolving the property line dispute.

  Customer response

  02/21/2023

   
  Complaint: 18878244
  
  I am rejecting this response because: When ********* came to our house in November he had verbally told us that he would move the 4 panels of fence at no cost because originally we were under the impression that it was those 4 panels that showed over the property line per our neighbor's survey. We ended up showing him the neighbor's survey and from that he is the one that actually told us that most of the fence on that side is technically on the neighbors property--when originally looking at the neighbor's survey we thought it was just the 4 panels that were over the line because that is what looks most obvious but when reading the actual measurements it shows the fence begins to encroach on their property up to 7 panels in by 0.1', then by 0.5' 5 panels in. It is obvious that the fence was installed veering towards our neighbors property and not angled in towards our property. This is why we believe the fence was installed incorrectly from the beginning because the angle it was installed does not match our survey from pin to pin. We have clarified all survey measurements with our closing company who compared both our survey and the neighbor's survey to the county plat book, so again this shows that the fence was installed incorrectly. It is obvious by looking at the neighbor's survey that the angle the fence was installed does not match our survey because if you run a line from pin to pin that line does not match the angle of our fence. We believe that as a professional company, the fence company should have verified these measurements and since they clearly did not then they should be responsible for correcting this at their cost. Although we are only talking about less than a foot that the fence would need to be moved, this has caused many months of stress and tension with our neighbors that we feel like could easily be fixed by the fence company. We understand that the surveys have determined the fence is on our neighbor's property by less than a foot and could have been human error during installation but do not feel like it is our responsibility to pay even more money after paying this company over $13,000 in cash. ********* verbally gave us his word that regardless of the surveys he would most at least the 4 panels due to the months of back and forth, then never responded to us when we reached out like he told us to do. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  10/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Superior Fence and Rail provided and installed defective material and stated that the fence does come scratched from transit and is "Normal". However, we were not told or disclosed this information at time of purchase but were told not to use any abrasive cleaner or material on fence, or it voids the warranty. The General Manager had come to the property to review defects and agreed that we would not be paying any more money towards the balance of the fence. We have paid over 50 percent of the fence cost and are not willing to pay remaining if fence is defective. We just received an invoice for remaining balance and were told by the General Manager to pay or we will be sent to collections.

  Customer response

  10/31/2022

  Complaint: 18223968
  
  

  We are working with the company at this time to resolve the issue.

  
  

  Thank you!

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********************************************

• Initial Complaint

  09/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have made repeated calls to Superior to come and check their installation of 11/21 for defective closure on one gate and a failure for their product to reach the ground on another section of fencing since early July, 2022. They have assured me they are sending a crew, asked me if I could be home on a Saturday, but no one has ever shown up. They are now not answering my calls. As per the initial contract, these repairs appear to be under warranty, but I am unable to get them to come and fix their original installation.

  Customer response

  10/06/2022

   
  Please be advised that Superior Fence and Rail sent someone to make the required repairs on Wednesday, September 14.
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩