San Diego Iron Gates, Chula Vista

We had multiple bad experiences with this company concerning the installation of a
Security gate at a 10 unit apartment we own in North Park. They did not stand by their
product when it failed repeatedly and would not remedy the problem caused by the way
they installed the latch.
The gate and punch key entrance system we put in were what was recommended by
San Diego Iron Gates . When it was finished the postal service told us they could not
deliver the mail with that type of entry system. The company then charged us $600 to
install a separate entry system for mail delivery. We thought a gate company should
have been aware of this problem when they quoted us the installation.
Then the gate latch began to fail within a few weeks. San Diego Iron Gates went out to
adjust it once and told us that the tenants were abusing the mechanism. We warned all
of the tenants to be gentle with the gate. The same gate in the back of the building had
no problems. It failed again and they would not come out to fix it. They wanted $125 to
adjust the gate even though it was only a couple of months of brand new.
We talked to the company who made the lock and they sent us replacement parts to fix
the lock. San Diego Iron Gates would not install them without a service charge. We put
them in ourselves and the fence failed again. Turns out the distance between the latch
and the gate was too big and that put excessive force on the latch. San Diego Iron
Gates would not come out for free so we fixed that ourselves. Now the latch works fine
but no thanks to this company. 

San Diego Iron Gates did a great job.   Everything was done in the promised timelines, the prices were fair, service was excellent and the final product looked great.  We live in a new neighborhood, and the gates looked so good that the agents for the builder took their names, and they ended up doing many other houses in our neighborhood.  



We needed to urgently put up decorative window protectors as our son who is disabled was climbing out onto the roof no matter what we did.   The company recognized the urgency, and rushed the product and got it made and up in record time.  All of our neighbors (who knew our issue) came by and complemented us on how great this solution to the problem looked.



I would highly recommend these guys.



I don't know what the first reviewer is talking about; I had no problems with the contract or anything, and I did look a the BBB and they are members and have an "A".

As with most contractors it seems, everything goes OK until you see the contract.   However I must say that the contract was the worst I have ever seen and it should be an exhibit in a class about what not to do.  Of course when I challenged them on it, (and I was very polite about it), I never heard from them again.  Will wonders never cease.  Here is the list.
1. license number is bogus (i.e., expired)
2.  they have a paragraph about not holding them responsible for more than $250.00 if something goes wrong, and after trying to read the paragraph with multiple spelling errors,  finally figured out they don't have liability insurance
3.  they want about a 50% downpayment (the CSLB only allows for 10);
4.  they not only want 50% down, but they want it in a week whether the work is done or not similar to a time-materials contract which is a big red flag in my book;  I said OK but I would need a performance or completion bond (good luck with that, Right?)
5.  There are none of the legal clauses required by the CSLB like "Notice to Owner" or "Right to Cancel".  
Really, what are they thinking? 
In short, I would steer far away from this company if YOU are thinking.  Its also rather amusing that the owner's last name is Shams.  


Read Mr. Shams response/defense.  He is good at arguing..  However the proof is in the pudding.  Check out the complaints on the BBB web site.  After readng these, now I understand why the contract is so contractor biased,  and I stand by my original statement even more so.  All I can say is if you want to be smart, make sure they agree to an EXTENDED warranty (e.g., 3 years or more) and don't give them more than 10% down payment until you are perfectly satisfied with their work and service ethic, as other people have not been.

Simon Shams of San Diego Iron Gates spoke with me over the phone about replacing our old tract home wood stair railing and balcony railing with wrought iron railing. Simon asked for photos of the existing staircase, and I emailed the photos to him. Simon was able to talk in detail about their services, guide me to their website and point out previous projects that would be a good fit with our house and the type of staircase we envisioned. Simon Shams then came to our house with his staff to both discuss and decide upon a design and finish as well as measure for the wrought iron staircase/railing/balcony. We were in the process of replacing our carpeted staircase with wood, so Simon and his staff were extremely thorough in asking questions of and working with our wood floor installer. Simon and his staff helped us to decide upon a beautiful wrought iron staircase railing and balcony railing. In addition, Simon spoke in depth with us about the various finishes and coatings and their features and benefits. Simon prepared a rendering of the new wrought iron railings and also, finalized the measurements in the first in-house appointment. We then communicated as our wood steps were installed. Our railing was completed and ready to install as promised, but our wood stairs were not completed. San Diego Iron Gates  waited patiently for our wood stairs to be completed. The installers came out several times as the wood was being installed to install wrought iron supports for the finished railings. After the wood stairs were installed, they then installed all of the new wrought iron railings in about 1 day. They performed all the custom work that was needed to install the railing into the wood .They were able to assist the wood floor installer in making our finished staircase truly custom with a beautiful design which has now totally changed the staircase, living room, and dining room. Our friends and family are extremely impressed with the work done, and really compliment us on the 'wow' factor this has provided to our home. San Diego Iron Gates and especially Simon Shams are honest, trustworthy, fulfill commitments as promised, stay on schedule, go above and beyond in providing assistance with other installers, and provide beautifully designed and installed wrought iron products. I first saw the work that they did for the Hotel Del Coronado on their website and would say that we received exactly the same excellent customer service and excellent quality product as the Hotel Del did all at a very reasonable price.  Now that all our floors and staircase remodeling has been completed, I rate San Diego Iron Gates as the #1 installer that we used; they were the most professional and delivered as promised.