Frontier Fence Co., Inc.

Disappointing Experience with Frontier Fence: A Long-Time Customer's Perspective I have been a loyal customer of Frontier Fence for over 30 years, having initially had my driveway gate installed by the company. Over the years, they have repaired the gate several times after accidents, replaced the mechanism once, and even replaced the stabilizer. I have always found Tom Miller, the founder, to be a person of integrity — reliable, courteous, and deeply invested in the quality of his work. Unfortunately, my recent interactions with the company have left me feeling deeply disappointed and frustrated. Frontier Fence's website is filled with self-congratulatory phrases like "passion and dedication," "very professional," and "we strive to meet your expectations." Based on my previous experiences, I would have agreed with these statements. However, after my recent encounter, it is clear that these words no longer reflect the service the company is providing, especially under the leadership of Tom Miller’s son, Jim Miller. When I reached out to Frontier Fence with an urgent issue — my gate being severely damaged by a delivery vehicle and left half open — I was shocked by the response. I spoke with Jim Miller, who first told me they had too much work to take on the job. I asked if someone could at least come out to either take the gate down or open it to provide access to my driveway, but he refused. Jim then asked me to send a photo, which I did promptly. From there, the situation deteriorated. Jim indicated that he would offer recommendations for other vendors, but two days later, I had not received any communication. When I followed up, asking for an estimate (as the delivery vendor requested one), I was met with a rude and dismissive response. Despite being a long-time customer, Jim excoriated me for sending the text after hours. I explained that I had been busy with work, but his response was to accuse me of miscommunication, culminating in a remark that he no longer wanted my business. I called to discuss his tone and the situation, hoping for an explanation, but Jim stood firm in his stance, stating that this was simply a job they did not wish to take. When I asked to speak to his father, Tom Miller, I was told that Tom was retired and unavailable. This interaction left me disheartened and perplexed. After decades of loyalty to Frontier Fence, I never imagined that I would be treated with such disregard. To be dismissed in such a rude manner is not only disrespectful but harmful to the reputation that Tom Miller worked so hard to build. I’m sharing this experience in the hope that it will serve as a wake-up call to the company. Customer service should always be the cornerstone of any business, and it’s clear that, under Jim's leadership, that has been severely lacking. It is not just the refusal to help; it is the lack of empathy, professionalism, and respect for a long-time customer that is most troubling. I have recommended Frontier Fence to numerous people over the years, including contractors and other business owners, but I can no longer, in good faith, continue to do so. A company’s reputation is only as strong as its ability to serve its customers, and if this pattern of behavior continues, Frontier Fence risks long-term damage to its public image and customer base. I sincerely hope that the leadership at Frontier Fence — including Jim, his brothers, and any other family members involved — will take this feedback seriously. The attitude that "the customer is always right" may sound cliché, but it is a timeless principle that has helped successful businesses thrive for decades. Without it, Frontier Fence may find itself losing much more than a single customer — it risks losing the very foundation of what made the company great in the first place. I remain deeply disappointed by this experience, but I hope this review will inspire change for the better.

I contacted several fencing companies for quotes, and Frontier was the only one who actually came out to survey the site and see what it was I needed done - others gave an estimate on the phone or, in the case of one, surveyed my fence line with Google Maps (their quote was twice Frontier's by the way). Frontier's installers were prompt and professional; they arrived exactly when they said they would and finished up in just under two hours, tying the new fence into my existing corner posts beautifully. I'm very happy (and my wife is very happy too, which may be even more important!). Best of all, their quote was also the best price I received for the job.

It didn't go well when the "quoter' smarted off to my wife and became disrespectful. I wasn't home so I didn't get a chance to address him. Rather than call him up and light him up I decided to not use this company. Sad part is I used him at last house and paid out 25K for perimeter fencing. They lost a lot of money because one of the brothers who owned the company was unprofessional. I got someone else and paid them 35K instead....worth every penny.

Excellent craftsmanship. Plan early. It took almost 3 months to get the job started. Once started, job took 3 days.

What a shoddy job. The gate doesn't close great, there were holes in the fence where it wasn't lined up properly with the gate. The wood is piecemeal on the gate and they cemented over one of my sprinkler heads.

I probably would use them again.

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Good surprise!  They were able to do the job in a much shorter time frame than they originally thought.  The workers were punctual and asked the right questions - following our direction to the "T"!.   The price charged was comparable to other companies in the area.  We were happy to use a local company that has been here in Escondido for decades....

Frontier Fence had the cheapest price and replaced our fence quickly, however, their overall lack of communication during this whole process has been very disappointing.
Carol was very quick to respond to calls to schedule an appointment for a price quote, and Jim was punctual when he arrived. He offered a fair price to replace 3 out of 4 sides of our fence, and we decided to chose him for the job based on price and reviews on Angie's List. After we submitted the signed contract, the communication became very bad.
We e-mailed to Carol a list of questions from my neighbors, but didn't receive answers after we had called their office twice after a couple days. That was the first red flag. We also scheduled the fence replacement more than a month in advance, in order to secure the start date, and they said it was doable. It wasn't until the Wednesday before (July 22nd), that Jim called and confirmed the start date of Monday (July 27th). Up until that Wednesday, my neighbors had no idea when the fence replacement was going to begin (a problem, since they had to make arrangements for their pets). On Friday afternoon (July 24th), Jim called and said they can't begin until Tuesday (July 28th). Understandable, but very last minute.
We also asked Jim and Carol (twice by phone, once by e-mail) if it would be possible to set aside 5 panels of the old fence for my neighbor who had asked for them. Jim and Carol assured me multiple times that this would be done. When we came home the afternoon the fence replacement had begun, we noticed that they had hauled away everything. No panels were set aside for my neighbor. Although Jim and Carol had apologized for it, it was still very disappointing that they didn't keep to their word, especially since we had asked on 3 separate occasions.
Lastly, our GFCI breaker tripped and failed the day the fence workers were here. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but the workers never notified us that it tripped when they were using their power tools. Our bathroom outlets hadn't worked since the day the workers put up the new fence. We didn't think much of it, until we went out to do yard work and realized that the outdoor outlets, including our sprinkler system, are on the same circuit and haven't been working. So, our lawn hadn't been watered in 2 weeks and our grass began dying off. This was beyond frustrating. We also had to replace the GFCI since it couldn't be fixed.
When we told Carol about our issue with the broken GFCI and lack of notification from the workers, we didn't receive much of a response from her or Jim. This doesn't surprise us one bit, considering the fact that they had already promptly cashed the check we wrote to them.
Overall, we're very disappointed with the service and communication from Frontier Fence. They offered the best price and they replaced the fence quickly, but the trade-off is terrible communication and lack of care for the work performed. Would not recommend or use them again.

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They were very professional, punctual, and did what they said they would do.  On the initial install the snake wire was not low enough to keep small animals and snakes out.  When I called, they were very responsive, and sent the crew out to redo it, no questions asked.  I highly recommend them.

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They were efficient.  They were helpful.  They did a good job and were quick.  They met all my requests.  The price was average and the same as everybody else.

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Was installed very professionally. Designed fence to work with existing landscaping. Recommended black vinyl coated chain link to be less visible and blend with landscaping. They were right on with their recommendation. Very pleased.

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Frontier Fence was wonderful, I am totally satisfied.