Anchor Fence & Supply

Estimate appointment was quick and detailed. The office emailed a comprehensive quote the next day. The crew arrived on time and completed the work quickly and cleaned up great ! They made sure that between day 1 and day 2 we had complete fencing up to contain our dogs, which we greatly appreciated.

I contacted Anchor Fence and one other contractor for estimates on installing two railings at my daughter's town home.  Jeff from Anchor Fence came out on 8-16-13 to give us(my wife and I) an estimate. I explained to Jeff that the cooperative where my daughter lives requires that porch railings not be attached to the concrete porch, but to posts in the ground next to the porch. He was well aware of this requirement and also that we wanted a railing on each side of the porch. He gave us an estimate of $1100 based on that knowledge for the two railings. The estimate from the other contractor for the same installation was $1050, very similar to Jeff's from Anchor Fence.  We told Jeff that we would be in contact with him regarding our decision after permission was received from the directors of the cooperative to proceed.
On Sept. 4 we contacted Anchor Fence and indicated that we wanted them to install the railings. At this time I requested an approximate date for installation-they indicated it would take about two weeks to get the materials, and in the meantime they required a 50% deposit which I paid by credit card. I had requested at that time a certificate of insurance from their agent confirming that they had liability and workers' compensation insurance. The office person said that no homeowner had ever requested that before, and I said that, nevertheless, I wanted it and directly from their agent, either via e-mail or postal mail. It took two more calls from me before I finally received the certificate of insurance from their agent.
On Oct. 2, my wife called the office to inquire about an installation date and she was told that someone from the office would call us to schedule a date. Finally, on Oct. 7, the installer from Anchor Fence called us from his cell phone at about 9:30AM and asked if he could come about 11:00 AM to install the railing. I  had already made other plans, but I cancelled my plans to be at the site for the installation. The installer and his helper arrived about noon; I had been there since 11:00 waiting for them. When they arrived I showed them the site where the railings were to be installed and asked them if they needed me any longer. They said they knew what to do so I went home. When I got home, I mentioned to my wife that she might want to go over and see what they were doing, and when she did she discovered that Tony(the installer) was drilling holes in the porch. He was starting to install a post in the porch concrete which is against the policy of the co-op. She called me and asked me to come over. When I got there, I told Tony that he was not supposed to attach the post to the porch and to stop immediately. At that time he informed me that he had material for only one railing since that was what the plan called for. I explained to him that we had contracted for two railings, not one, and that the posts were to be installed in the ground next to the porch in concrete 42 inches deep. I suggested that he call Jeff, the estimator(and owner?) for clarification on the details of the job. Jeff was not available at that moment, so I asked Tony to remove the post immediately and fill the holes in the porch with a concrete patch, which he did.  I instructed him to stop and to call me after he had heard from Jeff. I went home and at about 1:50 PM Jeff called me and said that his estimate was for one railing, not two. This was an obvious lie, since my wife and I were both there when he quoted us $1100 for two railings. The other contractor who bid on the job for two railings quoted us $1050. Even Tony, the installer, said he couldn't believe that we were paying so much for just one railing. Jeff said that we would have to pay more if we wanted two railings because that constituted a change made by us. I got very angry and told him just to cancel the job. He said we would have to pay a restocking fee of 20% based on the original contract price of $1100. He told me they would refund $330 of the $550 we had already paid. Anchor Fence did refund the $330 promptly, but I feel they should also refund the remaining $220 as well, because of the deception on their part. I hired them partially based on their longevity in business and their A+ rating from the  Better Business Bureau. That was a mistake on my part; I filed a complaint with the BBB on 10-16-13 and the only response that I have received from the BBB is that they received my complaint and have forwarded it to Anchor Fence for reply.  I wish now that I had never hired them- this is the absolute worst contracting experience I have ever had. On November 8 I received a notification from the Better Business Bureau that they were closing the complaint because the business had failed to respond. They indicated that they would mention the failure of the business to respond on their reliability report for Anchor Fence. I hope they also change the grade of Anchor Fence from its previous A+ to something more appropriate such as D or F.

When we decided to replace the fence, we called Anchor since we had been pleased with what they did when they replaced some old gates.  They quickly sent out someone to take measurements and provide us with an estimate.  Once we signed the contract and gave them a deposit, there was a bit of delay because they were so busy that it took several weeks before they could make our fence; but that was not a problem because there was no urgency on our part, and we take it as a good sign when contractors are busy.  Once they made our fence, they were very efficient about installing it.  We liked the quality of their fence product and appreciated the fact that they pulled a permit (instead of trying to "skirt" the legalities, the way so many contractors do). We had an issue with the height of the fence, and they were extremely responsive to our concerns, proposed two or three ways to deal with the issue, and resolved it promptly and courteously.

I asked for 5' high 6"x6" farm fencing, an in-swinging gate, got 2"x2" fencing with an out-swinging gate. They promised that they'd put the few new posts needed to 4' deep, but didn't do the arithmetic - 5' fencing, 8' posts. Posts on either side of the gate: One's taller than the gate, the other's shorter than the gate, and the gate's a hair shorter than the fencing is tall. They blamed it on uneven terrain (even though the gate's over a horizontal walkway). Gonna bug me forever!

It all works and will be adequate, but it was all very sketchy.

They're difficult to get a hold of, too.

So far they have been very good. If I had concerns, they address them. They were very professional.

The work was done very well, but it cost $300.

Just an update as Spring approaches. I would not recommend doing business with this company in any way for residential fence needs. They are only interested in selling the JOB and getting your DEPOSIT. They'll tell you whatever you want to hear about building codes whether they understand them or not. Their support is terrible with the local bldg departments. In the end they stole $400 from me by keeping my deposit after numerous appeals carried through the Redford Township Zoning Board of Appeals. They never helped or cared about providing a positive business solution for me.

THEY DID A VERY GOOD JOB. I COULD NOT BE HERE AT THE TIME THAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO COME OUT. INSTEAD OF RESCHEDULING, THEY CAME ANYWAY AND WERE COMPLETELY DONE BY THE TIME I GOT OFF OF WORK. I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE WORK THAT THEY DID.