McKenzie Fence Co

My mother hired Roger Bidwel to replace a fence between my property and my neighbors and to place a gate in a fence over a drainage grate which needs to be cleaned our but was previously under a fence and couldn’t be accessed. Rogers workers consulted the neighbor and instead of placing the gate where i needed it he placed it where the neighbor wanted it. I confronted Roger about this and he told me he thought that is where I wanted it, said that the neighbor was not consulted. Today I confirmed with his workers that that was a lie. The workers stated they had consulted the neighbor and changed the placement of the gate to where my neighbor wanted it. I confronted Roger about it and he refused to a acknowledge his lie. Alternatively, I took down the fence as it was on my property and I still needed to access the grate. Now the neighbor is building a new fence in between our property and has hired Roger. Roger is doing the work against my wishes despite not having documentation of property lines. The neighbor is refusing to provide me with documentation. I confronted Roger and he refused to speak to me because I was correcting him as he misquoted me and hung up the phone on me. Police have been called. Additionally his all male workers accused me of screaming and being irrational when I was speaking calmly in a loud voice. DO NOT HIRE this man if you are a woman. He was hired by 2 women and he went behind our back and did what the white male neighbor wanted and is now working for him again despite not having documentation on the property lines. Also in the contract on the fence it stated they would use existing post holes to replace the fence. They did not. They dug new holes. They also excessively spray painted my plants which are 100% on my property.

SHORT VERSION: A nightmare from start to finish. Had to go to small claims court to get the rest of our money back for work not performed. We would never recommend this company to anyone. LONG, DETAILED VERSION: On April 19, 2016 my husband and I meet with Roger Bidwell and he gives us an initial proposal for a fence project on our property. We emphasize how important it is that the new fence goes up right after the old one comes down because of our small dogs. He agrees and assures us he will also dog proof the fence for us. He emails us a contract to look over, but it has the previous owner’s name on it so we do not print it out or sign it. On June 6, Roger Bidwell picks up a cashier’s check for $4000 (75%+ entire bid cost of $5200). He brings an updated contract (in our name this time) and a change order for us to sign. He gives us a verbal estimate of 4-6 weeks for a start date that he says will confirm within the week. We request a receipt to be emailed to us for what we paid. Mr. Bidwell does not email us a copy of our receipt or confirm a start date. On June 22, we email for an update and request our receipt again. Mr. Bidwell assures us that he would get back to us the next day (June 24) however he does not get back to us until June 27. He states in his email that he has half of our materials available and ready for stain, but gives no start date. He says he will let us know when the utility locators will be coming to our property. We email again on July 9 to get an update. On July 13 Mr. Bidwell emails back to say that the utility locators will come within the week. The utility locator from USIC arrives on July 20 and marks the utilities. On August 1, my husband texts to see if we can get a start date for the project. Mr. Bidwell texts back and says he will be in contact with us the next day. We receive no call, email, or text, but around 10 am on August 2 the McKenzie Fence Co. crew shows up and proceeds to tear out the front portion of the east line fence. The crew leaves without telling me when they will be back, nor do they tell me that they’ve left a large gap of missing fence in the backyard. My husband calls and leaves Mr. Bidwell a voicemail asking him if we can get a “heads up” next time before the crew comes and find out when they plan to come back. We receive no response. On August 7 we send a detailed email expressing concerns over the project in hopes that Mr. Bidwell will address them before continuing with the project. My husband texts on August 13 to ask if Mr. Bidwell received our email. On August 15, my husband calls and leaves a message. On August 17, my husband texts again demanding to know when that week(end) the crew will be there to complete the work. We receive an email on August 19 that says that we can expect the crew to arrive at the first of the week to install the “east line & return/gate”. On August 25, the crew comes when we are not home. They install fencing from the gate to the street (approx 100ft) but do not complete the rest of the east line (approx 80ft) or the return/gate as promised. The 100 ft that were complete feature multiple cracked boards, dripped stain, substantial holes, warped boards, and protruding nails. We hear nothing from Mr. Bidwell after this. On September 10, my husband leaves a voicemail asking when they plan to finish the rest (the unfinished east line, the west line and the two returns/gates) as well as discuss repairing the inferior work that has already been done. My husband gives one last call on September 12 to no avail. From September 12 to October 22 we give Mr. Bidwell the opportunity to reach out to us, but he never does. On October 28 we send a termination letter along with a CCB pre-complaint notice via certified mail. During this time we hire a handyman to create a smaller fenced area to keep our dogs safe until we can obtain a refund from Mr. Bidwell. Mr. Bidwell responds to us in writing around Thanksgiving requesting we meet with him. We agree, asking for a copy of our receipt and our mutually signed contract. He meets my husband on our property on November 28 and requests we let him finish the work. He gives us a copy of an unsigned contract, a change order (signed only by me) and a photocopy of our check (not a receipt). He claims the work that was already completed is valued at $1,530.00. From December onward we attempt to work out an agreement that will satisfy both parties. Given our experience the past six months, my husband and I want thorough answers to our questions. At first, it seems he is willing to work with us, but eventually the communication deteriorates and we move forward and file a claim with the CCB. We are given a date of March 7 to meet with Mr. Bidwell and a liaison from the board. On March 6 the CCB office calls and tells us that our meeting date is canceled due to a small claims case Mr. Bidwell filed against us on March 1. But he never serves us. In the meantime, we meet two other former customers who have a had a nearly identical situation with him. We file a counterclaim at the end of summer. During mediation Mr. Bidwell attempts to get us to take the materials he's been "practically tripping on" in his workshop. We refuse and he agrees, at the request of the mediator, to return the $2470 to us. On September 15 he gives us a cashier's check to refund us for the unfinished work. We are relieved to get our money back but that can't make up for over a sixteen months of stress this company caused us.

Horrible company. Never answers calls, takes days or weeks to reply to emails and hardly ever shows up to work. Once he has your money he won't care about your concerns anymore. Only works a couple hours when they do come. Gets angry when asked about fixing problems. Do your research and call the CCB before you hire and inquire about him. Run as fast as you can away from this company. If you hire them you will regret it.

Terrible communication. Would not respond for almost month after starting the project and taking a 75% deposit. Took 5 months and still was not completed. We had to finish ourselves