Twin Mountain Fence Company

A crew from Twin Mountain Fence began working on our fence April 22, 2013. I initially called for an estimate the first week of March. A foreman named Brandon came to take measurements and ask about our specifications. I was clear that I wanted concrete footing to be level so the fence went straight around the backyard without sloping. Brandon understood and he said concrete was their specialty and that they would even install something in the concrete for water drainage. The driveway side of my old fence had concrete filled in between the 4x4 posts. Brandon advised that they would need to dig up the old concrete in order to trench for the new concrete and posts. I told him we have been wanting some extra space in the driveway so they could trench inside of the existing concrete which would move that side of the fence closer to the yard. He said that would be fine as long as they don't go past the line of the brick on the house. He asked me if I wanted the fence frame facing the alley or the backyard. I told him I wanted the frame facing the alley so we have the nice side of the fence inside the backyard and it will also make it easier to replace pickets later on as needed.
Here is the quote I was given:
LABOR AND MATERIALS TO CONSTRUCT 175' OF 6'
PRIVACY FENCE INCLUDING (3) 4'-SWING GATES
AND ALL HARDWARE. MATERIALS USING CEDAR 6''
DOG EARED PICKETS, CEDAR 2''X 4'' 'S AND 2 3/8
GALV. METAL POSTS.
1 3,418.96 3,418.96T
SALES TAX 1 168.54 168.54T
OPTION: CONCRETE FOOTING TAPPERS TO LEVEL
OFF FENCE TO GRADE - $2455.20
0.00T
OPTION: STAIN (PECAN)- $625.00 0.00T
TOTAL FOR FENCE, CONCRETE FOOTING, AND
STAIN IS $6667.70
Non-Taxable Sales 0.00
He sent us the quote on March 11th via email. I responded to the email and advised we were happy with the quote and would like to know when the work could get started. I never received a response so I called a couple of days afterwards. Brandon returned my call and said it would be a couple of weeks before they began working on our fence. This was acceptable to me as we had several trees to remove from the fence line. Two weeks went by and I never heard from Brandon so I called and left a message for a return call. Another week went by so I called again and left another message for Brandon to call me back. I was transferred to his voicemail box but it was full so I called back and left a message with the receptionist. A few more days went by with no return call so I called back and spoke to a man there who took down my information and listened to my concerns about no one returning mycalls. The next day Brandon called and said they would begin work on April 22.
When they had the new post holes dug and the posts sitting in the holes, I discussed my concern with Brandon that the posts looked short if the concrete was going to be so tall in the back when the posts at the back of the fence were dug into the ground the same amount as the posts at the front of the fence where there would be less concrete due to the slope. He said they would come back the next day and would raise the back posts up some. Before they left that day, concrete was poured next to all of the posts and nothing was changed.
Here is a list of all of the issues we delt with afterward:
The concrete footing at the driveway was poured on top of the existing concrete - nothing was moved over, nothing was trenched, and the old post holes were reused.
There was an ash tree next to the fence and I was concerned the root may cause problems with the concrete so I asked Brandon to take a look and let me know. If he thought it would be a problem, we would remove the tree that afternoon. I never got a call but when I looked at the forms, they stopped on both sides of the tree. My husband and I removed the tree that night after work. I asked Brandon about it the next morning and he said they were going to just put longer pickets next to the tree without any concrete in that spot. That was not acceptable.
The new concrete footing is not level and is not tall enough at the back of the fence so the fence and concrete slope 6".
The frame was installed facing the backyard, not the alley as we discussed. There was nothing for drainage installed in the concrete as he discussed with me on his initial visit.
There are leaves poking out of the concrete at the corner of the fence by the driveway as if the concrete was half mixed with leaves as a filler.
A 4 foot piece of form wood was left at the base of the footing and covered with dirt.
A large pile of excess concrete was left in the backyard and covered with dirt.
They dug out the concrete slab from the bottom of our trash bin and left it in the yard. Also left in the yard was chicken bones, nail strips one had over half the nails still in it, two pieces of rebar, and two t posts still in the ground from our old fence.
Holes from the rebar that held the form straight were left in the driveway.
The concrete is not straight so the gaps between the fence and concrete vary between half and 1 and a quarter inches
They finished working around 430 or so on Thursday. I asked Brandon that night if they were coming back Friday to stain because they removed the temporary chainlink fence they put up for my dogs. He said they would be back on Saturday to stain so the wood would have time to dry out. Saturday went by and we never heard from him. Sunday, Brandon texted me and said the stain never came in on Friday as expected so that was why they did not come on Saturday. He said they would be here the day it came in. Then, he asked if my husband would like to get rid of a muffler we had next to the house. I told him if they come get the concrete and t posts, then he could have the muffler. He said he would send someone over that day. No one ever showed up. Monday afternoon between 2-5pmsomeone came and took the muffler - but left all the concrete and t posts. I sent him a message when I got home and told him I would have thought the muffler would have been the last thing to go (of courtesy anyway). He responded to me this morning and said he was sorry and some guys would be here to pick up the concrete and tposts and that they would be back tomorrow ( I assume they are coming back tomorrow to stain?).
This has been a frustrating and disappointing experience to say the least. We had faith that a company that has been in business for so many years would have better customer service and quality. It has literally taken us years to save up the money for thisfence because of the additional cost for concrete and our specifications for the fence to be level. After all these years, not only am I unsatisfied with the fence but I feel like I have been taken advantage of.

Also, the wood they used was low quality unlike other fences we've seen that were constructed by them. Our fence is already warping only days after it was installed and every single picket is filled with knots!

As of 5/2/2013, no one has come to stain the fence or called. I received the invoice in the mail yesterday. I emailed them the detail above on 4/30/2013 and sent it regular mail and have not been contacted. Buyer beware!