Illinois Iron Works

The installation of the fence was delayed due to bad weather. After 3 delays the fence was installed and paid in full. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the gate was dented and scratched due to carelessness. Two of the slats for the fence were bent. They installed the post on the my neighbor's property and cracked the cement block on their property. 2 of the other posts had issues also. I called Ted VanBuren and he came out 2 weeks later and agreed to make good.....didn't hear back. I called a week later and his daughter Debbie said we have not forgotten about you. That was the last I heard from them (April) They had their telephone number disconnected. His scheme is that he comes out to look and you think he will take care of it, but that is the last time you will see him. He also has a company called Illinois Iron and Works in Brookfield, Il. He and his daughter do have a fence company; they work out of their house. Remember his name Ted VanBuren, 68 years old. He opens and closes businesses to avoid the law.

Overall, it was horrible.

My suggestion to anyone who is even thinking of contracting with this company or any of Mr. Van Buren's numerous other businesses is to check the Cook County Clerk's website to see all of the civil suits brought against this person and one of his other fencing companies, AAA Fence. I wish that I would have done a bit of investigation before handing him a 50% down payment (a check that he cashed literally minutes after leaving my house). After having to put up with complete unresponsiveness and phone calls that were not returned for weeks, we were finally able to get his "crew" (two guys who admitted to me that they had never put up a fence before in their lives) to start work. When I tried to contact Mr. Van Buren because the "crew" was doing such a shoddy job, I was met with verbal abuse and threats of a lawsuit. Instead, I sued him and won. Rather than pay me for the unbelievably horrible (crooked, poor quality materials, not the right size, posts not set correctly or deep enough, etc.) and unfinished fence, he filed personal and professional bankruptcy. I am shocked that this person is still allowed to practice business in this state, as he has not only ripped off many consumers, he has apparently bilked his wholesalers out of thousands of dollars (according to the suits brought against him, which are available on the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court website). Please, check the Cook County Clerk's website and the Illinois Attorney General's office before signing a contract with this company or this person.

Ted from Illinois Iron Works came to my home in Frankfort the the first week of March. I informed him that I would like to have my yard fenced using Custom Western Red Cedar fencing. Ted gave me an estimate (10% below the lowest out of the 3 bids I received) Ted and his crew were able to install my new fence (even though it was raining) and completed the project in 2 days. It turned out more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. Ted's crew was extremely professional and courteous. I would highly recommend this company to anyone looking for a fence.