Complete Fence

Everything went great! From the day we set the appointment and went over options for designs and they even cleaned up well afterwards. They were extremely impeccable and conscientious. The price was fair for the quality of the product we received.

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We had this company's (then under the name of Complete Fence) West Chicago location put in our fence 11 years ago and they did a great job at a fair price. But our experience this time was completely different. We gave them a down payment of 1/2 the fee and they scheduled the work. But when the crew showed up they decided we needed to alter the slope of the land first. But then they started ignoring our phone calls to find out how much we needed to alter the slope by, and also ignored calls to have them talk directly with our landscaper. We finally gave up and the landscaper had to guess at what they wanted. Finally, almost a month after that and multiple calls to the office (during which time we were receiving calls from them wondering why we hadn't paid the balance!), they showed up and completed the job. The quality of the work was fine once they finally did it. But the process was aggravating.

Complete Fence (aka CNI Fence) quickly became a complete headache. I paid more than competing bids because I thought the positive written reviews and glowing personal references would result in "stellar" customer service. Not sure what happened, maybe employee turnover or new ownership, but I encountered one issue after another and do not feel that this company went out of its way to manage the relationship given that all of the issues were generated on their end. I do not recommend this company. While the crew and staff were all professional and courteous, this installation that took place near the end of August quickly became a comedy of errors. First, the crew spread the clay they dug for fence posts along the fence line creating a weird little wall just under the lower section of the fence. I mentioned that, in addition to the fact that it looked terrible, it was going to kill the grass along the fence line. They reluctantly removed most of it, I spent about an hour spreading the rest of the clay around so it would disperse without too much damage. Next, they didn't order enough material for the job, leaving me with an unusable fence due to a large opening for about a week. While I was waiting for the crew to return, I inspected the fence and found numerous scratches and scrapes on the aluminum surface that the installers didn't bother to look back over - some were several inches long. When the crew returned to finish the job I pointed the scratches out. The installers seemed willing to tackle the largest few that day but said they'd have to come back for the rest and I'd have to mark the spots for them. OK, so I spent an hour and a half of my time closely inspecting the fence and marking it with numerous pieces of quick release painter's tape. After waiting a couple weeks I called the salesman to find out when he'd finish the job and was told that he would be out the next week. A couple more weeks go by and I call the company because nothing has been done and now they've sent me a bill. I call the company about the bill to let them know that the repair work wasn't finished and I didn't plan to pay the remaining balance (half due up front) because I couldn't seem to get anybody out to finish it up. The office employee I spoke with seemed astonished that it had taken this long and promised to have somebody out ASAP. A couple more weeks more go. Again, I call the company to find out what's going on because I don't want my account sent to collections, I just want a finished fence! I get another person, a new guy, who promises to be out ASAP. He finally comes out to finish the job - in December! By now the tape has left a residue on the fence that needs to be cleaned off because it has gone through cycles of heat and freeze. Even though the temperature is in the 30s when he arrives to paint the fence, he says it's OK. This has me concerned because everything I see on-line about the correct temperature for painting says it should be done in weather above freezing for best results. He reassures me that it'll be fine - it's clear that the focus here is on banging this job out and getting paid. He shows up on a Wednesday and I get a call on Thursday asking me how I like my fence and when would I be paying. I tell him that I can't check the work on the fence until the weekend because it's dark when I get home from work and I would let them know. . The next day it snows like crazy, covering everything with about four inches. Again another call about paying for the fence. At this point I just give up and write the check. The company's terrible responsiveness has pushed the situation to the point where I'll have to spend hours cleaning off the fence to check the work because the painter's tape is now long gone. Did they remove the goo from the old tape? Did they do a good job with the numerous touch-ups? Don't know, will find out come spring. Thanks Complete Fence (AKA CNI Fence).