Boston Fence and Vinyl

I received the bill about a month later and paid it within 30 days via our on-line bank account. I received another notice but ignored it as I knew I had just paid the bill. I never received another phone call, email or any other piece of mail indicating they had not received payment. Unbelievably, last September we received an official letter from Salem District Court stating that we were being sued for non-payment of the $750 by Boston Fence. I immediately logged on to our bank account to make sure the bill had indeed been paid. Sure enough, it had been cashed in June by Boston Fence. When I called the office fuming to find out why we were being sued when I had paid the bill months before, and moreover, why had no one reached out to me before taking the extreme measure of taking me to court, I was told that they didn't want to bother their customers with such things. Soon after, they admitted their mistake and apologized and canceled the court date. I am absolutely dumbfounded that a respectable company would treat its customers in such an irresponsible way and use our court system so cavalierly. It speaks to complete incompetence and a disrespect for their customers. Stay away.

They quoted in June and I accepted. I called in July to find out when they could do the job and they said the would get back to me. I called again in August and they said they would get back to me. I called again on October 13 and the owner said that that type of fence was no longer available and asked if I would be willing to use something similar. When I asked why no one had called to let me know months ago, he had no answer. I had used this company twice before in the past three years. While the work performed was good and fairly priced, the customer service was always mediocre. This was the last straw.

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they didn't come when they were supposed to..took longer than they said..The Installers were rude..The salesman Chris is an absolute jerk...Doesn't get back to you for weeks and always has an attitude.... I have had the fence for about 16 months now..During last fall..well before a year was up...one of the fence posts lifted up ..it was the post next to the double gate..The gate is crooked and cannot open or close without a severe hassle..I called them a month ago and the owner Frank..( without seeing it) said it was out of warranty and he wanted $700 to fix it..sight unseen...HIs salesman Chris came over and said they could fix it easy for free..and would send a guy over.....I also asked for a quote for another fence in my yard near my pool...........I never got the quote 3 weeks later (I have now spent $21,000 with this outfit) and the post did not get fixed...I called the salesman Chris back yesterday...he gave me attitude and said they are not sending anyone over and it is $700 to fix ONE post they installed...I have 40 posts and 285 feet of fence for $11,000..how is one post $700?...and why is it not warranty?...it popped up along time ago but did not want to bother them during winter.... I called the owner Frank yesterday...he said he would call me today.,,he did not.... these guys are absolute jokers..I normally would not resort to this..but buyer beware

Chris came out quickly after my initial call to get us an estimate and was very flexible in terms of re-using sections of fence that I had previously removed as a way to save some money. Even with that cost saving effort, Boston Fence wasn't the cheapest option, but since we had used them years ago to install our original fence we felt comfortable using them to re-enclose our yard for our new dog. The work itself was done well, with a two man crew knocking out the work in less than half a day (other than installing the new gate which had to be installed the next morning after the new posts set). Our only small "complaint" would be that the timeline for actually starting the job slipped by a week or two from what we were originally told during the estimate process, but that was only an issue because we had a dog anxious to run around her new back yard... Would definitely use Boston Fence again!

We initially began shopping for fence estimates in October of 2012. After a few calls and on-site estimates, we got a good feeling from Chris at Boston Fence and decided to go with them. Other companies did not return our calls, or did not seem as concerned with our job as Boston Fence. CUSTOMER SERVICE/COMMUNICATION We held off until the springtime to begin the project and reached back out to Chris in late March/April 2013. He actually couldn't locate our previous estimate, so he came out to repeat the estimate and informed us that they were running about 3-4 weeks out, and that another week might be added later in the season. We got our formal estimate and signed it, at which point the instruction from Chris was to mail our deposit ($4500) and once the deposit was received, we would be added to the calendar. I mailed the deposit the last week of May 2013, and it was cashed and debited from my account May 28, 2013. I called a few days later to confirm that our money was received and that we were on the schedule. Chris informed me that they actually don't provide any dates until we get closer to the time. I admit I was a little baffled by this answer, as we were told before that it would be 3-4 weeks from the time they took our deposit. I asked for clarification and Chris said, "Well, we could give you a date right now, but because it is so far out and it will probably change, we really don't give out dates this early. You should call back in 3 weeks and then we'll definitely have a date for you then." I still did not like this answer, and quite honestly, felt like I was getting a bit of the run-around. However, I said okay, I do understand the nature of the business and that jobs may move faster or more slowly than anticipated, and that a date I was given at this point may be arbitrary at best. So I took his word for it and completely left them alone for 3 weeks. Fast forward to June 17 (3 weeks from when they cashed my deposit check). I speak to Chris - "okay, it's been 3 weeks, where do we stand?" - and I am told that I now need to speak to Frank, who is the "scheduler" and handles all the scheduling. Of course, Frank is conveniently not in the office today. Chris assures me he will leave a note for Frank, who should call me back tomorrow. I ask Chris for at least an idea of when the installation may occur, as we were really hoping to have it done before July 4 (which was 2 and 1/2 weeks away at this point). He assures me, "Oh, yeah, that's what, a good 2 weeks, we should definitely be able to have it done by then." I took his word for it and waited for a call from Frank, the scheduler. I do not get a call the next day - or the next - so I call myself on June 19. I speak to Frank directly, who is extremely blunt, and seems almost annoyed with my phone call. I am informed at this point that the fence definitely will NOT be up before July 4, and in fact, because of the few days of rain we've had and the holiday weekend, we will not be on the schedule until the week after July 4. I was livid at this point. The worst part is he STILL did not give me a date - promising that he would call me back a day or two before the holiday to confirm a date at that point. Boy, was I put off. At this point, I was considering taking my money elsewhere but we already had so much invested in the job (including our $4500 deposit) that I could not bear the thought of starting over somewhere else. I felt extremely put off with what felt to me like a run-around. I didn't really know how to react, but I wasn't left with much of a choice but to swallow and say "okay". I've never had a job like this done before, so I really didn't know what to expect as far as treatment, what was normal for a timeline, when I should expect or demand a date for completion, etc. Many people I confided in were beginning to tell me that I might need to consider taking my business elsewhere at this point. But I waited. So, to review the timeline of our experience: April - estimate provided (we waited until May to sign estimate and mail deposit) May 28 - deposit cashed May 30/31 - confirmed deposit with Chris, told to call back in 3 weeks to get a date June 17 - called back to receive our date, no date provided, told to wait for a call from Frank, assured before July 4 is ok June 19 - after no call received, I call again, Frank provides no date, told they will call back in 1 and 1/2 more weeks, told it will not be until after July 4 July 8 - receive call that they will be out July 10/11 to install fence July 12 - job complete Ultimately, our fence installation began 6 weeks after our deposit was cashed. Was it simply a busy season? Was there just one too many days of rain? Was there a miscommunication between whoever cashed our deposit and the scheduler? Were we cast aside because we weren't a big enough or demanding enough job? Or were we simply just never put on the schedule and forgotten about until I called in the middle of June? Looking at the timeline, it is quite possible that they were still running the 3-4 weeks and that when I called June 19 and they realized "Oh crap, we took their money and haven't put them on the schedule yet!" that they actually prioritized our job and got there in - what do you know - exactly 3 weeks. I will never know the answer to this question, but I have to say it is quite frustrating, to not know why it took that long, and to call multiple times and be given different answers or no answer at all as to when we can expect them to be out for a job that was paid for a month ago. That does not sound like good business practice to me, even if it is an unpredictable business that depends on weather to accommodate jobs being completed on schedule. There was no tact in the way we were told by Frank, either. He was blunt and unapologetic. JOB COMPLETION This was the best part of our experience. The job was complete in 3 days, even with rain almost every day (it took them a Wed/Thur/Fri to get the entirely of our fencing installed). They sent 2-3 workers each day. The workers were polite and friendly. They confirmed the placement of certain parts of fencing. They worked very efficiently. They were missing 3 New England caps after the installation was complete Friday, however, they must have known, because we woke up Saturday to the caps on the fence (they must have come out very early and added them on). QUALITY OF WORK AND PRODUCT The quality of the work was acceptable. The fence itself looks great, it is placed in all the correct spots, it was installed evenly and feels/appears to be a sound installation. Personally, I would have expected our yard to be left in better shape after the job was complete. I understand this is a construction job, however, our yard is not a construction site. Our grass was completely trodden and dead by the time they finished. There was rock, concrete and fence debris all over the entire yard - I mean, everywhere. It is almost a month later at this point, and I am still finding small pieces of the old chain link fence and white vinyl fence shavings in my yard or garden beds. I do not find that acceptable. Part of the job was to haul away the old chain link fencing (which we paid about $300 for), and it seems they took that to the most literal sense they could, and all they took away was the chain link. The large pieces of concrete they pulled up from removing it, and chunks of brick, etc. were all left in a large pile in my yard. I thought that removing the base of the fence would be part of the removal, but clearly it was not. I have since had to pay a separate entity to remove the rock debris (about half a truck bed worth) because the city I live in does not have a public-use town/city dump and will not take debris like this away with trash. BOTTOM LINE All in all, I was split about my experience. While the fence came out looking great, I do not feel that we were always communicated with honestly or taken seriously, and I did not appreciate the state my yard was left in after the job was done. I would probably use Boston Fence again, only because the work did come out very well and I know what to expect, but I would be more aggressive in my communication with them.

Nick came out third week of April 2013 to discuss the job. He was very courteous and knowledgable. The major project was to replace 57 feet of fencing and a small repair job of two poles and two sections. I really appreciated the fact that he did not hesitate to include the small repair job. Another company, Reliable Fence, was very hesitant about doing the repair job although in the end it was included as a side note in their estimate. I stressed to both companies how important the repair job was to me and it was Boston Fence who responded to my needs without hesitation. Customer service from Boston Fence was excellent and, in fact, was the lower bid. The job lasted two days, the second day needed for construction of the gate to the specific measurements after the fence was installed. I cannot say enough about the quality of the construction and installation of the estate screen fencing. The installers, Bobby and Dale, were knowledgeable and very friendly and courteous. Family and friends immediately comment on the quality of the construction. They too like the fence very much. I am very happy with Boston Fence from the very first contact thru completion of this job. I will not hesitate to hire them in the future with my fencing needs.

They did it on time and took care of the installation. I asked them to make a change during the project and they honored my request. It worked out great. The price was reasonable and they were wonderful! It’s been up for about a year and I have had no problems.