SCHLECHTA FENCE CO

Just the highlights (or lowlights as it were) - work took over 4 weeks - installer did not show up several days at a time when he was supposed to be on site. I called owner Ron Schlechta who is always pleasant on the phone but has no follow through, thus not accomplishing what was promised. Will not return phone calls if messages left. - when installer was on site he installed gates in wrong places, had to reinstall and only because I was on site to see issue and very insistent demanding the fence be put in according to plan. - was issued a citation by the city because I did not have a fence permit, after Ron Schlechta said he had pulled a permit and would bring it over. Permit was finally pulled after job was done and I reported situation to the City Building Commissioner. - within 6 months East side fence leaning. The fence does not appear to have been install correctly with enough cement anchor and cement top line was below grade encouraging post rot. - Have called Ron Schlechta every month or three since early 2007 to request and then demand issues be corrected. When he answers the phone he always says he or one of his guys will come by to review and fix the issues at no cost. This statement has been repeated many times including on 11/15/10. Never shows, never calls back. I have kept cell records of calls. - Now the fence is leaning so significantly it is days away from crashing down and taking out my neighbor's fence and shed on the East and the West side is starting to lean significantly as well. There is not a section of fence they installed that is not leaning as of today. (Indecently, my backdoor neighbor had a similar fence install by another company at the same time - it is still standing with no issues) - Called today and spoke with worker Tony who answered their main number, when I said I had filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (who rates Schlechta an F) this morning and was going to list F review on Angie's List today, followed by contacting consumer agencies, TV consumer complaints report since I am a PR professional with contacts, and attorney if the issue was not addressed and fixed this week... Tony hung up on the phone call.

They showed up on the wrong day (early) to demo the old fence. One of their crews walked out in the middle of work one day. Their bobcat tore up my grass. They broke a cement drain basin in my backyard. They started to put the gate in the wrong place. The post holes have significant over-pour and look sloppy. They finished the job and did not clean up. One year later I have 3 posts that are wobbly and they will not return my calls to come and fix them.

Upon inspection we noticed many missed nails that were sticking out of the inside of the fence; this was on every section and there were 2-3 nails at the very lease we have 40+ sections. Also we notice areas on the posts that were "soft." I can't say they were rotten they were just soft. Upon closer inspection my finger went through one of these soft spots and ants came out; a whole colony. My first thought was carpenter ants, good thing it was not close to the house. There were 3 post that were infected and many of the if the slats were knotted or warped. When they brought the wood back for replacement they ran over our pool outlet, breaking it. They came out to fix it and left the wires sticking out everywhere on a LIVE circuit and did not tell us they were coming or left for the day. Had to call 3 times for them to fix; never did. Called a electrician and billed them; got the money. This Dec. 2nd, sections fell down; is covered under warranty but can not get them to come out.

Salesman was very knowledgeable and wasn't high pressure. Gave us locations of existing fences to drive by. Scheduled work quickly when we were ready to put up the fence (it is a new home and we had to wait for grading to be finished). Worked quickly and professionally- very well built fence.

They arrived when promised, and worked quickly to complete a project that others had said would take much more time. The finished fence was much more decorative than what we thought we could afford.