Contacted Zen for the above work and because of work the neighbor had done. We were very disappointed with the job. Hedge was not installed to the depth of the neighbours, no machine was used to dig the trench for planting the trees, not enough cedar mulch used to cover the bed. Chain link fence for two sides of the yard was defective and not installed properly. When asked to fix it, Josh became angry, swore and did not return calls. His men finally showed up to do the fix and it was just as bad as the first time, so we asked him to remove it entirely, paid for the hedge and patio. He is now telling us Home Depot, whose policy is full refund if merchandise is returned within 90 days, will only give him part of the money back. He wants full payment for half of the fence and we are left with 4 poles sticking out of the ground and Josh wants us to pay $847.00 for these poles. Other neighbours on the street had problems with this company too. We would neither recommend nor use this company again. Very unprofessional and shoddy workmanship, with no attention to detail. As a follow-up to this story, when we had the first big wind storm, 4 of the trees blew over, so we had to replant them and tie them to the back fence. We'll have to wait and see if they survive.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,768.50
- Company Response
Dear Pat,
Again, I am very sorry for this issue. When I originally came to price this job I was met by a very sweet older lady. We priced out a lot of work including concrete, fencing and a hedge. After the first estimate was submitted I was contacted to down scale the project. The original pricing was up around 8000.00 and after I cut everything back it was down to under 5000. My first mistake was down grading for the quality products we typically use for fencing to try and come in on budget. We installed a small pad for a shed with patio stones and also a hedge. We didn't use a machine to plant the hedge as it was not needed. We only used a machine for the neighbors because we needed it to dig a front garden. I was paid in full for the hedge and pad. I did invoice for the full project but after i seen the fence i did remove the cost for this as it was not our typical quality. I asked if there was any issues with the hedge or pad and was told no. The hedge that was planted was even upgraded by two sizes because the estimated cedars were not in stock. This was done at no cost to the home owner. We did install a chain link fence and we did have problems. The fence had pulls and some stretching that were issues from the supplier. I did not know we had these issues until I seen it myself after the customer had called. We stand behind our work 100% and I was ashamed of the quality of this fence. I explained we would try to straighten it up and make it right. When i was on site to discuss the issues your husband sat behind us throwing in his two cents regarding neighboring jobs that he felt didn't go well. He complained about a hedge that in my professional opinion was properly installed. His comments were extremely negative and 100% unnecessary. I was there to fix a problem not to be bashed. Yes I did get angry when he started talking about the neighboring jobs, what does that have to do with your project? I know that the neighbors were very happy with their gardens and i will be returning in the spring to do more work for them. I came in with a positive attitude and told you I didn't care how much money I lost I would make thing right.
Unfortunately my fence crew could not make the fence look any better. After talking to the customer I told them we could remove the chain link and get new product. The cost to do the fence with my usual standard quality material was a bit higher and would involve some extra cost. The customer in the end said don't worry about the fence we actually want to think about it a bit more anyways. I never invoiced for the full cost of this fence, the customer did tell me to invoice for the posts as they would reuse them when they did decide to finish it. I did send a invoice that covered materials only for the four posts and gave them free installation for their troubles. As you can see from our excellent rating we strive for customer satisfaction. It upsets me that this project wasn't a success and looking back wish I had not lowered my price to try and accommodate a sweet lady.
Thank you again for having us come to your home, I am very sorry we could not make you happy.
Sincerely Josh