Fortress Fence

Used these folks and truly regret it.
They came to the house and sounded really great. Said all the right things. Said they don’t use cement to hold posts. They go down 3 feet, instead. Use cedar wood, etc. Agreed that we would have a 4 foot high metal (aluminum) gate, not wood, as suggested by other companies. Gave them a deposit right before Christmas, 2013. They said they’d start the job by the end of January.
We had a HORRIBLE winter, so we expected a delay of a few weeks, at least. However, I called them on ³⁄₁₈. No response. I called on ³⁄₂₄. No response. Sent an email to Angie’s list. They said I should hear from the owner, Michael, by the end of the week.
Finally, Juan and Romeo came on ⁴⁄₈ and took the fence down.
On ⁴⁄₉ they came back and left equipment to build fence on site. Didn’t know they’d do that. Thought they’d bring in finished panels. Then, had to explain to the workers the specifics of the job — gate placement, that wood is to be cut «dog eared», etc. Didn’t Michael tell them anything?
Back on 4/​10, built and installed most of the fence. Then told us they’d build a nice, strong, WOODEN, gate. Told them we wanted a BLACK METAL gate!
Guys came back on ⁴⁄₁₄ — lunchtime. Marked warped boards to be replaced. Built some panels. Didn’t install any.
Asked for ¹⁄₃^rd of the payment. I had no idea they’d be asking for money on this date. No prior notice.
Guys return on ⁴⁄₁₆ — finish the fence, install the gate posts — for a SIX FOOT HIGH GATE, not FOUR, as we had requested.
on 4/​16, called and left message on Michael’s phone. Sent two emails to Michael regarding gate.
As of 4/​20, no response.
As of ⁴⁄₃₀ — no word from Michael.
Meanwhile, we found more boards that needed to be replaced, and all the old fence post holes had been left open. They need to be filled in.
As of ⁵⁄₉ — no word back from Michael about gate (or anything else.)
⁵⁄₂₈ — spoke with Patty, Michael’s wife. She said the gate is «almost done» and that it take a while to get the stuff from the manufacturer. I think she could tell I didn’t believe her.
As of ⁷⁄₃ — We still owe them 2K. Left message that we were going to find someone else to give us a gate and consider them paid in full if we don’t hear from them today.
On 7/​9, the Fortress Fence adventured continued.
We took a ride down to Wall Township to find the Fortress Fence office. We found it. It looked deserted. No one was around. We called out — nothing. I started writing a note to leave for them when Michael and Jose actually drove up in a Fortress Fence truck!
We actually got to SPEAK with Michael. He said he actually received 2 gates — each the wrong size, so he said he’d come up again, measure, and submit the order again. Hmmmmm.
We ended on a decent note. He apologized to us and I just kept stressing «communication!».
He texted me later in the day and said he got a promised ship date of ⁷⁄₂₄ from the gate company.
On July 30, got a call that the gate would be in by the coming Thursday, and the gate should be installed on Saturday, 8÷2÷2014. It rained on ⁸⁄₂.
The guys came on ⁸⁄₄ to install the fence, and didn’t bring the metal fence pieces for each side of the gate. Juan went off and got pieces from Atlantic Fence. They installed everything, replaced approximately 20 boards (and could have done more because more were bad, but they ran out of wood.) They also filled the holes with sand, not dirt.
What a bad experience. It looks like they may be out of business now. If that’s the case, it’s no surprise. If they’re still in business, THAT’s the surprise! I wouldn’t recommend this company to anyone.
It’s now July 1, 2015. We had a harsh winter, again. As the winter progressed, the gate panels moved farther and farther away from each other. Apparently, the posts were pushing up and out of the ground! The gate was no longer able to latch.
I thought the posts were to be placed below frost level, so that this didn’t happen? I guess they didn’t go far enough down for our installation.
Now that it’s summer, the gate panels have moved back into place — mostly. The gate still won’t latch, but at least the panels meet at the center.
But still we have a gate that doesn’t work properly. Unreal.
What a poor job overall!