ComplaintsforPrestige Fence Co., Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  • Transaction Date: 05/16/2021 • Merchant name: ***** **** • Transaction Amount: $13,374.96 • Dispute amount: $13,374.96 • We’re dealing with multiple issues, so I’ll start at the beginning…. • I’m including additional information from the Vice President of Business Development for ***** Fence Manufacturing. A key distinction is ***** **** is the Vendor and through whom the charge and purchase was made. ************** Manufacturing has nothing to do with the purchase of the fence. The main reason they are involved is that no one from ***** **** would make a decision or take any action on my first order of fencing that came in total disrepair on pallets with broken shipping straps. I could not get anyone from ***** **** to come and pick up the damaged fence. The other reason for the report is that by the manufacturer’s own words – this fence should rack 10”. I’m also including multiple emails and photos not included in the original dispute. What’s also NOT disputed is ***** **** acknowledges that the fence should rack 10”. • The original order was in May 2021 with expected covid-related delays. • On May 14th, I asked Howard (***** ****) for help on the order as this was the only fence I’ve ever ordered. I even pointed out my fear of being in error and having it land back in my lap. “If you can help with the quote that would be great and we can put this order in. I've attached my dimensions and what was scoped with 3-4 foot gates, BUT this didn't account for the new information of needing an 8 foot double gate along the 108 foot section (and replacing the single gate in that location). I'm going to call you, but I wanted to get you these dimensions. See the entire letter submitted below for step by step details. I also have 2 more files to submit, but they are 6 MB each.

  Business response

  04/04/2022

  Hello and thank you for contacting us. We take complaints very seriously. This is the first time I'm hearing about a BBB complaint  today April 4, 2022 at 5:30 PM. We will follow up this response with documentation.

  What I can tell you is that **. ***** purchased a fence from us over the Internet on our website. We ship materials to all of the continuous United States of America. In this particular event I know that *** ***** Took the time to drive to our facility in Hatfield Pennsylvania to see exactly what he was purchasing.
  As a matter of fact, *** ***** made 2 visits to the company before he made his purchase over the Internet. The reason I tell you this is that he was very particular in exactly what he wanted to purchase and he received exactly what he ordered. 
  *** ***** ordered a custom aluminum fence designed exactly the way he wanted it and received it exactly that way. Never in any communication does he say that he didn't get exactly what he ordered. He talks about things that we would have no comprehension of. He is a customer that purchased a fence online, on our website. My company does not visit customers homes to inspect their property prior to them purchasing a fence online. I mentioned earlier we sell to 50 continuous states in the United States. We sell to thousands of customers. We cannot visit everyone's home to inspect their property to make sure that what they're ordering fits their needs.
  This does not mean that we do not have empathy for customers that are in a situation but at the same time *** ***** knew that he was purchasing a custom made aluminum fence for exactly his specifications.
  I can tell you this, we went over the exact specifications of this fence with *** ***** for weeks (over the phone and in the office) before he purchased his fence on-line through our web site and he did receive exactly what he purchased.
  Below is the information that is generated on every quote and reiterated in print when a customer purchases a product online..
  (SHIPPING NOTICE:Please allow additional time for shipping due to high demand. It will take 8 to 10 weeks for order to be manufactured and then shipped. You may want to consider purchasing an in-stock style and color that you could pick up immediately at our facility in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Please call (**** ******** or email us at info@*********.com for the list of our in stock inventory. Thank you.
  RETURN POLICY All sales are final. Once an order has been processed it cannot be updated, changed, or altered. For returns, you must contact us for a Return Material Authorization (RMA). When it has been determined that your order is eligible to be returned, we will issue you an RMA number. Please note that a 50% restocking fee will be apply to your refund once we have received the material back at our facility and it has been inspected. The customer is responsible for any return shipping charges. Custom made orders or items are not returnable. 
  
  COMMON CARRIER DELIVERY NOTICE Large orders are delivered by common carrier. For orders delivered by common carrier, the trucking company will contact you directly to arrange a delivery time.You need to have two (2) people on site at time of delivery as the driver does NOT off load your material. In the event that there are any discrepancies or damage in the shipment, you are responsible for signing the bill of lading indicating such to insure a proper claim with the trucking company)
  *** ***** never "once" emailed for an RMA. Most likely because he knows that he purchased a custom fence that is not returnable. Very first words in our  "return policy" is  ( All Sales are Final) first sentence in our "return policy is (Custom made orders are Not Returnable) We have no idea why all of a sudden the customer decided that he didn't want the fence anymore and he denied the charges on his credit card. The credit card company contacted us for our side of the story and they decided that we were in the right. Fence city was in the right. *** ***** then took the situation to arbitration and we still won the case. Now *** ***** is trying to get his money back through the Better Business Bureau and With this complaint which does nothing more than tarnish our name and ruin our reputation.
  We are aware that there was some damage to *** *****es fence when it had arrived from the trucking company. I heard about it from *** *****. At that time he did not want the fence returned nor did he ever ask for an RMA "return material authorization". *** ***** wanted the damaged pieces fixed. We immediately contacted  the manufacturer and got them involved to fix the few minor problems that *** ***** had with his fence. The situation with the damages was rectified by the manufacture who sent a representative to his home.
  In my 40 years of being a business and selling a Aluminum Fence I have never seen a manufacture go to this extent to help a customer with his situation. ***** Aluminum Fence sent a sales representative to ** ******* home, (again they ship nationwide)  His name is ***** *******. ***** picked up the material and took it back to the factory in Michigan and had the few pieces that needed attention, repaired.
  Once everything was re-boxed, sales representative from the manufacturer brought the pristine material  back to *** *****'s home.
  A copy of the email that *** ***** sent to ***** ******* after the material had been re-deliveredFrom: 
  
  ** ***** <************@*****.com>
  Date: October 19, 2021 at 9:33:55 AM EDT
  To: ***** ******* <*************@*****.com>
  Subject: Your experience with racking
  
  ?Good Morning *****,
  I wanted to thank you for your swift action in getting my order repaired and returned and I consider ***** Aluminum's part (and yours) complete. 
  That point in time we thought everybody was happy and we had a great customer who now has a pristine fence in his garage and everybody can go about their business.
  Then we had a denial of charges come through from my credit card company. Rather than contacting us and trying to work things out again *** ***** just decided he wasn't going to pay for the fence and denied the charges.
  There were a few very important details that the credit card company and arbitration took into consideration. The first one is, never does *** ***** say that he did not receive exactly what he ordered. The second and this are important aspects as far as we're concerned, *** ***** never requested an RMA. We do not know why he didn't at least attempt to get a return material authorization. Realizing that he would have to pay to return the material because that is the requirement in the terms and conditions of purchasing a fence on our website and secondly we believe that *** ***** knew that he could not return his fence because it was custom-made for him.
  We've never had a situation like this before in all of our many years of selling Fence online. My father was one of the first people to start selling fence online back in 1998 when the Internet was becoming a great place to sell fence to customers anywhere. After ***** ******* left *** *****es home and left him with a custom-made fence to his specifications in pristine condition we assumed everybody would be very happy.
  What we have come to learn since this fence had been delivered to *** ***** is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the fence that he has in his possession. *** ***** told us that he cannot find an installer to install the fence that he purchased on line, every installer that we know in the business purchase is the material themselves and installs it for the customer or the customer installs it for themselves.
  Jack W*****, Owner ***** ****.
  As I said in the beginning of this email I wanted to respond immediately. We will forward you all of the correspondence from the credit card company where *** ***** denied the charges last year. Thank you for your time and we appreciate the Better Business Bureau.

  Business response

  05/10/2022

  We are diligently working with the customer to help him work through his issues. 
  
  

  Customer response

  06/15/2022

  I have received a brand new shipment of rackable fencing.  While it is still stacked in the garage, the initial box on top was opened and there were no bent pickets.  I can't think of any reason to keep this complaint open as i have what will work for a moderately sloped yard.  

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