Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:15/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am writing because as of yesterday, when the work was to finally begin, this fencing business is refusing to carry out the work we agreed upon two months ago unless my wife and I agree to a higher price. Rather than claiming damages at this point, I have asked for the return of our $4714.80 deposit (30% of the agreed price) if he will not do the work. I set today as the deadline to do one or the other, and he refuses.
  
  We live on the Ottawa River, with ****** ******** on the front side of our house, and a vacant lot that we own next to it. On the vacant property we have a short dirt driveway to allow a tractor or other small equipment in to cut trees or move boulders.
  We have two dogs, and we worry about them running into the road. We hired Elie's Fencing for one purpose: to build a fence on three sides of the vacant property perimeter, from the road down to the river, with a gate across the dirt driveway. Elie did all the measurements, the number of posts etc, and his wife calculated the price. We paid the deposit quickly in order to get the job done in the first week of May. After numerous delays, Elie came yesterday to put down markers. He came to our door and said the length of wire mesh fencing he calculated was not enough to cover the street side, and the fencing would leave the dirt driveway and beyond, up to the property line, unprotected from cars. He said we had to pay more, because we agreed to the measurements he quoted, which were evidently wrong. His wife said that was the contract we agreed to. First, we actually didn't sign any contract. Second, even if we had, it would have been based on his misrepresentation that he was installing fencing that would enclose the ****** **** side of the vacant property and keep the dogs off the road. A roadside fence with a large gap was worth nothing at all, much less the more than $15,000 price he was seeking to increase. So we told him to build a fence as agreed, or return our deposit. He has done neither.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/10/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Fence fell in 5 days post installation:
  • Please see the Picture 1-5 Look at the hole where the nail was screwed and how the fence started to loosen and bend, then eventually flew out (picture 2-5)
  They didn't actually screw the nails in the right place which resulted in a structure that was unstable. 1 whole panel flew off (the one that was not affixed properly) and another 4 panels got bent in the process in a dominoes effect.
  
  This has led to significant safety concerns for our family and neighbors: The fence that was installed had improper installation of nails that results in unstable panel. As a result, in the face of strong winds, the panels can fly out to hit nearby people and structures.
  Here is how Elie’s Fence replied after we alerted them of this issue:
  “If the fourth screw were tight and NOT "attached by a hair" like you described the results would be this:
  "You will get more damage than what you got and at least 5-6 posts would be damaged".
  
  When in fact, because the 4th screw was on the edge, it loosened immediately when strong winds hit the fence. After which the unscrewed panel lost balance and impacted the rest of the panels.
  • 5 days after installation, the fence broke down and panels flew out. The business has refused to fix the fence under warranty, citing it was a storm’s fault.
  
  However, had the nails been properly affixing the panels in the first place, the fence wouldn’t have been damaged.
  
  • Predatory pricing: After refusing to fix the fence under warranty, the Elie’s fencing would quote us one price to fix it at $700 without saying deadline for this price, and then immediately raise prices on us to $1400 after asking if the warranty would be void if we tried to ask another service provider to fix it (we would like to be fixed with cement). Because we were captive to the warranty, the business has been predatory pricing tactics.
  
  Fencing is a neighborhood project, and we tried our best to cooperate with our neighbors by agreeing to t