To preface this, I have all the contracts, emails, and photos of the fence to collaborate on this story and will happily share them with anyone who would like to see them, especially before working with Discount Fence. I even have photos of the owners putting up their own online review. As someone who works in a field where evidence is so strictly required, I will keep these documents forever!
I had a fence put in on my property back in 2022 by Discount Fence. The fence was put in on both sides of my property. We were informed that to prevent any wood fading, we would need to stain it soon; otherwise, the fence was of high quality and would last years. The next year, 2023, We found that the fence brackets had separated in a few locations with one being pretty bad. We reached out to Discount Fence, who explained to me that they would need to replace the pole to correct the issue and that as it was out of the one-year warranty, they would need to charge me close to $1,500 to correct it but would take $900 off the total ONLY IF I provided three (3) good reviews online for them. Mind you, this was for only one pole. I declined this offer because the cost seemed high, and I refused to offer three good reviews.
The following year (current year 2024), I posted a company review, mentioning my issue as more boards were coming out of the brackets. An upset neighbor had also pointed me out that the fence was uneven on several of the boards and spacing of the posts; the wood used was cracking, warped, and of low quality that you could get for a massive discount strait from a mill as not kiln dried wood (the quality of the wood is not my words, but as one of the people that pointed this out works at a mill I am inclined to believe them). These concerns were not brought to Discount; only the issue of the boards separating from the brackets was.
Within 30 minutes of my review, the owner, Missy, called me on the phone and asked me to explain myself. I explained the situation, and she said she had no record of my contacting them, but they would send Larry out to look and see what was needed. She also expressed great concern about my negative online review. I removed my review promptly to give the company time to work with me on this issue.
I did not get the name of the individual who came out to look at the fence, but they ID'ed themselves as Larry's son, who told me I should not be putting bad reviews up online and that it's not ok to bad mouth good businesses. He promptly showed me the invoice Missy claimed not to have, showing that they offered to fix the fence for $600 with the $900 off for 3 good reviews. He explained that it was normal for fences to come apart after a year and that it was my fault for not staining the fence, causing the brackets to come out. However, he mentioned that the gap he saw was abnormally large and told me they would see what they could do.
I finally received an email from Missy, claiming she now had all the information from my original call about the issue. She told me that as long as I signed a contract promising to put up 3 good reviews and not create any more bad reviews for Discount Fence, they would come out and fix the fence. Their "contract" also states that it has nothing to do with the original workmanship, effectively confirming the wood was bad.
I reached out to an attorney about the issue, and they informed me that what Discount was doing was against the spirit of the law for the Federal Trade Commission, requiring 3 good reviews to discount such a high amount of the bill. They asked if they wanted me to have them send a letter to Discount and I refused and explained that this was partly on me for not contacting them within the year warranty. They respected my accountability.
Everything may have worked out if they had just fixed the fence and did not become so forceful and hostile about the bad review or ever posting another one. It was fine to do it for free as long as I met their conditions. This coercing and borderline implied threatening manner on my property (not surprising if you read other reviews where the owners DIRECTLY threaten people for bad reviews), and rude, accusatory behavior will not be tolerated. I will not be forced to be silent and have my freedom removed to post a bad review when and if it is well deserved. At the bottom of their contract, it says that the Discount Fence sign is my warranty. Since it is over, I have removed the signs as I will not advertise for such corruption.
I also did much research into their reviews and found Missy Lee the owner, posting a good review of her own company back in November of 2022. Talk about more ways to falsely boost your ratings. And again yes, I have screenshots of this, too. Based on their offer to me for 3 good reviews for $300 off per review. I have to believe many of the company's reviews are false and just people trying to get a money off there bill. read more
