I want to start out by saying that I have been coming to Metal Mart for some time now and have always been satisfied with the service. That being said, this was my first experience with the new ownership and staff and I was very dissatisfied with the service.
I went in on Tuesday, July 19th, to inquire about getting a gate built for my grandparents. I arrived with detailed plans of the gate and post that I wanted, as well as pictures of a similar one that I had the company build back when Matt was the owner (now owned by his ex-wife). I spent 30 minutes going over the plans and pictures with the owner and one of her staff/fabricators. It was determined that it would take approximately 2 hrs worth of labor ($60/hour), but may take up to a MAXIMUM of 4 hrs to complete. The owner asked that I pay the cost of materials and 2 hrs of labor up front, and then they would charge any additional hrs needed up to what I was told was a maximum of 4 hrs. I agreed, provided my contact number should they have any questions, and left the establishment.
I received a call on Friday, July 22nd, notifying me that the gate was ready to be picked up on Saturday as we had discussed. Then Devin (the fabricator) dropped the bomb on me that he took longer than expected and that we are on the hook for a total of 6 hrs instead of the original 4 hr maximum quoted. I explained to him that this was not our agreement and asked that he discuss with the owner about them covering the overage. He said he would discuss with her and would let us know what she says when we came to pick it up on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning came and Devin took us back to take a look at the gate when we arrived, which looked very nice. When we got back up to the counter I asked if he had a chance to talk to the owner, to which he replied "Yes, but she would not budge on the price." My 82 year old grandmother asked him why it took so long, to which Devin replied "We have a business to run and even though we went over what we quoted you, that was just a quote". I absolutely understand that a quote is an estimate, but do not say a maximum of 4 hrs and then charge me for 6 hrs. My grandparents are on a fixed income and probably would not have done the project knowing it was going to cost an additional $120 of labor. My grandmother expressed that she felt taken advantage of and that someone was trying to exaggerate the amount of time it took to build. Devin promptly responded back (in a condescending tone), "You try building it next time and let me know how long it takes you." Who says that to a customer? There were several other unnecessary comments made, all because his ego got in the way.
On Monday, June 25th, I called the company back to see if Devin had said anything about what had transpired on Saturday. The owner indicated that she was aware of some of what had happened, but not about what Devin had said to us. I informed her of our conversation and the way we were treated, and although apologetic, she did not seem very sincere. I expressed how unhappy we were with how this was handled and with how much more the gate ended up costing. Her response was that they do not do much fabricating and are new to estimating cost. Additionally, she stated that we came to a metal supply place and asked for them to fabricate something which isn't what they do too often. First off, how is their lack of experiencing quoting for fabrication a fault of the customer? Second, why did you agree to fabricate something if you don't typically do so?
I used to love going to this place and have referred a lot of people here in the past. It is a shame that Matt no longer owns/runs the business because he understood how a customer should be treated. Moving forward, I will be taking my business elsewhere and will be telling everyone I know about my experience here with the new owner and her staff. read more
