We gave Mills Fence many chances to make things right and they failed.
We're not fence experts, so we hired a fence company to install a fence for us. We don't know what's needed for a driveway gate, so we hired someone to handle the details and install it for us.
When we asked Ces Navera at Mills Fence if they were capable of installing a horizontal wood slat fence and driveway gate on our property, he said yes. He sent us a quote, we scheduled and paid for the work. They installed the wood fence and gate (and a chain link fence) in March of 2017. Jason G. was the lead installer. We followed all care instructions given to us.
Within about 9 months, the gate doors started to lean in onto themselves, making them difficult to open and close. We didn't know what the problem was - again, we're not fence experts - but knew this was clearly within the year warranty, so we called to have it fixed. We were told repeatedly over several months that someone would come out to take a look, but we continued to have to call to follow up after not receiving a call back and not seeing anyone. Finally, in April of 2018, someone called us back. When we explained the problem once again, they claimed we were no longer within the 1-year warranty. Hilarious. Classic terrible company scheme: wait it out! We pushed back and a couple guys came out that week.
The guys who came out were clearly annoyed they even had to be there and said that the hinges just needed to be moved. Once again, we're not fence experts, so we believed them. Silly us. They also drilled new holes in the asphalt driveway that looked terrible, but whatever. As long as the fence doors we paid for worked...you know, opened and closed. And they did work! For 2.5 years. Then they got bad again.
So, 3.5 years after Mills Fence provided their services and charged us for them, we have a driveway gate that doesn't work and will cost $750 to fix. After talking with multiple fence repair companies, we learned that Mills Fence never installed the gate correctly. The hinges they moved in 2018 only rigged the problem to buy them time to get out of warranty. It didn't fix the problem. Something the warranty is supposed to cover. All 3 companies told us the 4x4 posts Mills used were not substantial enough to hold the gate doors, that they needed to be 6x6. It wasn't a matter of accounting for settling or wood expansion, but a matter of poor engineering and planning. Estimates for replacing these posts to make the gate usable are $750-$850. We will also need to restain the new wood.
We called Mills Fence in late September of 2020 to give them another chance to make it right. After we explained the situation, Sean told us someone would call back soon. Days later, after no one called, we called to give them one final chance and were told again by Sean someone would call. No one did of course.
So here we are. Shame on Mills Fence. read more