I hired Mike Johnson of Stronghold Gate Co. for several gate projects, and there is no question that he makes beautiful gates. Unfortunately, the quality of the gates was not matched by the quality of the customer service, communication, or follow-through.
The biggest issue was that Mike repeatedly stopped responding for weeks--and in some cases months--at a time. Installations were left incomplete and I eventually had to hire someone else to finish work that I had already paid Mike to complete because I was told he was simply too busy.
There were some changes to the projects along the way, as is normal with renovation and construction projects. One issue involved the gate support, which had been improperly constructed by another contractor. Mike came out to address the installation, only to determine that the existing support was not sufficient. I completely understood that he could not complete the installation under those circumstances. What I did not understand was why, after that visit, he never returned or followed up to help resolve the issue.
I was left chasing him for updates, waiting weeks and months for responses and ultimately having to find someone else to complete portions of the work. Being busy is understandable. Taking payment for a project and then becoming unavailable when the customer needs the work completed is not.
At one point, I requested a refund for the installation that was never completed. Despite that request, I never received the refund, much less a reply.
I would have been happy to recommend Mike based on the quality and appearance of his gates. Unfortunately, beautiful workmanship on the product does not make up for poor communication, unfinished installations and a lack of follow-through.
My experience was that getting the gate made was the easy part. Getting the project finished was an entirely different story. read more