Bills Irish Iron of Sacramento Ca Sucks

Started by Solar, January 24, 2013, 12:23:26 PM

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Solar

This won't apply to any members, but I'm posting it here for guaranteed maximum exposure, seeing how google gives us a listing advantage.

I decided to get a rot iron gate installed with opener, I didn't want my dogs getting out, so I decided to spend the extra bucks and hire a company to install it.
Irish iron had probably the best price and claimed two days installation, and this is where things got sticky. I told the salesman that it had to be completed in the two day window, while explaining why, my idiot neighbor with the lead foot blew by at 40mph, on a one lane gravel road, in front of my entrance where we were standing, is a hair pin turn safely driven is about 8mph.
At that point the sales guy said "Of crap, I see what you mean", so I emphasized again just how important it was to get the job done in the claimed "Two Day Window" , and he concurred.
Had I been thinking, I should have gotten it in writing, but I took his word since he claimed to understand the urgency.
Couple of weeks go by and the guys show up to install the track and posts for the new gate, of course the old gate with 6" posts buried 4' deep had to come out, so I used my tractor to remove the old gate, weighing in around a few hundred lbs.
Next day comes, no crew, I call and they claim the gate would be three weeks from date of signing contract, me not happy!
So assuming two weeks had gone by, it should only be a week, so we kept our dogs confined, I call the following week, and the owner explained he didn't order the gate till the track was installed. Why in the Hell they do business this way is beyond me, I guess he doesn't care about return or referral business.
When I complained, he was apologetic, but it sounded terribly rehearsed form so many times in practice.
Three weeks come and I get a call that it will be installed at the end of the week, this angers my wife, she writes him an email explaining her disgust and says some form of competition would be nice.
He immediately calls me on the phone and started in with a long diatribe of how appalled he is, all feigned of course.

I neglected to mention the guys installing the track did a good job considering what they have to work with, I even used my tractor to dig the trench so they could pour the cement, considering the ground was frozen from 8 degree weather.
At the end of the job that day, they said they needed  40% down, which was part of the original 10% I paid the first day to the sales guy.
Since I don't give my credit card number out, I paid cash as I do in most transactions, around $2500.0 of course as well prepared as the crew was, I should have suspected a receipt book wouldn't be one of the tools they would carry.
It was late and cold, and the guy gave me his word he would get me a receipt when he go back that evening via email which never came, so I called Bill the owner and he confirmed payment, yet still never sent a receipt.

Anyway I digress, during his whine fest on the phone I said I'll tell you what Bill, lets just call it a day, you give me the balance for the work completed and I'll find someone else to do the work.
He then says, "What money, do you have a receipt?"
Of course this is not what a respectable business owner does, I know, I've been in business all my life and would never make such a threat, at this point I said just finish the damn job, he says "Don't talk to me that way".
Of course all his responses are rehearsed for maximum effect as a a faux victim, something I find extremely irritating, people that use the victim status as a weapon, generally found in pathic liars.

To make a long story short, the gate is in, not to my standards, but it opens and closes and that's what counts.

So here's my advice to anyone considering getting a rot iron gate installed, get EVERYTHING in writing, get multiple bids, get a written guarantee of when the work will be done, even though they claimed a two day job, it still took three days because he uses a subcontractor to do the electrical install. all in all it took more than a month to complete.

I will not recommend Irish Iron, not even to my idiot neighbor, I don't dislike him that much.
I can honestly say it was not worth the $500.0 I saved going with a second rate contractor. I'm certain you've seen other reviews on this company, and none were good, for a reason, poor management.
I personally found two separate sites with reviews on this company, but like most, I assumed they were just picky customers. I was dead wrong.
Even his own employees had nothing good to say, and the subcontractor said every job he's done for the guy. the customers were pissed, he said he cringed going out on them because he never knew what to expect, but he takes the jobs because of the economy being what it is.
He suggested some of the other companies that have been in the industry decades longer than Irish if I wanted quality work.

One other note, I still have 200+ feet of panels to install which was supposed to be part of the package, instead I ordered the panels cheaper and will have someone else install them.
I was also going to have them build a steel carport 30X35', that will go to an actual competent contractor instead.
All in all, his arrogance cost him around 15 grand in additional work.

I take part of the blame for not getting it in writing, but all my years in business were done on a handshake, and I never had one complaint, I assumed this guy followed the same standards most of us in business follow, HONESTY!

Buyer beware.
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walkstall

I learned years ago, to have a finishing date with very stiff penalties in writing  the hard way years ago.  I like you believed a handshake is your bond. (your word)
A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.- James Freeman Clarke

Always remember "Feelings Aren't Facts."

Solar

Quote from: walkstall on January 24, 2013, 01:23:58 PM
I learned years ago, to have a finishing date with very stiff penalties in writing  the hard way years ago.  I like you believed a handshake is your bond. (your word)
Yep, I was taught that your word is your worth. You can be the richest guy in the world, but if you can't keep your word, you're not wort a piss.
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