Fencing Express

This review is long, but trust me - it is worth reading before you ask this company to do any work for you!

We engaged Fencing Express to erect a modern style fence separating our front garden with our neighbours and to replace an existing fence panel in the rear garden to match the rest. Initial impressions were good and Mike was very positive – we showed him exactly what we wanted from photographs and he even visited a fence of the same style we had seen to make sure he was clear about the design. Communication from the off wasn’t great, but Mike guaranteed he could not only match it like for like, but even make it better – we couldn’t believe our luck! Then it all went wrong…

At first the fence was going up well, but then when nobody was at the property with them the job was rushed and ended up a complete mess with incorrect spacing, poor staining, different lengths of fence slats, etc. – far from the quality we were promised. Upon Mike’s return to complete the job we discussed all the issues and they promised to rectify them. In doing so we ended up with gaps, more poor staining, missing staining, extra nail holes, the list goes on. Not also forgetting that the panel they replaced in the back garden did not match the rest! Then Mike disappeared and to this day we have had no direct communication from him. Since this time the fence has continued to deteriorate with more panels bowing due to the poor finish. They told us “we are fence builders, not carpenters”.

I contacted Citizen’s Advice to see what could be done as I received an invoice from Fencing Express (I may add a rather unprofessional invoice). They advised me to contact Mike with quotes from other fencing companies to rectify the issues. As the invoice hadn’t been paid immediately we received a letter from his solicitor threatening legal action if we did not pay within 7 days! SHOCKING!! After sending a series of professional letters and evidence to the solicitors we suggested a small reduction in the fence price to avoid further costs as by this point we had all had enough. Despite agreeing this would be paid the following month (as it was now Christmas!) as payment wasn’t received immediately Mike instructed his solicitor to commence court proceedings! It was one of the most stressful times of my life. After various angry phone calls to the solicitor at this point we faced a defence in court or to settle the claim. Very begrudgingly we offered an amount lower than the court claim (as this now included interest and the full original price of the fence!) and paid it to avoid going to court and the associated risks.

In hindsight I wish I had taken this to court to make Mike and Fencing Express realise that you can’t bully customers into paying for a bad job! I highly do NOT recommend this business to anyone. The most unprofessional business I have ever dealt with. Use at your own risk!