Evergreen Park Woman Fit To Be Tied After She Says Contractor Never Installed Gate On Her Fence -- And She's Not The Only One Complaining
EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Picture this – you hire a contractor to install a fence with a gate but they don't finish the job for months, even after formal complaints.
As CBS 2's Tim McNicholas reported, that is a reality for an Evergreen Park woman. And according to the Better Business Bureau, she is not the only one complaining.
Cash is Tiffiany Bowden's three-pound pup. Whenever the dog is in the yard, Bowden has to make sure her makeshift gate is in place.
Otherwise, she said, "The dog would run."
Bowden said there is supposed to be a real gate where the makeshift one is.
"This is what we been dealing with all of this time because they haven't come out and done the job," she said.
She said when she hired the Cedar Rustic Fence Company last fall to install a new fence, they for some reason didn't install the gate to the alley.
"They left and we looked out here – there was no gate," Bowden said.
She said she has been fighting for a fix ever since – not just for the gate, but for cracks she's discovered in her new fence.
She even complained to the Village of Evergreen Park. On May 3, she said an employee for Cedar Rustic emailed her: "I apologize, I was not aware this work had not been completed."
"And that was the last I heard," Bowden said. "I understand things happen, but just be open and honest and let people know. If you communicate, that's everything."
Cedar Rustic Fence's Better Business Bureau page shows similar complaints over the past couple years.
One customer claimed, "I called there 2x's a week for 3 weeks and always got some flimsy excuse."
And Cedar Rustic's accreditation with the Better Business Bureau was suspended this month because, according to the BBB, they failed to respond to complaints with an acceptable resolution.
When asked if she thought Cedar Rustic would ever come out and finish the gate, Bowden said, "I really don't think so."
But after our interview, we left a voicemail with the company. Within an hour, we got a call from a surprised Bowden.
"They just called me at 9:42 this morning so that they could schedule set up," she said. "This is the first time they've ever called my phone."
She's hoping this time their bite finally matches the bark.
The owner of Cedar Rustic said they do dozens of jobs per week and most customers are very happy. He disputed the Better Business Bureau complaints and says they had an A+ rating until recently.
As for the gate, he acknowledged the company should have done much better – and they plan to get the job done this Friday.
UPDATE 06/28/21 4:11 p.m.: The company finally came out and completed the work after our story aired.
