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Fence company taking months to complete projects, customers upset

3 years 6 months 1 day ago Tuesday, September 15 2020 Sep 15, 2020 September 15, 2020 6:06 PM September 15, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ

DENHAM SPRINGS - A fence company in Livingston Parish is taking months to complete jobs and customers are tired of waiting.

Samuel Blocker and his wife went shopping for a company to replace a portion of their fence that fell over during a storm.

"We ended up calling three contractors, Tiger Fences being one of the three," Blocker said. They were the ones that gave us the best impression in their online presence, more official-looking website, Facebook page."

The Blockers were also attracted to the positive reviews they found from customers online. A sales representative from the Walker-based company came out to discuss the project and the Blocker's signed a contract and paid a 50 percent deposit.

"It was for $1,400 and it was withdrawn from our account two days later," he said.

With an estimated installation date three weeks later, he waited. Three weeks passed by and the project hadn't started. Blocker says he didn't get a phone call or any sort of update until a new install date of July 17 was given. A couple of days before the second installation date, Blocker says he called to confirm but was unable to get through to the office.

"I tried to call and get confirmation, and that's when we noticed the phone lines were sending us straight to voicemail and the voice mailbox was full," he said. "That's when the panic started setting in."

Since then, Blocker says they haven't heard much and have learned the sales representative they had been in contact with no longer works for Tiger Fences. Soon after, Blocker noticed more negative comments on Facebook. In early September, the company's Facebook page was removed.

Four months later, Blocker still doesn't have a fence.

On Sept. 2, Two On Your Side reached out to Tiger Fences owner Billy Bozarth. He told Brittany Weiss then "there is major difficulty in getting certain materials to build fences." Bozarth also said his company contract states there are no refunds for material deposits and has dwindled 80 jobs down to under 40. Tiger Fences' office personal also says the company has never had an issue getting material until the coronavirus. Bozarth says he has cedar suppliers in Oregon, Michigan, and Japan.

"This is not a contract fraud concern and never will be," Bozarth wrote.

Tiger Fences told 2 On Your Side Monday that the company plans to be back on schedule two weeks from now.

Other unhappy customers have spoken.

Clay Relle put a $3,700 deposit down with Tiger Fences in early May and says the job was promised to be installed in five weeks. It's been more than four months and Relle says his fence still has not been installed. Recently, Relle says he hired another company to install a similar fence on another property and it was completed two weeks after the order date.

"How could the other company get it in two weeks and he can't get it in four months?" Relle said. "I'm giving him one more chance to make it right."

Tuesday afternoon, 2 On Your Side learned from Tiger Fences that their new install date is Sept. 21 and Relle has been given a new install date of Sept. 23.

"It's just a bunch of finger-pointing and making excuses why he can't get it done," Blocker said.

The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office says it is investigating.

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