Fancy Fence

I contacted Kris for backyard fencing. First conversation over the phone was slow as he struggled to communicate & get my address but we manage to arrange for an in person estimate. 15 mins before the meeting he phoned to cancel so we rescheduled. When he showed up, he felt free to walk through my house without removing his work boots but he was quick to give me quote and it seemed reasonable as I had trouble finding someone to take on a 'small' job like mine. So after talking to the neighbors we decided to go ahead and invited Kris back to draft the contracts. A week later I personally drove to meet Kris at one of the job sites to hand him the deposits as he did not want to make a 3rd trip to my house.
Few weeks later as we were getting close to the scheduled time Kris phoned me and his first words were: 'We have a problem, there's no access to the backyard, I have to go through your house'. I was flabbergasted as I had very clearly told him when he came to quote me that access to my backyard is via the chain link neighboring the ravine behind. Not rocket science and an easy access that all other contractors that worked on my row of townhouses had used with no issues. (Btw, he just turned up at my house that day – no phone call, no heads up , so I had to drop everything and rush to meet him!) I told him it I am not comfortable with him going through the house (he did not show any courtesy the first time he came over) and that seemed to push him over the top. He had a complete meltdown and threatened to walk off the job, as in his words 'he was doing me a favor' by taking in a small job (apparently 4k is small peanuts to him). He got in his truck and left. At that point I considered finding another contractor. Two days later, as I was having dinner, I look into the backyard and I see his truck pulling up. So again he just showed up - no phone call, no heads up but it seemed that he was trying to be reasonable and use the access behind my house. I thanked him for that and hoped things would go smoother. I asked him when he'd start and finish the job - to my surprise he said 'tomorrow I come and do everything'. Now, everybody knows fencing cannot and should not be done in one day as you have to let the posts/cement dry out for at least 24 hrs before nailing the boards. I tried to reason with him and ask him nicely to do it over a 2 day period. Another meltdown and again threatening to walk away as he does not have time to waste. So far in the process and mentally exhausted I decided to just let it go. He showed up the next day as promised and he was preparing to put in the posts, he noticed that my neighbor’s deck was crossing into my property. Surprised, I asked him to wait so I can get in touch with my neighbor and see what can be done. By the time I walked around to knock to my neighbor's door, Kris had decided to cut the deck! I was beside myself and prayed that the neighbor would be understanding of the situation. I left for work and returned around 6pm to find the fence up and a very gruff Kris. In his typical manner, he demanded payment without giving me a chance to inspect the job and started insulting me. Apparently he had finished his drinking water at 2pm that day and he was dehydrated and somehow this was my fault for being a poor host, or his own words ‘not human’. He then told me he regrets taking this job. Needless to say I paid him happy to put an end the nightmare. The job he’s done is questionable: some panels go all the way to the ground and some are so high, my 8 yrs old daughter can crawl underneath.
I’ve never had such a poor experience and most of the contractors I’ve hired– judging by my other reviews have been more than decent. If you want to deal with adult temper tantrums, be insulted, blackmailed and end up with shoddy workmanship hire Kris and Fancy Fence!