Commission a piece of backyard metal work in 2016 - a pond cover.
Expensive, but elegant, and “we stand behind our product” – “we make lifetime products”.
Failed over the 2016/2017 winter, ie within 1 year. A tough winter undoubtedly contributed to its early demise, but I’d say in hindsight it could have been made better.
Contacted Mr. Wrought Iron for a discussion on fixing it.
They came out to provide a quote.
To my surprise, they took the item.
The quote wasn’t really a “we can fix this, sorry we didn’t make it durable enough quote”. It was ¾ the cost of creating it in the first place.
I wrote back to inquire: “what design improvements and work go into this quote, I’m surprised at it, I’m willing to pay something to have it fixed, but this is 5x expectation”.
Blaine says take it or leave it, and no design improvements. Ie. I think I have you over the barrel so I’ll charge whatever I think I can, not a time and labour type “let’s get this back to you, thanks for covering our fix it costs, we’re sorry – this time it should last longer”.
I responded by saying, in writing, please just return the item ASAP so I can make other arrangements, it’s a safety item. By the way, I never authorized you to remove it from my property, the agreement was “come see it yourself to provide a quote”.
No response 10 days.
Start calling. Various employees answer, say yeah we’ll mention it he’ll get back to you. Nothing.
Ask around a bit as to what is going on… yeah… he does this all the time. All about pricing pressure and getting you over the barrel. Customer service? Ha. Standing behind product? Ha.
Dumped it on my lawn a full 7 weeks later and walked away.
I’m not out to get things for free, but I also know when I’m being played.
Beware. There’s many artful welders out there who are better options.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $5,000.00