Patricia Miller from St. Thomas

I have purchased fence through this company previously, and have been reasonably happy with the quality of the fence, although the coating does flake off some pieces in long swaths. Massively disappointed, however, at the level of customer service I have recently experienced with this company. Last summer we ordered a gate at the Hamilton location. I went to the location in person to review the choices, and dealt with a pleasant and helpful woman on site who was knowledgeable. She advised me that the company was about three weeks behind in the production of the gates. That was fine. Three and a half months later, and numerous calls from me (nothing proactive from Roma) the gate was ready. It was late fall, we were away for a period of months. I called them when we returned and advised that we had since sold the vehicle that would have handled the gate, and enquired as to whether they had a local distributor, and if I could arrange for the gate to be sent to a location near me. No, it turns out, they don't have anyone local, but the manager-type I spoke with advised that they would split their delivery cost with me, as they had been so very late in having the gate available. That seemed like a fair compromise to me, and I cheerfully agreed. That was two months ago. I have had emails from the company telling me that no one was coming in this direction. I had an email indicating that a driver would be nearby, and would come on a particular Saturday. Friday, they emailed that the driver was not coming this way after all. Several weeks later, having heard nothing, again, I emailed and suggested that we rent a truck and go and pick up the gate. No reply. I checked out how much it would cost - $120 - and telephoned to see if that would be agreeable, based on the fellow's initial proposal that they split a delivery fee with me. Keep in mind, this is a $60 cost to the company. The manager on the phone, who advised that he was the same person who had agreed to split the shipping cost with me, told me that my rate was ridiculous, and that I needed to go to Home Depot and rent a truck. I pointed out that it is another hour out of the way for me, and I would have to pay for mileage, which would increase the cost, and for a three and a half hour round trip, plus mileage, which would take the price to more than the $120 I had already indicated. Half of that is $60. The manager type was condescending and unhelpful, and in my frustration I likely became other than sweetness and light. But really, I've been trying to get a gate from these people for a year now. I believe the fault to rest on both sides - they were months later in production than they had originally advised, and my circumstances changed regarding collection. They proposed a reasonable compromise, then failed to follow through on it for months, and ignored my communications about this. I contacted them with a solution of my own that I think was reasonable, and they were completely closed to it. They have indicated they will refund my purchase price...or, more accurately, that it is not worth them having my business and it would cost them less to just refund my money. I am really disappointed in how this has worked out. I own a small business. The customer isn't always right, but customer service like this would certainly sink my business. And I'm frustrated and unhappy enough with my experience that I will be repeating it to all of my friends and colleagues who ask me about our experience when they are making their own choices.