Last Tuesday was the worst fence day I've had in 5 years

I showed up to a job in Naperville thinking it would be a simple 200 foot run of chain link. Ground was frozen solid from the cold snap we had, so I had to rent a jackhammer which set me back $150. Got through 6 holes before the jackhammer seized up on me. Then the supplier sent the wrong gauge wire, 9 gauge instead of 11, so the mesh was way too stiff to roll out right. Customer came out and asked if I could finish by Thursday because they had a dog coming. I told them flat out no with the ground like this and the wrong material. Ended up eating the rental cost and pushed the job to next month. Has anyone else had a day where literally everything went wrong from start to finish?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nancy21d ago

Gotta check if the supplier will comp you for the wrong gauge. That's on them, not you. If they won't make it right, finding a new supplier might save your sanity down the road.

davis.olivia21d agoTop Commenter

Oh @the_nancy, I learned that lesson the hard way and switching suppliers saved me a whole lot of headaches.

jordan_hill21d ago

Actually @the_nancy is right about checking with the supplier first, but I gotta say it depends on the relationship. Some suppliers will fight you on that kind of mistake and blame it on the order being misread. I had one try to tell me the gauge difference was close enough and wouldn't matter in the long run. That's when you know it's time to walk away and find someone who actually gives a damn about getting it right the first time. If they're not willing to eat the cost of their own screw up, they're never gonna have your back when something really goes sideways.