Bilt-Rite arrived at our new property in the winter and began working before I arrived. They had started a fence line without my prior approval that ran directly over my sprinkler lines. This was made obvious due to the line of sprinkler heads easily visible down the line. The fence company owner even admitted he saw the piping when they dug the first hole but continued the work in that location anyway. When I saw what they were doing I told them to move the fence line further away from the sprinkler line. We had plenty of room.
The owner of Bilt-Rite Fence said that I should not worry about my sprinkler lines. He said that they could tell if they hit a line and if they did hit one they would fix it. I insisted they move the fence line and he said he would. I left for work.
When I came back from work I saw that Bilt-Rite owner did not do as I asked. When confronted he said that doing so would have made the fence look bad. With their assurance that they would repair any problem/damage I paid them.
When spring came we turned on the sprinkler system. Water gushed up and through one of the fence post and out the top. We found two other breaks due to their fence posts. I phoned Bilt-Rite and told them what they had done. Their response was, ???we could not have broken the pipes because if we had we would have fixed them.???
I took Bilt-Rite to Small Claim???s court because they would not compensate me for the cost of the repairs. Their defense was:
1. There is a clause in their contract that holds them harmless if they break anything (So their assurance that they would fix anything they broke was an out and out lie, obviously.)
2. They actually told the judge that if they had to pay for everything they broke they would go broke! (Good grief!)
The judge found in their favor due to the hold harmless clause in Bilt-Rite???s contract, even though Bilt-Rite Fence admitted to the judge that he assured me he would fix anything he broke. To me it seemed the judge has attention deficit disorder so I am unsure he grasped Bilt-Rite???s admittance. In any case, I had a lesson regarding the ethics and honesty of this particular fence builder as well as the quality of the judge in small claims court. It was very disappointing to say the least. I hope anyone who reads this does not make the same mistake I made in trusting someone???s word.
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