Horrible Experience

Poor workmanship and horrendous customer service. No oversight. We contracted this company to repair an existing fence. They showed up on time but the owner who initially quoted did not come out with his team. The team then proceeded to do the repair, but left out one section of the fence as agreed and the energizer wall box was installed incorrectly. We reported the defects and the company returned to correct the work. Shortly hereafter the fence malfunctioned and we reported the issue once again. This time there was no response. It happened around the lock-down period and my wife and I, on returning from travels, went into lockdown. We didn't attempt to contact them again until after the lockdown. During this time our security fence was out of service. After lockdown, the company (Voltage) refused to come out and investigate the defective and malfunctioning fence. We also had an issue with damage to our wall - see the appended image of the signage the company installed on our wall - ripping off an old sign and carelessly adding their own. The owner became very aggressive and threatening. We refused settling the balance payment (we initially paid a 50% deposit) until such time the issue was resolved. Voltage and it's owner kept insisting the balance on the order was first paid before they come out to repair the issue. We felt, and still feels, we didn't get what we ordered and therefore we weren't prepared to settle the remaining balance until such time the job was properly done. Eventually we contracted another company to repair the fence, as it became clear Voltage wasn't going to come out to resolve the issue. Not a situation we wanted to continue indefinitely, as by now, we didn't have a secure perimeter for over four months, courtesy of Voltage. Throughout, the company owner become more belligerent and threatening, and soon this morphed into direct threats and harassment. We decided to settle the balance amount owed, less the R700 ZAR we had to spend to fix the fence via another contractor (in other words whatever the issue, it was minor - and one cant but wonder why Voltage wasn't prepared to come out and just investigate the matter. Instead it chose not to and thereby create a total nightmare for us). This did not appease the owner. The threats intensified and he started sending inflated bills, now ostensible his legal fees (for consulting his lawyer and interest he feels he's owed). Not once did he offer to come out and investigate the original matter. From the outset we were told we are liars (refer multiple emails and whatsapp messages in this regard). The owner insisted the fence could not be their responsibility three months after the fact. Even so we explained the situation multiple times. Threats were made to our phone numbers, emails, physical mail box, etc. It became so bad, my wife felt we should preemptively report the harassment with the South African Police Service as we felt physically threatened (still do). The company then reported us to a credit bureau. And not only us, but the company we rent the property from - even so this company never directly dealt with Voltage. And the inflated bills kept coming. This is still continuing at the time of this review. The owner is a horrible person to deal with directly. We cannot recommend this company to anyone. What a low point. For any additional information, please feel free to contact us. Be warned though. Sloppy work and an erratic company owner can only lead to tears. Fortunately Cape Town has many alternative companies to choose from. And we would urge you to do so.