Attempted to contact Casa Di Ferro multiple times on the phone to get them to come give me a quote. They have a good reputation and a ad in the Angie's List magazines we get.
The first several times we called we couldn't get in touch with anyone. Knowing it was near Thanksgiving we didn't worry about it much. I finally got in touch with someone when they returned my message on a weekend, but the person didn't speak very good English. We gave him our information, phone number/address, and he said we'd get a call back the next day. Fast forward a week and we called again. I finally got a call back and explained what we were looking for, a simple arched gate to close off our courtyard. I was told we'd get someone out to measure and give us a quote. Again, a week later, haven't heard back, so we call again. I then get an email address from a live person (@msn.com? Really?) and was told to let them know what we were looking for. I sent a detailed email with pictures of what we wanted, and where we wanted it, and dimensions. Here is that email. --------------------------------------------------- Nick, We talked on the phone yesterday about a gate I was having built by Custom Ornamental Iron in Belen. They built the gate about 90% for my courtyard and then never installed it, won't return phone calls or emails. I found you guys on Angies List and saw you had a discount for members and a good reputation on there so I'm hoping you can help me get this done. First, here is a picture he posted on Facebook of the mostly finished gate. Also attached is a scan of the 'contract' for the gate so you can see the design. We went with the one shown in the center. He was going to also create a backing plate to cover up the cut away portions so we could have it powder coated a different color (orange or yellow) to make the zia stand out but also block as much wind and sand as possible. I believe the width of the area was 42 inches total, you can see in this picture where it is going. The areas on top of the wall are now filled with some steel art we had built and powdercoated on top of it, and we wanted to powdercoat the main gate to match, and have a spring assisted closing on the gate along with a normal door handle entry (lever style) to match our house. Thegate was going between the wall and he was going to build a post in the dirt strip next to the concrete for it to latch to. I hope this all makes sense. Later we are replacing the fence in the yard with more wall and want a larger or double gate in the middle of that. --------------------------------------------------- In response I got... --------------------------------------------------- thank you for all the information....do you have the gate and need to get it finished or have a new one made ?....FYI the price he gave you was outstanding since he would be paying for material only with that amount...our solid gates start at $750.00 Thank you, Nick, Casa Di Ferro --------------------------------------------------- I then replied... --------------------------------------------------- I have nothing but the picture. I saw it in person the last time I stopped by about it, the guy is just a con man down there. --------------------------------------------------- I still haven't received another reply yet. No one has come out to measure and give me an official quote, I only got the above. With the past luck I've had with metal fabricators I found another company that is very responsive and respectful to their customers.
