Comments regarding Deerbusters (Trident Enterprises)

We purchased 17 rolls of metal mesh deer fence (DEE-8105) and the respective number of 'heavy duty deluxe' posts (DEE-8205) in June 2010 and had them installed by September 2010. In March 2011 ten fence posts failed after 5-6 months of service - bent 90 degrees at the base (pictures available); about 150 feet of the fence line was found lying on the ground. Urgent replacement was requested. Deerbuster's General Manager responded on the 4th day: refused to refund or replace, saying that we should have propped the posts to prevent damage from the wind. -- No such guidance was provided on their website, in print, or verbally prior/during/after purchase. Further in his e-mail, he refused to "be held accountable for damage from wind especially with the extreme wind conditions in Maryland recently".

Complaint summary: 1) Product issues: flawed design / low quality material: posts are hollow tubes made of thin metal; bent like pretzels after 6 months in service. 2) Sales practice issues: no user/installation guide warning of possible failures; product misrepresentation on the website: "heavy duty deluxe" posts; misleading video showing seamless installation process while in reality the sleeves were very hard to drive/fix in the ground. 3) Warranty issue: warranty terms were not even mentioned in the invoice (there was no contract provided with the purchase); the sales rep assured of a year-long warranty; the website says that vendor's warranty is limited to 30 days. Non-deerbusters products should be managed under the manufacturer warranty. However, the product came without any labeling -- with no information on the manufacturer or product origin. 4) Refund/exchange issues: refused to refund or compensate arguing that posts tend to fail under strong wind. If deerbusters consider this a serious argument, then they should have advertised their ‘heavy duty’ posts for indoor use only. 5) Customer service issues: lack of response / slow response / ineffective response - no response provided in writing until explicitly requested (prior to posting this complaint on Davesgarden); general manager constantly interrupted the customer during telephone conversation; requested information from the customer, but ignored it in his statements. Accused customer of extortion when the customer mentioned that a complaint would be filed with BBB and the product / complaint management experience would be publicized on-line.

So for those of you who consider buying from Deerbusters, please be advised that they seem to favor low-quality products. Even a kneeling garden bench that I bought from them is so wobbly that I am afraid to sit on it. The five-digit $$ amount spent on their fencing and accessories looks like a waste of money if it continues to rip in the wind, rain and other 'unusual' natural phenomena. The way products and installation are presented on their website qualifies for 'deceptive practice in trade'.

I ordered the 8' deer fence kit for small gardens (100') and in less than one year the "wire" fencing split in two places.
Both spots had about 5' vertical rips of the fencing and will be very time-consuming to repair.