08/13/2026
🛑 "DON'T BUY FROM SPLIT RAIL FENCE CO." ‼️
“What are you going to do about that sign?”
Not exactly the question you want to hear from a potential customer.
One day, a Split Rail employee told President Mike Orr that a potential customer wanted to ask him about a sign he had seen. The customer had been referred to Split Rail but was curious why the company hadn't done anything about the bright “DON'T BUY FROM SPLIT RAIL FENCE CO.” sign along a busy Denver-area road.
Mike hadn't even known about it. He learned the sign had been put up in 2008, when Split Rail was under completely different ownership.
So, Mike went to find out what was behind it. He happened to find the homeowner standing in his driveway and introduced himself.
Years earlier, the man had purchased a fence and gate from Split Rail. The gate hadn't worked properly after installation. An attempt had been made to repair it, but the problem remained. Eventually, the homeowner felt he wasn't getting the help he needed.
So, the sign went up. And because his home sat along a busy road, everyone saw it. FOR YEARS! 😫
Mike listened to the story, then asked, “Would you let us fix the gate under warranty?”
The homeowner agreed. 🥳
But, when Mike looked closely at the fence, he noticed something else. Trex had changed and updated the product over the years. The materials used on the original fence were no longer available, so there was no way to replace the gate with a perfect match.
Mike made another offer:
“Would you let us tear down the existing fence and replace the whole thing so everything matches?”
The homeowner agreed.
Split Rail replaced the fence and installed a new gate.
And this time, the gate worked properly.
The homeowner was so happy that he offered to replace his old sign. Mike told him that wasn't necessary—he'd just be happy to see the original sign come down!
But the homeowner had other plans. He DID put up a new sign.
Only this time, it said:
“THANK YOU SPLIT RAIL FENCE FOR THE GOOD WORK.”
From “DON'T BUY” to “THANK YOU.”
That's quite a change. 🎉
