After many months and failed attempts to resolve the problems with our driveway (installed by Robert R. Andreas in September 2008) which has only continued to erode more and more over time and contacting the BBB, we decided our only option, our last resort was to file a small claims lawsuit against them in Cook County (Maybrook Court). They were served by sheriff as well as another time by certified mail. They failed to appear in court twice even though Byron was coincidently at the same courthouse both dates that morning suing someone else. We received a default judgment against them and once they received that judgment in the mail they hired an attorney. Inexplicably, their attorney was successful in having the judge overlook the fact that they never showed up to court ? the same attorney who got lost coming to court and had us reschedule. We had three judges. This particular judge sent it to mandatory arbitration. Their attorney filed a motion to have it thrown out of Cook County Court due to the fact that the contract had very teeny-tiny writing at the bottom of the contract stating that if we had a problem we had to settle our dispute at AAA Arbitration- deciding now if that?s the way to go or appeal or what. Our attorney contends the contract was not legal in that we did not have the opportunity to opt out of the Arbitration Clause pursuant to some Illinois law and that the clause was never explained to us. The third judge didn?t see it that way. All this information is public knowledge BTW at the Cook County Circuit Court Website. McDonald vs. Andreas. What has this lesson taught us? One) the court system is a big friggin? joke for - Somehow, we did all the right things and ultimately the court said that the company can do subpar/substandard work and we, the consumer have no recourse. None of the three judges even looked at any of our photos of the crumbling driveway- none of them asked us when it began to erode- 4 months later- they did not care about the facts. It was get em in? get em out- on to the next case. If we failed to pay our $6850 bill, you better believe they would have sued us and won. Two) read your contract with a magnifying glass, then re-read and find an attorney to decipher it for you and make sure it?s a LEGAL contract. Then cross out the part about AAA Arbitration. Three) The fact that a company says they are licensed and bonded means nothing- the court system proved that to us. Buyer Beware. This was an expensive lesson to learn.
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