I signed the contract and we set an installation date for three weeks in the future, Wed May 9th. I was told that it would be a two-day job - although that was not stated in the contract - and that when they left, it would look like they?d never been here.
Customer service issues started to raise their heads even before work began. Good business practice would have the contractor call to confirm the appointment in any case. As it turned out, we had a few days of rain that could have delayed their work schedule. They did not call. I had to call on May 8th to confirm.
Day 1. The crew showed up on the 9th around noon and got to work removing the old drive and framing the new one. They seemed to work efficiently. In fact, the crew appeared to know their roles so well that I never heard the foreman tell anyone to do something - they just knew. It was a pleasure to watch a knowledgable team in action.
Day 2. The crew returned on the 10th to pour the concrete. Again, this was done well and efficiently. According to the terms of the contract, I then paid them in full.
Do I have a good driveway? I think so - talk to me in 20 years.
Day 7. But here?s where I ran into a customer service Fail. They were to return on Friday to remove the framing and to seal the drive. They showed up on the following Tuesday. No phone call saying they would not be there as planned.
On Tuesday, they sealed the drive, removed the framing and reset the grass that had to be removed to allow for the framing. When they were done with replacing the grass, the result did not exactly look like they were never here. I had to add about 25 gallons of dirt around the grass to ensure that it was properly seated in the lawn and not just sitting in an oversized trench.
The main issue arose because they had not brought what was needed to reset the pavers on one side of the drive and in a sidewalk that abuts the drive. This resetting was included in the contract. Before the crew left, one member contacted the office and was told that someone would be out on Wednesday.
Day 8. No one showed on Wednesday. No phone call to explain.
Day 9. I called on Thursday and was told that the foreman would call back. He did not.
Day 10. I called on Friday. The foreman left a message while I was out, that someone would be out on Monday to finish.
Day 13. One man did come out on Monday and reset the sideway pavers. However, he left a significant trip-hazard due to the difference in height between the driveway, the black spacer material and the bricks.
But then the worker ran out of sand with half of the pavers along the driveway not reset. He left with no indication of when he would return.
Day 14. No contact, no worker.
Day 15. No contact, no worker.
Day 16. I reset the sidewalk pavers and finished installing the pavers along the driveway. It took about 90 minutes.
So, what?s my recommendation? Despite the problems I encountered with wrapping-up the project, my recommendation is to go ahead and use them. I think you?ll get a good basic product. HOWEVER, their contract form is preprinted to read, ?All payments to be made on the day of pour unless otherwise stated.? I strongly suggest that you go ahead and ?otherwise state? by altering the wording so that you hold back at least 10% until the job is done.
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