Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/29/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was given a verbal estimate on approximately June 22, 2021. I attempted to resolve the issue thought the ******* ************************ Harless and sons state that ****************** brought me the contract on June 29th. I was not show the written contract until the day work had already been started. ****************** told me he had forgotten to bring it back out and asked if I would please back date it to keep him out of trouble. I regret that I did that to help him out. The work had already been started at this point. They have stated that I wanted to go the cheapest route. This is simply false. When he came out for the estimate, I told him I wanted concrete but my husband was interested in asphalt. He convinced me that this would be just as good and save me money. I was told this would be a complete tear out and replace, never was there any mention of needing to replace the base. I wonder why they attempted to repair it various ways and never said it was the base. The contract states No guarantee but my attorney said that is not valid in ******* for poor workmanship. The driveway began cracking and falling apart within the 1st month. I saved my money to get this project done. Had I known it may not last, I would never have spent my money on this project. I do know they have the ability to do good work, as they did a good job on my mothers and her friend. That is why I went with them and foolishly didn't get any other estimates. They told my attorney in a voicemail that they are done with me and if I wish to pursue it, they will see me in court. They did try a few things to fix it but that didn't help. I do not want to hurt their business by bashing them and would prefer to avoid court so this, is my last ditch effort to resolve this issue. The worst spot in the drive was bad before and ***************** assured me verbally that it would be fixed and not come back. He also verbally assured me and my husband that we'd be happy with it for our lifetime or more

  Business Response

  Date: 09/30/2022

  This is the fourth avenue ********************* has taken in complaining about this job.

  First, I would like to address that we would NEVER make a customer back date anything. The date she is referring to is supposed to be the start date of the job, not the date that anything was signed. You can see at the top of the contract she attached that the start date is almost a full month ahead of the end date. We do not require anyone to to write in the dates at the top, that is on me or my brother as we are the ones who fill out what remains on the contracts on the job. The actual start date of the job was 7/20/21. That's what we would have written in there. ***************** took the contract back to her house on 6/29, just a few days after giving her the verbal estimate she agreed to, to have her just sign in the box that says PROPOSAL & CONTRACT. This gives us the permission to come to her house, on her property, and complete the job. We like to make sure we have those signed before we come in to do the work so that the customer knows they are on our list to have their job done that season.

  We did tell her that asphalt would be cheaper than concrete. That is true. Concrete work is much more time intensive and requires a lot more set up time. However, concrete is also not impervious to cracks. We did not go in to this job with the intention of s******* ********************* over. We have no bias in our workmanship and don't pick and choose who we are going to do a good job for. We approach every job with the utmost professionalism, making sure that we go above and beyond to make driveways look the absolute best we can. We absolutely cannot guarantee that the driveways won't crack. If asphalt was permanent, we would not have a business. The road crews all over the country would not have to make repairs to highways and roads if asphalt didn't crack and break, and they have millions of dollars worth of equipment that can do jobs better and faster than we can. We explicitly say on our contract NO GUARANTEES because we cannot predict how the ground will move under a driveway. But we lay every driveway the same. We do not cut corners, we do not skimp on materials, and we most definitely do not choose who we are going to do good work for. We have a business with a great reputation because we do the best work we can for every customer we get. If she felt like we were working poorly while we were on the job, she didn't seem to convey it.

  We went back three times to ************************* and fixed areas that had turn spots, fixed areas with cracks, and gave her a seal coat, all for free. The last time she contacted us through ******** about the cracks, we simply told her that yes we could come look at the damage, but from here on out we would have to charge for any repairs done as we have already done what we could for free. She then contacted the ******************** of the ************************** to which we went back and forth with a few times. Then she contacted an attorney, and at this point, we felt like she was really trying to cause problems. We were willing to come fix her issues, but now we feel like she's just harassing us, going through four different avenues to complain, when we will continue to have the same answers every time. Our story will not change. So we are not willing to do any more for ********************* at this time. If she is not satisfied with this answer and she wants to proceed with more legal actions, then that's what we will have to do. 

  Assuring someone that they would be happy with a driveway for their lifetime would be giving a guarantee. Just as I stated before, we do not give those. Driveways need maintenance and repairs just like anything else. That's why we have the business we have. We have torn out or recapped driveways years later that we installed ourselves because the cracks have gotten so bad. It's just the nature of the beast. We hate to see a driveway that we put in go south so quickly, and we never lay a driveway to do that on purpose, but we cannot control how the ground moves. The bottom line is we have helped her all we can, but at this point, we have nothing left that we are willing to do for **********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/30/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

  I'm not sure how trying to resolve an issue is considered harassment. I'm sorry that they feel that way. I do understand that these driveways require maintenance but falling apart after a month is absolutely unacceptable!  I have had several other asphalt business look at the driveway and they all say it was done poorly. It should have been much thicker. 

  I have not mentioned the fact the ***************** originally told me that I'd never have to seal it which I thought was great. However later after telling my mother this, she said that's not what she was told. So when we they had finished and one of the younger gentlemen came to the door, I asked about that. He said it needed to be done roughly every 3 years. 

  The day the work was done, having absolutely no knowledge on laying asphalt. How would I have anyway to know that they were doing anything incorrectly?  If I was an expert, I'd have done the work myself but I trusted them to do it right!  I never said they cut corners. I even asked was it possible they had gotten a bad batch of asphalt?  The younger ******* said no that's not possible.  I wasn't concerned as much about the turn spots, which by the way after a year still happen, it was all the cracking and buckling. 

  I understand that obviously they do not intend to change their feelings on their culpability on this issue. I did my best to try to resolve this issue without going to court or the media. Unfortunately since they are willing to actually fix these issue (several companies have said the only way to make it right is tear it out and start over) I am left with no other options.
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************