I had some reservations about going w the first and cheapest available contractor for my driveway clearing... turns out, I should have trusted my gut. Though they seemed friendly enough in person during our "free estimate," all interactions that followed for the next week+ were so unsavory I hardly know where to begin. Communication w Pa'a was disjointed and unprofessional on all levels pretty much from the jump. Keeping track of what they were doing and when was tricky for this reason, though our instructions were very basic: driveway + house pad. All along, the equipment operator was surly, rude, oddly absent mid-day for hours, complaining about doing the work they agreed to.
Halfway through we felt we needed to stick around my property to supervise. We'd asked in the beginning that the driveway be able to accommodate large trucks during our build. It soon became apparent that we weren't going to get that unless we held them accountable.
We got an email later in the project saying they were "done," demanding answers about when they would receive the rest of their money. When we insisted on a walk-through (which is how any normal business interaction of this nature should go), they cancelled because "weather" (It rains a lot here, didn't stop us from being punctual). When they happened to show up later at their convenience, we were met with more unprofessional and negative attitudes. The house pad we requested was not even close to level, and the driveway was too steep to be useable. Getting the original job to 75% was a very stressful experience, and we will need to hire someone more competent to complete the job. If you have a lot that just needs to be "ripped and rolled" flat and boring, and you don't mind a grumpy operator who can't take direction, these are your people. Turns out, you do get what you pay for after all. read more
