One day, someone claiming to be from their company came to my house and told my wife they had leftover asphalt and wanted to use it on our driveway. Since our house is at the border between two towns, he asked my wife if we were located in one of them. My wife said yes, but since her English isn't very good, she didn't get any more details except that he said "paving." She called me to explain the situation, and the man told me he needed to use the extra asphalt on our driveway. I thought it was the city doing the work to connect our driveway to the street, so I agreed.
After my wife went out with the kids, she returned to find they had already paved around 200 square feet, laying asphalt directly over our gravel driveway. I called a man named Bill, who had left a card with no company information on it. Bill told me their accountant would contact me the next day.
The following day, they came and asked for $2,500 for the work. I asked them to provide their business license since I've seen other paving jobs where they lay concrete underneath to make the asphalt stable and prevent cracking. However, they couldn't provide any valid documentation. I searched for their company online but found no useful information. Eventually, they sent me their COI (Certificate of Insurance), which was the first time I learned their company's name. I also found many others online with similar complaints.
It turns out that Bill doesn't have a real company, and their "accountant" is his sister. They kept insisting that their family business has been operating for 40 years, pressuring me to pay. I contacted my lawyer, who told me they were scammers and advised me not to pay, demand they restore the driveway, and call the police.
I explained this to Bill's sister. I told her that if they had done the work properly and charged a fair price, I wouldn't mind paying. But they had no license, and the job was poorly done. The next day, they sent a random person to tear off the asphalt.
I hope my experience helps others avoid being scammed by them. read more