My neighbour and I just had our driveways paved. And it was a gong-show.
We hired company A to do the job. I got three quotes, there's was in the middle cost-wise and they had fantastic google reviews. They're a younger company but everyone we interacted with was pleasant and knowledgable.
The initially proposed date was pushed back 3 weeks. Fine. Weather, plus COVID has everyone scrambling.
We finally get a date and paving company B arrives first thing, like 7 am, in the dark. They proceed to do the final grading and paving. We have some complicated(ish) elevations, but I think they were packed up by 9:30. From my perspective, they were way way too rushed. I can fit 5 cars in my driveway, and my neighbour has an extra 25% of length and some additional width (paging Scaerio... Scaerio to the white courtesy phone). It was like watching a timelapse of a driveway being paved.
Before they started paving my neighbour questioned the grading and indicated that all of the previously discussed issues were not being addressed. The foreman (and owner) of company B starts in a yelling match and continues paving.
Once they are done the work, it is immediately clear they haven't propely graded the driveway. It doesn't flow away from my neighbours garage and flows from the middle towards my house at one point. The day after paving I meet with the owner of company A (nice guy) and company B (total swerver). A song and dance with excuses follows but I keep pushing and they admit that it wasn't done correctly. (I find if you just keep pushing back on Bullies they eventually realize they have to be nice to you) So they agreed to come back and try a half-assed solution, tamp down a high spot in hopes that will get the water to drain away from the house.
They arrive a day early, without notice, and start the half-assed repair. I'm not optimistic, but keeping quiet. My neigbour's wife is the only one home and starts to ask about solutions to their issues (again, about which they were very explicit). Same old run around bully song and dance. This culminates in the owner of company B threatening to sue my neighbour, a yelling match and aggressively waving a level my Neighbour's wife.
At this point, the rep from Company A, kicks the owner of Company B off of our properties. He apologized profusely, says they were swamped and have had to contract work out. And that they will be back in the spring to tear up the ashphalt, properly do the grading, and then repave. He also stated they won't be hiring them again.
Such a gong show. But Company A have been good to deal with and they stepped up.
