Leftover asphalt leaves a hefty bill

(WWLP) - With Spring here, paving companies are out looking to revamp your driveway.

22News I-Team reporter Jaclyn Cashman found a homeowner out thousands after a paving job.
That was until we got involved and helped out two homeowners who felt they were scammed by a local paver.

A local paver offered Theresa Grimes' husband some asphalt left over from another job.
There was no contract, just a handshake. The Grimes’ simply told the workers what they wanted.

Theresa said, “We needed some gullies filled and he said he would put a strip down the center of the driveway. Instead I got half of this driveway done.” Jaclyn said, "How much did you pay?" Mrs. Grimes said, "2,100 dollars."

But with nothing in writing it became a "he said/she said" situation.

Theresa said, "I ended up having to put it on a charge card, which now will take us years to pay off."

Once the paving company finished the job with the Grimes family they went next door to Andy Johnson's house. They told him they had extra asphalt and said they would put it on the driveway. Andy said ok. But then the pavers wanted $2,000. That's when Andy's family called us.

Andy Johnson of Monson said, "They came in and said they want 2,000 dollars now. I said 2000 for what. He said for those two turnouts. He said he had to go buy asphalt. I said you should not have done that."

Unlike his neighbor, Johnson never discussed payment terms for the asphalt.
The 22News I-Team contacted this paver. We indicated that soliciting people for a service without telling them the cost seems deceptive.

The owner refunded the Grimes family and agreed that Johnson owed them nothing, saving them a total of four thousand dollars.

To be fair we decided to not include the name of the paver in this story because they resolved the dispute with their customers. But if you are hiring someone to fix your driveway this Summer, get a contract, look them up with the better business bureau and get references.

If you have an I-Team you want us to investigate email at iteam@wwlp.com