We contracted Mancuso Paving to have our driveway paved in August of 2009. We picked them from homestars.ca, mainly because of the great reviews they received. I’m glad that these customers had great service, but unfortunately we were not on the receiving end of this service.
We were told by our salesperson that the entire job would take between 6-8 weeks. The excavation crew showed up in mid August to start the job, but did not have enough of the fill to complete the job that day. When asked when they would come back they told us the next week, that’s when the excuses began!
We kept getting new excuses each time, they ranged from having equipment problems, to flat tires on their trucks. They then told us that some of the other residents on our block had asked for estimates as well and were they were waiting to see if they could come back and do the other driveways at the same time. What this had to do with our driveway I have no idea at all! But I suppose it sounded good to them at the time.
The excavation was finally completed in mid October, and they did do a very good job of cleaning up after themselves, but damaged the trim on a window in the process. We were told that the window would be repaired, and that we would have to wait another couple of weeks for the soil beneath to dry out. We ended up waiting till mid November, all the while getting more excuses that they would be starting the next week, which would come and go before we heard the same story the following week. During the entire time I made several calls to their office and was told that my message was being conveyed to the owners.
I finally called them and asked to speak to the owners and told the person on the phone that I was tired of the excuses, and wanted my driveway done before the snow started to fall. A week later I came home one day to find that the driveway had been paved. They repaired the trim on the window as well. We were told not to drive on it for 4 days to allow for curing time. I thought that at this point my problems were over.
About mid February we noticed that the driveway was starting to heave in several areas and a rather large depression had formed at the back of the house. The depression would ice up each time the snow melted and re froze again. I called our salesperson and informed him about it. He told me that this was quite normal on a new driveway, and that it would all settle by spring.
I called their office in early May to let them know that the low spot had subsided a bit but hadn’t gone away, and furthermore the driveway appeared to be still soft, which I thought was abnormal given the time since the installation. I also informed them that even light objects like ladders, empty wheelbarrows and small carts were sinking when left standing on the driveway. I called them several times, and once again was told that my message would be passed on, and that someone would be in touch soon. So much for soon! It was finally July that I heard from them. I was told that they bought their ashphalt from a supplier and that sometimes the ashphalt took longer to cure. I told him that other companies had paved driveways in my neighborhood at the same time, and found it strange that they weren’t experiencing the same problems. He told me that someone would be over the next day to look into the problem. He also informed me that this person was one of the best in the business, and that he would be able to fix the problem and provide answers to my questions.
The next day the expert arrived with another crew member. He took one look at the driveway from the front of the house and told me that there was nothing wrong with it. I then showed him all the dents left by various objects, the depression at the back of the house, and drew his attention to a flower pot which had sunk into the driveway and caused a large dent as well as a crack. He told me that this was due to the unusually hot weather that we were experiencing. I asked him to explain why the other driveways in the neighborhood that were done at the same time by other companies weren’t experiencing the same problem. He couldn’t give me an answer to the question but told me that watering the driveway daily would help the curing process. I told him that it was ridiculous, and completely unacceptable. I asked him if he would fix the low spot in the driveway, and mentioned my concern about it freezing again in the winter, and that my wife and I were concerned about slipping on it especially since we already had some close calls during the past winter. He told me that it was not a problem and that it would eventually go away by itself, and that if he tried to fix it, it would leave ugly marks on the driveway. By this time it was very clear to me that he had no intention of fixing anything! and it was starting to rain!
I asked him to at least do something about the large dent left by the flower pot and he reluctantly agreed to do it. He then advised me that I should cut pieces of plywood and place them under any object if it was to be left in the driveway for any length of time (Completely unacceptable!). He told me that he couldn’t fix the other dents in the driveway because of the rain! (How convenient!), and that he would return the next week and fix them. It’s been 3 weeks since then, the weather has been fine but no sign of him! Objects are still sinking into the driveway! More calls to the office and basically the same answer!
This is not the same company that received the rave reviews on Homestars! My experience has been quite the opposite. They have not lived up to their reputation. My warranty hasn’t expired and I’ve called them too many times to count! Based on my experience thus far, I’m sure we’ll just get more excuses! We’re not impressed! and wouldn’t recommend them to anyone. I guess we just fell through the cracks!
