On January 22nd a couple of individuals making themselves known as Bobby and Stan and representing t

5th of Apr, 2010 by User302669

On January 22nd a couple of individuals making themselves known as Bobby and Stan and representing themselves as Gem Seal Pavement Products solicited me to seal my driveway with what they touted as the best sealer on the market. They said they were the only company to use this type of sealer which is a 40% oil base. They said all other companies used a water based sealer. They showed me a crystallized asphalt filler that they would use to fill cracks and again emphasized the oil base nature of their product. Due to the nature of their product they could offer a seven year warranty when other sealers only offered a one year warranty. They gave me a brief demonstration of what to expect in a corner of the drive way. I had already received a couple of estimates from other driveway sealers. They provide a reasonable estimate and their product sounded good. We agreed on a price and they began to seal. In our conversations prior to starting the work and during the sealing process they would consistently refer to me with the words "my friend" and make sure to let me know that they weren't ""gypsies", did quality work, could provide a list of local folks who had used them recently used them and assured me that my driveway would be beautiful. Several times they said, " We feel so good about our work that if you are not satisfied , you don't pay". Due to the lateness of the day and the fact that a visitor to my house, who was currently not available, had his car parked in my driveway we agreed that the job would be started on the 22nd and finished on the 23rd. On the 22nd they sealed approximately 60% of the driveway. They did not however fill any cracks or crevices with the crystallized filler explaining that the application first required a sealer then the filler could applied and sealer would be sprayed over the filler then. They said, that the filler would not stick if applied to the driveway prior to sealing. Sounded plausible. They returned to finish the job on the 23rd and quickly finished the remaining 40%, again not using any of the filler, still saying that the sealer first had to dry then filler could be applied and those areas would be re-sealed. The area they did the first day looked good and had no spots. The area they did on the second day had a lot of spotting. Bobby explained that some areas of the asphalt would absorb the sealer more than others and would require re-coating which they would come and do in about three or four days, allowing enough time for the sealer to dry thoroughly. There was never any discussion of paying any more money, in fact they assured me they would fix any and all spots and even leave me buckets of sealer so that I could fix any minor issues myself. I did ask them to fix some spots that had developed before they completed the job and they reluctantly sprayed those areas. Once the spots were coated the driveway looked good but not yet dry. They again reiterated that spots would develop and they would come by in a few days and fix all spots. The weather forecast on the 23rd did call for a chance of rain late in the evening and when questioned about that the said that it only took a couple of hours for their sealer to dry and the rain shouldn't be an issue. If it did cause problems they would fix them when they returned to fix spots. The driveway looked well coated and solid in color and I paid them the agreed upon fee. It did rain that evening and much of the next morning. When everything was finally dry my driveway, which looked solid in color when they left, now looked like a dalmatian. When I called, the same phone numbers I used to communicate with them on the 23rd, to explain the problem and find out when they could be out to fix the spots I received mixed messages of wrong number, Bobby or Stan are not available, they are out of town yes we knew there would be spots we will come out the following week to fix. The following week I tried to confirm a time for them to come out and fix problems I again received mixed messages of wrong number, Bobby or Stan are not available, they are out of town. I called the same phone numbers from various phones, thinking that maybe they recognized my phone number and did not want to talk to me. They did call back thinking I was a potential client. When I revealed who I was they told me that they would not be coming out to fix problem unless I was willing to pay another $1000. They said they had under bid the job originally and could not afford to fix the spots. That it was my fault that the spots developed because I asked them to spray sealer on the spots that already developed before they ever finished the job and therefore the sealer did not dry before it rained. Since the 23rd I have spoken by phone to Bobby, Stan and a woman who represented herself as Bobby's wife and a company representative. Stan, who seemed to be in charge the day they did the work said he was only a worker and could do nothing. Bobby and the woman reiterated they only did quality work but could not and would not be fixing my issues because they simply couldn't afford to because they under bid the job and had already spent more on the job than they made. The bottom line here is, I was not very smart in allowing someone who pulled into my driveway un-solicited to do the work. I accept full responsibility for more making a stupid decision and will be paying someone else to fix my driveway. I did want to get this message out in case anyone in the area was looking to have some asphalt sealing done. Be aware that these folks representing themselves as Gem Seal. They do not deliver on what they say, they do poor quality work and will not respond to phone calls. Doing business with these folks you are going to be RIPPED OFF!

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