California Exteriors, Inc.

Review: Damage existing walkway/curb during install of new driveway. Service included power washing and sealing of aggregate not completed. Calls not returned

We hired California Exteriors Inc. to install a new concrete driveway in April 2013. During demolition of the old driveway, damage was done to our existing curb and aggregate walkway. Parts of the curb and walkway were cracked and broken. A section of the aggregate was separated from the walkway. Pieces were broken and picked up. Some of the pieces were lost (destroyed?) by employees of California Exteriors Inc. The owner of the company, [redacted], came by to inspect the damage. He promised that someone would be out the next week to repair the damage. No one ever came. Our phone calls have not been returned.

When we received the original quote, sales person Mark [redacted] included several additional services. We were told that power washing and sealing of the aggregate would be included. These services were never completed. When speaking with the owner of the company, [redacted], he stated that the aggregate should not be sealed because it would need to be resealed every few years. We indicated that we still wanted the curb fixed and the aggregate sealed. After waiting two weeks with no response, we called a left a message again that the curb still needed to be fixed and the aggregate still needed to be sealed. This phone call occurred in early August, and the owner has still not returned any calls.

In addition to these major concerns, we are also not happy with the quality of work, and the customer service is misleading. The sales person was presented to us as a "color expert." As a color expert, we depended on his experience and knowledge to help us select the right color combination. I told him the color that I did not want (I did not want the driveway to match the bricks on our home). I told him, I wanted the driveway to match the grey color of the house. We purchased a more expensive 3 color option, and we now have a pink driveway. When the driveway was put down, I immediately knew that something was wrong with the color. I made numerous calls to the owner, but no one came out until 6 weeks later. The owner [redacted] told me, "There is no such thing as a color expert. It is like ordering a pizza. If you order a pizza with a new topping and don't like it, you can't send it back." We were completely in shock. Why was his employee presented as "the color expert?" He did offer to spray the driveway with another color for $1000, but there was no way to determine what color the driveway would be after the treatment. He wanted us to sign a waiver before any additional work on the driveway could be done. He then promised to have the sales person [redacted] come out again which he never did.

This driveway cost $6840. The driveway has been paid for in full 4/25/13. I believe that since the company has received its money, there is no reason for them to address these problems. I have been continuously ignored, and my questions/complaints have been dismissed.Desired Settlement: We want our curb and aggregate walkway that were damage during the new driveway installation to be repaired. We want the services (power washing and sealing of aggregate) as promised by the sales person [redacted] to be completed. As it is now, the damaged curb is a trip hazard caused by employees of California Exteriors Inc.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

We will contact customer and try to set up a time to satisfy customers complaints.

Final Consumer Response

California Exteriors came out 9/26/13 and 9/28/13 and power washed the aggregate and patched the curb. They did not seal the aggregate so my husband sealed it himself. I no longer want any services from this Company.

Review: Have not finished work started in November despite repeated calls. No show over 5 times. Lied about repairs that did not happen. Broke lights and have not repaired. Have never repaired broken concrete despite promises to do so.Desired Settlement: I would like them to show up and finish the work.

Business

Response:

We have finished all remaining work at [redacted]., in Calistoga. Mrs. [redacted]'s job is complete and customer is satisfied.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Works still needs to be completed correctly but my husband is very ill and I can't worry about it now.

Numerous telephone calls go unanswered. Crew at job did poor job cleaning up and did not remove all forms or test the sprinkler system after modification. Results were a broken irrigation pipe that required a significant amount of manual digging, which I the customer had to do because my phone call was left unanswered.