On Monday, July 6th, Jesse Colett of Contractor Services of New England showed up at my door, offering to pave the upper portion of my driveway with some leftover asphalt from another job down the road from my home. He said he had 500-1000 square feet of material in his truck and could discount it to $2 per square foot and the maximum the job would cost would be $2000. He would install 2 1/2 inches of asphalt after prepping the area to be paved. He wrote up a proposal that stated "footage to be determined".
The crew started the job before I agreed and signed the proposal, and they were a scary bunch of guys (I was home alone with 2 small children). I tried to slow the process down, but Jesse kept pushing me to sign the proposal, insisting that "you don't have to pay for anything until you're satisfied".
At the end of the job, Bill Eaton, Jr, owner of Contractor Services of New England, said the job cost was $4200 and that the reason that the job cost increased was that he had enough asphalt in the truck to cover 2100 square feet. I objected and told him the numbers and cost that Jesse had stated, and so Bill offered a "compromise": he would only charge me $3800 for the completed job, but he would also repair and pave the lower portion of the driveway for an additional $4200, at the same discounted rate of $2 per square foot.
Bill Eaton Jr is an intimidating guy and his work crew is also an intimidating bunch. He said he would come back on Friday, July 10th to complete the job. Bill insisted that I pay by check from a local bank and the check was cashed within the hour of my writing it.
My husband came home from work that day and looked at the job and thought it was not 2 1/2 inches of asphalt that they had installed, it looked more like 1 inch. The driveway is already cracking in areas. My husband called them and told them they'd better not show up on the 10th to complete the job.
We called the police who came and took a report, but said there were no criminal charges they could press, this is a case of bad business practice, and we can call the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's Office, and we could file a civil complaint also. The officer also suggested contacting a local news organization that provides consumer advice and support. We filed a complaint with the Dept of Public Safety where William Eaton has a Home Improvement Contractor's license, with the BBB and with the Federal Trade Commission. Our next call is to the Attorney General.
Another person swindled by Bill Eaton
MetroWest, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
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