Troubleshooter: Watch out for paving pitch
HOLLY SPRINGS, NC (WTVD) -- Natilee Hinton-Brooks wanted her driveway paved and says she fell for the pitch: "We're going to get your driveway looking just like the highway."
Natilee says she found Ronald Emerson and his crew to do her job when they were at a Triangle business. Natilee says Emerson told her he had asphalt left over from a job, and they would pave her driveway for cheap.
"We asked him several times to give us an estimate of what it would cost to get it paved. He said, 'Well, I really can't give you an estimate, because we don't know exactly how much we have on the truck,'" Natilee said.
Eventually, Natilee says after some negotiating back and forth they agreed to a price of $1.40 a square foot.
At first, Natilee says it appeared to be a good job. When he got done, she says Emerson told her she owed $3,800. Natilee refused to pay that much and they finally they agreed on $2,800.
"We thought it was just going to dry after a couple of days, and it would look like the highway because that's what he said, 'When I finish with it, it is going to look just like the highway,'" Natilee added.
Shortly after Natilee paid in full, she says she has no highway look.
"This just looks like black dirt with rocks in it. The grass is going through it. The rain is washing it away on the edges. You can see tire tracks in it," she said.
Natilee says she called Emerson about the problems and he told her he would come back out and roll it for her. Natilee says that never happened, and when she took a closer at her receipt, she says she saw for the first time it said recycled asphalt.
"I paid $2800 for this, and not one time during our conversation did he say that this was recycled asphalt," Natilee said.
I got in touch with Emerson. He said while he did tell her it would look like the highway, he meant the color, not consistency. He said he was upfront before starting the job that he uses recycled asphalt, and not hot asphalt, as he said the recycled asphalt is just a little better than gravel.
As for Natilee, she wants others to watch out for the 'leftover asphalt pitch' as she says her job is not worth the $2800.
"I think I paid too much for dirt and rock," Natilee added.
After Emerson heard from me, Natilee says in an effort to try and make her happy he agreed to refund her $1,000. She tells me she is happy with that and is eager to get her money back. We will keep you updated if that happens.
The best advice is before agreeing to any job, make sure you fully understand what you're getting. Emerson insists he explained in detail to Natilee she would get recycled asphalt.
