By DON DARE
6 On Your Side Consumer Investigator
LENOIR CITY (WATE) - A Lenoir city widow fell victim to a classic scam. An asphalt contractor stopped by and told her they had left over asphalt they could use on her driveway. He also said the job would be quick and affordable.
Carolyn's newly-paved driveway looks pretty good. The asphalt was applied evenly and pretty thick. No mess was left behind at the house.
However, Carolyn, a 76-year-old widow who asked not to use her last name, was ripped off. She paid way too much. "I said, how much is it going to cost? He said, 'Well I'll have to go down here and figure it up," Carolyn said.
The contractor who knocked on her front door said he could save her money.
She says her driveway looked like her neighbor's, old and worn out with a lot of cracks.
The dimension of Carolyn's driveway is 65 feet long by 16 wide. After she agreed to the job, the contractor and three helpers poured roughly two inches of blacktop.
"He came and did this half here," she said. You can see a seam where the contractor finished the lower part of the driveway.
Carolyn was given no contract. She only received a purchasing order. The contractor collected $1,800 for paving part of the driveway with the leftover asphalt.
Ten days later, he returned and asked to finish the rest of the driveway. Carolyn wanted to know how much, but she didn't get an answer.
A few feet from her garage door, the contractor pulled a fast one. "By the time I got out here, he had already dumped the asphalt in front of the garage. What was I to do then?" Carolyn said. "I couldn't take it back up."
I asked if the contractor gave her a figure that he would charge to finish the work. "I didn't know anything until he came for me to write a check," Carolyn said.
That second check was for $2,750, nearly a thousand dollars more for practically the same amount of asphalt poured on the driveway.
6 On Your Side contacted some reputable asphalt dealers who said the job should have cost no more than $2,500.
"I don't want him to do anyone else like he did me, I felt like he cheated me," Carolyn said. He charged her a total of $4,700.
Older people are targets for this type of scam. The warning signs include people selling door to door, claiming to have leftover asphalt from another job and pushing you to make a quick decision without a contract. These are classic red flags.
6 On Your Side called the contractor, Mark Adams, and left a message. Within hours, Adams called back and offered no argument.
Two days later, Carolyn received 40 percent of her money back. There were two money orders for $2,000. "He shouldn't have charged it in the first place, but I'm happy to have something back," she said.
Carolyn also says the lesson she learned here to say no to door-to-door salesmen or contractors in the future.
Honest asphalt managers tell 6 On Your Side no job is ever done without a signed contract and the customer knowing exactly what the cost is.
If you have a consumer issue, call the 6 On Your Side Hotline at 865-633-5974 or email ddare@wate.com.
Carolyn's newly-paved driveway looks pretty good.
