Too Many Price Changes, Contradicting Excuses, Ridiculous Fine Print
This review has been severely edited to fit Trustpilot's space constraints We wanted to replace a really old upper and lower wooden deck with composite decking and pavers. Old World Brick Paving said they could replace both. With high hopes, we couldn’t wait to enjoy the finished concept. But that excitement turned into a bitter disappointment. Before you call this company, let me warn you about our horrible experience. ‘G’ showed up for OWB along with the deck guy. It seemed to be a good meeting. We knew little about composite decking and little help was offered. We were given an outdated Timbertech book and told to let them know when we determined what we wanted. We decided what pavers we’d use that day and ‘G’ gave us a quote for them while he was here. We called Timbertech on our own. They gave us a current book and explained some of the materials and options. Shortly after the first visit, ‘G’ called one night to go over the paver pricing. It was a strange conversation because we already had his paver quote. We put it on speakerphone and took notes. He explained in exacting detail the price for materials and labor, and how much our chosen pavers would really cost. Fortunately, his new quote was only $1 per square foot more expensive than his first one. So now we had an exact quote for the paving job. Or so we thought. Shortly after that, ‘G’ sent us an email that was more than double what he quoted on the phone for the paver project. I called him and reminded him of the dinnertime phone conversation. He acted like he didn’t remember calling us. But then he said that with the phone quote he gave us, he’d “sharpen his pencil.” But the price never again matched the phone quote. After making our decking decisions, we called ‘G’ and his deck guy back out. When they left we were all in agreement and waited for the official quote. We told ‘G’ we wanted it quickly and have it signed before we left on vacation about 6 weeks later. That’d give them almost a month while we were gone to secure the proper permits and be ready to break ground when we got back. His first quote had no specs for the decking, which was the most expensive part of the project. For tens of thousands of dollars, the deck specs merely said, “per our last visit.” We rejected that immediately and told him to fill in the deck specs. But it never came before we left. It took him 7 weeks to finally get us a legitimate quote. Now our preferred timeline was shot. When we returned home we went over the quote. A few changes were needed and a few items to clarify. That’s to be expected. But then we saw that he was charging us an additional $950 for river rock that he already charged us $1000 for. When I showed him he was charging us twice, he just said that’s the price. In the end, ‘G’ wound up giving us no less than 7 price changes in writing and various contradicting excuses. There was double charging, an add on that he already said was included, and claiming he wasn’t charging us for a line item he added a couple of lines earlier. But as bad as the proposal process was, the fine print was absolutely ridiculous. OWB wants 2/3 of the total price before they even break ground. And then they want the final 1/3 on the last day. They specify the “last day” as the last day they use a tool, not if/when the project passes final inspection. And the late fees soon follow. NO WAY. But there’s more. OWB also quoted to clean and reset our existing pavers to look like new again. But the fine print said that the cleaning process will likely damage anything in close proximity. Siding, fence, landscaping, etc. We were expected to sign off and accept all liability. But, for an undisclosed sum of extra money, they could put up tarping that may or may not solve the damage problems. Again, NO WAY. So, in the end, we wasted months and still need to replace our decks. As you might have guessed, we won’t be doing business with Old World Brick Paving.
By BB