System Pavers

I contacted System Pavers through their webpage to get an estimate on redoing my patio. There was almost immediate phone callback to set-up an appointment with a designer/salesman, who showed-up as arranged. The designer/salesman had pre-packaged marketing material, including videos, which had reasonable enough information on paving, as well as sales pitches of why System Pavers are better than alternative contractors. Along with finding out what I wanted for my patio, the salesman asked me who else I had talked to about the job and targeted his pitch specifically at the competition. He effectively asked me outright what the alternative bid had been, but all I told him in the end was that the estimate I got from him was high. He followed-up with an email in which he brought his original estimate down by $1K to $16K.The competitor bid was $12K. The only pitch the salesman had against this particular competitor (who he acknowledged did good work) was that they didn't have as much marketing, and maybe didn't pay their workers as much for backyard work. Also, I think the competitor's guarantee period is shorter, which the salesman did not point out. This was an apples to apples comparative bid, since I had done my homework on exactly what I wanted in lay-out and material, and both companies came-up with the same design for details such as steps and drains. What I think is that the benefit to consumers of large-company scaling is business dependent, and there is no great benefit going with the largest company for residential patio paving. I'll give a review of the competitor after the job is done.

Hated the hard sale and went with someone else. They continue to hound us with junk mail even now, 3 years later. They just wont go away.

The team that put in the patio did an amazing job. They worked every day from 8-5 and finished in a week. It turned out beautiful. Also, we got 0% financing so the price did not hit us all at once.

See above. When my job is finished, I will report on the company that actually dud ut,

Since we did not use System Pavers for our driveway/walkway paver installation, I can only rate the company on the initial interview/estimate consultation which occurred in late September, 2011. The sales person followed up with our interview on two subsequent occasions. I informed him of our decision to go with another company during that second call.

The designer/salesperson did a good job walking me through the options, and when I decided on a plan, allowed me to put in a deposit to hold the price for several months. (Though the additional "sale!" emails and postal mailings in the intervening time made it seem less like I got such a great deal originally.) When I was ready to go, scheduling it was easy though the project lead was slow to contact me to arrange a walkthrough (I got ahold of him just one business day before the job was to start). The job itself went very well, quite quickly and efficiently, and I'm very happy with the result. One other annoyance was the project lead asking me at the end if I wanted sealer for an extra $500 - which seemed like a no-brainer to do but I was disappointed to not have been talked through that option way back before signing the contract, instead of being forced over-budget at the last minute. But in the end where it counts -- the new backyard is great.

They did a great job. They are very responsible and responsive.

The quality of the work was good. The pavers were beautifully laid and the working with the service manager was a great experience. They were straighforward. We did have a negative issue with them however. Where they put the patio sloped away from the house and to deal with that they put in a dry well for the water to drain water away, so now we are having some flood issues. We are in the process of waiting on them to pick the pavers up and fix the problem. Getting them to follow up and respond has been very challenging. I've left repeated messages to call back and still have challenges with that. They were expensive but comparable to others we checked with. I will consider using them later if they fix the problem they caused at a quality level.

System Pavers was pricey but the results were worth it. What really sold me were their design services. I knew that replacing the driveway and walkway would be expensive and I didn't want it to look like a copy of so many other paver installations. Their designer, Maria, worked with me to come up with an unusual, distinctive design in terms of pattern, color, texture etc that integrates well with my home. She had many good suggestions and it was a real pleasure to work with her. The results looks great and I've gotten many compliments on the project. The installers were punctual and efficient. The only hiccup was an equipment breakdown one day but they still completed the job within the promised time frame.

Sales team was very pro. Then it went bad mostly from lack of any supervision. Demo team did a good job, but owner had to hold their hands as they could not read the plans so did not work toward the end result - but only ripping out the slabs. The prep and installation was attempted to a far less than the manufacture's specs. Again, the owner had to supervise the crews. The prep and install was done by young men, no English, using rental equipment carried in the backseat of a small sedan. They could not read the plans and had no idea of the requirements laid out by the maker of the product they were installing - and could not read the instructions provided by the owner. Assuming they were getting paid piecework, they were not happy to find out it was much harder and took more time to install pavers the correct way and not just so they look good. When a company supervisor did show up he did not speak Spanish as well as the owner. On his last of 2 visits, I bet him $20 that when the bill was paid he would not return to take care of damage done to a gate. Never saw any of them again. The drive is holding up well, thanks to proper installation.

I found them at home and garden show.? The sales person was very good.? The lawn was not looking quite right, but I called them and they fixed it.? I didn't like the price, but they gave me finance on that.

Somewhat "high pressure" sales. Otherwise the quote services went fine.

I think its funny that all the people who used this company on here have left positive reviews.... and all the people who didnt use them negative reviews... I'm sure some of their sales people are better/worse then others. Ask for Peter Smith, he took Great Care of us!!!!

They had a large workroom. The person who came in for the bid said it would take about five days, but it ended up just taking two. There were four or five people working. They got everything out. I sort of regret that I let them take things that were in good shape. They did a very, very good job. The problem was with putting things together. They had to build steps over sand, but as it turns out, sand comes in through the cracks. It's not that that would reasonably happen, but they didn't say it would happen. The design of the steps was not as fluid as what was done. They made the design more complicated. I was worried about water pooling around the base of the house. There are less expensive companies, but I didn't get a lot of bids.

It was fabulous. It was done on time. The foreman had a really interesting and helpful addition of another sidewalk that made a big difference in the overall appearane. The crew worked really hard, they finsihed on time, and they did good work. The only thing that could have a been better was that they left small pieces of concrete throughout the yard. Everyone loves it. The salesperson took a long time picking out which stones we wanted. Overall it is very aesthetically pleasing. Three other neighbors on our street had them do their drive ways, and they all look great.

They did a good job. We are quite happy and they were very nice.

The crew that came out did an excellent job. I was concerned that the sealer was not part of the job when they said there was an extra charge for the sealer over the paver's after the work was almost completed. I did not have the sealer put on the paver's.

It was a very brief interaction. The initial bid was for $75,000. He was not pushy. Perhaps if I had followed up I would have gotten some discount. Since I did not follow up, I don?t know what the final amount would have been. I felt it was a gimmick so I did not follow up. They were responsive and punctual. I will probably not use them in the future.

The job was done surprisingly quickly. They professionally lined up all the materials and equipment on an as-needed basis so there was little down time during the entire job. As changes or issues came up they dealt with them quickly and professionally without trying to charge me extra. The results of the job were clean and professional. All the sections are level, lined up and square with each other. I had a paver circle kit installed which meant a lot of custom cuts for fit and they did a great job keeping a tight fit around the perimeter. After the job was finished I noticed a loose stone in the wall section and they came out the same day to repair it. Before they left they cleaned up all the debris in my backyard and in the surrounding area. No subcontractors were used and the guy running my job clearly knew what he was doing with 10+ years experience.

We were really pleased with the "full service" approach by this company, i.e., design (albeit an intense process done pretty much to completion during the first appointment), demo and removal of old patio/landscaping, proper grading and installation of drainage system and drywell, along with paver installation. What didn't work for us is their "sales approach" and unwilling to provide a written bid/estimate with a detailed scope of work. We asked for a written estimate at our first meeting and in response were a lot of questions (avoidance) and excuses based on the inherent difficulty of providing an "accurate" bid for a project such as ours. After a very long appointment (about 3 hrs) what we were left with to base a decision on is an 8 x 11 sheet of card-stock advertisement for System Pavers with three different dollar amounts handwritten (ranging from $86,110 to $68,880) and a notation of "everything included!". Their sales approach is that of a car dealer. They provide nothing in writing until it's time to sign on the dotted line and in the meantime they are hoping to convince you to "get in the trunk" just to see how roomy it is.

The plan that they gave us was really rough and hand-drawn. They let the guy go right after he did out estimate so maybe they corrected the problem. They are really expensive and he didn?t respond or show up on time. Once the subcontractor crew came, they were great and always on time. As they were cutting stone, there was a lot of stone dust left all over the garden and they trampled on our plants. The end product is beautiful and well done but it certainly wasn?t care free. For the money they are charging and because they have a national profile, they should be doing a better job. I thought they were way too expensive and you pay too much for the name. They were really good at bugging me for leads once the job was done. I get something about once a month asking for people who might be interested.

The salesman who did the initial walk through said he would email us later with more project info, but we never got anything. After calling them for a couple weeks, we finally contacted a manager who assigned someone else to our project. We finally did receive some of the promised info, but this 2nd person had to be replaced again by a 3rd person. In the end, they never followed up and were difficult to contact, acted unprofessionally, and were not responsive or punctual at all.

In a nutshell, if you can afford to pay top dollar, then this may be a good company for you.

The finished product exceeded our best expectations. We thought that the work was done well and it was done on time. They actually finished quicker than they had estimated. They used sub-contractors, and the work that our sub-contractor did was good. There was an issue with the subcontractor at the end, but System Pavers solved the issue to our satisfaction. The subcontractor also did some extra work that made the project turn out even more beautifully than we had anticipated. The problem I have is with their canned required sales pitch that they do. They come in and take the measurements, and they then give you a very, very high initial estimate. They then greatly reduce the cost if you are willing to put up a sign and write letters of recommendation. I was personally offended by this tactic. You have to be willing to get past their ridiculous sales tactics, although we finally did arrive at a reasonable and competitive price. This was the second time we had them out for a bid, we advised them that we had no need to sit through the videos and struggle through the sales pitch again. However, they said they were required to go through the steps. The work that they did was wonderful, and the final project was far beyond what we had expected. However, the agony of getting to the final price was difficult to deal with. What they ended up delivering was stellar, but their sales pitch is excruciating and insulting. I would recommend them, with the caveat that their sales pitch is absolutely terrible but the work is great.

They did a very nice job. They were friendly and great to deal with. The men they sent out did almost more then we asked. They took it out and fixed some cement for me, they were just wonderful. We would use them again in the future.