GUARDIAN SEALCOAT & PAVING

I have never, ever felt the need to write a negative review about any company in my life. Until now. This company is the shadiest I have ever worked with. In the summer of 2023, I solicited bids to have my driveway resurfaced. After reviewing several bids, I went with Guardian because the sales guy (John) that came out seemed knowledgeable and trustworthy. They resurfaced my driveway in October 2023 at a cost to me of over $20,000 (I have a long driveway). I followed every instruction they gave me for proper care. It actually seemed to be fine the following spring when the snow started to melt. But in the spring, I had soft spots everywhere. Every tire turn created a tire mark depression. Anything metal placed on the driveway (from a bike kickstand to a 20 lb propane cylinder) left depressions. Keep in mind this was in April 2024, after it had cured for the entire winter. And it’s not like it was July and 90 degrees. I had been told by the sales guy John the previous year that the best thing to do was to put sealcoat on in the early spring. So I called in March to get on their schedule. They told me John no longer worked there and they don’t even do sealcoating until May. I started to get suspicious, but I agreed to have the sealcoating as soon as they could get to me, but first they would need to come take a look at the deficiencies and address the soft spots and depressions. A month goes by, so I call back again. I was nowhere on their list. So I asked to be put on the schedule again. Another month goes by with nothing. Finally a guy shows up at my house in July without calling ahead so I couldn’t be there to meet with him. He tells me on the phone he can see the problems, but sealcoating should definitely help. He tells me they will come out and fix the problems and then sealcoat. Another month goes by. I keep calling and literally pleading with them to speak to someone who gives a **** about customer satisfaction. They keep assuring me a crew will be out there soon. I was so ****** off I was about to write this review in late August, when suddenly a crew shows up one day. No phone call or advance notice. Just show up to fix the deficiencies. Not sure what they would have done if I hadn’t been home and there were cars parked in my driveway. The sealcoat guys come out a week later. That costs me another $1500. But at this point I’m just naively trusting this place is not a scam (stupid me). A week after the sealcoating, I’m still seeing soft spots, depressions, tire marks, etc. I call back to complain and I am told (yet again) that someone from management will return my call. That doesn’t happen. Finally I call late on Friday afternoon and the owner Pat happens to answer the phone. I give him the entire story and he tells me it sounds like it was a bad batch of asphalt (no **** Sherlock!!!). He assures me he will be out there that Sunday to meet with me and look at it. He doesn’t show up. I have since called back 3 times to complain. A few times, I get the receptionist who tells me someone will call me. Sometimes I just get voicemail and I leave a message pleading to let me speak to someone who cares. I never get a visit or a call from anyone. These people are con men, starting with the owner Pat. Once they got my $20,000, they gave me a terrible product and they don’t give a ****. Their communication is the most unprofessional I’ve ever seen. Stay away!!!

I hired Guardian Sealcoat & Paving Co. to replace the asphalt in my driveway back in November 2021. I wasn't happy with the way the driveway looked this past summer and after numerous phone calls and emails, someone finally came out and took a look at it. They did minor repairs and it looks worse than it did before. I have been trying to get the owner to come out and look over the driveway, to see if he would be satisfied with this work, if it was his driveway. No response. It is very frustrating to hire a company that doesn't stand by their work. Their customer service is non-existent. They ignore emails and voice messages. There is no excuse to not get back to someone. I would not recommended this company to anyone. It has not been a pleasant experience dealing with them.

Awful. Work done in Sept 2020. The parking lot is wavey, lots of depressions (eneven), cracking. We called multiple times to have them come out and fix. They ghosted my company, no return calls. Would not recommend hiring or using Guardian.

Pat and his crew are very conscientious, professional and take the time to do a good job. I have been pleased with his work and his crew also does snow removal for our neighborhood and is very careful, never any damage.

This is the most unprofessional business I have ever encountered. We put a deposit down with this company last year, they didn't get to us in time before winter so we had to wait until spring. Then it took months for them to come do the work. We had a hard time getting a response, they wouldn't give us a date, we literally waited months. I was so frustrated I wanted to use a different company but we were stuck with them since we didn't want to lose our deposit. Once they finally did the work it was terrible quality. The driveway is uneven with obvious holes. They came once to fix it, admitting there had been something wrong with one of their machines that caused the issue but we saw no difference after they left. We've been waiting for them to come again so we can sealcoat before winter and Pat, the owner, will once again not return our calls. We call numerous times a week with absolutely no response. At this point I've tried just paying someone else to fix it but other companies want to fix someone else's mess. I'm worried we won't be able to sealcoat before the snow comes and our driveway, that we spent a lot of money on, will get ruined. At this point this company is holding us in limbo and there is nothing we can do about it. Please save yourself a headache and go through a different company.

The owner was very understanding and empathic to my needs. They removed the old asphalt in less than 60 min and replaced it with a new 4inch driveway. What a difference... What impressed me the most was the compassion and respect his employees had to finish the job.

This company is both professional and honest. A rare commodity in business today. The owner is on-site making sure that all spec conforms to city ordinances. Mr. Ponto supervised the entire removal of my driveway. To my surprise, Mr. Ponto was hands-on in the removal and replacement of my driveway. Kudos to Guardian Sealcoat and its owner.

My experience was beyond expectations. They came out to pave my driveway shortly after giving my quote. I couldn't believe how fast the job was done! The guys were fantastic, and my driveway looks beautiful! I have no water issues or problems of any kind. I can't thank Guardian enough for a job well done! Can't wait to have them back out to Sealcoat my driveway. Even my neighbors have stopped by to say how impressed they are and even wanted quotes for there driveways. Thanks again!

I contracted with Dave Retsel at HD Sealcoating to replace my asphalt driveway. My drive way is approximately 22’ x 45’ and the contract was for $3,500 plus $35 per ton of extra gravel. The final cost was $3,900. Dave Retsel subcontracted the work to Patrick Ponto & Joseph Abraham at Guardian Sealcoat & Paving. A few weeks after installation there was a problem. Numerous deep tire marks began to occur. Neither Dave nor Joseph would return my calls or e mails. I hired an attorney and began legal action. They then made some repairs. My driveway looks bad.

Guardian removed old driveway/installed new one. Terrible job! Water puddling, tire marks, gravel showing thru. Wouldn’t come out/call back. Sued in Small Claims Court. Won Judgement. Look for company with integrity.

no reply for 26 days

Let me start by saying I would prefer NOT to write a review like this. I prefer to have long term relationships with contractors and give the good ones future business. Every indication from Joe and Pat during the initial sale, during the install and even a couple days after install indicated a job well done. It was afterward is when my issues started, it had to rain first, and the first good rain was 7-8 days later. Joe sold me on the fact they were a LOCAL company, would do whatever it would take to make me happy and come back as many times as possible to make any issues right. It feels now this is just a sales pitch. Even today I feel that Joe's intentions are good, but not the owner Pat. I feel Pat does what he wants as the owner as long as Joe books the jobs. I have three complaints on the drive way, one of which Pat came back, without notice so I could not be there, slapped a quick fix on it and left. I am not happy with that fix and believe there were other things that could have been put down that took just a little more time and effort. The other two items he has ignored even though both should be covered by the contract. I have left multiple messages with both Pat and Joe with no return phone calls in past weeks. I have asked repeatedly to just have a 5 minute conversation on options and Pat will not even give me the time a day. As one of the other reviews said. I have paid them and wish I would had not. I should have withheld a few thousand dollars a few weeks until it rained so I could see my issues. Now that they have their $ they will not call back! In my opinion that is not what I was told, at all. The really sad part ,again, is that putting a little extra time and material, probably less than 2 hours, we could resolve these issues. I am still open to this and would love to remove these remarks, if Pat decides to mutually work on a solution.

unknown

Everything went very well. When I called for an estimate, they came within a couple of days. When I called to ask them to perform the work, they completed the work within a few days and did a very nice job. The crew was nice and didn't get the seal-coat on anything but the driveway. Also, I liked how the quote listed the specifics of what they would do to sealcoat the driveway (i.e., what type of sea-coat, how it would be applied, etc).

The paving job went well, but the follow up did not.

The owner is on site. The crew are very polite, respectful, and hard working. My husband and I think the driveway looks very nice. These guys cleaned up everything and were very meticulous.

unknown

After contractor returned my call, arranged for the service the following day. Work was timely and cost was reasonable. Very satisfied and would recommend to others.

Numerous areas that did not get sealcoated also a crack was not filled with rubberized cold crack filler. We have a slate area in front of the porch and it was not protected...tar was leaked onto the slate. I called Patrick Ponto (owner) and he had someone to come back and address the issues. They did a poor job of coating the spots and completed ignored the tar on the slate. I called Patrick again and again however he never returned my phone calls. I sent him a written letter regarding the poor service and for that reason I would be taking a reduction in the price. He did not respond.......9 MONTHS later I get notification that he is taking this matter to court!!! By the way, at court, I noticed that mine was not the only case with Guardian Sealcoat that day. There were others being heard. This is how he does business! The most Unprofessional business and person I've ever had to deal with.