Creative Paving and Masonry

DO NOT HIRE. The short version: the owners talk a good game, perform poor quality work, then don't return to finish the job. The company also operates under the name Boss Paving, so beware. DO NOT HIRE. The long version: At the end of August 2018, we contacted Creative Paving about repairing our front steps prior to moving out. A dark-haired gentleman named Michael responded very quickly and came out either the same or next day and told me all about how they were going to remove old shoddy repair work, make the staircase look like new, and even do the same for the foundation wall. It all sounded great and we ended up selecting the company, despite a quote twice as much as another company, because Michael made it sound like he was going to provide us the staircase of our dreams. They came out a week later and when I got home from work, I found insulating spray foam all over our siding, front door mat, our neighbors stairs, our garden. Construction debris everywhere, including common areas of our association. The best way to describe the concrete was "globbed on". I am not a confrontational person and I hate having to criticize someone else's work that I paid for, but this was unacceptable. During a phone call later that night, I tried as magnanimously as possible to express my family's displeasure, and Michael's partner John Gallagher spoke with me very graciously, said they would make everything right. We asked if they could stop by the next day as we were getting our kids ready for bed, but John said they weren't far from the house. They show up and my wife goes out to chat with them. Five or ten minutes later she comes back in saying they're demanding payment in full and she feels threatened. I go out and John, who had been so nice on the phone, was red-faced and obviously angry. He said that his guys did the work, so they expect to be paid, and any issues that need to be addressed are covered by warranty. He assured us that they'd come back to fix them. I explain that we had no problem paying them in full, but we've worked with many contractors before and have never done so before a job is complete (we had already given them half the money). We argued back and forth for several minutes (I should have known they'd never come back when John threatened to leave and said "You only want to pay half? Then half a job is what you get"). I eventually felt guilted into giving them a little more money, but not the full amount. John also tried to minimize the issues we described and even tried to blame their own poor planning on us (they didn't know the prefabricated portion of the stairs is hollow, and the gaps they were asked to fill were bigger than expected...blame Michael for his poor assessment skills, not us). John claimed the "globbed on" pieces of concrete would wash away in the rain. Anyone who lived in New Jersey during September 2018 would know how much rain we got, and the work looked unchanged at the end of the month. As I've alluded, no one ever came back to finish the job and we had to hire someone else to fix it. Michael was slow to respond after that and claimed they were coming back September 10th, then September 21st, but no one showed either time. He hasn't responded to any communications since the 21st and a phone call placed to their office was answered by someone claiming to be his son who said Michael was on vacation for several weeks. It's a lost cause at this point. Please avoid this company at all costs. Working with them is a waste of your time, money, and energy. Again, they also work under the name Boss Paving. Don't be fooled and please DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.