Mason Sealcoating

Wish the owner stood behind the work of his company and had rectified his errors as promised, but the entire experience has been a disappointment, made worse by the owner's subsequent failure to respond. DETAILS: Failed to fill driveway cracks before sealcoating, then failed to return to honor paid contract. Claimed fault of an employee that quit. Have not heard back from Mason Sealcoating since October 7, 2011, when Chad Mason picked up our payment for your sealcoating of our 1/8th mile driveway. On the date that that Chad picked up my check, I expressed concern about some large cracks that had not been filled per our WRITTEN agreement. Chad acknowledged that he saw numerous unfilled cracks from his vehicle as he drove down our driveway, and said someone would be out within 48 hours to complete the job. That time passed, and despite repeated weather cycles of cold, rain and warm sunshine (we understand there are weather limitations), we still heard nothing back, and nobody arrived to seal these cracks. After repeated attempts to contact, we requested on the two times they did answer the phone that they finish the driveway. Both times they promised to schedule a repair within days, weather permitting, but neither time did they contact us again. One concern is that the driveway cracks were not routed, cleaned and filled PRIOR to the application of the coal tar sealcoating. Crack filling prior to sealcoating is the method described in the sources I've found that describe the proper order. Even if effective after the sealcoating, the application of crack filler AFTER sealcoating will disrupt the smooth black finish that is the desired result on a driveway, rather than crack repair appearing as an afterthought--that's why we contracted for the entire process. As a direct result, the surface endured another winter without necessary crack maintenance. Lastly, several areas of their thin sealcoating job have lifted, exposing the old surface below. Due to concerns on the larger crack-filling portion of the contract, we haven't had a chance to address this latest issue due to their failure to communicate. The BBB has attempted to rectify this with Mason Sealcoating, without success. REMEDY: At this late point, repair or replacement is not really possible. Mason Sealcoating should refund the contract price, as they failed to perform the contracted work professionally and in the correct sequence. They could fill the cracks after the fact, with a resulting ugly appearance, but we paid for the sealcoating to establish the nice even sealcoating look, not a series of surface crack lines. Due to failure to seal cracks, several already have foilage growing in them again. However, through research and recommendations, it is too soon to sealcoat again over the crack filler--sealcoating should happen no more than every other year. So if the crack filling did occur, they need to return next year to sealcoat a second time, something I'm not sure we're willing to wait for at this point. The remedy we seek is a refund, and we'll look to another company next year to complete the job correctly.