Cates Paving Services

The paving project looks very good. However, due to questionable business practices, we will not use their services again.They originally gave an estimate of $4,500. After multiple attempts to contact them James finally came out and looked. He said there was no way to get his machinery into the playground area, and all work would have to be done by hand, needing several additional people, a lot of extra labor time, and at an additional cost of $1,200. So he stated that the cost of the project would be $5,700 and I agreed to that.Looking at the old pavement, he mentioned that periodic sealing would make it last much longer. That was the only mention of sealing. No mention that sealing was an extra. No mention of any extra cost. No estimate. Nothing.Saturday morning they show up between 9 and 9:30 am and begin work. I look out later and see two men riding a large asphalt paving machine, another on a large skid loader with bucket dumping asphalt in the hopper, and another riding a rolling machine. Good, I thought. He was able to use his machinery after all and I would not incur the additional $1,200 costs.They finished about noon. I happened by and he said the guys were taking a (long) break and would continue later. I went back by later and he showed me how they were applying the sealer and were already over half way completed at that point. As we were walking away he mentioned how the sealer cost $29 per gallon and not sure how many gallons he would use. Since he had never mentioned any extra cost for sealing, I assumed he was just making conversation and that was the standard last step in the project.He said they had extra asphalt left over and noticed our drive entries needed repair. He said he could use the left over asphalt to pave those. I said OK thinking this was a good deal for him to get rid of the extra asphalt and for me to get the entries paved. My fault. He did not mention he was going to hit me for an extra $2,200. I did not ask and can only blame myself. Still???When they finished, another guy (James had left) presented the invoice. Imagine my shock to see the $5,700 price still there for "doing it all by hand", nearly $2,000 for sealing, and another $2,200 for the drive entries.I asked why the $5,700 since they used machinery instead of "doing it all by hand". He said they had two extra guys working. TWO GUYS! FOR $1,200. FOR 3 HOURS. REALLY? There was a small amount of hand spreading/screeding around four poles and two corners near a door. I would expect that there would be some amount of hand work on most any project.I asked why the $2,000 for sealing. He said he had heard James telling me that it cost $29 per gallon. Yes, but James had never told me it was extra cost for me, had never asked if I wanted it, and had never given me an estimate to do it.After everyone left, I picked up drink cups and bottles left in the work area. They had taken a water hose from the playground to use in the parking lot for water. The hose was left laying in the parking lot area. They opened the back gate for access for their machines. The gate was still standing wide open where they left it.And I later found they had damaged some retaining walls around a play area that they conveniently forgot to tell us about. An e-mail to them has gone unanswered. I texted pictures to James and that has gone unanswered.The original estimate form we received an e-mail came with the heading Cates Paving Services. In a reply from them the same estimate form came with a heading of Gentry Paving Group.