Lazzara Brick Pavers Inc

unknown

Where do I begin?  After I obtained 3 quotes for my paver project, I contracted with Lazarra Brick Pavers because they were the lowest bid.  Bad mistake.
First, Chase with Lazzara, when he came to do the initial quote & assessment, gave me a verbal quote of $1,445 with excavation.  He did say that it did not include stump grinding.  Then I received a written quote from Stefano Lazarra of Lazarra via email.  The written quote was $1,700.  I called Stefano & asked about the difference in the verbal & written quote.  I assumed it was due to stump grinding, but I did not get an explicit answer.  I told Stefano that I liked his price but that I was concerned because the other quotes were much higher.  We discussed excavation & I mentioned that when Chase was at my house for the initial assessment another person was there to assess the excavation.  All of us discussed an area where an old oak tree had been removed years ago.  I told Stefano that I could try and sub out the excavation, but I was unsuccessful in reaching the other person, so I told Stefano to go ahead with excavation & pavers.
On August 5, 2014 I signed the agreement & gave a deposit of $850.  Stefano said someone would be out Monday, August 11, 2014 to start excavation & follow up on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 for the pavers.  Finally in the afternoon of August 11, 2 men showed up to start excavation.  They said they wouldn't be able to finish that day, but would be back the next day.  They showed up around 10:00 AM.  Later that day, they determined that could not excavate the old tree area by hand.  I don't know why they thought they could do this by hand - unless no one told them of the tree area.  They called Stefano out to look at the situation (this was the first & only time he came to my house).  He agreed a stump grinder was needed.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 - no activity; no communication
Thursday, August 14, 2014 - finally one man showed up at 3:00 PM with a piece of equipment.  He was here about 10 minutes & left.
Friday, August 15, 2014 - by 12:30 PM no one had showed up again.  I emailed Stefano & asked when someone would be back to finish the job.  He wrote back that the first piece of equipment was not big enough, but they would take a larger one there tomorrow.
Saturday, August 16, 2014 - once again, no one showed up in the morning.  I called Chase this time & he told me someone would be there later that afternoon.  I arrived home around 3:00 & one person was there with a large stump grinder.  I had to run other errands & when I returned around 4:30 he was gone.  I figured he was finished.
Monday, August 18, 2014 - no activity, no email, no communication.  At the end of the day, I emailed Stefano to ask when they would be back to complete the job.  I did not receive a reply.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014 - I called Chase twice.  I was told they were on another large school job in Clearwater & couldn't get to mine.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 - I was gone all day for work, but when I returned no activity had been done.
Thursday, August 21, 2014 - I called Chase again.  He said someone should be there any minute to drop off additional supplies, etc.  Someone did come to remove the debris from the grinding.  And then Chase came by with the trailer to haul the debris.  He asked if they could park the trailer in the driveway, as they would need it; I said ok.  I asked when they would be returning to finish; he didn't know.
Friday, August 22, 2014 - I called Chase again to ask when they would be back. He said he had to call Stefano.  He called back saying that Stefano indicated they wouldn't be able to come until Monday, August 25, 2014.  I was not very happy, so I left a message for Stefano on Friday afternoon.  I did not receive a phone call.
Monday, August 25, 2014 - I waited all day, but once again, no activity & no communication.  I sent a written notice of unsatisfactory performance to Stefano at 5:00 PM listing the specific unsatisfactory items (listed below) & saying that if no one was at my house by 9:00 AM Tuesday morning, August 26, the agreement would be null & void.  Stefano replied at 11:48 AM, August 26, that "the facts are much different than what you claim." and "..excavation did not include any stump grinding or tree removal.  We had to spend additional time and effort on this differing site condition.  It was not part of the original contract and a material omission on your part not to tell us."  He indicated I owed another $500 for the additional work - of which he had not discussed with me prior.
Unsatisfactory performance items:
1.  Three weeks have passed since the agreement was signed & the deposit charged to my credit card.  You have continually put my jog off in favor of other "larger" jobs by your own admission.
2.  Poor original job assessment of what work was entailed.
3.  There are still tree roots remaining, even after the 2nd stump grinding.
4.  The verbal quote was different (lower) than the written quote.
5.  I have 3 pallets of pavers sitting on my grass for over a week. (now 2 weeks)
6.  A large trailer is taking up a parking space in my driveway for nearly a week.  (the trailer miraculously was gone Tuesday morning after I sent my unsatisfactory performance email.)
7.  Refusal to return my phone calls & emails.
8.  Overall lack of communication of scheduling and commitment to schedule.
I have since had to contract someone else to complete the job, costing me an additional $2300.  I was also told by this new paving company that Lazarra had grossly underestimated the amount of pavers needed for the job.

unknown

unknown

The person who handled was apparently in charge of the entire job, from quote to completion, was extremely professional.  Made excellent suggestions.  Accurately estimated cost and time frame.  Everyone who actually worked on the project was pleasant and competent.  Whoever did the cutting in and angles was an artist!  I couldn't be happier and, in fact, am preparing to contact them to put in a patio in my back yard.

Great experience for getting a new paver driveway, my wife and I love the finished product. Stefano came to our house and was helpful as we talked about the best ways to get around some massive tree roots that had uprooted my old concrete driveway. He also had multiple samples dropped off at our house to help us pick the right color/texture combo, as we didn't want something that looked too "new" with our 90 year old, bungalow style house. Stefano pulled the permit without any delays, the installers were unbelievably quick with preparing the base, setting the pavers, and finishing with polymeric sand. My wife was impressed how clean they kept the yard/surrounding area during the install, took about 4 days from start to finish.

Fantastic from start to finish. All my neighbors jealous over driveway. Reasonable cost and saved me hours of back breaking labor to do it myself. Will use Stefano again when I'm ready to have the back BBQ and fire pit done. See the gallery of work he' done on his site if you don't believe me. Seeing is believing and I'm now a believer!