AJ & Son Lawn & Landscaping

We requested 4 estimates for the work. This company was the most expensive. We decided to hire this company because they had many years of experience and we really liked Tom (he came to take the information and measurements for the job and did the rendering so we could see what the job would look like) and felt he would be easy to work with during the project. From the start there were issues. The job was pushed back several weeks, which we agreed to, since a regular customer of Arthurs (the owner) had an emergency. After the area was prepped and the night before the installation of the new patio we received a phone call that the pavers we chose were no longer available and had to get out of bed to go online to look at a brochure to pick a new color. It wasn't possible to chose one that way so the next morning we had to quickly pick from samples brought to us by Tom to match the pavers already ordered for the stairs and flower pot. I checked afterward and found that the original color we picked for the patio was never available in that size and should have been known to AJ & Sons. The patio was installed and there are many rust spots on the pavers, we were then told it was from the banding and Arthur (the owner) would remove the spots. Most of the other pavers had white discolorations on them and we were told it was salt and would wash away when it rained. We also were told that the 2 uneven lower spots we noticed would be fixed. After it rained the rust, white discoloration and low spots which puddled were never addressed Most phone calls were not returned. Finally we were contacted by Authur the owner and told the reason we hadn't heard back from them is they were contacting the manufacturer (Cambridge) and were having a hard time getting the rep to contact them to set up an appointment to look at our patio because this was a manufacturing issue. The Cambridge rep contacted us, came to look at our patio, said the rusted pavers should never have been installed (the stains can't be removed), and that the efflorescence is normal (the white staining) however he had never seen it that bad and would clean an area and we should contact him to let him know the results. We contacted him, told him it was the same as when he saw it and he said he would need the installer to contact him to resolve this issue. We left at least 4 messages with AJ & Sons to let them know the results and can't get a call back. This has been ongoing since last year. This company is the reason I joined Angies's list. I no longer will hire a professional that isn't recommended.