Pulling out of a driveway in Parker Colorado, fresh from a terribly sad conversation with a wonderfully sweet married couple in their late '70s, who had just finished building their beautiful dream home. A home they had saved their entire lives to build.
But their dream driveway turned into a nightmare.

It was mid July of 2007. I'd just finished writing up an estimate to pave their driveway, and as I explained the process, from grading, to applying herbicide to laying down the asphalt, we reached the price. "But your price is about $3,000 higher than another company that just gave us a quote." he said.
I looked them right in the eyes, and said "There's not even $3,000 profit in this job doing it correctly. I can assure you, a price that low... they 're cutting corners and you're going to end up getting cheated. You're not going to get a quality job like we provide for that price. Our price isn't too high, the other company's price is too low. That's a huge red flag."
I'll never forget their words. I remember them like it was yesterday. He said "At our age... it's worth the risk."
I thanked them and went on my way.

Several weeks later my phone rang. It was that same nice couple. They sounded concerned. They asked me if I would be willing to come over and take a look at their now weeks old driveway. 
"It's broken up everywhere."
They told me. Even though I knew exactly what had happened, since I remembered the previous conversation, I agreed to come and visit them.

It was late September. I returned to their home and pulling into their driveway, my suspicions were immediately confirmed. The driveway was breaking up everywhere. It was clear as day, the asphalt was paved far too thin. 1" and less in some places.
She was crying. He was fuming mad.
Multiple attempts to contact the contractor went unanswered. Even though these homeowners left voice messages, the company wouldn't return their phone calls.
Instead of a durable, thick, long lasting asphalt driveway they would have gotten with my company, they were given a less than one inch thick, broken up, ugly mess that didn't last but just a few weeks. It was a complete and total loss.

I felt bad for them. I decided we would offer to remove the broken up asphalt and install the new driveway, at a discount. All they had to do was cover the materials and our operating costs. We'd have the job completed within a couple of days.
Sadly, they declined. They couldn't afford any more. They had spent the last of their savings on the driveway.
What started off as the final piece of their dream retirement home, ended up a complete nightmare.
While this was certainly not the first time I had seen this happen, it was definitely the most heart-wrenching. Two incredibly nice, elderly people, taken advantage of by selfish, greedy people. 

It was late September. I returned to their home and pulling into their driveway, my suspicions were immediately confirmed. The driveway was breaking up everywhere. It was clear as day, the asphalt was paved far too thin. 1" and less in some places.
She was crying. He was fuming mad.
Multiple attempts to contact the contractor went unanswered. Even though these homeowners left voice messages, the company wouldn't return their phone calls.
Instead of a durable, thick, long lasting asphalt driveway they would have gotten with my company, they were given a less than one inch thick, broken up, ugly mess that didn't last but just a few weeks. It was a complete and total loss.