I am posting this to warn Marple residents to be aware of a somewhat dubious company of driveway contractors who have been working in the area - of course they may have already moved on to plague other areas by now.
I am also attempting to find out how many other people they may have scammed. I have spoken to 2 other residents who are in a similar position to ourselves and have been made aware of a third.
Back in February we foolishly allowed ourselves to be persuaded (and they can be very persuasive) to employ them to replace our old concrete driveway with block paving.
They turned up, did most of the work, took the money and ran, promising to be over next week/as soon as the groundwork dries out, to finish the job. They have never turned up, leaving us with a driveway that still needs the blockwork sanding, compacting and sealing to be fully useable.
We have spent the last 4 months trying to persude them to complete the work, each time we contact them we are assured that we "have not been forgotton" and they will "definitely be over by tomorrow/the end of the week/as soon as the weather dries up".
Of course the promised date duly arrives but they do not, and we then repeat the cycle.
They appear to have a 'big book of excuses' as to why they failed to arrive, as when I talked to the other victims they mentioned the same ones being used.
As I am not sure whether it is against the forum rules to mention the company name or not, I will just say they are based in Ellesmere Port and have a big white van with pretty pictures of driveways on the sides.
They also have a flashy brochure that opens with the following "We are a trusted, professional company with a great reputation to uphold and have over 20 years experience in the trade."
Maybe it is time someone made a dent in that reputation - especially as whenever we mentioned to them that we were thinking of involving CAB/Trading Standards or even Action Fraud, they spouted on about "Not wanting us to do anything to tarnish their reputation".
If anyone out there has themselves been a victim and is willing to share details, then please message me, as I believe the more information we could supply to the authorities the more chance there is that they may be willing to intervene.
Although this started about 4 months ago, I believe they may still be operating in the area, as the last promise they made us was "We are currently working on a job in the area and will be over to finish your job as soon as that is finished". Maybe someone should notify Ringway Traffic Control of the possibility of low flying pigs over the Marple area....
