Two West Vancouver residents are reminding homeowners to be wary of a roving construction crew looking to use their driveway as a highway to a fast buck.
Judy Stanley said she recently opened the door to her Cypress Park Estates home to “very charming” workers who told her that after one day’s work her driveway would be free of weeds for seven years.
Frustrated with constantly prying up weeds from between the interlocking stones in her driveway, Stanley gave the crew a chance.
“They just look like angels,” she said of the workers, who she said had a pronounced Irish lilt. “They look like they wouldn’t rip off a fly.”
Stanley paid them $1,600 after the work was done. But while the driveway looked good, the sand never seemed to cure.
About a week after the work was complete, Stanley’s daughter washed her car in their driveway, sending the sand floating to the curb.
“There’s tons of weeds coming through the driveway. It’s just a real mess.”
The workers made appointments to finish the job but never showed up, according to Stanley.
“And then they start saying, ‘Oh, you know Edward, he’s been on the drink, and you know, his wife has left him,” she reported. “I don’t know how come I was so stupid but they were just so nice.”
Stanley’s neighbour Lionel Dodd had a similar encounter.
Two brothers in a truck pulled up to his Caulfeild home and promised him five weed-free years on his driveway.
“We would never do business with somebody this way,” Dodd said, noting his habit of getting multiple estimates and checking credentials.
However, Dodd and his wife were preoccupied looking after their grandchild while waiting for their daughter to give birth.
“I guess we only have ourselves to blame,” he said. “It seemed too good to be true, too good to pass up.”
While the workers did some shoddy serviceable work, there was “no sign of sealing” on the driveway, Dodd said. “I’m not sure that they even know how to seal an interlock driveway.”
Dodd also called the workers, but says he got no response. The North Shore News received no response despite multiple calls to the cellphone number the workers had provided.
“I just don’t believe they will ever come back,” Dodd said.
The workers purported to represent Vancouver Masonry and Landscaping, but Dodd said he was unable to find a corresponding business licence in West Vancouver.
After having paid them $1,100 in cash, Dodd said he wants to alert his neighbours.
“You don’t have to be a senior to fall for the pitch,” he said. “You end up blaming yourself whereas you should be blaming the workmen.”
Police are aware of the roving pavers but aren’t pursuing criminal charges, according to West Vancouver Police Department spokesman Const. Jeff Palmer.
While he noted homeowners weren’t “entirely satisfied” with the work, the fact that work was done makes the issue a civil matter rather than a criminal one, Palmer explained.
However, the department is currently assisting Canada Border Services Agency regarding visitors who may not be permitted to work in Canada.
