On Your Side: How to report driveway paving jobs gone wrong
People across the Carolinas contacted WBTV with concerns about how to report the incidents.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - WBTV is continuing to investigate after many people contacted the newsroom regarding driveway paving jobs gone wrong.
Viewers across the area reported two men knocking on their door offering discounted driveway repair services, but after paying them hundreds of dollars, they say their driveways were left in worse condition than before they worked on them.
They were given a business card for Macks Construction, with a phone number for a man named Jimmy Mack.
WBTV learned that person, along with Pete Vincent Carrol, are wanted for questioning in connection to an alleged felony theft in Augusta, Georgia.
After our initial reporting, some people contacted WBTV saying they were unable to file reports with police.
“I feel like, you know, we were highly taken advantage of,” Sharon Turner, who lives in Gastonia, told WBTV.
Turner says when she tried to file a police report with Gastonia Police, she got an email saying it was rejected because it’s a civil matter.
“I just don’t want this guy to do it to anybody else,” she said.
WBTV contacted Gastonia Police, and a spokesperson said “anyone who might have contracted the driveway work and is in the city limits of Gastonia can contact Detective Bryce Carr and speak to him about your experience to see if it meets any criminal elements.”
He can be reached at 704-842-5127.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein also encourages people to file complaints with his office.
“There’s no question that there are outfits, there are rings that go and knock on doors and they’ll say, hey, I was doing a job down the road and I’ve got some extra tar,” Stein said. “We’ve actually heard stories where they will take a hammer to a roof and damage one that was undamaged in order to repair it.”
He says people should be skeptical of someone showing up at your door to offer work.
“If we get a lot of complaints about a particular business, that’s when the alarm bells will go off and we may commence a formal investigation of their business practices,” he said. “If in the course of our investigation we determined that they are breaking North Carolina law, they are engaged in unfair or deceptive trade practices, we will take them to court to get a resolution to help consumers.”
To file a complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office you can call 1-877-5-NO SCAM or online by clicking here.
If you’re in South Carolina, you can file a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-922-1594 or online by clicking here.
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