Homeowner responds after builders smash up driveway when they refused to pay for the work
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: 7 News
A homeowner has hit back at the builders who smashed up the driveway they had just built for her after quite the disagreement over pay.
Finally getting the builders in to make repairs or additions to your home you would hope it all runs smoothly. But as I'm sure some people who have had less than favorable experiences can attest, this isn’t always the case.
Sometimes you're not quite happy with the finished product, or it costs a little more than you would like but hey at least its done.
Well one Aussie homeowner who wanted her driveway paved had the job completed, only to be destroyed by the workers shortly afterwards.
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Homeowner Viola in Logan, Queensland, got into a frustrating debate with a group of builders after she complained that she wasn't happy with the standard of the work.
This lead to her refusing to pay them the full total they had agreed upon because of it. But the workmen retaliated by taking their tools to the driveway and smashing it up.
Speaking to 7 News, Viola insisted the builders ‘did what they wanted, not what I wanted.”
Tradesman Jesse Crowe has also spoken to 7 News and argued against the point, saying he was pushed to act after the homeowner refused to pay him fully for the job.
The pair had negotiated a price of $6,000 AUD ($4,012 USD) for the job, which involved creating a new surface for the large driveway attached to the side of the home.
Viola instead paid $2,500 AUD ($1,670) allegedly refusing to pay the remaining $3,500 AUD ($2,340) when she got into a dispute with Crowe about the quality of the job and rubbish removal.
“[They told me] you pay now or we will smash the concrete,” she said.
She was then asked whether she would have paid the workers once the job was completed, to which she replied: “Of course, but they refused to finish the job.”
Crowe and his team filmed themselves destroying the drive and while the incident happened last year, the video was shared social media in the first few days of 2024.
In the clip, Crowe is seen speaking to the cameraman and saying this is what happens when you don’t want to pay for works carried out at your place.
With a pickaxe and other tools, Crowe and his team then proceeded to smash the concrete with the cameraman narrating.
The person recording added that it would now cost Viola more money to have the driveway dug up, taken away and poured again.
Viola has said she and her family will repair the now-dried concrete drive themselves.
Crowe has insisted he didn’t enjoy destroying his work but was tired of getting 'ripped off'.