Knife River

Knife River paved my driveway which is about 1/4 mile long. Communication was good through the whole process from inquiry to bid to construction to billing. The crew that did the job was friendly, on time and cleaned up after themselves. The job was completed on schedule, under budget, and exceeded my expectations. I would definitely recommend them.

Very knowledgeable help.expect servive.

Summary: a) poor work scheduling, b) does not keep commitments c) poor quality work, d) does not stand behind their work e) poor customer service f) their own staff do not does not communicate to each other so you have to be the middleman, g) their focus is on large paving contract jobs with the state, etc. and not working with home owners............................................................. Facts:..... 1) Signed contract to pave a new driveway with Knife River for a cost of $3,373.50 on 7/22/09. My driveway was dirt at the time........ 2) I signed once I got the quote as I was told by Phil that the job could be started the end of July. After repeated calls with their scheduler I was then told July or early August was not going to work. I had signed the contract but now I had to wait driving on a dirt driveway. After another few calls I was then told they would get to it to early September. I could live with that if I had 100% commitment and if they laid some gravel (part of the project) to drive on. They gave me 100% commitment to the date and laid the gravel. 3) Comes early September with my HOA now after me I was getting nervous. I follow up with Knife River and they are now tell me that they are running behind on other jobs can not get to it as promomised. No proactive communication. I had to call every time!!! More delays and several more calls and failed promises of getting to it through September and early October. 4) Driveway was finally laid on 10/20/09! Three months later! Driveway was messed up as it was completed it in the dark as they could not see the surface. The center of driveway ended up with big roller marks and there are misc holes where it was not made smooth and will collect water. Please come see if for yourself at 19466 Sunshine Way in Sunrise Village....... 5) I called two times and their Job Supervisor finally came out at looked at it and agreed that it was not done right. Unfortunately he informed it was too late to fix it as Winter approaching. He told me hold back $500 in payment as it was too late to repair it until next year. Knife River would seal coat the driveway in the $3,373.50 price to finish the job properly and remove the lines and holes. Although I was not happy, I was satisfied that Knife River would at least step up to fix it and get it right....... 6) I paid $2873.50 and held back the $500 as instructed. Their Accounting Department and Job Supervisor do not talk to each other so I kept getting a bill for $500. Did talk with Joan several months back and she verified with the Supervisor that I should not pay the $500 until the job is complete......... 7) Yesterday I received a letter stating there was all new management at the company and I owe $500. Instead of just calling me like you handle customer service they decided to send a impersonal letter even though the accounting department clearly knew that there was an issue. I called. Joan informed me that there is all new staff at the company and the new management is not honoring the agreement was in place to complete the job. They want me to pay for a seal coat to finish their crappy paving job. Of course none of the new management was available to talk to me and they would get back to me. Now it is on me to deal with a bunch of new folks at Knife River to get this resolved and and all I wanted was a decent driveway to begin with! ...... 8) I have my fingers crossed that I can my driveway completed within a year of signing the contract....... Opinion: ..... In summary .. In my opinion Knife River is not a company designed to work with home owners and small builders. They do not understand how to communicate and work with customers. They probably do fine on large contract jobs paving roads, etc. with agencies as that seems like their focus. If I were you look to another source to doing your driveway paving job in Bend Oregon.