AN ELDERLY woman in West Kilbride says she feels 'ripped off' after having her back garden patio path completed with mismatching pink cement from an Ayrshire landscaping company.
Elizabeth McLardy, 83, contacted Prestige Landscapes in Irvine to complete the paving area - but claimed that most of it had sunk the next day.
The company came out a second time but used pink cement.
Elizabeth, a former North Ayrshire councillor, says the company told her the cement would change colour when it dried - but it didn't.
Elizabeth said the firm refused to come out to her home again to look at the 'pink cement' finish.
Prestige say they spent a considerable sum re-pointing the concrete on their second visit - and say "nothing was wrong with the original job.
Elizabeth said: "I was filling in one of my fish ponds and hired a company from Irvine called Prestige to finish off the crazy paving to match to surrounding area.
"They came on the September 19 and completed the job in just over three hours, at a cost of £750.
"The very next day most of it had sunk. I phoned them, they came back on the 25th and laid this pink cement, which I drew their attention to while they were doing the job.
'I was told 'that’s only because it’s wet'. They have point blank refused to come out and see it.
"It has come out of pink while the rest of paving is grey, and it is sticking out like sore thumb.
"I feel that I have been ripped off."
However, a spokesperson from Prestige said: "We had dug up the patio area and had put in two tonnes of backfill and a tonne and a half of mixed cement. We did all the work that was required with a crazy paving structure.
"We came out a second time after a call from Mrs McLardy, and re-pointed it, and put in the new cement with a ready mix from a national company - all done at considerable expense to ourselves for an original job which was £750 which was very good value.
"The cement is not pure grey, and mortar is a sandy colour.
"We actually filled in the pond and did an awful lot of work for Mrs McLardy - and then she phoned up again and we came back out and re-pointed."
Prestige say they're willing to go back to Elizabeth's garden when the better weather comes to address the matter.
They explained: "There would be no point doing it just now as it would lead to more problems, but when the weather picks up, we'd be happy to go back."
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