H writes:

I am aghast at their attitude, but wanted to know from anyone here who
knows how indignant I should be about this. This was not an
inexpensive job, and I did not take the low bidder. I really expected
better. Should I have?

It is the nature of asphalt paving that it must be rolled properly while
the mix is hot. This time is a matter of minutes, not hours.

I have seen workers using a big propane torch to reheat the top after it
has started to cool, and then try to beat down ridges by hand with a
tamper. Even this doesn't work very well.

Regardless of the ridges, I would be more worried that it isn't rolled
enough to be properly compacted. In that case the density is low, the
porosity high, and the lifetime greatly reduced.

You *only* option is to refuse to pay and demand the job be done over.
If you didn't have written specifications in the contract regarding
flatness (this would be something like how much of a gap is permitted
under a straightedge of some length), then you're stuck. If you paid
already, then you have to hire a lawyer and start sending nastygrams.
Contractors do not listen to whining customers, only to lawyers.

The contractor is a well-experienced expert at winning disputes. You
are an amateur.

If you think it isn't worth hiring a lawyer, then forget about it and
get on with your life. Mere complaining won't work. The threat of
legal force is the only effective negotiating tool in these situations.

I expect you signed a paving contract with *no* specifications for the
results, other than basic dimensions and some meaningless blather about
"workmanlike" blah blah blah. You ignorantly accepted a contract with
no specification for temperature of application, compaction, rolling,
surface quality, flatness, birdbaths, etc. You got what you contracted
for. The contractor's forms are written for the benefit of the
contractor, and are carefully designed to forestall a dispute over
quality after-the-fact. You're a sucker if you accept them as-is. In
effect, you agreed to accept the best efforts of the contractor, however
bad they turned out in the end.