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Hi all,
Thanks for your support! I'll keep you posted on what happens from here.
The bricks were an upgrade, Pearl Grey Velour, Category 3.
I am only hearing silence from Porter Davis at this point, but I will be happy to share my experience with all, if they ever reply.
The bricks were delivered in two lots over a month apart which was unnecessary as our house only takes up 25% of the block. I think that might have been part of the problem. Plus we had to wait 5 weeks while they tried to find brick layers, which Porter Davis claimed as a delay out of their control, so much for the 30 week guarantee.
Although Porter Davis were very good at the start, before they had our money, things have gone downhill rapidly.
Hi Fallen_Apple,
I see that your brick issues haven't been resolved, I understand your frustration. I have yet to receive any details from you through a Private Message. If you would like me to get in contact with you to discuss these issues, I'm more than happy to. Just send me through a PM with your name, phone number, and lot number and I'll see what I can do. Cheers, Jess.
Hi all, I am going to build a double storey with PD (not yet signed) and am getting the usual smoke and mirrors on pricing. Would it be possible for any of you to share the price charged by PD for Timber Laminate in lieu of Tiles? Also, How much do they charge for a Cat 2 or 3 upgrade to carpets? Total or just the rate per sq mtr would be enough.
Thanks.
We are currently at fix stage building a Cremorne 42 with Porter Davis and we are extremely disappointed with them regarding our bricks.
Not only are the single level walls (Garage and Rumpus) extremely patchy, but the top and bottom floors are a different colour.
What makes the whole thing worse is the blame game that is now going on. Porter Davis is trying to blame Boral and Boral are blaming moisture in the bricks, which is complete nonsense, is half my house going to change colour every time it rains? Even if Boral did mix up the batches during delivery why didn't the Porter Davis bricklayers stop when they realised the variation in colour and why did construction continue despite the problem? Now if it is to be re-bricked the garage roof needs to come back off. It has been 3 weeks since I raised the issue, Porter Davis were conveniently ignoring it and not mentioning it before I was forced to raise it. The only solution that has been proposed is dying the bricks, which only lasts 25 years and is grossly inadequate. Despite telling them repeatedly that we do not want the bricks dyed, we want a permanent solution, they are still pressuring us to take the dye option.
I am at the point where I will soon be seeking legal advice as Porter Davis are treating us like idiots and insinuating we are being unreasonable for expecting a permanent solution to a problem we had no part in causing. In essence I feel like Boral and Porter Davis have stuffed up and are now expecting us to suffer the financial consequences due to their incompetence. I am appalled by the way we are being treated and at the way Porter Davis have effectively ruined our perfect block of land with this eyesore. We have done the right thing and paid our invoices up to the final one so it is a real shame that Porter Davis have not reciprocated by providing adequate solutions to such a significant problem.
A very disappointed Porter Davis customer, who feels they have wasted an extremely large amount of money.
Friends of our had the same problem with Metr!con when they acid washed the bricks, the colour came out of it and it had orange bits all over it. They too shifted the blame to boral and boral shifted the blame to the guys that acid washed it. In the end Metr!con and boral decided to "trial" repairing the bricks where they painted them. I have seen it and it looks terrible, but they accepted the result and handed over their money. Not sure if they got a warranty on it though. Me I'm not so generous and would make them pull it down and re-brick it as im not paying for a second hand house.
Stick to your guns and get what "you" want as a desired outcome. Who cares about their bottom line.
Hi Lunchtime,
I am very sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the vanity that was installed in your home. I understand that you feel like the upgrade option was not communicated to you properly. I have taken your feedback into consideration and will notify Hopetoun to make sure such upgrade options are explained clearly in the future. So I can help you better, what house are you building and did you go for any promotions? If you want you can send me a PM with these details. Also, just to help clarify things for you, the height of the vanity really depends on what sink you have chosen. As the height of the vanity is usually measured to the top of the basin (not the top of the vanity), if you have chosen an upgraded sink, for e.g. one of the big square ones, the vanity will have to be lower to compensate for the extra height in the sink. This is a little confusing, but I hope it clarifies things for you. I hope that helps. Thanks for your feedback, Jess.
An update on my brick situation.
After being VERY firm with the construction manager who was still heavily pushing nawcaw they have finally agreed to render and refund the cost of the upgrade. This is a positive sign, but I am not looking forward to now attempting to match the colour of the render to the other bits of the house as our whole colour scheme was based on the bricks. Porter Davis have offered an appointment with Hopetoun to help with this though which is good, the problem is going to be finding time to do this.
I'm still not sure though, I really wanted the bricks, feeling very disheartened at this point.
Also waiting for them to fix the leak in my rumpus room which I have complained about twice now. Given that the inside is being painted it is a bit concerning that it wasn't fixed the first time around and the puddles are still quite large.
Yeah a win for u
Maybe look at paperbark col for render?
It's a nice light sandy colour?
Mel
An update on my brick situation.
After being VERY firm with the construction manager who was still heavily pushing nawcaw they have finally agreed to render and refund the cost of the upgrade. This is a positive sign, but I am not looking forward to now attempting to match the colour of the render to the other bits of the house as our whole colour scheme was based on the bricks. Porter Davis have offered an appointment with Hopetoun to help with this though which is good, the problem is going to be finding time to do this.
I'm still not sure though, I really wanted the bricks, feeling very disheartened at this point.
Also waiting for them to fix the leak in my rumpus room which I have complained about twice now. Given that the inside is being painted it is a bit concerning that it wasn't fixed the first time around and the puddles are still quite large.
FA, if you are still disappointed by the idea of rendering the whole house I would refuse the refund and tell them to give you the bricks you paid for to start with. This means, knocking down and starting again with new bricks.
Good luck
Hi all, I am going to build a double storey with PD (not yet signed) and am getting the usual smoke and mirrors on pricing. Would it be possible for any of you to share the price charged by PD for Timber Laminate in lieu of Tiles? Also, How much do they charge for a Cat 2 or 3 upgrade to carpets? Total or just the rate per sq mtr would be enough.
Thanks.
haha good luck getting anything meaningful from them. We signed on the dotted line and at our colour appointments we noticed our working drawings were done but they had made changes that are different to what we signed on to.. it seems like PD want to present the contract to you on the day and expect you to sign on the spot (pressure tactics).They dont believe in consultation you are just there to lay down a lazy few hundred thousand and accept the changes they make to your "fixed price quote". Ofcourse all this happens after you pay 10K or so !
They dont even let you take home your fixed price quote for some obscure reason, so you cant read over it and understand it before committing.
I hope it works out if us doing our contract signing but judging from the changes they have made to our plans (without our knowledge and approval) it doesnt look promising. If we get stuffed around by them i will be sure to be on every PD thread for the next three years discouraging anyone from building with them.
Hi Karlewoop,
I would like to hear more about your experience during the contracting signing- we are always looking for ways to improve the experience for our clients, as building a new home is such a big decision as you well know. You can private message me your details if you want. Thank you, Jess.
I have just paid my $1000 to start the process of building a Prestige Porter davis home.
I'm putting a budget together at the moment as I start to think about what I will allow myself to spend on Upgrades etc. what I am most worried about is what tiles will be available to me? does nayone know whether you can any large format tiles without upgrading?
The tile range is reasonable. You certainly dont get 600 x 600 tiles as standard. They are a $50 sq metre upgrade.
We spent 6K on upgrades in tiles, using a combination of upgraded tiles and standard tiles.
The tile range is reasonable. You certainly dont get 600 x 600 tiles as standard. They are a $50 sq metre upgrade.
We spent 6K on upgrades in tiles, using a combination of upgraded tiles and standard tiles.
Actually the 600 x 600 are more like a $60 upgrade with (retailing at National Tiles for $41.15 when we looked) and correct me if i'm wrong but no rebate for the standard tiles we didn't choose.
Feeling a bit exploited here
Hi all, I am going to build a double storey with PD (not yet signed) and am getting the usual smoke and mirrors on pricing. Would it be possible for any of you to share the price charged by PD for Timber Laminate in lieu of Tiles? Also, How much do they charge for a Cat 2 or 3 upgrade to carpets? Total or just the rate per sq mtr would be enough.
Thanks.
Hi DeeEss,
I know it's frustrating when you aren't given a final price list on an item. It's difficult for us to provide you with a pricelist because we have different supplier contracts across the business and prices change regularly. We can however provide you with some price point estimates at your colour selections appointment to help with decision making on the day. These estimates are indicative only and are subject to change so during your selections we encourage you to make your number one selection and also a 'back up' selection if the original comes in over your budget. We then send your colour selections to your local office, so the Estimating team can provide you with the most current price - and usually the best! Final pricing is then presented to you at your contract signing, as per our Procedure of Purchase. I hope that helps answer your question. Let me know if there is anything else you wish to know. Cheers, Jess.
Hi all, I am going to build a double storey with PD (not yet signed) and am getting the usual smoke and mirrors on pricing. Would it be possible for any of you to share the price charged by PD for Timber Laminate in lieu of Tiles? Also, How much do they charge for a Cat 2 or 3 upgrade to carpets? Total or just the rate per sq mtr would be enough.
Thanks.
Hi DeeEss,
I know it's frustrating when you aren't given a final price list on an item. It's difficult for us to provide you with a pricelist because we have different supplier contracts across the business and prices change regularly. We can however provide you with some price point estimates at your colour selections appointment to help with decision making on the day. These estimates are indicative only and are subject to change so during your selections we encourage you to make your number one selection and also a 'back up' selection if the original comes in over your budget. We then send your colour selections to your local office, so the Estimating team can provide you with the most current price - and usually the best! Final pricing is then presented to you at your contract signing, as per our Procedure of Purchase. I hope that helps answer your question. Let me know if there is anything else you wish to know. Cheers, Jess.
This was THE most frustrating thing about dealing with Porter Davis, and I hated the colour selection process, (which should be a really fun thing to do) because you have no idea if you afford what you like. If PD were transparent and gave their customers a price range for upgrades, such as $800-1K per category of brick, $2.5-3K per category of caesarstone, then you may actually find people enjoy the experience and aren't completely stressed out about over-spending, when it need not be the case. You guys are in the sales business, yet you're probably missing out on upgrades as people are too tentative to gamble with selections and they play it safe and stay with standard items. Or they overspend, are disillusioned and walk away altogether. Customers want to make an informed choice about what they are spending, and the end result of transparency would be happy customers who start off the process with a positive attitude and confidence in their builder.
This was THE most frustrating thing about dealing with Porter Davis, and I hated the colour selection process, (which should be a really fun thing to do) because you have no idea if you afford what you like. If PD were transparent and gave their customers a price range for upgrades, such as $800-1K per category of brick, $2.5-3K per category of caesarstone, then you may actually find people enjoy the experience and aren't completely stressed out about over-spending, when it need not be the case. You guys are in the sales business, yet you're probably missing out on upgrades as people are too tentative to gamble with selections and they play it safe and stay with standard items. Or they overspend, are disillusioned and walk away altogether. Customers want to make an informed choice about what they are spending, and the end result of transparency would be happy customers who start off the process with a positive attitude and confidence in their builder.
I agree with having a price guide, however, what we did, and what everyone can do is, add whatever upgrades you want and just take them out at the contract appointment. We had no idea what the prices were either and still enjoyed the experience, we added all that we wanted and then just removed anything we didn’t want or that was out of our budget at our contract appointment. It is not too late to change things after your colour appointment.
This was THE most frustrating thing about dealing with Porter Davis, and I hated the colour selection process, (which should be a really fun thing to do) because you have no idea if you afford what you like. If PD were transparent and gave their customers a price range for upgrades, such as $800-1K per category of brick, $2.5-3K per category of caesarstone, then you may actually find people enjoy the experience and aren't completely stressed out about over-spending, when it need not be the case. You guys are in the sales business, yet you're probably missing out on upgrades as people are too tentative to gamble with selections and they play it safe and stay with standard items. Or they overspend, are disillusioned and walk away altogether. Customers want to make an informed choice about what they are spending, and the end result of transparency would be happy customers who start off the process with a positive attitude and confidence in their builder.
I agree with having a price guide, however, what we did, and what everyone can do is, add whatever upgrades you want and just take them out at the contract appointment. We had no idea what the prices were either and still enjoyed the experience, we added all that we wanted and then just removed anything we didn’t want or that was out of our budget at our contract appointment. It is not too late to change things after your colour appointment.
(sorry sounds like some-one picking their nose )
Wouldn't it be simpler for the price to be made available,seems a strange way for them to be doing things,only my OP though
Have paid the initial $1000 deposit for the Camberwell 29 with PD today. And now the journey begins
This was THE most frustrating thing about dealing with Porter Davis, and I hated the colour selection process, (which should be a really fun thing to do) because you have no idea if you afford what you like. If PD were transparent and gave their customers a price range for upgrades, such as $800-1K per category of brick, $2.5-3K per category of caesarstone, then you may actually find people enjoy the experience and aren't completely stressed out about over-spending, when it need not be the case. You guys are in the sales business, yet you're probably missing out on upgrades as people are too tentative to gamble with selections and they play it safe and stay with standard items. Or they overspend, are disillusioned and walk away altogether. Customers want to make an informed choice about what they are spending, and the end result of transparency would be happy customers who start off the process with a positive attitude and confidence in their builder.
I agree with having a price guide, however, what we did, and what everyone can do is, add whatever upgrades you want and just take them out at the contract appointment. We had no idea what the prices were either and still enjoyed the experience, we added all that we wanted and then just removed anything we didn’t want or that was out of our budget at our contract appointment. It is not too late to change things after your colour appointment.
It might me easy to add and drop at contract but this has an affect on your build later on. For example say you wanted an external tap at one location. On Contract drawing that you found it is on the wrong location. You tell the CSC to change the location on contract and on the drawings before you sign it. She would says PD will not allow you to change the drawings or contract to the correct location before signing the contract. So you sign the contract knowing it is on the wrong location. The CSC will tell you don't worry we can change it as post contract variation. A Week before you build you will get your final drawing and the tap will be on the correct location. When the build start the tap will be installed as per oringal contract drawing (wrong location). It is ok for them is it our bricks that has to come down to fix the issue. PD might want to seriously think about when to send the drawings to their trades people. Only send it once the drawings have been signed by the customer a week before the build otherwise there are unwanted issues hanging around. Wrong things are getting installed. Things would get fixed in the end but don't want to pull the plaster down or bricks down to fix the mistakes the admin department makes.
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