Hi All,
Brand new to the forum.. was refered by friends of our who have been using it for a while.
We are/were going to build with Poter Davis however, at the moment we are in consideration as to chaging builders.
Our block is in the new Marritt Waters estate in Lyndhurts, Vic.
The problem with PD is that at the sale stage (as they called it) we opted for a facade that we and the sales consultant both new was temporary as we had notmade a final decision (we couldn't have the original one we wanted as the people 3 doors down will have it). We were told at this stage that we could change the facade when we had made a decision.
We that decision was made last week and I email our administrator (who I might add is hopeless and unhelpful - just another frustration) to let him know of the new facade we want. Thought this would be straight forward, however he emailed back informing me that because the drawing had been sent out externally (we havn't ven signed anything) we would be slaped with a $300 fee for new ones. This is not acceptable as far as im concered.
Its not the issue with the $300 id be willing to spend that, its the fact that we were told we could change things before tender and there was not mention of a fee.
That's just one of our frustions...
The second is with their colour selction places Houpton Interiors and National Tiles.
We were told 3 different things about having black guttering by 3 different consultants at houpton.. we didn't not know what was right until we went to our selcetion booking and found out we would have to upgrade to colourbond if we wanted black..
National tiles never rang, so i called them to make an appointment to select our tiles. This was fine until 2 weeks later I received a phone call re: when we would like to make an appointment to select our tiles.. umm hadn't I already done that? They lost our booking but made then selves sound fantastic by accommodating us for the day was had originally booked.... grrr
Anyway.. were considering going with another builder at this stage and H3NL3Y was suggested to us by a few people.. however, i have heared horror stories.
Could anyone give us some hints about them or any other builder that could be reccommended??
Help!
Annoyed with PD...
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Hi utopian_goddess, welcome firstly to the forum.
Maybe you should perform a search on a couple of builders and see what comments have been made in the past. Use the search option in the discussion tools box.
At the end of the day, i would be speaking with PD about your issues and elevate them if need be to Management....
You need to find a design that suits your taste, budget, lifestyle....
Most builders will have good and bad stories, but at the end of the day it comes down to expectations and communication. Now i'm not saying that you need to lower your expectations, but you need to be informed.
This forum is a great resource, read as much as you can and make sure your decisions are informed ones....
Good Luck.
Maybe you should perform a search on a couple of builders and see what comments have been made in the past. Use the search option in the discussion tools box.
At the end of the day, i would be speaking with PD about your issues and elevate them if need be to Management....
You need to find a design that suits your taste, budget, lifestyle....
Most builders will have good and bad stories, but at the end of the day it comes down to expectations and communication. Now i'm not saying that you need to lower your expectations, but you need to be informed.
This forum is a great resource, read as much as you can and make sure your decisions are informed ones....
Good Luck.
Sorry to read about your horror story!
You’ll find most of the group building companies are the same; it all depends on who you get to deal with.
Regarding the building quality, that IMO is dependent on the building supervisor you get.
Most of these companies use subcontractors for the different stages of the build and some of these subcontractors work for more than one builder. If the supervisor is doing his job properly they will keep the subbies in line and also ensure the workmanship is up to scratch.
You’ll find most of the group building companies are the same; it all depends on who you get to deal with.
Regarding the building quality, that IMO is dependent on the building supervisor you get.
Most of these companies use subcontractors for the different stages of the build and some of these subcontractors work for more than one builder. If the supervisor is doing his job properly they will keep the subbies in line and also ensure the workmanship is up to scratch.
utopian_goddess,
It's simple. Cancel everything with PD. You haven't signed anything and are under no obligation. The next day, come back as a new customer and tell them what you want. They will gladly accept a new customer (and one with less hassles since all the selection are made).
Cheers,
Casa
It's simple. Cancel everything with PD. You haven't signed anything and are under no obligation. The next day, come back as a new customer and tell them what you want. They will gladly accept a new customer (and one with less hassles since all the selection are made).
Cheers,
Casa
utopian_goddess,
It's simple. Cancel everything with PD. You haven't signed anything and are under no obligation. The next day, come back as a new customer and tell them what you want. They will gladly accept a new customer (and one with less hassles since all the selection are made).
Cheers,
Casa
It's simple. Cancel everything with PD. You haven't signed anything and are under no obligation. The next day, come back as a new customer and tell them what you want. They will gladly accept a new customer (and one with less hassles since all the selection are made).
Cheers,
Casa
Haha that seems like a great Idea.. however were likely to have to deal with the same people. We have tried to escalate it to management however, they say its out of their hand... out of their hands is all i ever get from them... THEN WHOS HANDS IS IT IN? mine??
grr.. never mind.. were looking and more displays on the weekend to see who can give us what we want.. including good comunication
utopian_goddess, sorry to hear about your bad experience and i'm sure everyone in this forum wishes you all the best in whatever you decide to do and which builder you eventually pick.
i'm not one for trying to steer another to a certain builder so i won't comment on your experiences with PD.
all i have to say is research, preparation and patience is your best 'asset' while going through a build phase. never will anything be entirely perfect but if you have done your homework then you will at least be one up on everyone you have to deal with. unfortunately, and speaking from experience, you have to make up for what they're lacking - wether that be communication or organisation. at the end of the day what is important is you get the house you want, with the inclusions you want at the price you are willing to pay.
i'm not one for trying to steer another to a certain builder so i won't comment on your experiences with PD.
all i have to say is research, preparation and patience is your best 'asset' while going through a build phase. never will anything be entirely perfect but if you have done your homework then you will at least be one up on everyone you have to deal with. unfortunately, and speaking from experience, you have to make up for what they're lacking - wether that be communication or organisation. at the end of the day what is important is you get the house you want, with the inclusions you want at the price you are willing to pay.
Hi utopian_goddess,
Welcome to the forum.
It was indeed a bad experience with PD.
When we dealt with them before (though we cancelled too), same thing happened. We weren't decided on the facade yet.
We finalised it prior to tiles/colour appointments.
You shouldn't be charged for that, as it wasn't a revision to a contract.
You haven't sign anything yet!
Anyway, go and have a look at different display homes and look for the house that you really like and the price that you can afford.
Good luck!
Welcome to the forum.
It was indeed a bad experience with PD.
When we dealt with them before (though we cancelled too), same thing happened. We weren't decided on the facade yet.
We finalised it prior to tiles/colour appointments.
You shouldn't be charged for that, as it wasn't a revision to a contract.
You haven't sign anything yet!
Anyway, go and have a look at different display homes and look for the house that you really like and the price that you can afford.
Good luck!
This is not really a horror story IMO. It's just the reallity of building with a big builder.
What you should care most about is the design of the house that you like the most and the quality of build at the end of it.
The service will NEVER be truly up to scratch who ever you go with, unless you find a nice private builder, who'll most likely be more expensive.
The reallity is you may need to chagne your expectations.
What you should care most about is the design of the house that you like the most and the quality of build at the end of it.
The service will NEVER be truly up to scratch who ever you go with, unless you find a nice private builder, who'll most likely be more expensive.
The reallity is you may need to chagne your expectations.
This is not really a horror story IMO. It's just the reallity of building with a big builder.
What you should care most about is the design of the house that you like the most and the quality of build at the end of it.
The service will NEVER be truly up to scratch who ever you go with, unless you find a nice private builder, who'll most likely be more expensive.
The reallity is you may need to chagne your expectations.
What you should care most about is the design of the house that you like the most and the quality of build at the end of it.
The service will NEVER be truly up to scratch who ever you go with, unless you find a nice private builder, who'll most likely be more expensive.
The reallity is you may need to chagne your expectations.
Well said! That's what I was trying to say but it didn't come out quite as eloquent.
utopian_goddes wrote:
We have now been given our, hopefully last, 10th variation of the plans for our home.... All changes we have made, not errors on the builders side. We must be their biggest pain in the proverbial backside....
We have only paid the deposit so far, no contract signage as yet, and a soil test done on a previous block of land we were interested.... They have been fantastic... and haven't charged us a cent for any drawings....
Quote:
We that decision was made last week and I email our administrator (who I might add is hopeless and unhelpful - just another frustration) to let him know of the new facade we want. Thought this would be straight forward, however he emailed back informing me that because the drawing had been sent out externally (we havn't ven signed anything) we would be slaped with a $300 fee for new ones. This is not acceptable as far as im concered.
We have now been given our, hopefully last, 10th variation of the plans for our home.... All changes we have made, not errors on the builders side. We must be their biggest pain in the proverbial backside....
We have only paid the deposit so far, no contract signage as yet, and a soil test done on a previous block of land we were interested.... They have been fantastic... and haven't charged us a cent for any drawings....
utopian_goddes wrote:
We have now been given our, hopefully last, 10th variation of the plans for our home.... All changes we have made, not errors on the builders side. We must be their biggest pain in the proverbial backside....
We have only paid the deposit so far, no contract signage as yet, and a soil test done on a previous block of land we were interested.... They have been fantastic... and haven't charged us a cent for any drawings....
Quote:
We that decision was made last week and I email our administrator (who I might add is hopeless and unhelpful - just another frustration) to let him know of the new facade we want. Thought this would be straight forward, however he emailed back informing me that because the drawing had been sent out externally (we havn't ven signed anything) we would be slaped with a $300 fee for new ones. This is not acceptable as far as im concered.
We have now been given our, hopefully last, 10th variation of the plans for our home.... All changes we have made, not errors on the builders side. We must be their biggest pain in the proverbial backside....
We have only paid the deposit so far, no contract signage as yet, and a soil test done on a previous block of land we were interested.... They have been fantastic... and haven't charged us a cent for any drawings....
We also made many many variations of the plans (lost count but it would be at least 10
Tell them to change the design (at no cost) or you will move on to someone else who will be more accommodating.
i had a similar experience with our builder at the start of documentation... basically all i said to them was you either accomodate us or we go elsewhere even though it would mean we'd loose our initial deposit which wasn't much... well guess what... they changed their mind and we got what we wanted without paying anything extra!
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