Browse Forums General Discussion Re: COMPLAINT-SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 21Mar 29, 2010 9:08 am I know I am late to this thread but I found it after searching for "Cosmopolitan" on the forum... and lo and behond... there it was. MY STORY!!! Kevin g, I could have written that same blog myself. Word for word!! Truly - we have had an IDENTICAL experience with cosmo - not a pleasant one, I must say, and I didn't expect this to be an easy process, either. We accepted our tender and pain our deposit in September 2009, and we have only just had the DA submitted last Friday (end March 2010) - that is 6 months! All this for a project home that we BARELY modified. We thought WE were the difficult cosmo customers, but it seems that we ALL feel that way. It seeme that we ALL have phone calls and emails completely ignored, and one member of staff blaming another. I am glad that you are having more success with them now. I hope that is still the case. I would love to hear an update. Our most recent cosmo "blunder" is this - we were told that the DA was submitted on 5/3/10 to our council but that it was "not accepted" due to some wording on the Basix. (By the way, they seemed UNABLE to get that right despite me teeling them "NO, we are not having gas appliances.. YES we ARE having airconditioning.... NO, our colourbond roof is in the Medium colour range, not the Dark... blah blah blah".) I rang council today and they basically laughed and said they couldn't tell me outright that that was a lie, but they could tell me that when a file was submitted a Memo was always documented in their system. The first Memo we have in relation to our file was for 26/3/10 - so we should fill in the blanks! Basically the story that they had to "re-word" something on the Basix for council to accept it was complete BS. I am now 6 months pregnant, despite this baby not being a twinkle in our eyes at the time of accepting the tender... and it doesn't look like building will start anytime soon. I HOPE you (and the others on this thread) have better luck than us!!!!!! (ps - thanks for letting me vent on your thread, too) Re: COMPLAINT-SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 22Mar 29, 2010 11:08 am We have our appointment with them tomorrow, guest I will have to point this thread to wife before we go ahead.. Re: COMPLAINT-SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 23Mar 30, 2010 8:49 pm Dear kkaz I understand how you must be feeling.We have been there a few times however do not lose sight of the home that you want to build.These pre construction processes do take a lot of energy especially when you feel that things are not progressing as fast as you would want them to and communication is not effective when delays occur. My advice to you is to arrange an appointment with a Senior member of Cosmo's management to discuss your file progress and your frustrations.Sometimes an open and frank discussion with management can help. It will also assist Cosmo management to understand what your expectations are and open up discussions for reasonable timeframes.I guess it will alert them to potential problems from within so that corrective action can be taken. I know initially I was very frustrated and critical.Directing my disappointment into this blog was therapeutic in some ways..We are now at the end of the pre construction process.I agree that it was not smooth sailing however I have to mention that Cosmo Management has been very supportive,approachable and did understand our concerns.They did take an interest in identifying problems and correcting them.Genuinely ,I felt relieved walking away from the office after a frank discussion.I felt like a customer and not a file number! Hang in there..You did make it to Council albeit in 6 months..Try to focus on other things for the house now...The exciting times are still ahead. We received our Council approval last Thursday.We are now looking forward to the next stages of the construction process.We are optimistic of these next stages.. Re: SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 24Apr 12, 2010 12:39 pm I've had a similar issue, however I am building with Allworth Homes. The key problem I have been finding is communication and mediating my expectations. First the delay in getting the plans drawn and off to Council. That wait was from late September until they got the plans to Council mid December. I was told 6 weeks was the likely wait. So 10 weeks without communication was unbearable for me and caused me too much anxiety. Then the plans had to be amended because of a lack of due diligence on part of someone who failed to keep the overall build size within the building envelope, under the maximum size of 50%, and devoid of the side solar setback that affects my lot. Then Christmas shutdown happened. OK I thought, so a week into the New Year I thought we'd be the priority customer and they'd start on making changes on day 1. Wrong. Then what they wanted us to do was go to Council to apply for non-compliance. No way. Not paying for that, don't have the time for that. They refused to fiddle with the layout and to shrink the house by 5% overall due to some weak explanation about rooflines. And above all, they stuffed up. They should have known the by-laws inside and out. But with good graciousness and trying to have a house built by May, we explained we were open to consider an alternative design and so with excellent help from the Consultant we decided to go ahead with another one in January. So then we anticipated another 6 weeks. Fair enough because the design wasn't our dream we fiddled with things a little more so amendments took time, but we anticipated DA submission early to Mid March. But no, it was late March before the plans went back in. Camden Council has had excellent turnover taking no more than 5 working days in both instances and they provide accurate and easy to understand guidance. In fact they stood up for Allworth in the first instance saying because there had been a transition period in which they had been able to accept plans under the old rules at the same time as the new rules, it was reasonable that Allworth had assumed that that was still in place. If nothing else for anyone looking for land I'd recommend Camden Council for their customer service, but I'd select a builder with a significant amount of experience and current work in the area. So to explain a bit further, the we in this situation is my mother and myself. My mother has bad knees and will be undergoing replacements in the next few years, so there was never anything to be considered unless it was single storey. The house is also large, being 4 bed plus guest/study, formal lounge, open plan living/eating/kitchen, so we knew we were asking a lot for Allworth to meet our needs, but we went with buying land and a separate builder to keep costs lower, so far successful. The May deadline came in because my mother is currently on a cruise for over a month and when she returns will return to work for 4 weeks before having another month off. The idea was that we would transition out of my grandmothers home over a period of time, ensuring one person is always at the new house overnight. But because we own a boxer dog we need to make sure the grass is in and had growth and experienced one mow and the fence is in place before we are all moved in. This would have meant all our belongings were moved and I would be living out of a bag and on the blow up back where we are now. But with my mother having June off work, she would be able to set us up and be around for the dog so she doesn't suffer too much anxiety. For those of you living in the area, we are building on Greenhill, and I'm the woman in the white Honda Jazz who lets her dog off the leash up that way so she becomes familiar with the block - she's very well trained and in time once fences are up will learn that she's not allowed past the letterbox. But back to the problem of communication. I have now been told we need to get a copy of the geotech report, so that the engineers report can be prepared, and then once that happens the construction certificate will be issued. Then that's when the real ball starts rolling. But at the end of this week I too am on a cruise for 2 weeks and therefore I have to ensure that everything is in place so that it can take care of itself in the interim. The most recent breakdown has happened because someone at Allworth told my Mum that nothing else needed to happen because we received DA, and when my Mum asked whether it was useful to have a Power of Attorney in place the person said no, everything is running smoothly. Four days later, the next week, Mum is gone and someone who is our newest customer service officer rings and explains about the geotech report, engineers report and construction certificate. Then apparently once all that is in place we go back in and sign something else. I thought my head would explode. I explained to the CSO that this was exactly what we tried to establish the week before because now it will be another 4 weeks before Mum is back to sign anything. She's expecting to come back and see at least the slab laid. But don't get me started about trying to get a geotech report out of Mirvac, so it looks like it is proceeding all to its own pace anyway. So I have a few thoughts on all of this: 1. Get it in writing. Every conversation you have over the phone, send an email or fax confirming what was discussed. If they don't reply, that's fine, they are by defaulting accepting what you have said. 2. Get it in writing. Make sure every time a timeframe is mentioned, even if it's "8-12 weeks", get it in writing, or go back to my first point. Ask for a written breakdown of what happens next and how long they think it will take. If they won't put it in writing, hear it over the phone or face-face and go back to point 1. 3. Put it in writing. If you have a complaint to make, make it in writing. Find out who you have to escalate things to and CC them in every time you complain to your CSO. 4. Manage the project. Keep a log in a diary or something, so you know when deadlines are approaching and you can chase them up if you haven't heard back. Consider yourself a project manager and behave like one. 5. Do your research first. My problems originated from the demand from the FHOG - they took on a lot of extra work and employed no extra staff. Also drive around the suburb you intend to build in. If it's an established area this doesn't help as much, but in new release areas see who is doing the work. Their workload goes 2 ways, over demand and under demand. It was pointed out to us that Allworth was building only one other home in the immediate area, whereas builders like teams to work in a production line. This has meant they haven't felt the urge to push it along as they haven't got teams sitting out there waiting for work. But with more work going on a team will go from A to B to C, and if you can establish what other properties they are also working on you can work out what stage they are at and how long before they move on. This should be sorted out, in writing, from the Site Supervisor, but knowing this can help you gauge timeliness. 6. Cover your ***. We don't know who our SS will be, put I have appreciated the recommendation to call the Office of Fair Trading and do a background check. This means checking that they have a builders licence, not a trades licence, and at least 5 years experience, or otherwise asking your builder for someone who does. We intend to do this. We are also nervous about the quality of work because of the problems so far, so also we will be contracting an independent assessor who will do a progress inspection at lock up and a final inspection before handover for about $1200. I've read a blog somewhere along the way where someone had uneven mortar joins under sliding doors and windows, and nesting birds in the ceiling, so I'm happy to pay this money for the peace of mind. So I just recommend you think about it and make that call for yourself. Above all I cannot say I've heard of one builder who has a flawless reputation. I think a lot of factors influence quality of service so really all you can do is influence what you can control which is the logging of information you receive. This makes it a lot easier to lodge formal complaints if it becomes necessary, but also means you can have a reasonable expectation of time. I may not be happy with another 4 weeks, but at least I know it's another 4 weeks before groundbreaking. Estrela81 Now Building the Allworth Concerto in Spring Farm http://apollolandinginspringfarm.blogspot.com/ Re: SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 25May 08, 2010 11:26 pm I've had similar experience with the lengthy delay in sorting out the tender - We started discussion in Oct, paid the 4K in Nov and now in May, we are still waiting for the CDC application (complying devt cert). We are getting a custom-design home based on the Riverina facade. Admitedly we did request for quite many upgrades and variation but it took them very long time to come back each time and when they did - many mistakes/mispricing were found. We've just receive notice to pay up a 5K payment before the next issue of the quotation will be released. Any1 has that experience before? This 5K is not in their original terms of payment schedule but I would hesitate to pay them any more money until we've got what we ask for. They are trying to get us to sign the Contract without a finalised tender - which I will refuse. Met the design manager last week and it was an unpleasant encounter. Basically her attitude and tone wasn't what we expect to experience as a client. She would talk down to us, was very defensive and unhelpful. Eg, we requested for the A/C outlets to be fully shown in the drawing but was told they wont be shown at all and we wont have any say on it location and the builder will locate it where they deem best and we would have to live with it. Similarly for the Video intercom. As a custom-design home, such things should be built to the client request (where complying with building regulations and standards and within the site constraints) and not to the convenience of the builder. Very put-off by the manager's attitude and is seriously considering forgoing the 4K deposit and seek alternative builder. Not sure if any other have similar experience with the design manager. We felt our business is not important to them and we have not been treated as a customer/client should. We also received conflicting advice on the CDC submission form their CSO with regards to the landscape and pool requirement and the to-ing and fro-ing has cost us at least 3 weeks of time. It's been > 6 months and patience is running thin. Appreciate comments form anyone who has walked-away at the tender stage and seek alternate builder. Any reputable builder to recommend for Sydney Metro area? That's my rant so far... Re: SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 26May 29, 2010 1:18 am We walked away. We signed our tender and paid $4k in September 2009. In December, we finally received a set of plans which were badly drawn up, so we asked for an explanation. The response was that they were so busy, our drawings were contracted out to a trainee! No qualified/experienced person had looked at them. However we were assured that our file would be reassigned to the in-house drawing dept. By mid-March 2010, we still hadn't received a new set of plans. I would add that there were other reasons we decided to cut our losses. We have now signed up with another builder and although it is in the early stages, we are noticing enough differences to confirm in our minds that we made the right decision. Re: SPRING FARM,CAMDEN-COSMOPOLITAN HOMES 27Jun 07, 2010 1:57 pm I have built with Cosmopolitan Homes. I could say that it was a painful experience, except for the sales consultant and site supervisor. I thought that one of the managers was okay, but unfortunately one of the trade company they used sent me a copy of her email to them, which really insulted me. None of the emails were ever answered on time. Unfortunately the Customer Service Officer wasn't good also. The CSO was laughing at one time, when there was something serious and wrong, and explaination was "someone poked their tongue at me" - which states how serious they approach things when there is something difficult. We have finished building and we are awaiting for the maintenance.. which has taken 4months, and still no word on when they will start. Emails were never answered, and phonecalls never returned, even when you leave a message. We have built a home before with another company. When there were problems, they addressed it, and in fact since the first CSO did something seriously wrong, they changed that CSO and had no problems with that company. Once the maintenance list came to them, they started working on it. No problems. Cosmopolitan Homes - they have good designs, and I could not fault my site supervisor, but that's it. Will I ever recommend them - NO!! DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair We purchased a 1960s property that is on timber stumps mostly, and a newer section is on concrete stumps. We had a building inspection initially and they reported some… 0 12743 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74701 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105551 |