Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 19, 2013 12:27 pm We haven't even got to the stage of being issued a real tender as yet, however we have received 2 provisional tenders which are yet to include soil tests. But we are left feeling that we are constantly pulling the builder up on sly inclusions within the tender, one can not help but think they are intentionally trying to rip us off. Some examples of this include charging us for a Facade ($5K) and then also charging us extra for all the front windows ($4.6K), they did agree to rectify this when we pointed out the front windows did actually make up part of the facade and they should only be charging for one or the other. Come the second tender and they have rectified this error by keeping the window costs ($4.6K), deleting the facade charge but also charging up for the front feature tile wall ($4K) - bwt the tiles only cost $800 retail. They also charged us $1132 for a butler's pantry sink, which we have asked to be removed as we don't want it. But then when we got home we noticed that the sink should have been included as a standard item, so we asked for a double credit. They agreed to only credit $732, being their cost for the sink; however now we find they are charging us for the rest of the butler's pantry - the cupboard's stone bench top, shelving, all of which is mentioned in their standard inclusion list. In their second tender they have decided to add (or upgrade) balustrade to our stairs, this wasn't mentioned in our first tender; and we certainly didn't ask for an upgrade. I just feel I am spending hours going thru their tenders and comparing what we actually asked for as opposed to what they are charging us for. The first tender I found $40K worth of extras that should not have been included, granted they did remove them, but added another $11K in the second tender that should not be there. I feel it is almost a full time job just checking up on them ... god help us when they actually start building. Is this normal, or should we really start thinking about a different builder? Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 2Feb 19, 2013 12:42 pm Seriously think about another builder. We were going along reasonably well with a building company (had a few problems that only got half sorted) until the final tender documents were sent to us and full of errors/changes/etc. We pulled the plug straight away – didn’t bother trying to work through the issues as it was clear that their attitude was “....like it or lump it.” It is not worth the fight – there are other builders out there that are (1) not blatantly trying to rip you off and (2) don’t rely on volume to keep their business afloat, rather they deliver good service and great product. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 4Feb 19, 2013 10:02 pm I would certainly start looking at other options. Building the Ascot 35 with Carlisle Homes in Pasadena Estate, Clyde VIC My build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59776 Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 6Feb 20, 2013 6:18 am Yesterday in waiting for responses to this posting, I emailed the builder with all of my issues. I heard back from my admin manager at about 8 pm last night, he called to discuss things. He has credited the stair case balustrade (saying it was an estimation error), credited the pantry (saying that they charge this on customs but their working on their spec sheet doesn't state this clearly enough), the tiling they have reduced down to $2k - still not overly happy about this cost but certainly better than $4k and father in-law has offered to do this for us. Our Admin Manager listened to my concerns and said he certainly understood my feelings. Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 7Feb 20, 2013 8:26 am If you're having so much errors/issues at this stage I wonder what the rest of your journey with them will bring. If you insist on proceeding make sure you read the tender/contract over and over. May I ask what builder you're going with? Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 8Feb 20, 2013 8:32 am Agape Our Admin Manager listened to my concerns and said he certainly understood my feelings. It's great that he listened and understood your concerns BUT if you (or someone else who wasn't focused on the details) didn’t question these things they would have quite happily ripped you off. You have now 100% caught them out, whatever the excuse. The approach I’d take if you want to continue with them is to put them on notice that every item will scrutinised and any further ‘errors’ will mean an immediate termination of the project. You’re not alone, problems like this at the tender stage are common. I asked my builder about this practice (I mean ‘tender misunderstandings’) as he previously worked for one of the big project builders (as a site supervisor/manager) and he said the majority of clients he meet at the construction stage of the project were completely pi$$ed of with the admin process and people due to experiences like yours. It was then up to him to re-build the trust and delivery a good product to a client who is already wary of the build. Good luck! ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 9Feb 20, 2013 8:41 am The builder is Carter Grange, we have read many fantastic reviews on them ... from what we can tell they don't seem to have a huge amount of experience with custom builds. We have looked at a few other builders, and we are currently discussing if we should just pull the pin with this builder and look elsewhere. We did like this builder to begin with as customer service seemed high on their priority, and we had read many positive reviews on their levels of customer service. They also included a lot of standards that others did not include. Agh ... building ... why did we sign up to do this again???? PAB - We did say that we would be scrutinising everything (as we already were), and that we were totally peeved at them. However I am very glad to hear that this is a somewhat common issue - not that that excuses the errors. Re: Disputing costs in the Tender 10Feb 22, 2013 10:32 am For what it's worth I'm having similar trouble with another builder. I wouldn't say they're all like this, but I can definitely confirm that you have to assume there are fundamental errors in your contract until you've done a serious review. In my case I'm hopefully almost at the end of the process, with just a few issues outstanding. But yes, if they can't get it right I will walk away. HD Hey. Head to a metal and decide on which profile you will use first. Profiles with larger corrugations can greatly change the appearance of the color in different… 0 3387 I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13103 Looking to tile the facade pillars rather than rendering. Builder is quoting 2500$ laying cost for upto 10msq. The 2 pillars come to be 16msq. So laying costs are 5000$… 0 7552 |