Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 21, 2008 11:24 am A while ago I put a big post in wonderland's thread. It was all about picking your battles with the builder, etc, etc. I'm really trying to take my own advice.
When we had our preliminary contract appointment, we were presented with plans that had the wrong facade. No problem, only prelim. Will be fixed in contract. A few weeks later, we had the electrical appointment. Again wrong facade on the plans. Straight after the appointment, I rang my CSC. She said that they definitely had the correct plans for the contract. We had contract booked for July 8. We get there to find that they have prepared our contract with the wrong facade. They still want me to sign. Ummm....I think not. We are told new contract will be prepared. I take the opportunity to add doors to the sitting room. Bit annoyed but generally ok. Land hasn't settled anyway. Take the contract home and find mistake after mistake after mistake. Among them the cupboards as requested for kitchen haven't been included. Our studio 501 girl is hopeless so they gave us an appointment with the head of 501 to sort everything out. She was absolutely fantastic! Series of emails back and forth to clarify kitchen things and sort out other mistakes seem to be going really well and we are getting somewhere. Waiting for contracts to be prepared. Check on to My M3tricon and see I have a contract appointment in two days that no-one told me about. Ring (new) CSC, no way I can organise before school care at such short notice. Reschedule apppointment. Explain I need notice for such appointments by email or phone. Go in to sign new contract. More mistakes and again I refuse to sign. Take contracts home. They will send through variations and clarifications for me to sign and attach to contract. Will hear by Wednesday (yesterday). Sounds good. Most problems were minor. Hear nothing yesterday. Log on to My M3tricon this morning to find that I have another contract appointment next week. Again no notification by email or phone. Before school care is booked out on that morning so can't make a 9am appointment. I've been patient but firm. I've been reasonable but firm. But I've just about had enough. No respect is shown for my family situation, no respect is shown for our contract and the difficulty of getting to appointments that fit in with school time. I feel like walking away. If this is the standard of communication. There's a few things keeping me going. The SS we will most likely get is apparently brilliant! I know how very important this is. My initial SC is brilliant and still helps out. The land is settled and I want to get things moving... Just wanted to vent a little. I'm going to make a few phone calls. Will keep you posted..... Jo (yeah all of it) I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 2Aug 21, 2008 11:29 am Jo, I'm hearing you - big time!!! We had very similar problems and it took PD six attempts to have our plans correct. They'd fix one thing and unfix the previous one.
I suppose at the end of the day for us we had to think long term and the Cremorne was the house we wanted. They did finally have it all fixed and signed off just prior to start. I did lose the plot quite a few times though Oh and we got our exterior colour selection approved by the Developer and that was wrong....I emailed the Developer direct with the correct colours and they stamped by email Hang in there, get out your plans every now and then and think about the house you will have next year Happy at Home Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 3Aug 21, 2008 11:45 am I had a similar problem with our last builder in the end we had to email and phone nearly every day. We just simply couldn't wait for them to ring us as it ended up getting us on edge. I completely understand your frustration. Like with anything as long as you are not signing until you see it correctly at least you have covered your a**e.
Same with any communication...we found email our best friend as there was a few instances where we had asked for something and they said we never did......to their suprise here is the email and their reply and the date we discussed it. Communication seems to be the big thing lacking in most building companies at the moment. We have told our new builder he can expect to hear from us re anything we are unsure about and he will continue to hear from us until we get a response. I think he understands already just how much we rely on speaking to him. I think hubby has spoken to him nearly every day in the last 2 weeks. Stick to your guns and don't sign off on anything until it is completely as you have asked though ......it is however a contract and you want it done right the first time. Good to hear you SS is going to be good....they really can be the difference of a good build experience.. We ended up throwing a carton of beer his way and telling him to look after our house and make sure its built correctly we promised him another one if it ended well.....It did end well and he did take us up on the carton. Sounds bad that we had to do this, but we were one of about 15 homes he was looking after and attention to detail sometimes got missed. So a little bribery (we liked to call it building miscelaneous costs) went along way.. You have been very patient and I would not have lasted as long as you have with the niceties. Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 4Aug 21, 2008 12:34 pm Hi Joles,
I signed up with M3tricon as well initially for Santorini 29, the SC wa brilliant, but when it came to admin stages they started F**** us up at every point. The colour consultant at Studio 501 was F**na, she was a part timer and real pain in the neck. she was not ready to sell us any upgrades, even if we wanted to. Then she sent through the selections to us and wanted us to sign and send back to her with heaps and heaps of mistakes. She didnt have any sense of explaining what all was standard. To top all this whenever we used to call our CSC, she was always rude. Then we started looking at PD and signed with them. After this i got a copy of final charges and drawings from M3etricon and lots of charges were wrong, anyways there prices for upgrades are sky rocketed. Now, when i sent an email to my CSC that we dont want to continue business with them, this is when everybody from SC to Colour consultant to CSC to Their top managers started to call me and convince me to come back, they even mentioned to me that their SS are very good and even happy to change our flat tyres. now this is something that's really hard to digest. I dont say that my journey so far with PD is flawless but it has not been that bad either. I hope to get better if not best from them If we leave all the CS issues and admin issues, i must say that M3tricon's Studio 501 is a treat to go to and far better that Hopetoun I think this is lot of whinging, but sorry guys this is just half the story Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 6Aug 21, 2008 3:03 pm Grrrrrrr on your behalf, Jo!!! I hope they pull their finger out and get it right.....how hard can it be....this is their job -ie what they are supposed to be familiar with - for goodness' sakes!!!! .....which is what I have been constantly saying throughout our PD journey... Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 7Aug 21, 2008 3:35 pm How frustrating for you Jo...it;s like I said to Toni when they kept getting her contract wrong - how hard can it be to type in the correct thing!!
I really hope the communication steps up and you get the answers you need, like the others have said Try to keep your eye on the big prize!! My karma ran over your dogma Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 8Aug 21, 2008 6:16 pm Hi Jo,
I'm not much help as I havent had the experience of other posters in this issue. However, what you may find useful is sitting down and writing a list of all the pros and cons with staying with Big M. Sometimes writing down all the good points can once again remind you why you picked them in the first place. I also think that going else where may prove equally frustrating and not getting a design you want. Good luck with it all but I would probably see it through only because of the excellent ss you are going to have. Mrs B Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 9Aug 21, 2008 6:20 pm What a pain
Stick to your guns, good on you for refusing to sign till it's all right. Have faith in yourself and your instincts about what is right about going with M - with your patience and persistence you'll get there. Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 11Aug 21, 2008 7:38 pm I had the similar probs with my contract. I can tell you though that as someone mentioned once the paperwork is done, we had a great build and have a great home . Adrian B Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 12Aug 21, 2008 7:54 pm I think things are getting sorted. A few emails, a phone call and I think things are moving. The phone call wasn't entirely pleasant but I think we are getting somewhere.
I didn't really like being told that my requested changes may be holding things up. My requested "changes" are actually to change things back that they either deleted, missed or just forgot! I fail to see how adding sarking changes drawings that are not consrtruction drawings. Our powder room vanity is a thick stone bench with above counter basin and a shelf underneath. It then has full height tiling from the floor. This is not a cheap option so you think they'd try to get it right. The wording is clear in the contract. I directed them to pics on their website to indicate exactly what I want. It's their option! The drawings come back perfect. No further mention is made. They redo the contract and all the wording and the price re the vanity remains. But the drawings become a standard vanity with two cupboards. Why? Someone just said oh there's absolutely no reason to, but let's just change this for fun. The problem is then the extra tiling hasn't gone through to Beaumants and their ordering is now all wrong. The tiling order has been wrong for a month. Something finally got done today. This is one example of the type of thing I'm talking about. I'm trying to remain very calm. That is very hard for me! But thanks for all the kind words. But if I get a different SS to the one I think..... Jo (for the moment) I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 13Aug 22, 2008 12:51 pm Just wanted to add to this thread.
I did take my own advice. As has been said before, treat it like a business transaction, as that is what it is. I was really frustrated yesterday. It was the final straw in a series of events. I stepped back from things, calmed down and went through things objectively. I wrote an email. A measured, to the point addressing of the problems email. I awaited a response. I did get one and many problems seem to be resolved. I'll need to see them on paper though to be sure. Things have also been followed up this morning. The email I wrote I had checked by a member of the forum to see if I truly was objective. I had a vent here! Again it was measured, I was careful to stick to the point and not attack. I learnt a few things yesterday and today things look better. As long as the next plans I see are correct, all will be forgiven. But not forgotten. I'm still positive. Tears and tantrums are useless. Rationality and objectivity are my best friends in this process. We will see how things progress. At this stage I am still with M3tricon and looking forward. This has been the only real hiccup. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 14Aug 22, 2008 1:16 pm We all need a vent occasionally, Jo. Like you said, sometimes there is a straw that breaks the camels back ( had one of those ourselves the other day). But, by the next day things usually seem better.
It is a business, but even in business people get sick and tired of the c**p and need to have a good tantrum, then take a deep breathe and get on with it again. I'm sure we've all been there. Anger can be a very positive emotion if you use it to achieve something, which it sounds like you did. Tears and tantrums have there place...they are a good release of energy and usually help us to feel better...that's why a good cry is called just that...it can be really good. Anyway, good luck with that contract. Fingers crossed that they finally get it right! 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 15Aug 22, 2008 2:58 pm Very well handled Jo.....It is not easy to step back from a situation and re evaluate how you are going to handle it......So kudos to you for being able to...I hope I remeber to do that when certain situ's arrive. Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 16Aug 22, 2008 3:01 pm Onya Jo for standing up to them....remember it's only home until you live there until then try to be businesslike about it....it's hard to do....but keep them honest, document everything, and don't let them get away with even the little things. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 18Aug 22, 2008 9:30 pm Hi Jo,
We had the same issues before... lots of errors with the plans.. poor communication with our CSC, etc. We wanted to back out.. but we went from PD, AVJ and M and we really liked the house. So we sticked with them. We signed the contract even if there were so many errors on the condition that they would fix it afterwards. WE had a list of all the errors that we saw during contract signing. True to their words, they fixed all errors/wordings to the plans. They weren't able to fix all errors in one hit, there were series of back and forth emails but in the end, they fixed it! All I can say it, management doesn't know the poor CS service. If you elevate it to their manager, they will start to get their acts together. My suggestion is to always: - check (plans, wordings, quote, prices, colours, finishes, etc) - document (raise the issue ASAP and if no response is received, elevate to the manager.. we know the CS manager.. if you want her details.. hehe) If you really like the house.. hang on and fight for it. Good luck... and keep us updated! Oh I love your Grandview... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Built the Nevada 42 Next project - landscaping! Re: M3tricon: Trying to take my own advice.... 20Aug 23, 2008 12:08 pm Just stick to your guns! Your the paying customer and your right! Don't let them get away with ANYTHING. Watch them every step of the way. Not trying to scare you but this is YOUR home and your paying good money.
Wish this forum had been around when I built my first home. Totally on my own, so many mistakes. I try not to think about it. If .... and that's a BIG if, I build again, they better get every thing right or they just won't know what hit them. No being bullied or blackmailed this time round. Hate to say it but ....... much Older & Wiser now! Timbacare - Save Your Furniture! We can help you revive timber furniture & flooring www.timbacare.com.au Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20417 I had a similar issue with my fridge not too long ago. It wasn't the same model, but the symptoms were pretty much the same: the compressor would start and then stop… 3 7536 |