My experience

Sallyho · Apr 05, 2007 3:00 pm

So for all you first time home buyers out there I thought I would provide you all with regular updates on my experience to date and how things are going. Still very early stages for me however.

A bit of background first - so I am building my home with Metricon, and have selected the Jardine 30.............

EXPERIENCE 1
My sales person was a dream to deal with unfortunately she left metricon to pursue greener pastures. I was then handballed of to a gentleman from metricons head office. The service and respone was not as prompt as what I'd received previously but by staying on their toes I managed to get all the answers I wanted from them, and overall couldn;t complain too much.

EXPERIENCE 2
Then come my first studio 501 tour - fun, excitement and more fun!
But lots of hard work, lots of research, lots of running around checking things out that I liked, and lots of late nights punching out the budget numbers to ensure that everything was running according to plan.

EXPERIENCE 3
Then come the assignation of my customer service person..............well lets just put it this way ARRRGGGHHHH! I'm not sure that she is ever in her office, knows how to return a telephone call, or even knows how to respond to an email. So I've got a lot of work ahead of me to conquer this one, but I figure if I keep driving her nuts with calls & emails adventually she has to responsd to something.

EXPERIENCE 4
Next up come my actual studio 501 selection day - well make sure you've got money in your pockets this place is so tempting that you can't help but spend, spend, spend! I'm sure my finance broker was having a fit after I'd been through all my selections. But I have to say the person who took me through made this part of my experience so wonderful and very easy.

EXPERIENCE 5
Next up was my electrical mapping experience - again not so painful, and a most responsive department. Response always back through within 24hours which to me is an acceptable time frame as I understand that i am not the only person they have to deal with.

My final contract signing with my customer service rep is on the 16th April assuming she returns a telephone call to me or even an email with all the communication I'm still waiting to receive clarification on and quotes me on some additional pieces I need done should be happy days. So fingers crossed.

So will report back in to let you all know how this goes.

Stay tuned

perryr · Apr 05, 2007 5:34 pm

Hi Sallyho,

Thanks for the updates.

Can I suggest that you create a blog so we can follow along? It's very easy to set up, and allows people to follow the story for as long as you are happy to update it.

For some ideas, you can see the stick blog link at the top of the topic list.

Cheers
Perry

Cabinfever · Apr 05, 2007 7:06 pm

Thanks for posting Sallyho. I hope you'll keep us updated with all the details :-)

perryr · Apr 05, 2007 8:53 pm

I've created a new topic which may help:

http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=1685

Cheers
Perry

pacharly · Apr 06, 2007 6:12 am

Hi there , I'm new in this forum , and I understand your situation , I probably should coment my experience before to prevent unaware future builders of the frustration and disapointment metricons has caused.
So here I am another sleepless night and wondering what would be the outcome of my meeting with the building manager this coming week.
I have been waiting for a year and a half ( yes 18 months ) and I still not have a finishing date, even the walk trough has been done and everything has being paid , exept for the final payment.

This company has seriously ruined my life , and the hose has been built with the lowest possible quality , I have serious brickwork problems , and the final result is far from the happy faces shown in the sales brouchers.

Mine It's a long story but I just put a couple of pictures for you to understand what metricons has done with my dreamed home.
The first one shows the feature wall in the facade this is not clearly noticiable in pictures but the bricks 4 and 5 starting from the right have a line in a clear color , this is the non feature side that also has a different texture , overall there is about 150 bricks in the facade showing the wrong side , also there is not two perpends with the same widht ( suppoused to be 10 mm) remember this is the facade and this is a feature wall

Next one is the wall on the side of the garage , according to the building supervisor totally acceptable , no coments . . .

There is plenty more , and problems not only in regards to quality but also the extremelly poor communication.

Once you sign the contract you're done, and the happy faces dissapear.[/img]

perryr · Apr 06, 2007 10:43 am

Hi pacharly,

So sorry to hear about your problems - it must be the most frustrating thing imaginable. Your photos didn't come through with the posting. Do you want to add some links?

Perry

pacharly · Apr 06, 2007 6:51 pm

I'm sorry the photos didn't came trough , I don't know how to link them

perryr · Apr 06, 2007 7:21 pm

No problem. The following topic may help:

http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=1272

Perry

pacharly · Apr 07, 2007 7:53 am

here it goes again ![img][img]http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/8484/burnsidewiring144et1.th.jpg[/img][/img][img][img]http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/181/dscf0078ax9.th.jpg[/img][/img]

mattwalker · Apr 07, 2007 3:57 pm

The first pic there is something very wrong. Looks like the window was too small for the hole and the briclie tried to take up the slack.

The second one looks like the bricks havent been cleaned. It also looks like it is down beside a fence where they couldnt clean anyway.

Still doesnt make you happy though....

Matt

Michelle · Apr 07, 2007 8:31 pm

I have a serious question; I know at times I may make jokes about things…..

BUT……

Why are so many people choosing to build with projects companies and not private builders?

Very curious….

newhomebuilder · Apr 07, 2007 8:45 pm

To be really honest- and I know im going to sound rude (However I don't mean it

), what is the issue with the first photo regarding the window? Is it the brick on the left hand side?

The second photo- with the 2 walls being so close together, you cant get in to rake the mortar. Every house I have seen (including my old house) with a wall so close to were the bricks are being laid, look very much like yours.

Is this the only thing holding up the house being handed over to you?

Bud977 · Apr 07, 2007 9:49 pm

I would say the two advantages of project builders/homes over private builders are price and knowing what you are going to get.

Project homes cost around $800/m2, whereas a custom designed house and private builder can be 2 to 3 times that.

You can visit a project builders display village and see pretty much what you are going to end up with.

Also, (hang on, that's 3 things), you can choose to stay out of the building process with a project builder. Theoretically, you can pick your finishes, pay your money and then pick up your keys 6 (or 9 or 12) months later. Of course, the reality doesn't always match the theory.

pacharly · Apr 07, 2007 11:04 pm

Well , as I tried to explain in the first posting it's probably hard to see in the pictures , but in the first one , these black bricks like any other brick has front face and a back face , and also has a feature side and a non feature side , depending on the brick colour some are more notiable than others.
In this case the non feature side besides a diferent texture has a very distinguishable line, as I said in the pics bricks 3 and 4 from the right of the window.
To put this in perspective would be like ****** floor tiles upside down, would be the correct material , in the proper spot , according to the specs , and installed with the proper glue , but up side down. :shock:

So when you find in your there are ramdomly over 140 tiles in your floor upside down , the answer you get from the responsable of that( Metricons) is dont worry we'll paint the tiles and would look the same !

in the second photo , I'm not a brickie , but to use a little bit of comon sense if you have to paint the floor of a bedroom and you start from the door by the time you finish you will be trapped ! ! and I'm not a painter either , what i mean if you clean the exess of mortar as you put the brick on top and keep going in the same way up to the top huaaaa ! It's done , and I can undestand if you can wash the bricks after , but the excess of mortar and the lack of it in most of the rest of the wall is totally outside standars.

pacharly · Apr 07, 2007 11:11 pm

well to be may be a little bit more clear with the brick locations, are the ones at the bottom of the window (the ends) , if you compare the colour you'll see the ones with the line in brown insteed of totally black. The different texture can't be noticed in the photos. . .

pacharly · Apr 07, 2007 11:20 pm

Michelle

I have a serious question; I know at times I may make jokes about things…..

BUT……

Why are so many people choosing to build with projects companies and not private builders?

Very curious….

Hi Michelle , well to be enterally honest with you I didn't want a new house I was happy were I was , but having an Interior designer as a wife does not makes your life easier in that sense. She desided I was time for a change , and I was supportive when I should shut up. Anyway the floor plan matched what we wanted and the price was about a half. :wink:

So that leaves more money for the interior decoration ! ! ! ! !

Simple · Jun 01, 2007 5:10 pm

I am in the final stage of building with Metricon and have had numerous problems. I storngly suggest you make sure they start within 21 days (I didnt and they ended up starting more than 3 months after I signed the contract which in turned pushed the completion date back)

The other bit of advice - document everything - take photos, record who you spoke to what was said etc. It may become handy later in the project.

Oh and when they inform you that something will be ready on a particular date ie "plastering will be in next week" dont expect it or add at least three weeks :lol:

So far I havent been impressed with the qualtiy of the house, but will give them the benefit of the doubt and see how they go in the last couple of weeks (hopefully) The sad thing is the staff at Studio 501 were fantastic and very helpful, its a pity that so far the construction side has let Metricon down.

In regards to why I went with a project builder as apposed to a private buidler? To be honest I made a msitake, I should have went with a private buidler considering the amount I have spent etc. I have several friends in the building industry and they also agree.