We took ours home at our first appointment. We refused to sign and said there is no chance of signing unless we took the contract for review. Just stand your ground. They can't legally prevent you from taking the contract.
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Trouble with S*monds.... other good builders in West Melb? 21Jun 24, 2009 11:12 am Helloween I spoke to my sales consultant yesterday and she verified that you can't take the contract home, that is why you have the 5 business days to cool off. Fortunately, I will have the weekend as well. We took ours home at our first appointment. We refused to sign and said there is no chance of signing unless we took the contract for review. Just stand your ground. They can't legally prevent you from taking the contract. Re: Trouble with S*monds.... other good builders in West Melb? 22Jun 24, 2009 11:28 am Thanks for all the updates everyone - it really is most appreciated. I love the house plan, but I am still close to pulling out.... depending on how it goes! I'm in a good position - yes, I've paid the $1,500 deposit with them.... but I also now own a block of land, meaning I'm free to choose any builder. They have made a lot of mistakes so far (floor plan wrong, electricals still all over the place) - and I know I won't be signing anything until all these are fixed. They have two days left before I review the contract on Friday... And yes, Simonds are basically saying that I'm not allowed to take it home with me, and I need to sign it first (and then the 5 day cooling off period). I don't agree with that - if I'm going to spend 160K with them, I want to review it in my own time first! My solicitor is my conveyancer (who looked after my land contract).... So I wanted her to have a look to make sure there was nothing ******* in there. But if they're using the HIA contract... Then I guess it's not so much a worry then, and that the main thing is that I need to ensure that my contract has everything correct (i.e. floor plan, electricals etc). For the site costs... they did the soil test over a month ago, and they still only have the estimate!!! They still haven't told me the final site costs... I want that in the contract. Re: Trouble with *******.... other good builders in West Melb? 23Jun 24, 2009 2:09 pm well actauly your chosen builder is notorious for this, let me make one thing clear the reason its dificult to get everything upfront with most volume builders is because they would on the fact that once you pay a deposit and go thru the process and get to say tender stage which means your anywhere from 3 to 5weeks down the track and items and costs come up you wern't expecting 90% of people will just justify these cost by thinking it will be the same where ever they go, big builders bank on this and they expect up to 40% on deposits to fall over but that gives them a crack at the other 60%. i used to be overwelmed by the amount of clients that stuck with big builders after the torture they whent thru at admin. trust your gut feeling, if things are hard at the begining and not to your satisfaction dont go forward it wont get any better in most cases you will end up regreting your decision for a long time. Re: Trouble with S*monds.... other good builders in West Melb? 24Jun 24, 2009 2:52 pm webbiegareth Thanks for all the updates everyone - it really is most appreciated. I love the house plan, but I am still close to pulling out.... depending on how it goes! I'm in a good position - yes, I've paid the $1,500 deposit with them.... but I also now own a block of land, meaning I'm free to choose any builder. They have made a lot of mistakes so far (floor plan wrong, electricals still all over the place) - and I know I won't be signing anything until all these are fixed. They have two days left before I review the contract on Friday... And yes, Simonds are basically saying that I'm not allowed to take it home with me, and I need to sign it first (and then the 5 day cooling off period). I don't agree with that - if I'm going to spend 160K with them, I want to review it in my own time first! My solicitor is my conveyancer (who looked after my land contract).... So I wanted her to have a look to make sure there was nothing ******* in there. But if they're using the HIA contract... Then I guess it's not so much a worry then, and that the main thing is that I need to ensure that my contract has everything correct (i.e. floor plan, electricals etc). For the site costs... they did the soil test over a month ago, and they still only have the estimate!!! They still haven't told me the final site costs... I want that in the contract. mmmmm....... all sounds a little familiar Re: Trouble with *******.... other good builders in West Melb? 26Jun 25, 2009 12:17 am im amazed at the gall of these big companies you are the customer and without you they dont have a job so start demanding to be treated properly i think its disgusting how they use stand over tactics and pure bluff to trick people into signing stand your ground dont be bullied by them stay safe happy building Re: Trouble with S*monds.... other good builders in West Melb? 27Jun 26, 2009 11:01 pm webbiegareth My solicitor is my conveyancer (who looked after my land contract).... So I wanted her to have a look to make sure there was nothing ******* in there. But if they're using the HIA contract... Then I guess it's not so much a worry then, and that the main thing is that I need to ensure that my contract has everything correct (i.e. floor plan, electricals etc). Umm a contract is a contract, something that an average person like you or I won't know a thing about. It does not matter it it a HIA contract (which definitely favor the builder, like the real estate contract favor the agent), it could be an ABC or DEF, GHI contract . It doesn't mean much to us non builder. Everyone should read EVERY WORD of your contract a few times over then get your solicitor to go over it. You can't even trust (some) solicitor to act in your best interest these days (due to their professionalism or relationship with builder or agent that you might not know about). At the end of the day if the contract disadvantages you your solicitor and builder are not going to be worried you are! Both party signing a contract need to know exactly what is in it so they can fulfill their obligation. Who can read a 50 to 100 pages contract and UNDERSTAND it FULLY in an hour or two allocated at the 'contract signing' appointment. The more of us who think 'it's a standard contract' and don't challenge it the more the builder force this down our throat as we are in a more gullible position. Stand up not just for your self but the next person after you who will fall into the same trap, cause the previous person just signed 'it should be right mate' Like others have said it YOUR money and probably the largest amount you will EVER spend in your life. End of the day the contract still favor the builder mostly, but if you know exactly (or as much as you can) about those particular bit then you can tackle them when things happens. Oh and just to be paranoid the copy that they print for you to sign on the day can potentially not be the exact copy of what you read (if they are doggy enough ). ok now I step off the shout box and back in my corner waiting for our contract in two weeks. I have made clear that I am not signing anything until I read it over fully and have been promised a an email copy of the contract prior to the day. Re: Trouble with *******.... other good builders in West Melb? 28Jun 27, 2009 10:10 pm FYI apparently I have a new CSO. Never spoke to the original one.. And guess what? I still don't have an appointment for the signing of my building contract. HELLO!!! It's suppose to be this WEDNESDAY. Do these people not have a calender? Contracted completion date 24 July 2010. What's today's date????? I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 9755 Hi I live in a 100yr old semi and my neighbour added an additional floor last yr and our architect has advised that we can knock down our semi and build a free-standing… 0 37681 Hi All It has been a few weeks since my last update. The build has been progressing well. No major issues to report. The scaffolding was dropped today, gyprock will be… 96 356749 |