Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Been put off a builder 21Sep 05, 2009 11:32 am we were always warned about simonds by friends/family (word of mouth is very strong) but after reading on here it just reinforces this.. we never looked anyway... I am exremely happy with Henley and am glad we chose them over PD and the certain rang we were looking at seems to have some issues from what I have seen. 2nd build here we come in Whittlesea! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=92617 1st Build - Henley - Cooper in Doreen! (2009) https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17354 Re: Been put off a builder 22Sep 05, 2009 11:56 am I've read good and bad about pretty much ALL of the majors. I chose to go with my builder because they had the floorplan I loved and many inclusions that I wanted as well. I was prepared to take the risk and hire an independant inspector if needed (we didn't need to). I have been blessed with a very smooth construction, thanks to a fabulous SS. I had a few dramas pre site with admin and the draftsperson, but once on site, everything ran really well. There have been a few little 'mistakes', but rectified quickly and properly (replacing with new - door jambs after doors were swung the wrong way, wrong sized pot drawers, scratched door handle and windows). We are extremely happy with the finished product and can't wait to move in in a few weeks. Our first contact with the Sales Consultant was a very positive experience. He was lovely and very patient, and we often drop in to the display centre to say hello! Our CSA has been wonderful and professional and always willing to answer any question I might throw her way. I have had dealings with 4 admin people pre start, but kept the same for the whole of the construction. Our main stress has been with the bank. They failed to pay 2 of our invoices on time having given them roughly 14 days, and they are now stuffing us around with our final payment. This has tarnished the whole experience for us and we just want it over... The house is perfect, the bank is a pain in the butt. EDIT: Although having been following a particular blog for many months (I'm sure we all know the one!), there is 1 builder I'm glad I didn't choose, but others have had good experiences with them. It's really the luck of the draw... Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Been put off a builder 23Sep 07, 2009 11:52 am javjad Hi novotel would you mine me asking who your builder is? I'm building with Hotondo. From how it was explained to me, they're actually local builder who is a franchisee off Hotondo. I'm very happy so far and i don't have any nightmare stories to share and hopefully i don't. Hehe. Re: Been put off a builder 24Sep 07, 2009 12:41 pm Hi Novotel! Interesting. . .we also saw H0t0nd0 when we were deciding who to build with (the guys at their office in Narellen), but were highly unimpressed with their professionalism. I kept getting calls from a guy in their office. . . sounded like he should have been starring on Fat Pizza, didn't have a clue what he was talking about, asked me questions (that, if he'd read our file he really should have known) and just totally wasted my time. It looks like the Albury office are more professional if you've had a good journey so far! Re: Been put off a builder 25Sep 07, 2009 1:06 pm Not so much from the H1 forums... but I did read ProductReview.com.au and saw a monster amount of negative feedback about Orbit Homes. That alone was enough to steer us clear of them - shame too.. they had some nice inclusions and good plans. Interestingly enough...in our estate (Woodgrove @ Beerwah - Stockland estate) they have bought a number of blocks.... as time goes on they are still sitting there empty while all the blocks around them fill up. I would have thought they would have employed some good SEO guys or something to try and balance it out - but it seems they havent. In the mean time the bad reviews just continue to pile up on productreview. We ended up choosing PJ Burns.. a Sunshine Coast builder. I hunted around on the web for ages looking for reviews or complaints and couldnt find any. In the end I concluded that if there was nothing bad on the web.. then they must be good. People with bad experiences usually go out of their way to bad mouth and share that bad experience. Whereas people with a good experience tend not to go to such efforts. As Im so into feedback and ***** about service (when appropriate) I always try and balance it out with providing good reviews online when I can. Have to balance out my negativity Re: Been put off a builder 26Sep 07, 2009 1:26 pm We did not research a lot about our builder (plantation homes/henley) before we signed with them. They just seemed to have the better plans for what we can fit on our land and the inlcusions were quite good. I'm so glad we went with them though, the build process for us has gone extremely fast for a highset house. Our place will be completed by the end of sept and we only started the last week of may. Can't rave enough about or SS, always friendly and kept us informed whenever we wanted to know about or progress. We asked at the begining of our build about estimate time of completion and he has been spot on. I have read some negative feedback about our builder online but I guess every case is different. Re: Been put off a builder 27Sep 07, 2009 2:29 pm kiarabuild We did not research a lot about our builder (plantation homes/henley) before we signed with them. They just seemed to have the better plans for what we can fit on our land and the inlcusions were quite good. I'm so glad we went with them though, the build process for us has gone extremely fast for a highset house. Our place will be completed by the end of sept and we only started the last week of may. Can't rave enough about or SS, always friendly and kept us informed whenever we wanted to know about or progress. We asked at the begining of our build about estimate time of completion and he has been spot on. I have read some negative feedback about our builder online but I guess every case is different. can i ask, who is your builder? Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Been put off a builder 28Sep 07, 2009 3:04 pm Hi Jodge, Maybe it's a bit of a hit and miss with franchisee builder because it depends on the local builder in question. The one here has a very good reputation and a friend knows them well so i just went with that to start with. No hard sell No crazy phone calls (except when i'm the suspect) No drama LOVE it. Re: Been put off a builder 29Sep 07, 2009 3:06 pm I was very impulsive when I chose Sim0nds. They had a cheaper house then other builders... but now that cost has blown out from $125k to at least $165K.. could have gone for a nicer house, on a larger block too. They did lie to me about something in my HIA contract, they said that I couldn't negotiate the compensation rate if they don't complete on time. I later read in the contract that I could.. but my 5 days cooling off period was just up. I hate not having time for these things!! So in short, I would not build with them again. I hate dishonesty. Contracted completion date 24 July 2010. What's today's date????? Re: Been put off a builder 30Sep 07, 2009 4:49 pm Hi Cazoraz, We are building with plantation homes qld (henley div) Re: Been put off a builder 31Sep 07, 2009 6:29 pm novotel Hi Jodge, Maybe it's a bit of a hit and miss with franchisee builder because it depends on the local builder in question. The one here has a very good reputation and a friend knows them well so i just went with that to start with. No hard sell No crazy phone calls (except when i'm the suspect) No drama LOVE it. As long as you're happy Novotel, then it's gotta be good! We ended up going with a small local builder too, and we're very happy so far. . . though we've only just started excavation, so we'll wait and see! Re: Been put off a builder by H1 reviews?? 33Sep 09, 2009 11:55 pm btherl For each builder I considered, I found stories on both sides. So I use homeone as a place to learn about my enemy, rather than to choose my enemy Yes, very good advice and a very good attitude to take. To that I'd add learn from other people's experiences so we don't continue to reinvent the wheel. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Been put off a builder 34Sep 10, 2009 12:22 am jodge Has anyone decided not to go with a specific builder after reading threads on the H1 forum? Would be interesting to see. . . I was put off by particular builders (both volume and small private ones) due to either friends/family building experiences, visible lack of quality of display homes or underwhelming communication & customer service. At the early research stage l didn't know H1 existed and even if l did, there was nothing on GJ Lewis here anyway! So although l could not draw on other peoples Lewis experience, l hope by documenting my own build it is helping other potential Lewis buildees gain invaluable knowledge and insight:) Re: Been put off a builder 35Sep 11, 2009 2:19 am Quote: "rather live in a cardboard box under a bridge" than build with them again. hehehe that was my review on that website!! haha its been pulled off now. Dont trust that website the companies pay them off to remove the bad ones!! I definately wont build with our builder again. I prefer my houses in 1 peice, I also enjoy feeling safe & not worrying bout being electrocuted or having the roof fall down on top of me. but hey thats just me! Hello everyone, I have a question regarding moving a chandelier after it has been mounted. The chandelier in question is quite large, measuring 4 meters… 0 72342 You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18083 0 9826 |