Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 06, 2010 2:52 pm We are building with a small builder who I thought was bending over backwards to get our business (as they all do) but I also thought they would be doing everything right by us knowing that they are keen to build in our area and we are the first house they will be building in our town. They rely heavily on word of mouth advertising and made it clear from the start that they would be relying on our excellent building experience with them to get further work in the area. So far we are very happy (we haven't started yet) but I am not happy that we were underquoted when I made it very clear that I wanted a very extensive quote to avoid any surprises during the build. This is what I am about to e-mail to the Director of the small company. Hi *, Just wanted to send you an e-mail to let you know how we are feeling about the process at the moment. After speaking to *** and yourself on a few different occasions it become very apparent to us that it is very important to yourselves that you and your employess are doing everything possible to ensure a happy customer during and after the build because of how much you rely on word of mouth advertising. So far I have found your staff to be very reliable when it comes to responding quickly to phonecalls and e-mails. Everyone has been very friendly and extremely helpful. I am however, very disappointed after recieving a quote for our Cabinet and joinery after meeting with the Cabinet maker a couple of weeks ago. I remember at the start of this process when we first met with you guys on site to work out a quote I was very clear on what we wanted and one of the things I thought I was very clear on was that we didn't want to get halfway through the process and realise we actually needed more money than we initially thought. We wanted to know "the complete price" and whether we could in fact afford to build or whether we should buy established for now, hence why we asked **** to quote, carpets, blinds, concrete, driveway, clothesline, letterbox etc etc. I know with some things this can be very hard, and can vary enourmously depending on selections of flooring, blinds and various other things and I know that after my colour selection tomorrow there might be a chance that we go over budget even more. But after recieveing your quote with all of these things already included, I thought that if we allowed an extra $10,000 for "extras and upgrades" we would be safe . **** quoted us $12,000 allowance for the joinery for the bathroom, ensuite, powder room, kitchen, laundry, and consealed office. Which I have since found out is completely underestimating the cost of joinery for a house of this size. I was very aware of not upgrading too much and thought I was quite conservative when selecting our joinery. I have since sourced a couple of other quotes for joinery in ****** and they are similar in price. In fact when I spoke to the cabinet-makers they were shocked to find out I had only a $12,000 allowance for our joinery considering the size of our house. I have heard alot of volume builders underquoteing to get the job and one of the reasons I chose ****** over ****** or ******* is because of this. I know I have a choice and I will be trying to find ways I can cut back on the price of my cabinetmaking so as to fit into our budget but I really think that it would have been so much easier if we had have known from the initial quote that we would need up to (and at least) $17,000 to complete the joinery in a house of our size. Anything I should add?? Thanks Michelle Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32574 Re: Help me with letter of complaint to our builder 2Apr 06, 2010 4:37 pm As a price guide we where given $18500 for cabinet making we spent $20000, this include kitchen with ceasar stone, 3 vanity units, 1 bar unit, laundry bench. all with laminex tops. I would also be checking that there is going to be no extra site costs, they can underquote in this area. Also check your electrical this is one area our builder said that people will also spend more than budgeted as the builders allowance are also never enough usually one power & light point per room. Also attach to the letter any correspondence you have where this has been discussed. Good Luck Cheers Lou http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: Help me with letter of complaint to our builder 3Apr 06, 2010 6:30 pm It's very good, just some minor typos and changes... Hi *, Just wanted to send you an e-mail to let you know how we are feeling about the process at the moment. After speaking to *** and yourself on a few different occasions it become very apparent to us that it is very important to yourselves that you and your employess are doing everything possible to ensure a happy customer during and after the build because of how much you rely on word of mouth advertising. So far I have found your staff to be very reliable when it comes to responding quickly to phonecalls and e-mails. Everyone has been very friendly and extremely helpful. I am however, very disappointed after receiving a quote for our Cabinet and joinery after meeting with the Cabinet maker a couple of weeks ago. I remember at the start of this process when we first met with you guys on site to work out a quote, I was very clear on what we wanted and one of the things I thought I was very clear on, was that we didn't want to get halfway through the process and realise we actually needed more money than we initially thought. We wanted to know "the complete price" and whether we could in fact afford to build or whether we should buy established for now, this is why we asked **** to quote, carpets, blinds, concrete, driveway, clothesline, letterbox etc etc. I know with some things this can be very hard, and can vary enormously depending on selections of flooring, blinds and various other things and I know that after my colour selection tomorrow there might be a chance that we go over budget even more. But after receiving your quote with all of these things already included, I thought that if we allowed an extra $10,000 for "extras and upgrades" we would be safe. However, **** quoted us $12,000 allowance for the joinery for the bathroom, ensuite, powder room, kitchen, laundry, and concealed office. Which I have since found out is completely underestimating the cost of joinery for a house of this size. I was very aware of not upgrading too much and thought I was quite conservative when selecting our joinery. I have since sourced a couple of other quotes for joinery in ****** and they are similar in price. In fact when I spoke to the cabinet-makers they were shocked to find out I had only a $12,000 allowance for our joinery considering the size of our house. I have heard a lot of volume builders underquoting to get the job and one of the reasons I chose ****** over ****** or ******* is because I wanted honesty and accuracy. I know I have a choice and I will be trying to find ways I can cut back on the price of my cabinetmaking so as to fit into our budget but I really think that it would have been so much easier if we had have known from the initial quote that we would need up to (and at least) $17,000 to complete the joinery in a house of our size. So I would like to ask, exactly what would be included at the original allowance? Thanks Michelle "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Help me with letter of complaint to our builder 4Apr 13, 2010 10:22 pm Just thought I would update on how I went with this.... Sent the e-mail at 2pm today and recieved a return e-mail at 2.30pm saying it was being looked at and recieved a phone call at 4pm saying that they agreed the Prime Cost allocated wasn't enough for the house we are building and that after looking at it it seemed this house would need $13,600 allowance for joinery. They will wear the $1,600 difference between the prime cost which was allowed and the prime cost which they feel should have been allowed and I will pay any extra we spend above that. Am so happy I actually sent this e-mail and voiced my concerns rather than just stewing over it and feeling like we were ripped off. Would be very happy to recommend this builder to anyone!! They have actually started our slab (scrape happened Friday and underslab being done at the moment) and they haven't even recieved our 5% deposit yet. (Banks ) Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32574 Re: Help me with letter of complaint to our builder 5Apr 14, 2010 11:25 am Good communication both ways with your builder can make all the difference. I have just spent an hour with our builder going over different things up at the build. Does not pay to stew on things if they don't know the problem they can't fix it. Congrats Shellb on getting a result and on the start of your new home. Cheers Lou http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: Help me with letter of complaint to our builder 6Apr 14, 2010 1:09 pm Well done! I think this will be one of many things that will make you think, gee im glad I went with a small builder! The Company should be congratulated for admitting their at fault and fixing it! And see how much happier it makes you feel! 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