scratches on brand new benchtops....and we havnt even got it

Wondering what the go is here.We are getting a new transportable home,due to be delivered tomorrow!I had a look at our home a fortnight ago, when the kitchen had just been installed.Looked great and I took some pics to show my husband.At that time the benchtops had the protective plastic on it to protect from scratches etc.when my husband was looking at the photos there were tools etc on the benchtops which my husband did say hope they dont scratch it, but as the protective wrap was on we hoped would be ok.I went and looked at the house again yesterday, and the plastic has been removed and even though there was still a lot of dust on the benchtops I could pretty quickly see that there were some scratches on the benchtop, one quite noticeable deeper one,not just a surface scratch, although not very big.I pointed it out to the lady we deal with, who said to make sure we point it out to our site superviser when we do handover.Although its quite a minor thing, Im really disappointed, as I spent extra $ on upgrading my kitchen so I would be happy with it.Obviously I know they wouldnt replace the benchtop or anything, but would anyone know would we expect to have something done about this?or are we supposed to just be okay with how it is.Im just annoyed as its obviously someone just being careless who couldnt give a s##t.Also if I went to purchase a new product and the company damaged it you would expect to get a reduced price for the damaged product.Im just a bit p****d is all and dissappointed!Im also hoping we dont find more, as like I said it was pretty dirty so who knows what else well find once its cleaned up.

Thats terrible, especially since you spent the extra $ on making it perfect for you. I would be very annoyed, I hope you dont find any more damage.

I would fight it. You are buying a brand new product and there should not be scratches on the bench top.

Hi Mary,
What kind of benchtop is it? Timber, Lamimate, Steel, Stone or reconstituted stone . I would speak to the supervisor, show him the scratches and get them to replace it.
We have had our pre inspection with our supervisor and noticed discrepancies in the glass pantry doors as well as the scratches on the outside of the windows. They will all be replaced. We didnt ask the supervisor to fix it we told him to replace it with new ones.

Hope all goes well for you, its so disappointing when things dont turn out like they should.

Get it replaced your not paying for a used condition bench top. This is why you are building.

thanks guys.we're still waiting for handover, house is done but we took the option of having a verandah done which is taking a while, so havnt been able to have a wang about the benchtop yet.Just wondered if there is anyway of repairing diamondgloss?Im thinking probably not!Also one of our windows is quite scratched.they all seem to have a few scuff marks and scratches on them, only mild but one is quite bad so will be asking for that to be sorted out too!!I guess they just have some kind of touchup paint?
The more people you talk to who have built etc, doesnt seem to matter what your budget is, there is always some problem of something not being done properly, or some slight damage!
Do most customers who have had similar issues end up getting the items fixed/repaired or just give up, as I ve heard stories of people fighting for some things to be corrected or repaired and who get sick of fighting with the company and in the end hire another builder to come and do it at their own expense!

They definitely should replace it for you. I would call the SS before handover and let him know. Thats what we did with our kitchen cupboard and gave him the heads up so he could get them start making it. I wouldnt expect anything less than a replacement. Brand new home you dont want something scratched!!!

My guess is they will replace it FREE of charge. If they try to get out of it just say "OK, I will be calling my ombusman and consumer affairs office first thing"
Watch them jump then !

I would also take a photo showing the damage so they can see that the damage was prior to handover.
Email it to them as well so you have proof that it was reported and was something that occurred prior to handover.

Actually depends on how many percentage money you have paid them already. I mean, if you have paid the majority part, then it is you who need to worry about the loan and lose the fight. But if you hasn't paid that lot, there is more chances for them to fix it for you because they want your money. You can try to hold the next payment until they fix this bench problem for you. One of my friends did so and succeeded. Or may be you can ask the private inspector to check if they can do if for you. I heard some inspectors have done really job in arguing with builders but there are some inspectors don't do too much work at all. Any way, I think it will do no hurt for you to phone several property inspection companies to enquirer.