Hi all!
Hoping everyone could share their views and journey with building with Rawdon Hill.
This will be my first time building and fell in love with the Denmark 326
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Rawdon Hill 3Sep 09, 2017 8:34 pm Hi Kylie, How's your build going with Rawdon Hill? I have signed a prelim contract with them and I'm currently waiting on final fixed priced contract; should be about 2 weeks I'm told. Building the Camden 201 (highly modified internally) at Emberwood estate in Warragul and found them to be very flexible with the internal changes but my one complaint is it takes about 2 weeks and 5 emails to get an answer on costing of things (particularly underlay and insulation upgrade costs) that other builders can tell you in about 30 seconds if you speak with someone at their display homes. I thought maybe I'd try the Rawdon Hill display home for pricing info but when the consultant there found out I had already signed with another sales rep she didn't want to give me any info at all! Did you have difficulty in getting a quick answer on pricing? Also, did you get any surprises when you finally received your fixed price costing? Cheers, Nick Re: Rawdon Hill 5Mar 25, 2018 7:52 pm Hi Wendy, Unfortunately my experience has not been very positive. Ultimately I think they will still do a good job on the build but have had issues with them advising timeframes in getting to final contract, as well as cost estimates given to me before paying my initial deposit. After being advised on a 'worst case scenario' timeframe to get to final contract of 6-8 weeks before paying my initial deposit, it took them nearly 14 weeks before they could produce this. Also, they had advised they could give me a good idea of site costs given that they were building on the block next door to mine which would give them an accurate idea of costs. However after paying an initial $3000 deposit to get to my final quote, the site costs quoted ended up being over $9000 more (over 60% extra than what the provisional sum provided in the quote)! Please note that doesn't include any unexpected requirements like rock excavation. Several other things in the quote were quoted a lot higher than estimates I was given by contractors. In all honesty, if I could wind back the clock and choose to go with my second choice builder (elara homes) I would do it in a heartbeat. Friends of mine who did go with this builder, and paid there initial deposit 3 months after me had their final contract at nearly the same time and have just overtaken me in their build process. Re: Rawdon Hill 6Apr 06, 2018 7:31 pm I have edited this post as the poster I was replying to seems to have deleted all posts and left the forum. Evie, I may be wrong, but I assume you may be concerned about posting negative feedback in a public forum that the builders have access to. This somewhat concerns me also but I think sharing positive and negative experiences is important for others to see. I have already had one experience with RH being really difficult, rude and defensive to deal with after simply bringing the issue in a very polite way to their attention. If you do read this and want any info feel free to PM me and I can answer any questions you may have, and am happy to share info. To answer the questions in your post before you deleted it, I did not have to pay an out of area surcharge for building in Warragul. Also my base stage was completed about 4 weeks ago. I am awaiting the builder to start the framing stage. I'm not sure when they will start, but I will be emailing them shortly for an update given that nothing has happened for 4 weeks. Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer not to have any of your info posted in a place where builders may read it. Re: Rawdon Hill 7Nov 19, 2019 4:08 pm I am looking to build the camden 213 with Rawdon Hill. Wondering what changes you made, the floor plan is close to what I want but no ideal. How much did it cost to make changes? Looking to most likely swap the master and second living room, so master isnt at the front then try to add a study nook in. I like the idea of the house being ready to live in on competition, compared to other builders. Re: Rawdon Hill 8Nov 20, 2019 9:02 am Hi Ceta, My best advice would be to look at any other builders and see if they can build the layout you like. My experience and many others I have since spoken to was horrible with Rawdon Hill and after paying the initial deposit i strongly considered forfeiting it and going with another builder as most were willing to completely rearrange the inside of their plans to a layout I liked for little to no cost. They were also happy to add the turnkey options to make it ready to live in on completion for a total cost comparative to Rawdon Hill. To this day I wish I had have let go of the $3000 deposit i paid Rawdon Hill early in the process and changed builders before going to final contract. The estimated costs for changes/additions I was given before paying the initial deposit jumped, in some cases dramatically by 2 or 3 times whey had initially estimated for me. I literally do not have the time to list the number of things wrong with Rawdon Hill, but here's a few. First and foremost, customer service is horrendous after they have your initial deposit, this is something myself, my neighbours and close friends (who all build with Rawdon Hill at the same time) experienced. I also met up with another 2 couples that were currently building with Rawdon Hill facing similar problems to discuss options to deal with them and to vent frustration. They don't give you the site supervisors details, which every other builder lets you communicate with during the build process. I actually luckily managed to meet mine onsite one day when I stopped by to check on progress and found him to be helpful, however he resigned before my house was completed and the construction manager took over his role which let to more delays and dishonesty. I had an issue early on with a fencing contractor I had hired being abused by Rawdon Hills sales manager (yes that's right, sales manager) and asked to leave site after I mentioned to Rawdon Hill that the fence between my neighbours block and my block was going to cost a little more and require reinforcing due to Rawdon Hill clearly making an error with my neighbours site cut overlapping into my block. Rawdon HIll refused to listen to this and my neighbours and I paid the extra cost to have the fence built properly so it would be stable. Rawdon Hill's general manager even came to site and was completely rude and arrogant in dealing with me and my neighbours denying any accountability or responsibility. Based on his wage and travel it would have cost them more to argue this with us than to take responsibility and make it right, something Rawdon Hill seems to be always prepared to do. When my neighbours property was completed, it was not ticked off by the surveyor due to this overlapping site cut that now required them to build extra retaining walls. The surveyor pointed out this was the error and responsibility of the builder to fix and their General Manager still refused to budge and continued to be rude and arrogant with my neighbours about it. They ended up having to go through the process of going to VCAT to have Rawdon Hill pay for these costs, which again the Manager was more than happy to waste his and their time to fight through VCAT with them rather than accept responsibility. After all of the hard work my neighbours did in fighting this they won and Rawdon Hill were made to pay back costs as this was clearly their fault and responsibility. The surveyor told us that there were a lot more issues these days with Rawdon Hill builds than years ago too. We chose Rawdon Hill as they seemed to have pretty good reviews but this seems to have gone drastically downhill and now people that are happy with them are few and far between. Someone else contacted me on this forum but unfortunately for you she deleted her post as they were going to be taking legal action against them and didn't want any online comments to affect any legal follow up. she did PM me though and explain her horror story with Rawdon HIll. My neighbours have also spoken with many others on other online forums and social media with their issues as we are both happy to help others avoid what we went through. I could go on and on with more issues but it will turn into a novel. These are only a couple of issues out of many that myself, neighbours, close friends and other clients all experienced during the build. My neighbour still talks to people on Facebook and Instagram who have also faced huge issues with Rawdon HIll and all of us stronly advise anyone we talk to go with another builder. I do understand that there will be problems and issues with all builders (as we all did), but Rawdon Hill have an inability to deal with these issues or even be civil about it. I am happy to answer this post and provide you with our accounts as we do not wish these experiences on anyone, and wish we had have been told the same before signing. So that's my opinion, and the opinion of my neighbours and others I have spoken with. My best personal advice would be to pick ANY other builder at all and see what they can do to build the plan/layout you like with the addtions you want and avoid Rawdon Hill altogether. Good luck with everything and If you require any more info at all just PM me, I am happy to help. Re: Rawdon Hill 9Nov 24, 2019 1:39 pm That you so much Nick_6. That helps make my choice easier- there is a design with Fairhaven that I also like and it comparable to Rawdon Hill cost wise and they have no wait time to build too which is great. Still at early stages with my block not expected for a few more months but great to get the feel for other peoples experiences. Re: Rawdon Hill 10Nov 25, 2019 2:33 pm ceta That you so much Nick_6. That helps make my choice easier- there is a design with Fairhaven that I also like and it comparable to Rawdon Hill cost wise and they have no wait time to build too which is great. Still at early stages with my block not expected for a few more months but great to get the feel for other peoples experiences. No problems. My neighbours, friends and I are happy to help people avoid the trouble we had! Best of luck with everything and hope it all goes smoothly. Re: Rawdon Hill 11Mar 04, 2020 4:04 pm Avoid Rawdon Hill. We moved into our home over 12 months ago and still defects not repaired, we can’t even lock our back door! They seem to try and help but blame everything on the tradesman - well they are theirs aren’t they! It’s got to the point my wife and I argue as she just wants to sell our dream home and walk away from the trouble. Re: Rawdon Hill 12Mar 05, 2023 3:23 pm SGH Avoid Rawdon Hill. We moved into our home over 12 months ago and still defects not repaired, we can’t even lock our back door! They seem to try and help but blame everything on the tradesman - well they are theirs aren’t they! It’s got to the point my wife and I argue as she just wants to sell our dream home and walk away from the trouble. Hi SGH, I would like to speak to you in confidence if I could re RHC if you are prepared to thanks JM3144 Re: Rawdon Hill 13Mar 05, 2023 3:24 pm Nick_6 ceta That you so much Nick_6. That helps make my choice easier- there is a design with Fairhaven that I also like and it comparable to Rawdon Hill cost wise and they have no wait time to build too which is great. Still at early stages with my block not expected for a few more months but great to get the feel for other peoples experiences. No problems. My neighbours, friends and I are happy to help people avoid the trouble we had! Best of luck with everything and hope it all goes smoothly. Hi Nick_6 Id like to speak to you confidentially if I could thanks JM3144 Re: Rawdon Hill 14Mar 05, 2023 7:02 pm JM3144 Nick_6 ceta That you so much Nick_6. That helps make my choice easier- there is a design with Fairhaven that I also like and it comparable to Rawdon Hill cost wise and they have no wait time to build too which is great. Still at early stages with my block not expected for a few more months but great to get the feel for other peoples experiences. No problems. My neighbours, friends and I are happy to help people avoid the trouble we had! Best of luck with everything and hope it all goes smoothly. Hi Nick_6 Id like to speak to you confidentially if I could thanks JM3144 Hi JM3144, Perhaps you could provide a little more info in the public forum area here as to why you wish to speak confidentially to 2 people in this thread? The only people you have replied to are the people who have left honest negative feedback about their bad experiences with RH. For the transparency of others who come here for honest feedback it is probably best that you offer general information as to why you would like to speak confidentially? I say this because as much as I wish for people to be able to avoid the experiences I had with RH, I believe information in forums like this should be clear and truthful. Your reply/request may come across to other readers as if you work for RH and wish to have stern words with people who leave truthful negative reviews which may not be the case, and I don't wish to be a part of any negativity that is not based on truth. So for the sake of others who come here for honest feedback, perhaps provide a little more general (not specific) information as to why you wish to confidentially contact people. Re: Rawdon Hill 15Mar 05, 2023 8:18 pm I understand which is why I contacted you both. We have a current issue and I don’t want to speak publicly. I am happy to explain offline and i think you’ll get why. . I understand and respect if you Don’t want to engage. Re: Rawdon Hill 17Mar 06, 2023 3:58 pm JM3144 I understand which is why I contacted you both. We have a current issue and I don’t want to speak publicly. I am happy to explain offline and i think you’ll get why. . I understand and respect if you Don’t want to engage. As Kippers has suggested in their comment I am already reluctant to discuss anything if you can not provide even the most basic general information as this is the whole point of a forum like this. I would ask that you answer at least one question as your post above doesn't address any of the concerns that I have laid out clearly in my last reply. Please at least answer this one question honestly: Do you work for Rawdon Hill? Re: Rawdon Hill 18Mar 06, 2023 4:13 pm Nick_6 JM3144 I understand which is why I contacted you both. We have a current issue and I don’t want to speak publicly. I am happy to explain offline and i think you’ll get why. . I understand and respect if you Don’t want to engage. As Kippers has suggested in their comment I am already reluctant to discuss anything if you can not provide even the most basic general information as this is the whole point of a forum like this. I would ask that you answer at least one question as your post above doesn't address any of the concerns that I have laid out clearly in my last reply. Please at least answer this one question honestly: Do you work for Rawdon Hill? Hi Nick_6 I do not nor have I ever worked for Rawdon Hill. As indicated previously, I’m being discreet because I have an issue involving that builder. If you send me a gmail address we can discuss further. We are coming from the same place. Re: Rawdon Hill 19Mar 06, 2023 4:27 pm JM3144 Nick_6 JM3144 I understand which is why I contacted you both. We have a current issue and I don’t want to speak publicly. I am happy to explain offline and i think you’ll get why. . I understand and respect if you Don’t want to engage. As Kippers has suggested in their comment I am already reluctant to discuss anything if you can not provide even the most basic general information as this is the whole point of a forum like this. I would ask that you answer at least one question as your post above doesn't address any of the concerns that I have laid out clearly in my last reply. Please at least answer this one question honestly: Do you work for Rawdon Hill? Hi Nick_6 I do not nor have I ever worked for Rawdon Hill. As indicated previously, I’m being discreet because I have an issue involving that builder. If you send me a gmail address we can discuss further. We are coming from the same place. Then I see no reason why you would not just PM myself or another client of RH's for their take on an issue you may be having. Many others have reached out to me in this way in that they are not wanting to post details of their troubles in a forum that can be viewed publicly by the builder and may cause issues for them. To say you require a personal email to ask a question sets off all alarm bells at the highest level and is not something i'm prepared to provide, and nor should any other sensible person. Re: Rawdon Hill 20Mar 06, 2023 4:31 pm Nick_6 JM3144 Nick_6 As Kippers has suggested in their comment I am already reluctant to discuss anything if you can not provide even the most basic general information as this is the whole point of a forum like this. I would ask that you answer at least one question as your post above doesn't address any of the concerns that I have laid out clearly in my last reply. Please at least answer this one question honestly: Do you work for Rawdon Hill? Hi Nick_6 I do not nor have I ever worked for Rawdon Hill. As indicated previously, I’m being discreet because I have an issue involving that builder. If you send me a gmail address we can discuss further. We are coming from the same place. Then I see no reason why you would not just PM myself or another client of RH's for their take on an issue you may be having. Many others have reached out to me in this way in that they are not wanting to post details of their troubles in a forum that can be viewed publicly by the builder and may cause issues for them. To say you require a personal email to ask a question sets off all alarm bells at the highest level and is not something i'm prepared to provide, and nor should any other sensible person. I’m not sure I agree but ultimately it’s your call and there’s not a lot in it for you. I was after an email so I could give you my phone number to discuss. Alternatively I could set up a gmail and you could email me at that- just not on a public forum Howdy all. I am looking for feedback on what people would do to maximise and make an area as flat as possible. First, out the front of the house is a sloping hill, pretty… 0 20150 I brought terry road box hill in June 2022 House was meant to be completed Nov 2023 That did not happen I had to chase them so much to the land Registration and… 0 2503 |