METRICON - MERRICKS 38 w PENINSULA FACADE
I am currently looking to Build a new House in QLD. This will be our first build and hence have no prior experience working with Builders. I started looking at choice of builders in February this year and decided to go with Metricon for following 2 main reasons:
1. Floorplan - most close to what we wanted.
2. Market Reviews as being the good quality builder
I started my journey with Metricon in mid February. Approached the sales person in one of the display homes and explained our requirements and he presented us with a floorplan which we really liked i.e. Merricks 38 w quite a few modification ( Peninsula facade, Master bedroom at he back and second balcony next to master bedroom at the back etc.).
We paid the initial deposit $1.5K early March and signed PC in first week of May with payment of $2.5K.From day one we have been very clear with the sales person on our requirements. When he presented us our first draft plans and quote in Feb we gave a list of items that he got wrong and require fixing. He said that fixing those items would take him 2-3 weeks so would be better to do that as part of the PC. To my surprise he only addressed less than half of those items as part of the PC and when we questioned that he said if he goes back no that will take him another 3-4 weeks to fix that and he promised to fix that as part of the final contract, once after we did our selections. So based on that promise we signed the PC and paid the PC deposit. Mainly so that we can save time and get to build ASAP.
After all the long process and wait (and our visit to the Studio M) we received our Final Contract Late June. To my horror the Contract was still wrong and most of the items were still not addressed and to my surprise Sales person asked me to sign the contract as is and promised to fix it as a variation.
This is where I lost my patience and realised all that he is interested in is to get the sale and never wanted to listen to our requirements. Now I have told him to get it all fixed but he said a new contract will take 3-4 weeks .
After this I contacted his manager to understand what was going wrong but he didn't know much and promised to have the paperwork updated within 2 days. Now it has been more than 10 days and still keep hearing excuses everyday and yet to recive the final paperwork.
NOTE: The above story is a short version of the whole process, there were few more challenges which I have not detailed here e.g. Metricon increased their Site Costs by 40%, compared to the pricing provided in PC ETC.
I have in total spend almost 5-6 months with Metricon and yet to have the final Contract. Hence I am seeking for some feedback and would like to find out what sort of experience others have had with Metricon.
- Is this the standard process?
- Are all builders like that?
- Is it an exception due to my sales person?
- What can I do to rectify the delays?
- Should I cut my losses and walk away now?