Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Any good/bad experiences with Henley? 16Mar 14, 2007 10:06 pm To Leonda,
I have no axe to grind nor favour any particular builder....its just sticks in my craw that we were treated so badly here in NSW (with many others) and the Local Council Inspectors were no better at first we were on our own, until a John Ryan , from the Upper House NSW got involved, and Channel 9, and a lady from the Building Action Review Group......together with nearly 60 other complaintists, .....all leaned on Dept of Fair Trading , who were able to do something for us, albeit in some cases we witnessed , was too late... The episode(about 2 1/2 years) took a toll on our marriage and my business, but we survived..... Henley had 2 things going for them , they had the best house design for us at the time, and the cost was within our price range, and only slightly better than everybody else...... We wish you all the very best, and think that they wouldnt make that mistake again.We have friends in Brisbane who are about to build with Plantation (which is owned by Henley) As far as we know , Henley never supplied independent inspections before, so thats a step in the right direction. To Stewie, yes, I am pleased to say that our involvement, in many ways, some not mentioned here , helped the above organisations to get justice for the many people who not only got their house fixed (or demolished) but got their life back again, (some did'nt) ....theres no recompense for some of the the trouble this company caused....Now you can see why we are still angry...... but have to get on with life... Re: Any good/bad experiences with Henley? 17Mar 14, 2007 10:08 pm To Leonda,
I have no axe to grind nor favour any particular builder....its just sticks in my craw that we were treated so badly here in NSW (with many others) and the Local Council Inspectors were no better at first we were on our own, until a John Ryan , from the Upper House NSW got involved, and Channel 9, and a lady from the Building Action Review Group......together with nearly 60 other complaintists, .....all leaned on Dept of Fair Trading , who were able to do something for us, albeit in some cases we witnessed , was too late... The episode(about 2 1/2 years) took a toll on our marriage and my business, but we survived..... Henley had 2 things going for them , they had the best house design for us at the time, and the cost was within our price range, and only slightly better than everybody else...... We wish you all the very best, and think that they wouldnt make that mistake again.We have friends in Brisbane who are about to build with Plantation (which is owned by Henley) As far as we know , Henley never supplied independent inspections before, so thats a step in the right direction. To Stewie, yes, I am pleased to say that our involvement, in many ways, some not mentioned here , helped the above organisations to get justice for the many people who not only got their house fixed (or demolished) but got their life back again, (some did'nt) ....theres no recompense for some of the the trouble this company caused....Now you can see why we are still angry...... but have to get on with life... Re: Any good/bad experiences with Henley? 18Mar 15, 2007 8:16 am I personally don't have any experience with Henley other than we almost built with them. 'Almost' being they key word because we were ready to take the next step with them until we found out that the house we picked was 1 meter too long for our block. Anyhoo, up to the point before we had to find another house, we found their customer service great. The people at the display homes were very welcoming and willing to answer any questions we had.
When we started speaking to our broker and we told him that we planned to build with Henley he was a bit hesitant in voicing his opinions. He eventually told us that three or so years ago he would've probably advised us against building with them as they weren't up to par. But that they really have pulled up their socks in the last couple of years. So, things could've possibly changed since the incident(s) occurred with the likes of nswreview. A friend of a friend built with Henley here in Melbourne in the last 12-18months and they didn't have any major problems. My partner's co-worker built with them a couple of years ago and although he had some problems the only thing that sticks to my mind is that they put the wrong coloured tiles in his house. Having said all that, Henley do have one of the lowest base prices for their homes that I've seen. But...the house we picked out of their range had a base price of 159k 9 months ago. Just before we changed house the base price was 167k. Now it starts at 173k! Go, figure, ey. And i've just looked on their website and their range has double. [sneakersss] Re: Any good/bad experiences with Henley? 19Mar 15, 2007 11:15 am Hi,
D&B - It's not a truely independant building inspector as at the end of the day Henley pay their bills, but they are an external company and as nswreview said, l think it is a step in the right direction. The only reason l mentioned that point was because the smaller building company that we were previously going to use did not provide anything like this. Something is better than nothing l suppose! nswreview - l wish you weren't treated so badly and you sound like a very strong person to be able to go through all of that and come out the other end with your marriage and sanity still in tact. l just felt like all l read was negative things about Henley and l just wanted to give my perspective on our dealings with them. l just want to try to be open minded and take this whole new home building thing as it comes. It is an eye opener when you are new to it all! Thanks, Leonda Re: Any good/bad experiences with Henley? 20Mar 15, 2007 12:57 pm Leonda,
Sorry didnt mean to pull apart your dream, it was our dream too, and apart from the problems(even the major ones the list is just too long) we still got the best designed house.... Its a pity, cos Im sure as their Marketing people were always ahead of the rest, they could have become the premier builder.... they were in the end, let down by lazy Supervisors and to this day I do not believe every trades were completed by fully licenced trades people... any how enough of the negatives...have a lovely time....enjoy your new house, and if you ever want to contact me, with major items to watch for..(with any builder) please do not hesitate. Our son is building in NSW (Sydney) with another fairly big builder...so far , fingers crossed, everything has gone like clockwork,and the work seems to be ok ... and until xmas was ahead of the schedule.....now its way behind, and the contact /admin is very ordinary......what is it with these people ??!!!! They have a good product...here I go again...Im keeping out of this one......enough !! kind regards 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 18870 You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 17491 do not pay until you are satisfied with workmanship windows require flashing over the head archithrave and up under weatherboards 3 29266 |