| ptemomo |
I dont know if its the right places for advice, but im sure a couple of you guys have been in this situation before.
Me and the wife bought a custom house last September. we were looking at spec house but couldnt find what we really wanted. But now i wish we did. we keep having problems with our builder. There is delay after delays. The house sat for 1.5 month waiting for drywall to be done. Then it sat for another month for them to re-do the texture on the ceiling after they did a crappy job. Now, last week they instaelled the wrong friggin cabinets in. The worst is they barely answer any question we have and keep saying its normal process.
Now, i just dont know what to do anymore. I wrote the CEO and he never responded. I keep talking to a manager that treat us like shit. They have the worst customer service i ever seen. Do you guys think we have any recourse? I already started a complaint with the BBB. But before i shell money on a lawyer, i would like to know if somebody had any experience with something like that. Im a pretty patient guy, i dont ask for much. I just want my stupid house done. Im in the army and will be deployed next summer. I was hoping to get some ofthe stuff done arund the house so my wife is not stock with it. But now, thanks to Coventry Homes, she ill have to.
Thanks for the help. |
|
|
| GOT SE-R |
| Thanks, I will try to stay away from them. My GF had nightmares with building a custom home in the past and she isnt too keen on doing it again. We have been looking at building a home and we find they all seem to be dicks to deal with. The sales people are nice but when it comes to getting answers on anything, its a joke. |
|
|
| unlimited |
Don't know how to really help you other than I understand where your coming from. When we were building our house about two years back, we had so much trouble with our first builder. Kept making promises when he did pick up the phone, lied about shit, never got anything done on time.
The last straw was he ditched town and took our money, good thing we didn't give all the money he was asking for. After that, we went with another builder who charged more but we knew him through friends and was very reliable.
And it sucks now because it sounds like you've got quite a bit of your house built, so its difficult to find another builder to take over the previous one's mess. Best of luck to you and hope your house gets finished on time! |
|
|
| ptemomo |
| I know i wouldnt be alone. Its pretty sad to spend that much money and still get crappy service. I wish i coulod find a way to get back to them beside plastering their name all over the interweb. Again, stay away from Coventry Homes. They do not care about their customers. |
|
|
| GOT BOOST |
I believe Coventy homes belongs to the new home builders waranty program. (I don't remember the exact name of the program, Ironically, there is condo being built right where I park. They advertise it, I will check the name and get back to you.)
Give them a shout and rattle some chains. :D
Edit:
I :wub: GOOGLE.
http://www.nationalhomewarranty.com/default3.asp |
|
|
| ehos |
Get a lawyer, put money in escrow.
I don't know your situation on the money, build, time frame, but the only thing builders understand is the cash flow.
They treat you like shit, because they can. DON'T let them walk over you. I feel for your wife having to deal with scum (and really, there is not much better terminology for 99.99% of the builders out there).
My condolences. |
|
|
| ptemomo |
Thanks for the link Got Boost. One more place to complain.
Ehos- We have about 100ks in deposit so far. The rest of the money is owed on possesion date. So i dont know how i could put the money in Escrow. I just want to do anything possible to piss them off and to keep poeple from buyimg from them It seems like its the only options i have right now. |
|
|
| Casanova |
| Global Troubleshooter seems to get companys attention and opening the respectful dialogue again |
|
|
| preluderca |
| isnt there a ppl helper her in edmonton too ? just go to all the news companies here and get them to make a story, as stated before that should smarten them up , at least one would hope, good luck with the house |
|
|
| Casanova |
I just sent this email to them.
I have come across an internet forum from a customer of yours complaining of the poor service and treatment they have received from Coventry Homes. They complain of delays, shoddy work,and poor treatment but the troubling part is the lack of effort in rectifying the customers concerns. The customer has apparently emailed the CEO of Coventry Homes to which he has not received a response. I can appreciate that every company has unhappy customers, but a company's true worth is how their leadership responds to mistakes and hiccups along the way. A lack of communication from the top of your organization reflects poorly on your organization as a whole and probably explains the lack of any real communication coming out of other levels of your organization. I am not going to pretend to know your business or tell you how to run your business but when I am looking to build a home (don't mistake that with a house), and spending a significant amount of money - I would expect a great deal more. No offense, but at this point Coventry Homes will not be considered in my next home purchase. Please don't email me back asking for what internet forum or other details on the internet forum post, and there is no need to reply as I will be watching the internet forum for updates. |
|
|
| BigTrucker |
quote:
Originally posted by Casanova
Global Troubleshooter seems to get companys attention and opening the respectful dialogue again
+1 for Global Troubleshooter.
We got in contact with her about a year long $800+ problem with Direct Energy and some inflated bills and hidden fees and within a week of her contacting Direct Energy we got a letter saying our account was cleared.
Companies don't fuck with her when she threatens to plaster their name and crap story all over TV. |
|
|
| ptemomo |
quote:
Originally posted by Casanova
I just sent this email to them.
I have come across an internet forum from a customer of yours complaining of the poor service and treatment they have received from Coventry Homes. They complain of delays, shoddy work,and poor treatment but the troubling part is the lack of effort in rectifying the customers concerns. The customer has apparently emailed the CEO of Coventry Homes to which he has not received a response. I can appreciate that every company has unhappy customers, but a company's true worth is how their leadership responds to mistakes and hiccups along the way. A lack of communication from the top of your organization reflects poorly on your organization as a whole and probably explains the lack of any real communication coming out of other levels of your organization. I am not going to pretend to know your business or tell you how to run your business but when I am looking to build a home (don't mistake that with a house), and spending a significant amount of money - I would expect a great deal more. No offense, but at this point Coventry Homes will not be considered in my next home purchase. Please don't email me back asking for what internet forum or other details on the internet forum post, and there is no need to reply as I will be watching the internet forum for updates.
Thanks dude. Very well written. I appreciate it.
Troubleshooter might be an option. I'll look into this. Thanks for the help guys. |
|
|
| silvermist |
ok for starters new home warrenty is a joke, if it is a small thing they will help you, if it is a major problem they give you the run around until you just give up because it would cost them any amount of money. they make themselves out to be the end all be all to the housing market. my dad used to be a member of new home warrinty when he first started building houses. he stated making to much money for a little company so they took his company away stating a bunch of bs.
my dad started building houses again and they sent him a letter telling him he had to join the new home warrenty program. he just laughed adnd threw the letter out. any good builder warrenties there own work, atleast that is what we do.
everyone I know that owns a house under the new home warrenty program I tell them xactly what they are in for.
as for the crappy customer survice welll welcome to alberta ecconemy boom. when it dies down and they are hurtting to build then you'll see tehm take the time to help you. now they all just wnat the money and you can piss off because if you don't like it they have 5 or more houses they can do instaed of yours and they can just leave your house till last. my naubour waited 3 years to get his house built and it still isn't done.
try being in the building buisness we delt with durabult windows andthey keep screwing up our orders and then did the whole " I'll call you tommorrow to let you know when we are coming to fix your windows" then the guy takes off for two weeks and then ignores phone calls. it sucks and that is just on inncident of many. |
|
|
| BigTrucker |
quote:
Originally posted by silvermist
ok for starters new home warrenty is a joke, if it is a small thing they will help you, if it is a major problem they give you the run around until you just give up because it would cost them any amount of money. they make themselves out to be the end all be all to the housing market. my dad used to be a member of new home warrinty when he first started building houses. he stated making to much money for a little company so they took his company away stating a bunch of bs.
my dad started building houses again and they sent him a letter telling him he had to join the new home warrenty program. he just laughed adnd threw the letter out. any good builder warrenties there own work, atleast that is what we do.
everyone I know that owns a house under the new home warrenty program I tell them xactly what they are in for.
as for the crappy customer survice welll welcome to alberta ecconemy boom. when it dies down and they are hurtting to build then you'll see tehm take the time to help you. now they all just wnat the money and you can piss off because if you don't like it they have 5 or more houses they can do instaed of yours and they can just leave your house till last. my naubour waited 3 years to get his house built and it still isn't done.
try being in the building buisness we delt with durabult windows andthey keep screwing up our orders and then did the whole " I'll call you tommorrow to let you know when we are coming to fix your windows" then the guy takes off for two weeks and then ignores phone calls. it sucks and that is just on inncident of many.
How would New Home Warranty be applied here? The house hasn't even been completed yet.
Also, the boom has come and gone, builders aren't building 20+ houses a month, they should be kissing his ass in order to keep him interested in their product.
To the OP: Is it too late to walk away from the deal? I'd let your sales rep know you want your deposit back and you will take your business elsewhere since they are taking so long and the quality of their work is terrible. If all of their visible work is this bad, I'd be sceptical to see how straight their walls are, how square the windows were installed etc... |
|
|
| silvermist |
yes the boom is over but companies are still tring to catch up to with all the buisness they got during the boom. I give it two more years ( that is giving alot of time) before they not only catch up but before they start feeing the loss of the boom again.
the reason for the mention of new home warrenty was because according to the security new home warrenty offers they should be stepping in to get the builder to finish the house and to finish it right to the customers satisfaction, but like I stated it is a joke they won't do anything for him until the house is 98% complete and eve then only if there are small things to fix ie. a light switch or change of a light or something. tell them the stone work is wrong and you might as well suck it up because they will just ignore you because the stone work will cost them $20,000 plus to fix. |
|
|
| silvse-r |
quote:
Originally posted by BigTrucker
[B]How would New Home Warranty be applied here? The house hasn't even been completed yet.
Okay I am confused now.
Is the house is the OP's possession or not?
Was the builder paid the whole sum of the contract already?
Was there a lawyer involved in holding money in escrow in this transaction?
Because the OP mentioned custom home, I assumed this is the traditional owner buys lot and pays for each completed stage to either one or every contractor that works on the house, but when he mentioned Coventry homes, it let me to believe that this is like any other new home purchase (built to buyer's spec), the builder draws for buyer's mortgage and lawyer holds some amount in escrow until possession. |
|
|
| ptemomo |
| To clarify a bit. We are having a builder building the hous to out specs. We had to make 3 different deposits at different stages and we do have a draw mortage. So the builder do have a fair bit of our money already. We are still fighting them over the cabinets. Tday i pretty much told them to get the problem fixed or to give me all my money back. Im ready to walk away from this house. I had enough headaches with them. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for all the help. It does help. Lets just say its the first and very last time i build a house. Its not worth the stress.... |
|
|
| silvse-r |
| Your choices are quite limited now. You already bought the house and you are currently waiting "delivery as ordered". Read through your purchase agreement and see if you have any clauses that can get you out of the deal. Aside from that, have your lawyer hold money for the cost of their undelivered items. I don't think they are notoriously known for screwing up their clients so maybe have a sit with them and express your frustrations with their service. If you are stressing about these things now just wait when you need to get them back to fix stuff under warranty. |
|
|
| ehos |
It's just a spec house Plus. You don't have control of the contractors or the money meaning you should work closely with the house builder.
That means you might have to swing on some nuts to get what you want. If you piss them off, I don't think you will be happy with the results. (Financially or the work done).
There is about 1 million ways to hide shoddy work, cut corners etc. Oddly enough, I think when you leave and your wife is in charge, she might be able to get better results OR they might totally walk over her.
I would get some other people involved. I personally would get a lawyer, and my brother, my dad, my uncles etc etc. The more people you have the better. You should go visit (never alone) the house and inspect it, PHOTO graph it, video tape it. Whatever. You will need recourse.
You're spending 3-4-500K and you have to get control back into your hands. You cannot do it alone. Just the mere presence of three four people will give you more credibility/power.
Hire your own inspector/builder to check out the progress, you are allowed to do that. It is YOUR house, and YOUR money.
Seriously man, I don't know what else to tell you but you need to empower yourself because it seems like you're alone in this. |
|
|
| ptemomo |
| im not too worried about shoddy work. I have been in the house almost every day monitoring process. Im a pretty handy man, so I can see when the job is not done right. I made them redo some work already. Im just mad at all the delays and poor service we received. Maybe im expecting too much. Im from Montreal where you can actually build a house in a few months and receive great service doing it. this builder is just a joke of a company (im sure many others are like that) and im making a point of letting the most people know about it. |
|
|
| Casanova |
quote:
Originally posted by ptemomo
im not too worried about shoddy work. I have been in the house almost every day monitoring process. Im a pretty handy man, so I can see when the job is not done right. I made them redo some work already. Im just mad at all the delays and poor service we received. Maybe im expecting too much. Im from Montreal where you can actually build a house in a few months and receive great service doing it. this builder is just a joke of a company (im sure many others are like that) and im making a point of letting the most people know about it.
Fuck that, like I said, when people are paying them to build a HOME for a family and spending the stupid amount of money they are demanding, they had better do a supreme job.
But unfortunately when a boom like this happens there is poor quality work. There is a major builder I have done work with and I asked him if quality of workmanship has suffered, he said he has had to hire 3 times the work force just to make sure the shitty guys they have no choice but to hire do a decent job. Their work is just decent, when they used to be an above the bar company.
There is also that company in BC that cashed in on HK being given back to China. Alot of ppl moved to Van to avoid the communist country, so a builder went and built a frame, got inspection approved, then went back and removed every 2nd stud. Now 400k to 1 mil homes in Van are starting to sag because the frame is failing, and the company that did that is bankrupt and the owner is scot free living the life somewhere. |
|
|
|
