Warning – Don’t build with Simonds
Posted by jonno | Posted in House | Posted on 30-04-2009
Well I keep saying it but I seem to be losing time. A lot of it!
As previously mentioned, we are in the process of building a new house. The lot is purchased and up until last Wednesday night, a builder had been selected.
The builder was Simonds.
Why did we choose a volume builder? Well, two reasons. Obviously firstly, they were cheaper, but secondly, they actually had a design we liked. Yay we said.
Anyway, because of the location and fall on the land, we decided to speak with them prior to purchasing the land. After an inspection from the sales guy, and then a followup check from the construction manager, the all clear was given to buy the land. They, in late February, were happy to build on the lot.
Now, two months later, they’ve decided they’re no longer going to build on it. The customer service was terrible. Phones never answered, voice mail never returned, email never replied to.
So, with the building scheduled to commence in June, we’re now back to the start.
As you can imagine, this has been incredibly frustrating and a complete waste of time.
What was more annoying was the arrogant rude manager that told us. It’s one thing to deliver bad news, no one wants to hear it etc etc, but he decided to answer phone calls, check messages and lecture us on the importance of ‘buyer beware’. Hmm wait a sec, isn’t that what we did?
Given there poor handing of this from start to finish, I’m committed to stopping 5 people from building with them. I’m hoping to cost them a million dollars (not including us).
Given their terrible customer service, I think it’s a blessing in disguise that we didn’t build with them. This could have been a 12 month nightmare. Fortunately, it’s only been a waste of 3 months of my life.
Anyway, having put that experience behind us, the hunt for a builder continues.
