Where do I start this blog? Perhaps a summary of our bad experiences which I will describe in further detail as we go.
SLOW.
One Three Designer Homes took over 15 months to build our house. The contract period was 9, so not quite double. Failing to complete the job within the contract period caused us various issues and additional costs, but the major frustration was the apparent lack of genuine effort to attempt to complete the job within the contract period. We must have raised our concerns about the slow progress 20-30 times, only to be provided with misleading information while the site sat empty of workers for days and weeks while their tradespeople worked on other jobs.
Disgusting lack of Integrity
I'll provide some examples, but there were various items discussed and assurances given, that were later met with a 'sorry but there is no record of that in writing' response. At first we were astounded by the response, later we came to expect it.
Beware of the HIA contract.
We basically assumed that this was standard and therefore fair and balanced contract.
Well it is fairly standard, but what I now understand is that it is the HIA is an industry group FOR BUILDERS and the HIA contract is quite favorable to the builder in many ways and leaves the owner with very limited rights and recourse in many others.
Obviously One Three Designer Homes know this only too well. We felt bullied by the way they responded when we attempted to raise some of the concerns that we had. One Three Designer Homes were fully prepared to leverage of the contract terms to maximize their advantage. We even received hostile letters from their lawyers.
Complete disregard for our concerns and attempts to resolve them.
We tried various approaches to resolve some of the concerns that we had with One three designer homes. When those failed we thought that as a last resort we could revert to the dispute settlement clause in the contract. However in spite of the point above, when we were simply astounded when One Three Designer Homes simply refused to participate in the dispute resolution process defined in the contract, or mediation via Fair Trading.
Invoicing for work not completed.
Just about any place you look for advise about dealing with builders will warn you about this.
I can see why. On 4 separate occasions One three Designer homes sent us invoices for work before it was completed. I have no idea if this is an indication of cash flow problems or simply a greedy attempt to take advantage of their clients?
What is the Opposite of Customer Service?
I'm not really sure where to start on this one. Let's just say that we were made to feel that One Three Designer homes' interest was all about doing things on their own terms and getting paid. We were made to feel like our interest in our new home and our desire for them to complete the work according to the contract was annoyance to them. How is this one, the home owner is not even allowed to know the building site supervisors phone number - god forbid you might want to actually contact him.
Misleading assurances and large bills for additional costs.
Not uncommon from reading / talking to others in the industry.
