ok this doesn't have anything to do with adoption, but this forum is kinda dead so i thought i'd post my little story here.  we've been trying to figure out what we want to do for a new house, buy one already built or build one ourselves...  and i guess you could say this has *something* to do with adoption since this was all has to do with getting DD, LOL (the move & all!!).  well we have been really interested in building with a particular builder down here, but they have given us nothing but hassle- which is shocking in this market, right?!  you'd think they'd be begging for people to build!!!

#1 thing is like 5mon. ago, we were ready to build.  the guy acted like GREAT!  we said we want lots of upgrades (and were fully wiling to pay for them) and he's like no problem!  so we get going, give them our $1000 earnest money and it clearly says in the contract it is REFUNDABLE if we decide not to go with the house, as he assured us.  well then he comes back and says that corporate says we need to plunk down more money, for all the upgrades.  we didn't have it, we were paying for *2* houses at the time, while trying to sell the old house and renting the current one.  so we said well i guess we have to wait until we sell the house, and we put in a cancellation form and were told the refund will take 8-10wks., huh???  so we waited, and waited, and waited...  we *really* needed the money while we were paying for 2 houses at once!!!

so over vacation, i realized it has been like *3* months where is our darn refund???  so i started e-mailing him about it, and he said "i'll look into it."  i even went down there last week, but he was gone so i talked to the other guy, and he said he would have him call us the next day.  he never did.

then dh & i started looking at houses, and felt even more convinced after this to build like we planned, as we didn't like anything we were seeing too much.  so i shot the guy an e-mail, and said even though i've been "a bit less than pleased with the communication" that we were still considering building with them.  you'd think the guy would be HAPPY we would still use them, after all the lousy customer service!!!  the only reason we would, is we really like the floorplan and price, and community, etc...  but not HIM!!!

so i get an e-mail back from him, that says great see you Monday.  then another e-mail comes in, with all our correspondences underneath and it says "oh shhhhh*t they're back."  nice   just because HE was lousy and telling us BS the whole time, all of a sudden we're lousy customers for it all?!?   we were nothing but nice & polite to them.  i guess because i politely asked where our refund is, that this warranted this kind of response from him??  obviously he was trying to send my e-mail to someone else, and accidentally sent it back to me!!!

so i told him i was going to send it to corporate.  then he tried to say the e-mail had NOTHING to do with us...  yeah freakin' right!!!  apparently customer service is closed over the weekend, but i am SO calling on Monday and getting a corporate name & phone #, and forwarding all the e-mail correspondances.  my dh wants me to let it go, but what do you all think??  i think they've treated us rude the entire time, and i think the builder deserves to know at this point.  i thought it would be awesome if they offer us a great deal on a house for all of this, but somehow i doubt it!!  but i also was going to recommend this community to some people i know who are looking to move here, but now i certainly WON'T and i'm going to let them know that.  dh thinks i am being too harsh, but all the guys there were just plan lousy IMO.  dh says well that is a salesman for you!

btw dh drives me crazy, he thinks we should act like it never happened and go in on Monday and still give the guy our business (dh just hates when things "go wrong" and feels really inconvienced by it)!!!  i think that's crazy!!  IF we still built with them, he FOR SURE is not getting the commission!!!  and they know our house SOLD, so they should be STOKED someone actually sold their house in this market, and is wanting to BUILD!!

the guy even said, he hoped i would forgive him for his "stupidity" and still consider using them as our builder, HA!

You absolutely deserve your money back.  You need to demand that.  And even though you still feel like you want to build there, I foresee lots of hassles in the future if you have to continue to work through this guy.  I'd get my money back & look elsewhere.  Don't drop it; tell corporate about the service you've received and tell them you want your refund within one week; you've waited long enough.

well i'm definitely demanding my money back!  and if we did still decide to build there, it will NOT be through this guy!!!  we are going to look at more already-existing, already lived-in homes on Monday.  maybe we'll find "the one?"  but i doubt it.   the last house i saw, that i thought i was really going to like, had dog urine smell/stains all over the carpet, ewwwww!!!!!

OMG is right! How rude he was - and how dumb does he think you are telling you that his horrible remark had nothing to do with you. TELL CORPORATE ABOUT THIS JERK! They need to know the kind of individual they have out there representing them. That is terrible. I am sorry that happened.

I definately agree. Get your money back, report them and then go elsewhere. You haven't even started the hard part of building yet, imagine if something goes wrong. What a jerk!

On a side note I wrote a letter of complaint to a telephone company last week. I was soooooo peed off, trust me, because I have never written a letter, ever! They still haven't responded and if they don't, I get to write a letter to the ombudsman (consumer watchdog I guess). And DANG it felt so good to send it LOL

I agree with everyone!!! You need to get your money back, report that jerk and then go elsewhere. With all the hassles they have given you already....i can only see it getting worse.

congrats on selling your home. 

 

The same thing happened to us only it was a car. The guy said he needed money so that it looked like the sale closed for that month . Well then we decided not to get the car and they wouldn't give us the money back even though they said they would. It was only $100 but still. Well, we decided to go with that car  a few months later but demanded the money back and went with another dealership.

I would  definitley show corporate that email . You may get fantastic treatment or upgrades thrown in for free. I bet you get some upgrades. I would also say you never want to work with that idiot again. Besides it would be awkward knowing how he feels about you.

i sent a lengthy e-mail today to corporate, with his attached.  it felt good   wondering if i should also mail it in, to make it more official??  i'm thinking the e-mail is good enough to get things started??  i will see if anyone contacts me tomorrow, otherwise i'll be calling and probably mailing it in as well...  i'm interested to see what comes out of this, like MEGA upgrades or what??  probably just a stupid apology (and our REFUND!!), but i hope he gets reprimanded good!!

 any news from corporate?

yes, i got a couple apologies and my $$$ back.  but then they said the sales manager who was out of town, would be getting back to me too...  never did follow but oh well, i got my $$$ back and that was my main concern!  i was going to see if they might try to offer us some kind of deal if we'd still consider them, but they didn't seem to care enough to follow up so i sent them an e-mail just saying i didn't hear from anyone this week like they said i would, and i couldn't wait around forever for them so we had made an offer on another home.  i don't think they really cared, which is dumb considering this market...  you'd think they'd be doing *anything* to bring in more buyers!!  i have read NOTHING but negative stuff about D.R. dummies so i consider it a blessing in disguise that i got the e-mail when i did, because i was ready to sign on the dotted line with them like the next day!  and the guy knows it too, he knows he blew a sale!! 

i am just hoping our new house doesn't have any major problems, as all you hear about these days is new homes not having the best quality (tract home builders) and how older homes are actually better.  my FIL could build a very high-quality home to last centuries probably, but his homes are all custom like $1 million.  and i just don't care for the older homes.  so, praying my house doesn't fall apart on me in 5yrs!!!   the new builder is suppose be better than the old one, but still all these tract home builders are getting cheaper & cheaper these days, even higher end tract home builders, sigh.

momof2boys:

i am just hoping our new house doesn't have any major problems, as all you hear about these days is new homes not having the best quality (tract home builders) and how older homes are actually better.

Can you get a building and pest inspection done prior to buying? Sure, it doesn't show up every fault but at least gives you an idea. We nearly bought a brand new house (1 year old) and the building/pest showed it had major plumbing & bathroom problems along with other stuff. All I can say is phew! Needless to say we didn't buy that house.

yes we just had inspection, and all seems to be well!!  it's just the overall quality of new construction these days isn't what is used to be, ya know??  problem is i don't like the look & feel of older homes.  lucky for me my FIL is a contractor and dh is a contractor's son!   but if anything MAJOR should go wrong, that should be covered by homeowner's insurance!  i just hope we don't have any problems!!   houses can become money pits!!