So we're waiting and waiting. I had really hoped we could celebrate Michelle's birthday in our new house, but alas, we heard today that it is taking UEH's kitchen contractor 5 weeks to get a single damaged panel replaced.
We've been told that it is the only thing left, that everything else has been fixed. Everything.
I really hope so.
Have told the bank that no funds are moving anywhere just yet...
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Dream home turns grey...
So. Here is the story.
Kitchen Lights
We wanted a pendant light over the sink. We didn't get it. This due to any number of possible reasons. Suffice to say that it wasn't done, and we weren't consulted during the build. So we have to make sure we get broad-area pendants to cover the double sink.
UEH at first point blankly said no. They're not accommodating any changes. They used a clause in the contract that allows them to supposedly put lighting, plugs, switches, basically anything electrical, wherever they want. Why we spent several hours doing an electrical plan for the house, stating where we wanted lights or vents, or plugs or switches, is basically pointless. Just tell them you want stuff in a room, and they'll put it where they think best and you have to live with it. Like the study's light switch which teleported to the opposite wall. I understand its due to studs, or other wires, but at no stage were we asked if maybe we'd like it on the flip/reverse side of where it is now... or told that it was moving. It was just DONE.
Shelves
UEH put in the 600mm shelves as requested. Just on the wrong side of every room. They would not adjust this as it was what the plans showed, though they were just fine with moving them to the correct side - except the plans show INSIDE the cupboard, and not the true elevation... So that's their excuse/reason, UEH reads shelving designs from inside the cupboard, while other elevations include cupboard nibs - this was never pointed out to us, even though, contrary to this view, the laundry elevation shows the nibs. As with the lights, the initial response was a blunt no. Then we complained and considered arbitration. So UEH came back to us. To change it (increase the shelf width from 600mm to 800mm)... we've been quoted almost 3 times what it originally cost to put the shelves in. 3 times. $630 vs $1700+. Excluding admin fee. Interestingly, it would cost around $650 for us to have the contractors come in and do it for us after handover...
Our dream home is still OUR home...but as we had to fight tooth and nail for around a month for our bricks...then fight over the window frames and living room window...and now this. We are left feeling that UEH is more interested in being right, and being able to say "We did it as per our reading of the plans", than actually trying to make their customers happy.
Remember my last post? Brand. It's all about brand.
There were some awesome people at UEH that helped us a lot, and if anybody ever poached them, they'll have true gems of staff. I will forever be grateful for the input and feedback they gave us during the design stages. If I could name them here, I would. There were others that were not interested in customer satisfaction at all. And sadly, it's that satisfaction that was waned in the last stages of our house. People will ask us who built our house, and though we are generally happy with our house, we'll be giving our brand feedback of things people should be aware of, with any builder.
This blog stands as testament to our joy at the various stages; our frustrations with various issues, and will conclude some time after handover when the garden is done, the furniture in, and the fence up.
Though the fence will take some time and hopefully be completed by Christmas...
Hang around... the handover hasn't happened...yet...
Kitchen Lights
We wanted a pendant light over the sink. We didn't get it. This due to any number of possible reasons. Suffice to say that it wasn't done, and we weren't consulted during the build. So we have to make sure we get broad-area pendants to cover the double sink.
UEH at first point blankly said no. They're not accommodating any changes. They used a clause in the contract that allows them to supposedly put lighting, plugs, switches, basically anything electrical, wherever they want. Why we spent several hours doing an electrical plan for the house, stating where we wanted lights or vents, or plugs or switches, is basically pointless. Just tell them you want stuff in a room, and they'll put it where they think best and you have to live with it. Like the study's light switch which teleported to the opposite wall. I understand its due to studs, or other wires, but at no stage were we asked if maybe we'd like it on the flip/reverse side of where it is now... or told that it was moving. It was just DONE.
Shelves
UEH put in the 600mm shelves as requested. Just on the wrong side of every room. They would not adjust this as it was what the plans showed, though they were just fine with moving them to the correct side - except the plans show INSIDE the cupboard, and not the true elevation... So that's their excuse/reason, UEH reads shelving designs from inside the cupboard, while other elevations include cupboard nibs - this was never pointed out to us, even though, contrary to this view, the laundry elevation shows the nibs. As with the lights, the initial response was a blunt no. Then we complained and considered arbitration. So UEH came back to us. To change it (increase the shelf width from 600mm to 800mm)... we've been quoted almost 3 times what it originally cost to put the shelves in. 3 times. $630 vs $1700+. Excluding admin fee. Interestingly, it would cost around $650 for us to have the contractors come in and do it for us after handover...
Our dream home is still OUR home...but as we had to fight tooth and nail for around a month for our bricks...then fight over the window frames and living room window...and now this. We are left feeling that UEH is more interested in being right, and being able to say "We did it as per our reading of the plans", than actually trying to make their customers happy.
Remember my last post? Brand. It's all about brand.
There were some awesome people at UEH that helped us a lot, and if anybody ever poached them, they'll have true gems of staff. I will forever be grateful for the input and feedback they gave us during the design stages. If I could name them here, I would. There were others that were not interested in customer satisfaction at all. And sadly, it's that satisfaction that was waned in the last stages of our house. People will ask us who built our house, and though we are generally happy with our house, we'll be giving our brand feedback of things people should be aware of, with any builder.
This blog stands as testament to our joy at the various stages; our frustrations with various issues, and will conclude some time after handover when the garden is done, the furniture in, and the fence up.
Though the fence will take some time and hopefully be completed by Christmas...
Hang around... the handover hasn't happened...yet...
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Customer is King
I'm not sure if people have heard the true saying. I've seen emails and heard how people say "The Customer is Always Right". No. The customer is not always right, that is not the correct saying. Customers can be wrong, and often are.
Customers don't always know how to specify in your business language exactly what they want. They don't have the years of knowledge you have and they are thus, not always right. It doesn't matter how wrong your customer is, it doesn't matter how right you are, if you treat your customers poorly, and not as a "king", your company Brand suffers.
I work in IT, and I have end users that come to me telling me in their terms what they want. We try interpret that with detailed Business Requirements Documents done with Business Analysts. In building, I guess that's the Tender document.
After that we draw up Functional Requirements, the equivalent of Site Plans. This is so the business users can see how we intend to implement what they've asked, and how long. They then sign this off, as they did with the Business Requirements.
After that, it's off to Technical Design and the developers - the people that write the code. In much the same way, the tradies get told what to do. The tradies don't talk to the client, nor does the site manager, only the customer-facing people do.
Inevitably, there are bugs in the programme - missing paint, damaged window frame - and there are things that don't end up being what the Business User actually wanted - they wanted the screen to do the functionality THIS way, but it wasn't documented well, or not at all.
I don't ever, tell the user they cannot have that. What is the point? For one, I'll probably get fired, but more importantly, there's my reputation. I deliver top-end solutions in IT. I have an obsession for quality and efficiency in the systems my developers create. If we find that what we've developed doesn't actually meet what the Business User actually wanted, we meet with them, we discuss the issues, and we put a cost/time against it. We never outrightly say no, ever.
When a company tells a client no, and does so just so that they are right, they fail their brand. They get remembered as the company that wanted more to be right (self pride) than to do what is right by their customer (brand pride). In the end, the brand suffers, and your cashflow suffers because in the modern world of social media and word-of-mouth-travels-the-globe-in-seconds, brand is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
In my job, I don't ever want to be known as the person that just says no...
Customers don't always know how to specify in your business language exactly what they want. They don't have the years of knowledge you have and they are thus, not always right. It doesn't matter how wrong your customer is, it doesn't matter how right you are, if you treat your customers poorly, and not as a "king", your company Brand suffers.
I work in IT, and I have end users that come to me telling me in their terms what they want. We try interpret that with detailed Business Requirements Documents done with Business Analysts. In building, I guess that's the Tender document.
After that we draw up Functional Requirements, the equivalent of Site Plans. This is so the business users can see how we intend to implement what they've asked, and how long. They then sign this off, as they did with the Business Requirements.
After that, it's off to Technical Design and the developers - the people that write the code. In much the same way, the tradies get told what to do. The tradies don't talk to the client, nor does the site manager, only the customer-facing people do.
Inevitably, there are bugs in the programme - missing paint, damaged window frame - and there are things that don't end up being what the Business User actually wanted - they wanted the screen to do the functionality THIS way, but it wasn't documented well, or not at all.
I don't ever, tell the user they cannot have that. What is the point? For one, I'll probably get fired, but more importantly, there's my reputation. I deliver top-end solutions in IT. I have an obsession for quality and efficiency in the systems my developers create. If we find that what we've developed doesn't actually meet what the Business User actually wanted, we meet with them, we discuss the issues, and we put a cost/time against it. We never outrightly say no, ever.
When a company tells a client no, and does so just so that they are right, they fail their brand. They get remembered as the company that wanted more to be right (self pride) than to do what is right by their customer (brand pride). In the end, the brand suffers, and your cashflow suffers because in the modern world of social media and word-of-mouth-travels-the-globe-in-seconds, brand is E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
In my job, I don't ever want to be known as the person that just says no...
Sunday, May 5, 2013
First Inspection
We had our first inspection on 03/05/2013. We spent more than 2 hours going through and around the house. We then had our private inspector go through it as well.
The theatre was incomplete. Feature paint was not done, nor were the audio cabling/wall plates in place.
The kitchen still has a lot of work to be done. Several panels had scratches on them and 2 were missing. One or two drawers didn't close after being opened without lifting the drawer above. The pull-out bin cupboard didn't close flush.
Almost every room had incomplete paint work. Quite a number of corners and doors had marks on them.
The tiles in the en suite and laundry had marks in (and on) them. One of the en suite mirrors had a chip out of it.
The WIR drawers were misaligned, i.e. not level with each other.
The cupboards in Bed 2, 3 and 4 had the shelves on the wrong side. Sadly, the 600mm shelves actually sit 200mm inside the front nib. Bed 3's had the wrong doors.
Numerous window frames had scratches on them, with one actually being dented/bent.
There was no insulation in place.
The floorboards are yet to arrive (we knew this beforehand)
Even with all these issues, we still love our house and are looking forward to settling in it. We just want things to be perfect, or as near-as.
Next, we have to arrange the base retaining walls, landscaping and driveway/walkways.
I've updated the floorplan to show the layout at least of the front garden... hard to show it in 3D of course.
Custom Rouge 04
The theatre was incomplete. Feature paint was not done, nor were the audio cabling/wall plates in place.
The kitchen still has a lot of work to be done. Several panels had scratches on them and 2 were missing. One or two drawers didn't close after being opened without lifting the drawer above. The pull-out bin cupboard didn't close flush.
Almost every room had incomplete paint work. Quite a number of corners and doors had marks on them.
The tiles in the en suite and laundry had marks in (and on) them. One of the en suite mirrors had a chip out of it.
The WIR drawers were misaligned, i.e. not level with each other.
The cupboards in Bed 2, 3 and 4 had the shelves on the wrong side. Sadly, the 600mm shelves actually sit 200mm inside the front nib. Bed 3's had the wrong doors.
Numerous window frames had scratches on them, with one actually being dented/bent.
There was no insulation in place.
The floorboards are yet to arrive (we knew this beforehand)
Even with all these issues, we still love our house and are looking forward to settling in it. We just want things to be perfect, or as near-as.
Next, we have to arrange the base retaining walls, landscaping and driveway/walkways.
I've updated the floorplan to show the layout at least of the front garden... hard to show it in 3D of course.
Custom Rouge 04
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