Breach of Contract - 4 months on

Big words and even bigger meaning behind them. It is a topic I was hoping not to have to write, but guess what? I am sick of incompetent people making mistakes on my time and on my dime. Every day this Breach is not fixed, it is costing me actual money - out of my own pocket.

Let me explain.

As part of our signed Building Contract, there was a provision for the installation of Tariff 33 to our hot water system. What is Tariff 33? It is:

Tariff 33 is known as the Economy Plan and is ideal for medium sized electric storage water heaters, solar-electric water heaters and heat pump water heaters. This tariff is also appropriate for other domestic loads such as swimming pool filters, water bed heaters and some freezers, provided they are permanently connected.

This tariff is up to 40% cheaper than your normal domestic tariff. Electricity supply is available for at least 18 hours per day and is switched via load control equipment supplied and maintained by the network provider. The times of supply are completely up to the network provider but are generally outside of the hours of 5-9 pm.

Directly quoted from http://www.tariff33.com/electricity-tariffs-explained/

So this Tariff 33 should have been installed in our house before house handover and we moved in. Obviously, this didn't happen and we didn't know because it is not a physical fixture to the house you'd normally check, like scratched kitchen splashback or chipped tiles. No, we first noticed that this didn't happen when we got our first electricity bill a month in (early July 2016), where Tariff 33 was not listed on our bill.

Perplexed, we called our energy provider and was informed that it wasn't installed on the property and therefore, not metered. We immediately called Plantation Homes where, upon checking their copy of our signed contract, offered to get their Electrician Contractor to come out and get the "hardware" ready for Energex to connect Tariff 33.

Easy and makes sense right?

That was more than 3 months ago. The same Electrician Contractor has visited the house at least twice (each time claiming that he has done what is required so Energex can make the connection). My husband took the day off work yesterday to wait for the Energex guy to come out and connect the damn thing, only to be told that the hardware (I am guessing that means wires from point A to point B) is in fact not in place.

So...still no Tariff 33.

It is still costing us more. Every. Single. Day...to run electricity to our hot water system, amongst other things.

My husband, still believing the system of letting Plantation Homes know works - is going to call them this morning - frustrated as all get out. Me? I am venting here, and letting anyone who is reading how terrible Plantation Homes and their contractors are botching a very simple job.

On a more serious note too - this is an actual Breach of Contract, which I have been holding off going to the QBCC in the hope that they will fix this issue. However, I am running out of patience. Every day they aren't fixing the issue, we are charged more for electricity. Every dollar and cent counts in our household. Even if Energex was able to fix the issue yesterday, they were only going to pay the $500 connection fee - and not any additional electricity we had to pay as a result of their mistake.

So, their incompetence is actually costing me money. If you decide to build a house with them, this may happen to you too.

Ikea You Not!

New house or old, rental or owned - at some stage in your life, you may decide to go to Ikea to furnish your own nest. When I first moved out, Ikea was a cost-effect way to furnish the place and not break the bank. Throughout the years, I have seen the Ikea presence grow in Australia despite much controversy about some of their services and offerings. But when an organisation gets so big that they no longer hear customer feedback, this signifies the decline and eventual death of an international brand.

I certainly saw it today through my own recent purchasing experience.

My husband and I decided to buy a new mattress yesterday (22 October 2016) and after much deliberation, decided on an Ikea mattress. Our deciding factor in making this purchase with Ikea: they would be able to have the mattress delivered the next day (23 October 2016) - today. Excited and pleased that they seemed so much more efficient, we did not hesitate to fork over the money and made the order - despite there being better deals out there.

Keep in mind 2 things before we move forward:

1. We bought the bed because we could receive it the next day and use it
2. We were advised at order time that the mattress would be delivered between 3pm to 7pm on 23 October 2016
3. Ikea delivery policy dictates that customer must sign for the order, and it must not be left if unattended.

Fast forward to today (23 October 2016) - both of us were not home in the morning - returning home around 1.30pm to find our next door neighbour with the news that Ikea delivery guys have been and gone, leaving the mattress we had ordered in the backyard where it could be rained on.

It is forecasted to rain today in sunny Queensland Australia, and they left it outside. Unattended. Unsigned for. Against company policy.

Why was the genius that decided this was a good idea?

When we called Ikea Customer Service, and explained that we cannot move the bed inside without help, it is going to rain and the bed will get destroyed (because the packaging is not waterproof), we were advised of the following:

1. There is nothing they can do for us under 24 to 48 hours. They can't get in touch with the delivery drivers and ask them to return.
2. They don't care if the bed is destroyed. They will replace it free of charge.

So Ikea executives around the world, think about this. You are willing to replace a nearly $700 (AUD) mattress because your customer service people can't resolve issues and do their jobs properly. How does that effect your yearly bonuses and bottom line?

Have a read of Ikea's reputation taking a hit on peer review websites like productreview.com.au, and you will find that this is NOT and isolated incident. There is problem with your logistics and your customer service. You are regularly failing your loyal customers who are now turning on you. Your reputation is now shot with me. I will be doing all I can to market Ikea as a brand to avoid. I willing be doing this with my network who no doubt also have other horrific stories of their own to tell. Not to mention, I am looking into lodging a formal complaint with the ACCC about this abuse of customer rights and inaccurate marketing.

The negative momentum is increasing for your brand. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to do something about this or watch it die? The signs are there: a company that don't look after its customers will die in this day and age. It is only a matter of time.

Service NOT Seeking.com.au

Yes, it is definitely time to talk about the website tool - ServiceSeeking.com.au.

In my previous blog post about my landscaping adventures, I mentioned in passing about my mixed experience with ServiceSeeking.com.au. I first used them in 2011 to find a cleaner, which was a bust. Five years later, I needed to find a plasterer for the new house in association with some modifications to the house outside of Plantation Homes' scope. I turned to the site hoping that they have improved and quality checked their guys better. I have to say I got lucky with the plasterers, who were on their way home and responded to the job within 5 minutes of my posting. They made it out to the house an hour later and completed the job that night (it took 4 hours). I was reasonably happy with the fruits of their labour, so all good there.

Encouraged, I next posted my landscaping job on the website (my experience documented in a previous blog post). Angered by the run around I received, I got in touch with ServiceSeeking.com.au via their online Customer Service Representative to find out more about their processes, and whether there were any feedback loops (e.g. the website audited the tradies they registered and offered).

Below is the full transcript of our exchange with name of the very nice and lovely Customer Service Rep removed.

--Start of transcript--

Rep: Hello. How may I help you?

Me: In the past, my experience with ServiceSeeking has been very positive. Lately, I have two jobs where one had 1 interest shown, which is not enough for a comparison. The most surprising is the other job (landscaping) where multiple landscapers got in touch, came and looked at the job, promised quotes and have never bothered to actually send anything. I have chased up and given them more than enough time. But they don't seem interested and are just stringing people along
I am desperate to get people to come and quote so we can get the job done

Rep: Hi [my name removed]! I see this is the account you have with us?

Me: Yes

Rep: Let me pull up your account then. Is this for the window tinting job you 've posted?

Me: That would be great. Also, it seems like the jobs close themselves after a period of time, whether they are done or not. Both the window tinting job and the landscaping job

Rep: I see. Let me check on further now. Kindly hold on for a sec please.

Me: no worries

Rep: Its indicated here that both jobs are going ahead [my name has been removed]. Have you chosen a business/es to do the jobs then?

Me: As my opening messages have indicated to you, I am unable to find a landscaping willing to provide quotation even though two of them have come out to see the job personally

Rep: I apologise for this [my name has been removed]. Yes, you are correct in stating this earlier on.

Me: I have called and emailed and texted. They keep promising to send it through
Nothing has been done. I am wondering as to the vetting process you have for these contractors, or whether there is any communication ServiceSeeking can have with them? I am getting so frustrated I am about to stop using the site and leave negative reviews on my experience

Rep: I do understand you, [my name has been removed]. The best thing to do right now, since its been taking a lot of time waiting, is to repost the job on our site. And put in all the details of this jobs so that business may be alerted of the job scope and you are able to generate new ones too.
We do have a lot of businesses that are able to do the job for you but it may be that there have been reasons why they didn't or weren't able to get back.

Me: So basically there is nothing you can do to tell these businesses to live up to their promise of delivering a quote. Instead, you would like me to spend yet more time re-posting the job, and wait for more people to come and see the site and promise to quote, only for nothing to happen? There is absolutely no avenue that you can pursue to improve this situation?

Rep: For the window tinting job, since it was just posted yesterday, it could be good to wait up for the quotes. But the landscaping job would be good to re-post. We will take note of this feedback and bring it to our Support Team so that account managers can also be informed. The listing of those businesses who quoted you are with us and trust we will take notice of this too. So sorry about that. I am having some issues right now with the link and I see it posted 25 August yet. And no quotes on the job page. The landscaping job on the other hand, was posted 2 months ago. :-(

Me: Yes, more than sufficient time on both jobs

Rep: Yes, more than sufficient time indeed. Kindly [my name has been removed], try to repost the jobs on our site and all on all details. I will inform the account managers of these businesses that quoted you for the meantime.

Me: Well Rep, thank you for the advice and you have been lovely from a customer service point of view. However, I am extremely disappointed in the level of support ServiceSeeking is prepared to provide customers. It seems keeping the tradies happy is more important. My reviews of this service will reflect the no support and unwillingness of this business to follow through on their tradie's commitments. The building industry boom will end soon, and I hope the tradies that screw people out of their time will get go out of business. It is simply disgusting how they treat people.

Rep: I do see your point here, [my name has been removed]. And I thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Some of our businesses indeed must be upgraded on their dealings with customers and I will definitely bring this feedback to our Support Team. You may also opt to contact these businesses and simply ask them if they are still interested otherwise, moving forwards, would be good to repost the job on our site and hopefully this time, it be good.

Me: I have contacted those businesses individually, multiple times. I have texts in writing to prove they keep promising it. "It simply slipped my mind" only works the first 3 times you use it.

--end transcript--

I will re-iterate, the Customer Service Rep was as helpful as should could be and pleasant to deal with. ServiceSeeking.com.au, if you are reading this - you can look up which rep dealt with me and give the lady a raise!!

I have stopped using ServiceSeeking.com.au now that I have ascertained that the tradies actually pay to be on the site. This makes them the website's customers as well as us. There isn't really a vetting process on the quality of the tradies on the website and certainly no recourse or rating system for users peer to peer, which makes the website even less useful than Yellowpages.com.au. I guess it is back to good ol' who you know or hitting the good yellow "book" hard.

Downfall of the Boom

The Housing Boom is a great and wondrous thing for many Australians who have built their wealth on the property market, while it is a great stress to many people that can never hope to afford to have a property to call their own.

My husband and I count ourselves as extremely lucky to have circumstances align in a way that - combined with hard work, made building our own home possible, even if we did have to move in the middle of nowhere to do it. No, building your own property is mostly a positive thing, however, unless you are very handy and have heaps of time up your sleeves to do things for yourself like the landscaping, lighting, and water/shed installation - your next priority would be running around like a mad chicken getting quotes from respective tradies to get things done.

I say priority - especially when it comes to landscaping, because we initially thought landscaping was something we could put off until the 6 months mark after house handover and moving in. To clarify, we are indoor people, so I thought my priorities leaned more towards doing more for the inside than out.

We have a beautiful fur family member named Lupin (who we love more than anything), who made landscaping an immediate need, being an indoor/outdoors dog.

All good, no biggy. In the past, I have relied on ServiceSeeking.com.au with very mixed results and thought I'd give them a go now. I listed details of my job and waited for some expression of interest and got 7. Fab! This was going to be easy. I texted / called / emailed all seven and...

Got 2 responses.

The others did not even bother to response further saying they are now busy, despite initially expressing interest in my job.

I soldiered on with the two that did respond:

1. Jim's Diggers (Aspley, QLD)
2. Pride Structural Landscaping & Concreting (Pimpama, QLD)

Pride Structural Landscaping after some text backwards and forwards trying to find a time for him to quote, advised that he has just landed a big job and was no longer interested.

Rxxx from Jim's Diggers did ACTUALLY made it out to the property (an all too rare occurrence) and totally charmed the socks off my dog and myself, promising the world (landscaping-wise) starting from when he would get a quote to us (he promised it within 2 days). The two days became a week, and then three weeks. Every time I called him, he was in his car and he couldn't emailed it to me, but "It is totally done, it just completely slipped my mind" (word for word his excuse every single time).

Needless to say, I stopped chasing the quote and calling him.

Next I turned to Yellowpages.com.au and started indiscriminately texting and calling to try and get Landscapers around us to come and even quote the job. Results:

7 landscapers contacted

1 landscaper willing to quote

Jxx Axxxxx from Plant A Garden came out and said the job was "simple" and talked my socks off (more than 30 minutes walking around the yard talking). Again he promised to send through a quote within a week and never did.

I will get to writing about my interactions with ServiceSeeking.com.au on this in another blog post. But the short of it is - the current housing boom has tradies feeling invincible - flooded with work and spoiled for choice. They jerk people around and wasting people's time in the process. 

Yes, I didn't expect it to be all smooth sailing, building a house and finishing off things around the house, however, the level of irresponsibility from tradies definitely leaves much to be desired including common courtesy, honesty and professionalism.

Bad Drivers Galore

This blog post has now been moved to Pressing Matter Now Blog.
My apologies for the inconvenience. I do very much hope you will join me there.

Rollin' Into Your Troubles

Barely 2 weeks into our house handover, new trouble rolled in by way of our new double garage door. A very standard affair - black, double-door automatic garage door - brand new should not have been experiencing problems until well into its operating life.

It was not to be, however, with the door:

1. Initially getting stuck on the very first open of the day.
2. By early July 2016 (just under the 1 month mark), the garage door got stuck every time it opened or closed (until a second tap on the garage remote control, which allowed the door to start closing once again)
3. It stopped opening altogether just over a month in. My husband had to manually open the garage door and re-affix the chain on the garage.

We called our Site Manager and our Administrators, who informed us there is nothing they can do and for us to contact the Garage Door Subcontractor Dynamic Garage Doors.

They came out within two weeks to fix the issue. The garage door sometimes makes more noise than it should, however, the issue seems fixed for now. The whole problem caught us off guard because the door was so new. We were not given a clear explanation of the parts that were faulty or replaced. Fingers crossed that the door stay rolling - as it should!

Champion Homes: not a champion of free opinions or expressions

As evident by the title of this post, the topic under examination is not Plantation Homes and Henley Properties. My increasing interest in understanding the Australian Building Industry to further prepare myself for the future has led me to the Champion Homes article on Domain.com.au, which provided (non-equal parts of) amusement but also anger and curiosity.

Let me preface this post by saying:

1. I have very limited knowledge of both Champion Homes and the dispute outlined in the article. My views below is of a general nature based purely on the contents of the Domain article and what my own research has revealed.
2. I am no legal expert. My love of over-dramatise American courthouse television (currently watching The Good Wife anyone?) often leaves me day-dreaming about a fictional me, spouting half-intelligent legal mambo jumbo just like the actors on television, alas that is not the case. 

Firstly, to address Champion Homes and what they attempted to do (and failed thankfully) to achieve earlier this year - kill peer reviews and silence personal and individual opinions by suing the individuals that posted on ProductReview.com.au, which angered me in ways I cannot describe, and dare I say a very un-Australian thing to do. If I remember my primary school and high school lessons properly, millions of people died fighting the World Wars to protect freedom, including the freedom of opinion, the freedom from hate and bigotry. Freedom - which is such an overused yet undervalued word until it is taken away from you (or threatened to).

From what I can gather on the ProductReview.com.au website, Champion Homes has received mixed reviews for their end product and customer service (see my previous views on customer service), left by consumers who have made a verified purchase. To explain my experience of what a Verified Purchase process involves - whereby the reviewer is asked to provide proof that they have in fact purchased a product or service they are reviewing - in this case - built a home with Champion Homes. Reviewers are asked to upload an invoice or contract information, checked by ProductReview.com.au to ensure people are not making completely baseless claims. It is true that the process only proves reviewers were clients, but do not prove the accuracy of their claims, however, it goes some way to giving weight to their side of the story.

So these verified customers, some have left very positive reviews and some have left very negative reviews of their experience (I can't emphasise this enough), so that others doing their own research on builders may take the expressed views into account when making their own decisions. That is all! Yet in the article, Champion Homes reportedly considered taking the negative reviewers to court for expressing their personal opinions - reviews that contained no cuss words or vitriol of any kind (a key point I will return to later). Why isn't Champion Homes indiscriminately upset about the positive posts to their name, but have only targeted the negative reviewers?

It seems Champion Homes only want positive reviews and want to silence the negative reviews...

Now, let me get back to the point about the reviews themselves and how they fit with the Australian Law (as I understand it). Unlike the United States of America where Freedom of Speech is a part of their Constitution, Australia has the Freedom of Opinion and Freedom of Expression.

Freedom of Opinion: is where parties (people/organisations) are allowed to hold their own views - and I would interpret this as in private settings. Basically, we are allowed to think and talk amongst ourselves however and whenever we want. We are not limited by the law on this.

Freedom of Expression: parties (people/organisations) are allowed to express their views barred a couple of exceptions: Defamation, Discrimination and anti-vilification and gag orders (Google it and numerous references on the exceptions can be found).

My take on people posting on ProductReview.com.au, forums and blogs with regards to current laws is this: personal opinions can be expressed, as long as it is not in breach of Freedom of Expression. If the reviews were unjust and defamed a company or person, then there may be a breach of the law. If your reviews are factual and you have evidence to back up your review/opinion and express it in a dignified manner (I use dignified because it cover a multitude of areas including bad language and discriminatory language), you are well within your right - as I am here with my blog posts.

It is great that Champion Homes have since backed down and canned their law suite, however, I believe it is only a matter of time before other parties attempt this again, which may set a bad precedence for Freedom of Expression and its future. I believe we are living in times where we are increasingly monitored and persecuted for our views and expressing them. It will be a sad day when we are too terrified to own our opinions and be guarded in everything we say and do.

The Whistling Door Saga (Part 2)

Yesterday (Monday 3rd October 2016), we were presented with two options on how to best fix our noisy (not to mention drafty) front door problem.

As promised by Plantation Homes (which they delivered on), two options were presented to us in an attempt to solve the issue:

1. A soft adhesive seal that sat on top of the existing soft seal (which we chose to implement at this time)
2. Silver aluminium bars to be drilled and attached to the door frame on 3 sides of the entry way.

Fingers crossed that option 1 actually solves the issue.

While they were out, they also fixed the issue with the door catching by adjusting the door hinges (apparently not hung straight, or was weighed down by our very normal and gentle use of the door for 3 months...).

One problem (hopefully) solved. We will know for sure come the next Super Windy Spring Day!

The Whistling Door Saga

The drama with our front door continues with this morning's developments, first mentioned in my original blog post.

The guy from the Maintenance Team at Plantation Homes showed up (late) this morning to fix the following issues as agreed:

1. Front door (to stop it from whistling)
2. Front door - metal plate by the door handle
3. Seal the gap between the bent skirting board and the wall

Items 2 and 3 on the list have been fixed - although, with the sealing of the gap to stop air and small insects from coming inside - this was done but has not been restored to the wall/skirting board's original appearance (e.g. sanding, painting). Apparently, that falls outside of "fixing the issue" and into "cosmetics and to be fixed at 12-months" issue. Splitting hairs but sure, that is what we agreed on for cosmetic issues. In replacing item 2, they have also stripped the screws holding the lock component in, with one of the other screws no longer sitting flush - causing the door to catch every time you open or catch. A problem they will need to fix in subsequent maintenance visits.

The main issue is with the front door and the cause of the whistling. The Warranty Manager explained the cause of the whistling as "a mixture of where the house is positioned (near a noisy road), which creates acoustics such as whistling". He then went on to explain that it has nothing to do with the door and their workmanship, and attributes the issue to the position of the house and the environment surrounding the house. Their solution is to affix a permanent aluminium bar on the outside of our front door to further seal the door - a highly visible aluminium bar for all to see from the street or beyond.

Follow up call has suggested there is an alternative (2nd) solution to this acoustic issue. I have asked them to explore the less permanent rubber option first before contemplating the original aluminium fixture.

Chatting to other Plantation Home Owner (aka next door neighbours with very similar geographical positions to us and similar door constructs), they have no similar issues with whistling doors. This leads me to believe it is a door installation fault and not other issues they have mentioned, but hey, I am no acoustic expert!

More details of when they will follow up on these issues to come. Let's hope no new issues crop up while they are fixing existing issues!

Employee of the Month (Update)

As originally mentioned in my blog post, Sxxxx was one of the only people I have dealt with at Henley Properties / Plantation Homes that did progressed issues in a timely and satisfactorily manner.

As a follow up to some of our correspondence, I emailed him today only to get a "I no longer work here" automatic response.

That leaves one to lead their own conclusions, as I have no other information to go on.

Best of luck in your new job Sxxxx if you are reading!!!

Meanwhile, I have now referred my queries to the National Marketing Manager. Let's hope he is as responsive and helpful.

Splash Back Spectacular

Back on topic to my post house handover experience (June 2016 and beyond), this time with our kitchen splash back and Plantation Homes' subcontractor Stegbar (a Jeld Wen Company).

My better half and I had noticed numerous, highly-visible scratch marks on our beautiful red splash back, which was marked up with tape and reported as defects (see photo below).

Taken on 12th June (5 days after handover)

For those with sharp eyes, there were 5 scratches identified on the splash back itself - some of them as long as 10cm, in a straight line as if someone had taken a knife to it. The defects were not limited to the splash back (this is a cropped photo for this post only, with the other defects around the kitchen to be subjects of future posts).

After weeks of trying to get Plantation Homes' Administrator and Site Manager's attention, and promised that the replacement of the splash back will:

1. be communicated to us (the date and time of the replacement) so we can arrange time off work
2. cause no damage because they will be replaced in two pieces in stead of one large piece of glass
3. take place with all due care taken when the replacement work is conducted

Of course, the replacement of the splash back and our dealing with Stegbar did not go as planned. My email to the Plantation Homes' Administrator evidenced on 5th July:

Hi Lxxxxx,
We have been trying to get in touch with Cxxxx although I understand he is currently on leave. This email is to discuss the lack of quality control in your subcontractor while carrying out defect maintenance.

Today we had Stegbar show up unannounced after they or another trade left a scratched up splash back in the house at handover. They were told they had to replace it, which happened this morning. Again, I have to emphasise the fact that their arrival was unannounced and would have missed us if we had left work on time. The two guys that showed up proceeded to bang their way around the kitchen and ruining the stone bench top finish with stains and scratches (again, because this has happened already previously with another trade), the paint work, did not affix the power sockets back properly (they are now loose) and destroyed the surface of the new ceramic stove.

I am extremely disappointment in these guys as the works were not carried out in the way Cxxxx had described where the installation was done in parts - we have a video recording of them carrying out the works and scratching the sh*t out of everything in the process.

The more defects we are trying to fix, the more problems they cause. This goes with the other contractors too. The paint guy comes in to fix little paint defects and ended up staining the tiles. Everyone that comes to fix something leaves more destruction behind them then they have fixed. They are inconsiderate and just want to be in and out and on to the next job.

Something needs to be done about all the destruction that has happened. However, I am unsure I want any of the guys back in to do anymore work. I need an action plan forwards on how these issues will be resolved.

Regards,

Sxxxxx

 In detail:

1. The two guys from Stegbar that showed up was unapologetic about being there unannounced and just shrugged their way in to our house
2. Initially they did not lay down any protective covering to protect the ceramic stove (see above photo), which is made of glass also and therefore, prone to scratches. It was at my insistence that they placed a (I kid you not) small dish-cloth size fabric to cover the stove top, which was wholly insufficient, which led to point 3.
3. The insufficient stove covering while they were conducting their work left silicon on our cermaic cooktop, which we had to painstakingly remedy oursevles without damaging the surface - some didin't come off properly.
4. They stuffed up the pain job in the kitchen (which they explained Plantation Home will be willing to come back and fix)
5. While installing the new splash back, hit (impacted) our sink tap (luckily that wasn't broken in the process but left a mark)
6. Stained our ivory stone bench top red in a number of areas (which we later had to clean off with turpentine)
7. Did not properly replace the light switches, which became loose and had to be adjusted by the Site Manager later
8. In their haste to finish this maintenance job, they affixed the oven switch upside down (a huge safety liability if the oven really needed to be switched "off" for any reason)

Spot the damage and shoddy work

I laughed myself silly when I read that Stegbar was a sponsor on shows such as The Block and Reno Rumble. This is how they do their marketing! Not to mention, their ads on places such as Yellow Pages where they state their industry association membership - something a lot of consumers put credence, in the hope that the membership is a seal of approval for quality of work.

A theme that has emerged throughout our maintenance period has been the quality of the subcontractors (and subcontractor workmen) throughout the process. More than once I had people complain to me that they don't get paid enough to do the job, so it is not within their best interest to "stick around" for too long. They admitted to corner cutting wherever possible.

I realised that the residential building industry is currently hot right now (although signs point to things slowly down), but treating people who paid good money for trades is just bad customer service and bad long term client retention strategy.

So would I recommend Stegbar for any future works to friends, family or strangers? What do you think?

It is Spring...would you like a cuppa?

Most people would tend to agree that Spring is a lovely season. A season full of new beginning, promise and hope. Time to kick back and enjoy a calming cup of tea (or something stronger if you prefer). Let me get the kettle, it's boiling.

Hold on...the kettle? I didn't put on the kettle. What is that high-pitched whistling sound?

The whistling noise is the sound of our front door, on a windy Spring day, doing a great imitation of a boiling kettle. It turns out, the front entry way is not sealed properly. Preliminary (and non-expert tests and examination of the door) suggests:

1. The front door seem to be too small for the frame
2. The seal around the door was insufficient to cover the difference between the door frame and the door, creating a thin crack where upon bursts of wind in a particular direction creates whistling noises.

This latest issue broke the calm of our past Saturday and Sunday repeated, sounding like an unwelcoming siren going off unpredictably, giving anyone who would like one - a headache.

I have yet to broach this latest problem with Plantation Homes because we heard back (discouragingly) on another issue regarding the door - the metal door handle plate on the same problematic front door.

Upon exiting our house after the house handover (having just completed the handover defect paperwork), we noticed that there were scratches on the shiny metal plate attached to the door handle (as is likely to happen one of these days - keys near shiny metal). However, has we had been in the house zero days at that point, we raised it with the Site Manager putting his shoes on.

At this point, the Site Manager expressed willingness to put this on the defect paperwork (in said Site Manager's hand) and have this problem fixed ASAP. Fair enough, we didn't stop him putting his shoes on to demand that he do the paperwork in front of us - we were the trusting sort.

A response received today after I once again emailed them to remind them of this issue yielded this:

I wasn’t aware of any issues with the door handle panel. I cannot see it noted on the practical completion sheet and when I followed up with Cxxx, he couldn’t recall this being discussed either. Please feel free to make note of this for your 12 month warranty review.

I hate the "he said/she said" scenarios, knowing full well that we can't bloody prove a thing because it hadn't been written down. Foolish of me for trusting someone to show some professionalism and honesty. I am going to hazard a guess that we will have to live with this one, because come 12 months warranty review, we will most probably (85% anyone?) that this will be cosmetic, superficial and not worth fixing.

So my guests when visiting this Spring will be treated to a whistling door that makes you want to bolt from the house, and a shiny but damaged handle - making the new house seem not quite so new. That's the look I am going for anyway! Ha says no one ever!

Employee of The Month

On Friday, I have finally seen some of that Customer Service Plantation Homes/Henley Properties have been touting - a commodity that seemed in short supply through my post construction/maintenance dealing with Plantation Homes up until now.

Let's see what the Online Relationship Coordinator at Henley Properties has done right:

1. Yes - he actually did he job! It never ceases to amaze me how many people think they are doing their jobs, but have fallen short. Your job may be to communicate with people (read some reviews, post emails and call people) - those are just some forms in which you perform your job. There is an inherent need to bring these seemingly random tasks together with the right job attitude and the right prospective to relate to your clients and actually do your job. So yes, this guy actually did his job - read the negative reviews of my experience with Plantation Homes, took in on board and followed up with me via multiple methods. Over the course of nearly two weeks we backwards and forwards on the public forum (ProductReview.com.au) and email. My less than cordial communication reflected my frustrations, however, he soldiered on like a professional that all employees should be (I will come back to this point later).
2. Though based down in Melbourne, he was able to affect a change in response that I have been unable to achieve since moving in more than 3 months ago. Now this is my conjecture at this point (having no knowledge of Henley Properties' management systems), a guy doing his job was able to pass it onto his manager who spoke with other departments (across different states) to resolve a client issue. Now THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. The corporate cogs often work very slowly because the different parts of an organisation are so big, so geographically dispersed and silo(ed) in their operation that achieving any positive change across departments (and states) was no no small feat.
3. He was able to concisely and succinctly communicate an action plan to rectify our issues.

At this point, a plan is in place to fix a number of bigger issues plaguing our house to which I am relieved and thankful. I hope all goes as planned (stay tuned on progress in the next few weeks). Meanwhile, I hope Henley Properties understand what a wonderful employee they have in their Online Relationship Coordinator and reward him for his persistence and perseverance. 

This brings me to my next point - bad customer service and what that looks like. An example of someone in dire need of training/career development or a new career altogether. The Warranty Customer Service Administrator Axxxx B has in her communication with myself and my better and more even-tempered half, earned both of our ire. She was:

1. Ineffective in her communication: on multiple occasions she asked for elaborations and clarifications to an issue that was simplistic in its fundamental nature. Rather than referring it onto someone else that can make a call on the matter, she stalled and delayed. A classic tactic of someone that is inept in their job and wished to cover matters up, causing delays in progress and downright pissing off the customers (not to mention making her boss look bad seeing as how she contributed to a royal mess).
2. She told us that she had sought guidance from her manager, and challenged us to seek out the regulatory body to change the status quo. This whole exchange somehow feels fictitious to me. Is the standard customer service response to refer customers to the regulatory body and get the company she works for in potential strife? Was this part of her Customer Service Administrator training? My better half has spoken to her manager and had been advised of very different things in a vastly customer service appropriate attitude. Lesson here: it is one thing to lie on the job because you are lazy or incompetent (or both), it is quite another to be caught with it. 

Unfortunately, our great nation Australia isn't known for its customer service. Anyone who has ever travelled overseas can attest to the difference in customer service overseas, in particularly, I am thinking of New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, Vanuatu etc...

Let's bust a myth today: Customer Service isn't specific to some industries (although this post has been about customer service in the building industry). Customer Service applies to all industries and all roles. When people think customer service, they think of:

1. Customer Service Desks at shopping centres (valet parking anyone?)
2. Shop attendants when you go shopping
3. Waiters and cashiers when you eat out anywhere

The three examples above are just the obvious forms of customer service. Unfortunately a lot of people don't understand that they are all in some shape or form required to serve clients, with problem solving and quick thinking amongst the biggest arsenal to effectively do their jobs. Think about it:

1. If you are a GP, your client are your patients
2. If you work in a construction company, your clients include local governments, state governments, regulatory bodies and the wider community in which you operate
3. If you are a teacher, your clients are the parents and the children, not to mention the school administrators (teachers are truly to be commended for their dedication to multiple masters)

So, think about what you do in your chosen profession and industry, and the clients that you serve. Are you living up to your customer service responsibilities? How can you improve on your customer service so that your clients will give you repeat business? Repeat business and positive client satisfaction is the end goal of every professional, which leads to rewards like promotions and salary raise (or that EOFY bonus...maybe?).

That sinking feeling

So the story goes that we decided to build a brand new house, and the brand new house needed a double under-mount sink (as you do). The double under-mount sink (see below) was of typical specification - having decided we did not need anything to customise the sink any further. Nothing to go wrong right?

The uneventful and total generic under-mount sink in question

At our June 2016 handover, our Site Manager presented us with the serious stuff (paperwork and other boring stuff) and showed us the accessories that came with our new sinks, chief amongst this is the sink cover, which considering the size and specifications were generic, should have been an off-the-shelf item.

The Site Manager took the sink cover out of the box, out of its plastic sleeve and attempted to put it over the sink to demonstrate how it should work (and didn't). We did all the right things by noting it down as something they need to rectify and on we went onto the other parts of the house.

Friday 2nd of September (a full 87 days after he first took it away to be resized), he left it without any protective packaging, unannounced and unattended near the front door of our house. What if the sink cover had gone missing? What if it had been damaged due to a factor outside of our control? Does that mean we forfeit our right to own and use this item?

The result:

Apparently, this issue has been fixed.

Notice on the right side, there is a hole? I don't think it is suppose to be like this.

A quick Google search for under-mount sink covers reveals that we seem to have a sink cover like no other (with a sizeable gap). Plantation Homes considers this issue resolved. I don't think I will get anymore traction with this issue!

Google example 1

Google example 2

Just a bit different...yes?

Hello and welcome!

Welcome to my new blog about my family's experience building with Plantation Homes (also known has Henley Properties) in Queensland, Australia.

This blog is purely based on our personal experience with this builder, which will hopefully provide more information to up and coming families and investors on what it is like to build with them.

To be fair, I have read some great reviews on Plantations Homes, saw their award-winning display homes and thought we had landed on a solid and reputable builder. Their sales staff were extremely helpful, professional and persuasive, which was what convinced us to build with them. Our due-diligence at the time indicated no they were the way to go. How I wish that were true!!!

The house from the outside seems to have all the trappings of a well-constructed and well-designed structure. With the help of the inhouse Plantation Homes Colour Selection Stylists, the end result is - on the surface - pleasing to the eye. However, look close enough and live in the house a couple of months and you will start to find where the corners have been cut (an admission straight from their subcontractor's mouth too!).

The building phase had its fair share of challenges, which I will retrospectively blog here in the future. However, for now - fresh off the bat, I would like to treat readers to the lovely maintenance phase.

As with a lot of new build owners in the last couple of years, we were renters. The end result of having your own brand new house still looks like a palace compared to the dingy, under-maintained renter's hovel that we came from. We were desperate to move in (largely due to financial pressures of maintaining a mortgage and a rental property) which I think builders take advantage of - rushing through the handover inspection and placing the onerous task on us, the owners to find all the defects during two hours what Site Managers are paid for 6 months to do.

So...welcome to my little piece of cyberspace vent-piece, designed for people like me that have a bone to pick but don't have the money or the resources in order to do something real and tangible about it. For the "little people" that has to suck it up and bear what builders have to dish out because what else can we do about it? Especially when they refuse to fix the house that you spend good money for them to build and industry bodies refuse to regulate them or keep the public/consumers informed (and continue to award them medals for the terrible privilege).

I also welcome anyone that had experiences with either Plantation Homes or any other builders to contribute to my blog. I welcome all views as long as they are not derogatory or a direct attack.