Charles Church amateur house builders

Kyrae

That sounds like terrible customer service from them We bought a Barratt home a couple months ago and were given a tour of the house before we completed, they told us how everything worked, and the site manager gave us his phone number incase we had any problems or snags to report. It's terrible that they haven't told you who to contact if you have any problems, have they given you any information packs or anything to read through? There might be info on a complaints procedure in there!

Gwhiz

TBH your g/f was mad to accept the £500 without checking all this out. It never makes sense with a property to complete before it's finished properly.

spud211

I'm sorry to say that you are pretty much stuffed now - you are reliant entirely on the builder being professional - which is not always easy.

There IS a legal requirement for them to finish and fix these issues, but very little incentive for them to do so quickly. It can take months if not years to get problems like this sorted, sadly, and would involve multiple complains to their head office, the NHBC etc etc.

The big mistake was completing before the work was finished, with (presumably) nothing in writing to say "We will fix XYZ issues by <date>" - you are not alone in making this mistake but it does make things much more difficult.

When I completed on my house I did my inspection 2 weeks before the completion date, and picked up a list of issues (notably uneven floorboards, 1 kitchen unit in the wrong place and 1 radiator in the wrong place) - got the site manager to sign this list and agree a date for it to be finished..and then they got it done before completion. I refused to complete until it was done, so they did the work. Then I had 8 very minor issues post completion, but again they signed a letter agreeing to do the work within 1 month of move in, and they did it.

I was with Taylor Wimpey - and they did a really good job..surprisingly so considering the bad rep that builders get.

So in terms of getting it fixed, complain to everyone you can find at the company. Find the site manager and literally don't leave his sight until he agrees to do the work (get written agreement). If this fails then do the same with your sales rep - hopefully there are some properties left unsold so camping outside the sales office and making your issues known to new prospects will usually get them to sort your issues out pretty quickly. Just make sure that anything you say is 100% accurate - so they can't have a go at you for slander.

head office would be your next target - making sure to note the names of both the sales reps and site managers, you want to make it clear that they have screwed you over and are not happy.

If all else fails, the NHBC may be worth a call but it's unlikely, the local press is one option as some bad PR can spur some poor developers into action.

Through all of this though remember that your priority is to get the work finished - I say this as somer people turn it into a way to get revenge, and that never helps anyway.

Regardless though - good luck! Don't let it put you off newbuilds, there are plenty of good developers and great site managers building really good homes (like mine!).

vuvuzela

This thread is 9 months old and bumped by a spammer. Hopefully the OP gt things sorted a long time ago

chris.lewis

Yep resolved ages ago!

BillTrac

vuvuzela wrote: »

This thread is 9 months old and bumped by a spammer. Hopefully the OP gt things sorted a long time ago

exactly what I thought. Especially as he/she was stating the bleeding obvious.....:rotfl:

(the spammer not the OP)

Gwhiz

vuvuzela wrote: »

This thread is 9 months old and bumped by a spammer. Hopefully the OP gt things sorted a long time ago

Ahhhh..... bangs head on desk! I did not see that

Kimi001

Searching builders online is a best idea, as these builders will know of all those little expensive looking details that can be added without breaking the bank and still make your new home stunning for several years. Also they will build your home in a most affordable way within your budget.