Developer placed garage door in wrong place.

SilverSix

Back in February when I reserved my plot I was asked if I wanted to add a 'personnel door' to my garage as only the 'up and over 'door is standard.

I said yes and that I would like it placed as near to the front of the garage as possible. I have a copy of the options form which clearly states this.

I popped up towards the end of last week to see how the build was going and took loads of photos, it was only when I got home I realised that they have in fact placed the door as far away from the front of the garage as bloody possible! :mad: it's currently just brick work, no roof and no doors fitted.

I queried this with them and asked if they were aware of my original request and had a call just now to say that due to planning it's not a moveable option etc and it's not able to be by the front due to the up and over door. They suggested I speak to the site manager if I wish. They said there wasn't a great deal they could do about this.

I made it clear that if I had known that the door had to be right at the back of the garage I wouldn't have added the option, for the sum of £500, and also made it clear I'm not happy about paying for it if it's not where I want it.

The reason I wanted it right at the front is because I have peices of gym equipment to be put at the back, which will now have to go towards the front meaning that I won't be able to make the most of the space in there.

I asked they take this a little higher to head office to get it resolved, which unsurprisingly they didn't know who to pass it on to. They suggested I speak to my solicitor.

What do you think the chances of getting anywhere with this are?

Thanks,

Ben

sonastin

I think you might struggle with this but it depends how bloody minded you want to be and how well the development is selling. From what you've said, your instructions didn't specify location of the door, just "as near as possible" to the front. If they can justify why its current location at the back is as near to the front as they can legitimately site the door, there's not a lot you can do about it. Hindsight tells you that you should have said "I want it here. If it can't be built here, contact me to discuss where it can go because I might not want it in another location".

BUT, this is a business you are dealing with. Businesses can be more pragmatic about what they stand to lose. If the development isn't shifting as fast as they'd like, they won't risk losing a solid buyer for the sake of £500, no matter how much reservation deposit they can hold on to. On the other hand, if plots are going like hot cakes and the next buyer is sitting on a waiting list just waiting for you to pull out, they aren't going to sacrifice £500 when they might be able to shaft the next punter for an even bigger sum, and hold onto your reservation fee at the same time.

Fight them as hard as you can but factor in that you might have more to lose in this than they do.

WelshNic

Assuming you're sealing the main door off and garages by their nature are just a box shape, does it really matter which way the equipment faces, front or back?

They will always place the door towards the back if the main door is up and over, it's just a common sense thing, otherwise one obstructs the other.

SilverSix

Thanks for the reply.

You raise some good points. I dropped my solicitor an e-mail so we'll see what she says. I should have said contact me if this location isn't do-able however the sales woman who had been with them for years didn't mention that it might not have been possible so we were on the assumption that it was.

Thinking about it having the door there isn't a massive inconvenience as I might be able to squeeze past/under some of the equipment or I can just enter via the up & over.

Though it doesn't hurt to see what you can squeeze out of the robbing developers

SilverSix

WelshNic wrote: »

Assuming you're sealing the main door off and garages by their nature are just a box shape, does it really matter which way the equipment faces, front or back?

They will always place the door towards the back if the main door is up and over, it's just a common sense thing, otherwise one obstructs the other.

Having thought about it I can place my equipment at the back and just not make use of the door if it obstructs it. Don't plan to seal off the main door.

I could place equipment elsewhere though I have a motorbike which I wouldn't be able to wheel out of the garage past the equipment and also would like to make use of some space near the front when working on the car etc

WelshNic

Can you face it left/right rather than front/back?

Would allow access to both doors then?

liubeliu

BennyC wrote: »

I made it clear that if I had known that the door had to be right at the back of the garage I wouldn't have added the option, for the sum of £500, and also made it clear I'm not happy about paying for it if it's not where I want it.

Ben

When I reserved my plot we picked our floor tiles. The builder laid the wrong choice in the kitchen diner. We insisted that they change them but due to cost they offered us another Option up to a certain amount. We chose a personnel door and some extra paving to the garden.

The door was installed near to the up and over doors and opened outwards into the garden. Builder said this was the norm for convienience (i.e. closer to house) and opens outwards due to if person actually wanted to park a car in garage, inward opening door would be useless.

I would kick up a fuss that they should move door, they may offer to refund your £500 or even move it. Good luck

liubeliu

BennyC wrote: »

had a call just now to say that due to planning it's not a moveable option etc and it's not able to be by the front due to the up and over door.
Ben

My personnel door was added to an already built garage two weeks before completion so Planning seems a lame excuse, so does the interference with up and over doors as the use of outward opening door as mentioned above solves this. Lawyer new this as it was a free option (so legally an incentive) it had to be declared to lender prior to release of funds. No mention of planning issue raised by lawyer.

WelshNic

It's not due to the way the door opens, it's due to there being a doorway there.

liubeliu

BennyC wrote: »

I said yes and that I would like it placed as near to the front of the garage as possible. I have a copy of the options form which clearly states this.

Ben

WelshNic wrote: »

It's not due to the way the door opens, it's due to there being a doorway there.

The position of my door is less than two foot from the up and over door. I can only assume where my door is is where Benny wants his. i.e. near to the up and over door which is on the front and the personnel door on the side.

SilverSix

liubeliu wrote: »

The position of my door is less than two foot from the up and over door. I can only assume where my door is is where Benny wants his. i.e. near to the up and over door which is on the front and the personnel door on the side.

That's exactly where I want mine.

My solicitor said she can't assist a complaint but could send it over and monitor the progress. So I've done it myself and sent their customerservices department a head office the e-mail below.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have an issue that requies your attention in regards to my plot XXXXX on the XXXXXXX development in XXXXXX and an extra option I selected in the way of a personnel door.

In February when I reserved my plot I was asked by Nicki if I wanted to include a personnel door to the garage for £500, I agreed and when asked where in relation to the house I would like it I specified as near to the house possible. I have the reservation/option documents highlighting this.

Last week I popped up to the development to see how my build was coming along and noticed that the door had in fact been placed as far away from the house as physically possible, right towards the back of the garage. I queried this thinking that perhaps my original instruction had been overlooked. I received a call yesterday from Claire informing me that due to planning the door option is immovable and I wasn't entitled to choose where precisely I wanted it in the first place. If I had known this I wouldn't have agreed to have option installed as due to equipment that will be in the garage having the door where it has currently been built renders it unusable to me. As it stands I'm going to be left with a personnel door that I can't use but am still expected to have to pay for, which I'm sure you can imagine I'm not pleased about this at all.

I understand it is above your sales representatives authority to resolve this matter which is why I've written to you directly.

I'm also a little stunned that I was not contacted by any of your site or sales team on the matter to ask if I was still willing to go ahead with the option due to it's revised position.

I hope you can provide a resolution.
　
Yours Faithfully,
　

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