Hmm... I don't know what to say anymore.
26 May 2011 has come and gone... and we still do not have the keys to our house.
*sad face*
"What is it now?" I hear you all ask....
Well, it ain't the builders no more. Nope sirree. They have decided that delaying us by 4 extra weeks unnecessarily is enough torture. So now they are behaving like good builders should....
This time... this time round.... it's the friggin' BANK!
Can you believe it? The BANK!
The friggin' bank has delayed us by another 2 weeks.
AN EXTRA FREAKING TWO WEEKS OF WAITING for no good reason whatsoever.
They lost the paperwork. So they tell me.
So what normally takes other homeowners and their banks 3-4 days to do has taken our bank 2 weeks, and they STILL haven't given me any timeframes as to when we will see the cheque.
I just don't understand, we've done everything right, we've done everything by the book and we've been patient and reasonable and yet we're rewarded with constant incompetence and delays through no fault of our own.
All I can really say now is that building a house is FRUSTRATING!
No... wait, it's more than that.
It's FRUSTRATING + HEADACHE INDUCING + STRESSFUL + ANGER INVOKING + GROSS INCOMPETENCE (with everyone you have to deal with) and not to mention MONEY DRAINING.
Frankly, I'm surprised I still have a full head of hair considering how much hair-pulling I've done over the last 6 months in particular.
I certainly don't recommend building a house to any of my friends, just let the morons deal with that drama. Buy an already built house and deal with the issues that those houses throw at you. Trust me, it's gotta be way more fun.
So when do we get the house?
*sigh*
Well, who bloody knows...
By my estimates.... and at the rate that we're going, it will be NEVER.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
19 May 2011
Settlement arranged for Thursday, 26th May 2011.
10am.
Ok, so it is one week later than we had expected, but still... How Excitement!
10am.
Ok, so it is one week later than we had expected, but still... How Excitement!
Friday, May 13, 2011
13 May 2011
SUCCESS!
A response is received from another manager at 7.22am this morning.
He says that what we have outlined in our email is very concerning to them and that it has caught the attention of their CEO.
Really? It caught the attention of the CEO did it? Well maybe it was because WE COPIED HIM INTO THE EMAIL you jerks.
*ok, calm yourself down now*
So anyway, this new manager informs us that the CEO will respond directly to us.
And at 5:27pm, sure enough an email was received from CEO man.
It was a good email, he made no excuses, apologised for what we've had to go through, and thanked us for bringing this to his attention.
He advised that a new invoice will be issued on Monday morning, less the deductions we've requested plus an additional $1000 gesture of goodwill.
We are thrilled by this outcome. It is definitely the best possible outcome for us.
You know what this all means now?
WE SETTLE WITHIN THE WEEK!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooT!
Finally. We can see the end of this.
*sigh of relief*
A response is received from another manager at 7.22am this morning.
He says that what we have outlined in our email is very concerning to them and that it has caught the attention of their CEO.
Really? It caught the attention of the CEO did it? Well maybe it was because WE COPIED HIM INTO THE EMAIL you jerks.
*ok, calm yourself down now*
So anyway, this new manager informs us that the CEO will respond directly to us.
And at 5:27pm, sure enough an email was received from CEO man.
It was a good email, he made no excuses, apologised for what we've had to go through, and thanked us for bringing this to his attention.
He advised that a new invoice will be issued on Monday morning, less the deductions we've requested plus an additional $1000 gesture of goodwill.
We are thrilled by this outcome. It is definitely the best possible outcome for us.
You know what this all means now?
WE SETTLE WITHIN THE WEEK!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooT!
Finally. We can see the end of this.
*sigh of relief*
12 May 2011
So today, after yet another week of zero communication from the girl AND her manager, Lu decided our only option was to go into their office and demand a resolution right there and then. We are not tolerating any more unnecessary delays.
But guess what? Conveniently, both the girl and the manager were not in the office and they sent another girl who does not work on the project to talk to Lu and give her yet another run around. She advises that the girl has been away sick all week... excuses... this is not our problem, the girl has repeatedly ignored and refused to return our calls and emails for months, not just this week. Besides, we had emailed 2 people, the girl AND her manager, so are they saying the manager is incapable of responding? Again, unprofessional.
If you think by this stage, are we frustrated? Angry? Impatient? YES YES YES YES YES YES!
And Yes a few more times after that as well!
I don't think we've ever treated with such disdain ever, from anywhere, by any other business. I feel disgust in the pit of my stomach.
I don't think we've ever treated with such disdain ever, from anywhere, by any other business. I feel disgust in the pit of my stomach.
So tonight we wrote an email to all the managers listed on their website. By now, we really don't care whether the person has anything to do with our project, we just want a response. Any response. Someone who was prepared to help us.
The house is finished. It should not be this hard or take this long to arrange a settlement date.
9 May 2011
On Friday, 4:46pm to be precise, we finally received an invoice with new date on it, however, still no answer to our question.
And definitely no response or acknowledgement of our email from the Operations Manager. Now, that is just poor form. Extremely unprofessional. But as they say... managers lead by example, so judging by how we've been treated by the girl, I'm not surprised her manager doesn't give a shit.
So anyway, this morning we sent a response email back to the girl AND her manager, requesting that yet another new invoice be issued, less the late penalties and sundries. Around $4000 worth of deductions.
We are prepared for them to debate the deductions.
And definitely no response or acknowledgement of our email from the Operations Manager. Now, that is just poor form. Extremely unprofessional. But as they say... managers lead by example, so judging by how we've been treated by the girl, I'm not surprised her manager doesn't give a shit.
So anyway, this morning we sent a response email back to the girl AND her manager, requesting that yet another new invoice be issued, less the late penalties and sundries. Around $4000 worth of deductions.
We are prepared for them to debate the deductions.
3 May 2011
Sent an email to the office to see how far along our Certificate of Occupancy is, and 2 minutes later, received said certificate via reply email.
O.M.G.
That should've been very exciting for us, however, it made our blood boil. Why you ask?
Well because clearly they already were in possession of this certificate and only when we asked for it (for the umpteenth time) did they send it. Not only that, the certificate was dated (get this) 14TH APRIL 2011!
14th APRIL 2011
Over 2 weeks ago.
Can you feel our temperature rising now??
Anyway, we are demanding answers, and demanding new invoice be issued.
O.M.G.
That should've been very exciting for us, however, it made our blood boil. Why you ask?
Well because clearly they already were in possession of this certificate and only when we asked for it (for the umpteenth time) did they send it. Not only that, the certificate was dated (get this) 14TH APRIL 2011!
14th APRIL 2011
Over 2 weeks ago.
Can you feel our temperature rising now??
Anyway, we are demanding answers, and demanding new invoice be issued.
Friday, April 22, 2011
22 April 2011
So we got a response from them a few days ago...
Only after we sent yet another email to hassle the Operations Manager did we get a response from the office staff... and even then, the stupid email didn't enlighten us any further as to when we would get the Certificate of Occupancy.
But perhaps I should be satisfied that they have now at least 'acknowledged' our email (and I note that this 'acknowledgement' is only a very very loose label for the simple response we've received), this is the most I can really expect from these jerks.
What I am sick to death of right now is many concerned and interested friends constantly asking me when my house will be ready... in short:
I DON'T KNOW!
I just don't know, I guess we will get the damned keys whenever those jerkface builders decide to get their butts off the ground and do something useful for a change.
Enough already, ok? No more house questions. Trust me, when we get the house, EVERYONE will know about. Absolutely everybody will know about it. I surely won't stop talking about it that's for sure.
There. I've said it. You can all stop asking now.
Thanks.
Only after we sent yet another email to hassle the Operations Manager did we get a response from the office staff... and even then, the stupid email didn't enlighten us any further as to when we would get the Certificate of Occupancy.
But perhaps I should be satisfied that they have now at least 'acknowledged' our email (and I note that this 'acknowledgement' is only a very very loose label for the simple response we've received), this is the most I can really expect from these jerks.
What I am sick to death of right now is many concerned and interested friends constantly asking me when my house will be ready... in short:
I DON'T KNOW!
I just don't know, I guess we will get the damned keys whenever those jerkface builders decide to get their butts off the ground and do something useful for a change.
Enough already, ok? No more house questions. Trust me, when we get the house, EVERYONE will know about. Absolutely everybody will know about it. I surely won't stop talking about it that's for sure.
There. I've said it. You can all stop asking now.
Thanks.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
7 April 2011
So we followed up with the Office staff on the Certificate of Occupancy yesterday.
As of COB today, no response from them.
No acknowledgement of our email.
No acknowledgement that the process has been kickstarted and maybe how long it would take to receive...
NOTHING.
NADA.
Not surprised.
Jerks.
As of COB today, no response from them.
No acknowledgement of our email.
No acknowledgement that the process has been kickstarted and maybe how long it would take to receive...
NOTHING.
NADA.
Not surprised.
Jerks.
1 April 2011
Our final inspection (number 2) was completed today.
It only happened because on Sunday, Lu and I wrote a rather curt response back to the office, formally not accepting their final invoice as we have not yet received a Certificate of Occupancy and therefore they are not permitted to demand payment until we receive notice of that.
Our email to the Operations Manager also highlighted the fact that there was a serious lack of communication between the office staff and the client. A deeply concerning matter considering the type of issues that we have experienced and not been able to get any answers to is a very frustrating experience.
We were told that this email has gone right around the office and finally landed in Scott's inbox. Kudos to Scott, he called us straight away to explain.
Unfortunately, boo to the office, AND the Operations Manager who we have still yet to hear from... no apology, nothing.
So off we head on this busy Friday, wedding day on the horizon... to the Mews. We went through the building inspection report in detail today with our wonderful building inspector, Phil.
Overall, both Lu and I, as well as Phil, were quite satisfied with the result of the actions taken to fix the problems outlined in the report. Although not all were complete, the main items that needed to be addressed had been appropriately addressed and rectified and more importantly, had been done right.
Finally.
So Scott the Site Supervisor, who I really have no beef with, was quite honest with us (or as honest as we believe him to be... afterall, he still works for the enemy), it would appear that other than a possible leaky roof, there are no major items to look into.
We're finally happy. To an extent.
So Scott tells us that all the required paperwork has been sent back to the office and we should be receiving the Certificate of Occupancy very soon.
*tentative yays!*
Let's see how long the office takes to do this for us....
It only happened because on Sunday, Lu and I wrote a rather curt response back to the office, formally not accepting their final invoice as we have not yet received a Certificate of Occupancy and therefore they are not permitted to demand payment until we receive notice of that.
Our email to the Operations Manager also highlighted the fact that there was a serious lack of communication between the office staff and the client. A deeply concerning matter considering the type of issues that we have experienced and not been able to get any answers to is a very frustrating experience.
We were told that this email has gone right around the office and finally landed in Scott's inbox. Kudos to Scott, he called us straight away to explain.
Unfortunately, boo to the office, AND the Operations Manager who we have still yet to hear from... no apology, nothing.
So off we head on this busy Friday, wedding day on the horizon... to the Mews. We went through the building inspection report in detail today with our wonderful building inspector, Phil.
Overall, both Lu and I, as well as Phil, were quite satisfied with the result of the actions taken to fix the problems outlined in the report. Although not all were complete, the main items that needed to be addressed had been appropriately addressed and rectified and more importantly, had been done right.
Finally.
So Scott the Site Supervisor, who I really have no beef with, was quite honest with us (or as honest as we believe him to be... afterall, he still works for the enemy), it would appear that other than a possible leaky roof, there are no major items to look into.
We're finally happy. To an extent.
So Scott tells us that all the required paperwork has been sent back to the office and we should be receiving the Certificate of Occupancy very soon.
*tentative yays!*
Let's see how long the office takes to do this for us....
Friday, March 4, 2011
4 March 2011
Well... we have finally received 'some' news...
They finally got back to us on 2 of our constant questions.
Apparently, the house is due to be complete next Friday... or so they reckon.
Me? I'm not so sure about that. What I am sure about is that I will be going in there with the building inspector and going through every item in that report with a fine tooth comb and the site supervisor will be bearing the brunt of my questioning. And I ain't letting him go until he answers and fixes all our problems to my satisfaction.
I just don't play the tough bitch role very well unfortunately... my toughness factor tends to side on the low end of the scale. A skill I still gots to learn in life...
Anyway, Watersun reckons next Friday (if weather permitting) they will finish BUT I'm not so optimistic. My guess its still about 3-4 weeks away from the handover so this is to be continued.
Keep your fingers, legs and toes crossed for us that it will be sooner rather than later.
They finally got back to us on 2 of our constant questions.
Apparently, the house is due to be complete next Friday... or so they reckon.
Me? I'm not so sure about that. What I am sure about is that I will be going in there with the building inspector and going through every item in that report with a fine tooth comb and the site supervisor will be bearing the brunt of my questioning. And I ain't letting him go until he answers and fixes all our problems to my satisfaction.
I just don't play the tough bitch role very well unfortunately... my toughness factor tends to side on the low end of the scale. A skill I still gots to learn in life...
Anyway, Watersun reckons next Friday (if weather permitting) they will finish BUT I'm not so optimistic. My guess its still about 3-4 weeks away from the handover so this is to be continued.
Keep your fingers, legs and toes crossed for us that it will be sooner rather than later.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
20 February 2011
We are sad and tired.
It appears our house won't be ready for quite a few more weeks. The builders, Watersun Homes, have been uncommunicative and have ignored the bulk of our emails and phone calls. In fact, they have yet to return a single one of my phone calls over the past 2 weeks. That just builds more resentment and ill feeling towards them. All we are trying to do is resolve the problems as soon as possible and to work with them to get our house finished as soon as possible.
But no, it seems they have other ideas. What they might be is beyond me because they just refuse to communicate with us. Do they want to finish or to keep delaying us?
So what happened? I hear you ask.... well... the final building inspection report came back really bad. In fact, it would seem that all the issues outlined in the previous report have not been rectified and yet they have continued on with adding finishing touches to unfixed problems, thus creating more issues in the report.
Basically, brick and mortar work is not up to scratch, floors not level, paint and finishing done poorly, insulation installed incorrectly, house not cleaned, landscaping incomplete and not done properly, carpet wasn't finished properly....
*SIGH*
What can we do? It seems the other owners are also experiencing similar problems with Watersun Homes.... So it would seem that as soon as problems arise, they suddenly become difficult. And further enhancing the stereotype and poor image that builders have in general.
The report basically tells us that this is sloppy workmanship.
Right.
hmm.....unreliable builders, sloppy work, lack of communiation.
Sound familiar anyone?
Ok, I guess we will look into a formal complaint with the Building Commission and see our solicitor to see how we should handle this situation, because surely this is not new, and it won't be the last time it happens either.
It appears our house won't be ready for quite a few more weeks. The builders, Watersun Homes, have been uncommunicative and have ignored the bulk of our emails and phone calls. In fact, they have yet to return a single one of my phone calls over the past 2 weeks. That just builds more resentment and ill feeling towards them. All we are trying to do is resolve the problems as soon as possible and to work with them to get our house finished as soon as possible.
But no, it seems they have other ideas. What they might be is beyond me because they just refuse to communicate with us. Do they want to finish or to keep delaying us?
So what happened? I hear you ask.... well... the final building inspection report came back really bad. In fact, it would seem that all the issues outlined in the previous report have not been rectified and yet they have continued on with adding finishing touches to unfixed problems, thus creating more issues in the report.
Basically, brick and mortar work is not up to scratch, floors not level, paint and finishing done poorly, insulation installed incorrectly, house not cleaned, landscaping incomplete and not done properly, carpet wasn't finished properly....
*SIGH*
What can we do? It seems the other owners are also experiencing similar problems with Watersun Homes.... So it would seem that as soon as problems arise, they suddenly become difficult. And further enhancing the stereotype and poor image that builders have in general.
The report basically tells us that this is sloppy workmanship.
Right.
hmm.....unreliable builders, sloppy work, lack of communiation.
Sound familiar anyone?
Ok, I guess we will look into a formal complaint with the Building Commission and see our solicitor to see how we should handle this situation, because surely this is not new, and it won't be the last time it happens either.
28 January 2011
Happy New Year!
We went to see our house today and GUESS WHAT?!?!
Site manager told us that our house will be ready in TWO weeks!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
So here's another sneak peak of the inside... a bit more ready than last time. Excitement!
The garage
The kitchen
The living room and front door... so so so tiny!
The living room taken from a different angle
The meals area next to the kitchen. Yes, a small small space, but cute.
The upstairs area leading to 2 bedrooms and the bathroom and toilet
The wardrobe in one bedroom 2 (or was it 3?) one of those ones...
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