* Bev Swanson HAS to be the best thing about EBH. She is an asset to the company, a true gem in my eyes. She explains things clearly and explains again if I am still not sure , she is empathetic, she is encouraging yet firm where she needs to be.
* The customer service from some of the companies EBH use is gobsmackingly terrible. Admin errors, not easily contactable, inconsistent and over-inflated prices, not suggesting/selling changes to consider, lengthy processes. For me, Kitchen Culture and DiLorenzo were the most difficult to deal with. To their credit, DiLorenzo have taken my feedback on board and made changes. A year on, listening to others, nothing has changed at Kitchen Culture.
* I don't offer any suggestions here but I feel the sales/tender process could be done better. I understand that there are many clients who get tenders done and then don't move on to contract stage so spending too much time at this stage can be counterproductive. Yet for those who do move on to building with EBH, completing this stage as well as possible would save headaches for all later. Perhaps a document outlining some items to consider adding to the tender eg. privacy locks, raised ceilings, overhead cupboards, fans, enlarging the garage slightly to more easily fit 2 cars, frosted windows on bathrooms,
* I would like to see an upgrade package put together for clients like me who seem to want to upgrade everything. It would include things like soft close drawers, full tiling in bathrooms, overhead cupboards in kitchen & laundry, undermount sink, stone bench tops throughout the house, higher allowance for flooring, frameless showers, pot drawers in kitchen, 2 double power points in each room, wardrobe fitouts, flycreens etc. There are plenty of other builders out there offering such 'Platinum Packages'.
* Consistent pricing across the board. There are many examples when clients compare their prices for similar homes. From the blog of another EBHer (2 clients comparing similar houses)
1. Internal Door. When we requested an internal door from the garage to the house, we were quoted $299 which included a Gainsborough tri-lock (deadlock). However, C made the same request but she was quoted $300 for an internal door with just a standard door knob. She was told she would have to pay extra for a deadlock (~$200)....after questioning it, she is now getting it with the tri-lock. ***$201 SAVING***
2. Obscure Glazing. We were quoted $55 total for obscure glazing to all (3) of our bathroom windows. Just a month or so later, and C is quoted $158 for just two windows. Again, after questioning it, she is now paying $55 -- still doesn't make sense she's paying $55 for 2 windows when we got it for 3. ***$103 SAVING***
3. Soft Close Drawers. As mentioned in a previous post, we were costed $352 for the Hettich soft-close drawers whilst C was quoted $176. ***$176 SAVING***
* A more consistent approach to communication with site supervisor. Whilst I don't have any issues myself with mine, there are some fellow builders who have never seen a screenshot and their SS has no idea what it is. A weekly email with a screenshot attached on their allocated office day would be ideal. Knowing what is and when it is coming would put many an anxious mind to rest.
* It is strange EBH don't realise when you request a structural change what impact it has on the rest of your build eg. air conditioning ducting. I would have thought that the wait time until you receive an answer means that all parties are checking that it is feasible for all aspects of your house. They can't expect their clients to be builders & know the impact requested changes made may have. It seems the client is informed too late to even be able to have a rethink about the change that impacted the original design. I have a bedroom spoiled by a boxed in section and a powder room with a very low ceiling downstairs - not happy about it, too late to change it and not worth getting worked up about it now!
* A more consistent approach to communication with site supervisor. Whilst I don't have any issues myself with mine, there are some fellow builders who have never seen a screenshot and their SS has no idea what it is. A weekly email with a screenshot attached on their allocated office day would be ideal. Knowing what is and when it is coming would put many an anxious mind to rest.
* It is strange EBH don't realise when you request a structural change what impact it has on the rest of your build eg. air conditioning ducting. I would have thought that the wait time until you receive an answer means that all parties are checking that it is feasible for all aspects of your house. They can't expect their clients to be builders & know the impact requested changes made may have. It seems the client is informed too late to even be able to have a rethink about the change that impacted the original design. I have a bedroom spoiled by a boxed in section and a powder room with a very low ceiling downstairs - not happy about it, too late to change it and not worth getting worked up about it now!
Kerith, you're not alone with your concerns.
ReplyDeleteIn particular Kitchen Culture has not met my expectations and in terms of inconsistent pricing I brought this up with my CSA and she said our pricing of almost 3 times that of other builders stands. I'm debating if I should take it further to Management.
Have you had contact with your Manager yet? Mine is fantastic. If you can compare prices with other Eden Brae clients and show prices are inconsistent, they HAVE to listen to that (the beauty of Home One thread)
ReplyDeleteHi Kerith,
ReplyDeleteAll agreed about kitchen culture! We have been waiting over 2 weeks since our appointment and have not heard a thing even after numerous emails (we are still waiting on initial quote finalisation).
Could I ask, is your manager someone you requested to have contact with? We have only had contact with our customer service administrator and the contact from Home Option Gallery for colours. For example, our tender presenter quoted us $120 per window for bathroom glazing. So would certainly like to take this up with the correct person.
I am so excited that I found your blog, I love your home!!
Hi Candice!
DeleteKitchen Culture did my head in! Unless there have been changes to KC, you'll be waiting a while yet.
Each CS Manager has a particular geographical area to look after with CSAs reporting to them. I found mine after sending an email through the management link on the portal. I love mine - an absolute gem of a lady called Bev.
Good luck with your build and ask any questions you like.
Hi Kerith! Thank you! I did not see your reply until now! I thought it would come to my email as a notification:(
ReplyDeleteIt is a small world, was given your blog by mutual friends on sunday who suggest I contact you/check your blog out. I then realised I was well acquanted with your amazing blog!!:)
Won't leave my info on the site though.
Our kitchen is finally signed off. You are right I just had to be patient!
Hello. We are at the very preliminary stages of considering a build option (instead of buy) and just gathering information on the process, builders, etc. Thanks for your blog, as I am finding it exceedingly useful/interesting.
ReplyDeleteOne particular question, what exactly do you mean by:
" I have a bedroom spoiled by a boxed in section and a powder room with a very low ceiling downstairs"
Are they related? Root cause? Would the 'boxed in section' be a nook?
Finally, where do you recommend I look to for pricing (final paid not quoted) for a home with 'platinum' options? Any sources you recommend?
Many, many thanks!
David,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading. Glad I can be of assistance to you. Good luck on this exciting journey. Can I recommend HomeOne forums to you? Look in the Building a New House threads. Most building companies have them and they are a great source of raw info from clients.
As EBH are so flexible, we made many changes to the floorplan to suit our needs. They were all approved by various channels but obviously not ALL channels. Once we could to building stage, our supervisor found issues with the airconditioning layout. The ducting needed a way to get downstairs into our back living areas. Our changes made this impossible as is. The boxed in section is 1m x 1m in a child's bedroom. Much as I don't want it there, to be honest, it doesn't really impact the room too much. Downstairs, we had an option of a bulkhead or a lowered ceiling to hid the ducting. The supervisor advised the lowered ceiling in the powder room/mudroom. Again, I don't even notice it now.
I still think EBH need to be more thorough when changes are made to check with all affected trades to ensure things are 100% before construction.
It is going to be hard to find final prices on homes. This entirely depends on upgrades. We paid an extra $160K on upgrades/changes without pool & landscaping. EBH has a good level of upgrades as standard. I don't think you can go wrong with EBH for quality and commitment to customer service.
A friend is building with Better Built Homes who have a platinum package; our neighbours are about to do a Knock Down & rebuild with Alkira - they have an Indulgence Package that looks good.
Let me know if I can help out in any other way. No regrets here in building a new home rather than buying!
Eden Brae feedback
ReplyDelete- Builder/contractors became too busy with too many jobs: rushed a number of jobs, many jobs such as paintwork, grouting, silicone not done as well/to standard
- Used chipped bricks to lay brick veneer
- Supervisor had given key for neighbour to access his house before settlement, we had issues booking appointments to inspect our house
- Tried to get us to sign off on the A/C duct which was encroaching on wardrobe space, should have been put behind the timber frame (not in front) as per our original plan
- Inspection before settlement: should have addressed items before settlement, many were not addressed until the day before and even on the day off settlement!
- Collected keys on settlement day: felt we were being rushed by the builder to settle, so that they could meet their deadline with various works completed only/barely to standard, rather than to the best standard
- The lady who gave us our settlement pack said “Oh, there’s always something (wrong)”. Well, of course! But if contractors are given time and do work to the best standard in the first place, you save us the hassle because we’d be satisfied with the job and you save your maintenance guys the hassle of coming to fix up your substandard jobs. Some of these guys like to complain, when you ask them just to fill an extra hole in the mortar. If a proper job was done in the first place, there’d be fewer somethings. Catch my drift?
- This is what happens when things are done to meet a deadline rather than meet the standard (meets building code standards but not even close to acceptable for the new home owner). You need to balance both, so the construction doesn’t drag out for too long and at the same time enough time is provided for contractors to do quality work. There were weeks when absolutely no building works taking place, weather was fine.
- There needs to be some sort of detailing that builders/inspectors do for new homes, just like with cars
- Sometimes I think when contractors are given guaranteed jobs, there is no labour of love or pride in the work that is done. It’s all about just getting it over and done with to get paid
- Be careful with electricians. You ask for something to be done and you end up getting something else. We asked for a weatherproof powerpoint in our alfresco, we got one outside the garage instead. It wasn’t until we checked that we saw something wasn’t right.