Comments:
Purchasing a home should be an enjoyable experience, and initially it was. We had a great experience with sales staff especially the sales manager who was very knowledgeable, courteous and professional. However, once we had to deal with the construction staff, things changed. We identified a discrepancy between sales brochure and detailed plans and had to deal with the construction staff to get it resolved. We met with them many, many times over a week or two. During the meetings, the construction staff acted very unprofessionally including yelling at us. They also tried to make us go away by telling us that they would let us out of our contract. We were treated like the "bad guys", when we were the ones who found a mistake nine months before construction started probably saving Toll Brothers time and money in the long run . We felt that we deserved better treatment. A compromise was eventually reached with the help of the sales manager. From that point on our change request were quickly denied. It seemed like it was some backlash from us pointing out the discrepancy between sales brochure and detailed plans. When we met with the construction staff for the pre-drywall inspection, it was another bad experience. The walk-through of the second floor went okay, however, when we pointed out that a light was not centered in the eat-in kitchen, the walkthrough went downhill. Our expectation was that we would be able to request minor adjustments especially in lighting placement. In fact, that is what we were told by the sales staff. When we brought up the fact that one light was not even close to being centered, we were yelled at and treated unprofessionally (again). We were told something like ... we're not here to make you happy; we're just here to show you what was done. If it's not on our paper, then we not changing it... We spent more time arguing over the light and the process then it would have taken to move it! The walkthrough was a waste of time. This would be a good opportunity for Toll Brothers to improve the customer's experience. Let us make minor changes like adjusting the placement of lights. These things are not as easy to see on paper as they are in person. We identified issues at the pre-drywall inspection that were ignored initially, and they became more difficult to fix later on. There was a pipe in laundry room wall that was protruding. I notified the construction staff as soon as I noticed it. I was told that it would be fixed before drywall was installed. Drywall was place on it anyway which caused a huge bow. This was still being repaired three weeks after settlement. We also identified problems with the position of the lolly-poles in the garage. They were hanging over the apron. The "fix" was to cut-out and re-pour the apron. Now there is a seam in the concrete between the apron and the garage floor that will undoubtedly cause issue in the future when the concrete expands and contracts. The flood light option was initially missed and installed later. The floodlights above the garage where installed very low. We were told that this is "code", however, other homes next to us are not installed that way. As construction continued, we caught subcontractors urinating on the sub-floor in our house and neighboring houses on several occasions. We brought it up several times, and we suggested placing port-o-potties nearby because the closet one was too far away; but nothing was done about it. Toll Brothers should pay closer attention to the subcontractors they hire. During a severe rainstorm, our dining room window and kitchen slider were left open. When we saw the hardwood floor the next day, there were puddles of rain on the cardboard that was on top of it, and the hardwood floor was extremely we underneath. I'm not sure what damaged this could cause, but I know that hardwood floors are not supposed to get wet. We reported several construction issues along the way, but we did not get much feedback on our questions/concerns. We monitored the construction progress of the house. When we noticed something that didn't seem right, we brought it up with the sales staff, and they wrote it up. For example, damaged window panes, wet hardwood floor, missing insulation, cracked sidewalk, incorrect daylight basement railings installed, etc. We did not get a lot of feedback on the items. Some items were fixed, but we didn't know ahead of time whether they would be or not. This may be another area that Toll Brothers can improve. The pre-settlement inspection went well. We were treated with respect and there was no yelling. The construction staff agreed to fix the items that we pointed out. The final inspection was a disaster. I'm not sure what happened between the pre-settlement walkthrough and the final walkthrough, but many of the items that were supposed to be
