My wife and I have looked extensively at different home builders in the Dallas area, and decided to purchase a Sotherby home because of its reputation for being a "quality builder", and their promise of complete satisfaction". Boy, were we sadly mistaken!
We encountered so many problems from the beginning that it is hard to even know where to start. At the team meeting, we met with the builder and sales representative. After the introductions, the builder started to tell us that the items on the plans for our house are NOT what we will be getting, and proceeded to mark out items on the plans. This of course raised a red flag for us since we have walked through numerous spec homes, and were told by the sales rep that a lot of the items in the specs are standard except for a couple of upgraded items.
The same was said about an already built home of the same model that we bought. After the team meeting, we were shocked, and suspicious, so we proceeded to looked over our Sotherby Homes provided materials and found 10 missing standard items that were not on our standards list! How convenient! After weeks of trying to get them resolved, and finally having to go through the divisional sales manager, it was finally added on our standards list. After that, the construction of the home was late by over 2 months, and things just started to slide downhill from there. The builder even lied about getting the building permit!
This was a dream house for us. My wife was very excited about being in our dream house, and having our first child in that dream house. Our dreams were shattered by how Sotherbys people treated us during the building process and how much stress and pain they have put us through!
We did not anticipate having to keep an eye on the whole building process down to the number of electrical outlets. There were numerous items that we had to point out to the builder since he was not keeping an eye on things. To make things worse, the builder started marking items off the plans, and making them either cheaper or smaller. Items like can lights were deleted, windows were made smaller, the mantle was built 6 inches shorter, the shower was built smaller, counter tops were shorten, closet shelves taken out, the TV niche was built 2 foot short, closets which should have been part of the media room option that we paid for were taken out.
This is only a portion of the issues that we had with the builder and the building process. All throughout the process, it was a chore to get the builder to do simple items that required minimal amount of work. We have pointed out numerous items that were wrong during the construction process, and when some of those items are fixed, it was either done wrong, or not done at all. The builder would tell us "that its just how it is and we have to live with it. Anything that was built incorrectly and not accordance to the house plans, we were told that the house plans are used as a guide only. Of course, when we reference the same house in the same area with the correct building measurements from the plans, the builder would say that he used different contractors so each one builds it differently. So, are we building according to the house plans or not!
My wife and I ended up losing our baby, suffered unduly mental stress, and wasted numerous amount of time away from work trying to get things done to our satisfaction. To make it worse, we were told by the builder that management did not care if we buy the house or not since management have already made up their minds that we were going to give Sotherby a bad rating anyhow, and that Sotherby is trying to make the top of the JD Powers list. Imagine our surprise to hear that! We never felt like the people involved with the whole process really wanted to please us, or try to make us satisfied customers.
In summary, we are NOT satisfied with the quality of the house and the customer service that Sotherby boast about. We have spent a lot of time and effort trying to get the house built correctly and to our satisfaction. Never once did we feel like Sotherbys representatives were accommodating to our schedule and concerns. Our request to have the final walk through with the house and the closing date to be on different days were met with strong resistance.
Strong arm tactics were used against us, the mortgage company, and the title company in trying to force us to close without allowing us enough time to verify all of our concerns that were identified previously with the builder. We were told by the divisional sales manager three weeks before the closing date he would terminate the contract, and would refund our earnest money if we were really unhappy and not satisfied with the house. When we did tell him that we are not happy, and do not want to close because there are still many unresolved issues, he refuses to give our earnest money back.
We have even contacted the President of Sotherby homes, Peter Shaddock, Jr., but he did not even care enough to handle the situation as expected from a reputable builder. We are very disappointed that the President of Sotherby homes did not take our complaint and our dissatisfaction with the final product seriously enough to return our earnest money.instead of responding the way a reputable home builder should, the President of Sotherby insinuates that we have no integrity because we did not commit to buying the house. Imagine how furious and disappointed we felt then. Peter Shaddock, Jr. Should NOT be the one accusing us of no integrity; instead, he should look at his own company and the people that work for him. They are the perfect example of people with no integrity, especially with the way they were treating us.
If you are considering buying a Sotherby home, forget about the quality, craftsmanship, and customer satisfaction that Sotherby boasts so much about.
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