Why Cedarglen Homes Sucks
September 15th, 2005 by superfunkomatic
(Update Sept 27) - Check out a local news report and video interview CFCNplus Interview with Leah Williams-Doherty - Consumer Advocate
i have a friend from past employment, Jeff Mottle (his last name is important in the context of the story), owner of cgarchitect.com who has recently purchased a house. he chose to build a house with a local calgary builder - cedarglen homes.
calgary’s booming building rate has caused problems with customers moving in months after their possession dates, leaky roofs, missing materials, and huge lists of deficiencies.
he tried to get a response from the company about repairs. the thread below shows the type of response big builders have for their clients. frankly, they are raking in the cash and don’t give a shit about the client once the job has been finished. i can’t believe that a president of a multi-million dollar corporation could be stupid enough to make a comment like that, especially one as a reply to their customer. i can only assume he replied and forgot to take jeff’s name from the e-mail fields.
with word of mouth and the internet this news has reached several acquaintances and a few that have been considering building a home with Cedarglen, who’ve now changed their mind. the beauty of e-mail and the power of the internet. one can only hope that a quick search of google and information like this will turn up for other prospective buyers.
especially ironic from a company that’s customer service statement is - “Buying a home is a process to be sure, but it should never be a painful one. From After Sales Service, to mortgage assistance, and Value Added Services like interior decorating and alarm system installation, Cedarglen is there to make sure the home you build is the home of your dreams.”
here are the messages -
Jeff
————
Hi Nancy,
This is getting ridiculous, and I’d like for this email to be forwarded to the President of Cedarglen.
This weekend I had water coming in through the roof of the garage and it is getting worse. It’s leaking down the wall between the house and garage now when it rains. I called the emergency pager and left a pretty terse message as I’m fed up with the crap service we are getting. Jeff phoned back to leave a message to tell me that they are busy with higher priority water problems and that someone would get back to me on Monday and that I should move my stuff out of the way if I don’t want it to get damaged. First off, this is now 3 WEEKS that Cedarglen has known about this leak and STILL nothing has been done about it. Nor did anyone phone me this week! I’m really curious to know how other people’s leaks take precedence over mine when you’ve know about the damn leak for almost a month! It was so nice of Jeff to suggest that I move my stuff too, I would have never thought of that!
This is our 3rd new house and without question the response, attention to build detail and quality of build is by far the worst of any builder we have been with. I assume when I buy a new house there will be deficiencies, that’s normal, but a leak in my roof and a basement window that leaked like a sieve is not a deficiency. It’s poor workmanship, poor project management, and completely unprofessional and unacceptable. Nevermind the incredibly poor framing. I don’t think there is a square corner in this entire house. There are �” gaps between the baseboard and wall in some rooms!
It seems every time there is an issue with the house, I get an excuse to the problem and why it’s not being fixed on time. Frankly I don’t care that there is a shortage of trades etc. I spent $ for this house and I expect things like water leaks to be fixed. Never mind they should not even happen in the first place. As a customer, I don’t care what Cedarglen’s internal problems are, I want a prompt solution. I paid for a product and it’s defective, so it needs to be fixed! You need to figure out how to make that happen.
I was told everyone would be here to fix the roof on Tuesday of this week about 1.5 weeks ago, despite this being 3 weeks too late, but not surprisingly no one showed up. I also have STILL not heard about what is going to be done about all of the other issues in our house relating to paint, electrical wiring problems, refinishing the top cap and a host of other items.
I would like to see firm dates set to the items remaining on my deficiency list as well as a date for when the roof will without delay be fixed. I know your internal policy is 2 weeks for many things, but here we are, almost a month in the house, and many things have not even been resolved.
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Jeff
————
Cedarglen Response #1
Scott & Janet,
Jeff at Royal Oak Green asked me to forward this email to you
Customer took possession on Aug 16/05
Thanks, Nancy
————
Cedarglen Response #2
Good evening Jeff: I have just read your email and understand your frustration. We at Cedarglen are moving as fast as we possibly can to address these issues in a timely manner. Unfortunately we have had two torrential rain falls this summer which caused 15% of all houses in Calgary to experience different levels of water penetration. We have had customers who have been in their houses for 5,6,7 years and for the first time experienced water penetration. We at Cedarglen are visiting every home to address all water concerns. Our trades have stepped up to the plate and have had the added pressure to help us deal with these past warranty customers. I know you do not want to hear this but we have asked our customers to be patient and we will address the water leaks. We are not the only builder in Calgary that is experiencing this right now. All builders big and small are trying to address their water leaks asap. However, we at Cedarglen have stepped it up a notch and decided to address our past warranty customers also.
Concerning your comment about not receiving a return call, this was not relayed to the Liaison on Monday. Through no fault of Jeff because he was probably exhausted and forgot to put a notation on the emergency pager report that you wanted a follow up call. Our apologies for not returning your call
I have reviewed your outstanding issues from your possession and have the following listed as not completed:
1. Replace the j-trim just to the right of the front entrance door
2. replace/repair drawer on the stove where it was dented
3. remove caulking off the face of the cedar shingle on the front of the house
4. The roof garage leak.
Please advise me if any of the above have been completed and the paperwork was not sent in by the trade.
Regards;
Janet Cuvelier
Customer Relations Manager
————
Jeff
Please speak with Nancy Newman as there are many other issues that you have not mentioned. She also has further details about roof damage that was done by the stone masons, that I’m sure has further aggregated this leakage problem. I’m told the main problem is a result of faulty lapping of the building paper/flashing. What is irritating is that you guys knew about this problem well before we moved in and did not react to it before the stone went on the house 3 weeks ago. Now, roof, siding and stone need to be torn off to fix an issue that would have been a 5 min job. Not really my concern as far as cost goes, but every time it leaks a what was otherwise new structure is being compromised. The root of the problem is a lack of professional workmanship and inspection by Cedarglen, now further irritated by the fact you can not react to it. Not impressed.
It seems there is nothing I say that is going to change this, so as far as I’m concerned Cedarglen is responsible for any and all damages that are caused as a result of this leakage, including my personal property.
Regards,
Jeff
————
President of Cedarglen Homes, Scott Haggins - Response to Requests
Has Mottle been in the Bottle? Seems like quite a pleasent fellow. Perhaps send him a bottle of vinegar.
Fill me in when you have a minute Janet and we can see what number we can put him on the list. Maybe the bottom.
Jeff
————
Are you serious! I paid this much for my house and I get a comment like �had mottle been in the bottle� and �send him some vinegar� from the President of the company! I am absolutely appalled and there is no apology that is going to remedy that. That is completely inexcusable. Before that comment I was just upset with the poor workmanship and slow reaction time, but you can be sure I will be printing this out and showing it to anyone and everyone that will listen. I�ve CCed a number of my friends and family in the industry and people I know who are currently looking for homes, so they can see the type of service that Cedarglen provides. While I no longer work with Steve XXXX, I do work in the Architecture industry and I know a lot of people in this industry.
Posted in general rants, humour |
September 15th, 2005 by superfunkomatic
(Update Sept 27) - Check out a local news report and video interview CFCNplus Interview with Leah Williams-Doherty - Consumer Advocate
i have a friend from past employment, Jeff Mottle (his last name is important in the context of the story), owner of cgarchitect.com who has recently purchased a house. he chose to build a house with a local calgary builder - cedarglen homes.
calgary’s booming building rate has caused problems with customers moving in months after their possession dates, leaky roofs, missing materials, and huge lists of deficiencies.
he tried to get a response from the company about repairs. the thread below shows the type of response big builders have for their clients. frankly, they are raking in the cash and don’t give a shit about the client once the job has been finished. i can’t believe that a president of a multi-million dollar corporation could be stupid enough to make a comment like that, especially one as a reply to their customer. i can only assume he replied and forgot to take jeff’s name from the e-mail fields.
with word of mouth and the internet this news has reached several acquaintances and a few that have been considering building a home with Cedarglen, who’ve now changed their mind. the beauty of e-mail and the power of the internet. one can only hope that a quick search of google and information like this will turn up for other prospective buyers.
especially ironic from a company that’s customer service statement is - “Buying a home is a process to be sure, but it should never be a painful one. From After Sales Service, to mortgage assistance, and Value Added Services like interior decorating and alarm system installation, Cedarglen is there to make sure the home you build is the home of your dreams.”
here are the messages -
Jeff
————
Hi Nancy,
This is getting ridiculous, and I’d like for this email to be forwarded to the President of Cedarglen.
This weekend I had water coming in through the roof of the garage and it is getting worse. It’s leaking down the wall between the house and garage now when it rains. I called the emergency pager and left a pretty terse message as I’m fed up with the crap service we are getting. Jeff phoned back to leave a message to tell me that they are busy with higher priority water problems and that someone would get back to me on Monday and that I should move my stuff out of the way if I don’t want it to get damaged. First off, this is now 3 WEEKS that Cedarglen has known about this leak and STILL nothing has been done about it. Nor did anyone phone me this week! I’m really curious to know how other people’s leaks take precedence over mine when you’ve know about the damn leak for almost a month! It was so nice of Jeff to suggest that I move my stuff too, I would have never thought of that!
This is our 3rd new house and without question the response, attention to build detail and quality of build is by far the worst of any builder we have been with. I assume when I buy a new house there will be deficiencies, that’s normal, but a leak in my roof and a basement window that leaked like a sieve is not a deficiency. It’s poor workmanship, poor project management, and completely unprofessional and unacceptable. Nevermind the incredibly poor framing. I don’t think there is a square corner in this entire house. There are �” gaps between the baseboard and wall in some rooms!
It seems every time there is an issue with the house, I get an excuse to the problem and why it’s not being fixed on time. Frankly I don’t care that there is a shortage of trades etc. I spent $ for this house and I expect things like water leaks to be fixed. Never mind they should not even happen in the first place. As a customer, I don’t care what Cedarglen’s internal problems are, I want a prompt solution. I paid for a product and it’s defective, so it needs to be fixed! You need to figure out how to make that happen.
I was told everyone would be here to fix the roof on Tuesday of this week about 1.5 weeks ago, despite this being 3 weeks too late, but not surprisingly no one showed up. I also have STILL not heard about what is going to be done about all of the other issues in our house relating to paint, electrical wiring problems, refinishing the top cap and a host of other items.
I would like to see firm dates set to the items remaining on my deficiency list as well as a date for when the roof will without delay be fixed. I know your internal policy is 2 weeks for many things, but here we are, almost a month in the house, and many things have not even been resolved.
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Jeff
————
Cedarglen Response #1
Scott & Janet,
Jeff at Royal Oak Green asked me to forward this email to you
Customer took possession on Aug 16/05
Thanks, Nancy
————
Cedarglen Response #2
Good evening Jeff: I have just read your email and understand your frustration. We at Cedarglen are moving as fast as we possibly can to address these issues in a timely manner. Unfortunately we have had two torrential rain falls this summer which caused 15% of all houses in Calgary to experience different levels of water penetration. We have had customers who have been in their houses for 5,6,7 years and for the first time experienced water penetration. We at Cedarglen are visiting every home to address all water concerns. Our trades have stepped up to the plate and have had the added pressure to help us deal with these past warranty customers. I know you do not want to hear this but we have asked our customers to be patient and we will address the water leaks. We are not the only builder in Calgary that is experiencing this right now. All builders big and small are trying to address their water leaks asap. However, we at Cedarglen have stepped it up a notch and decided to address our past warranty customers also.
Concerning your comment about not receiving a return call, this was not relayed to the Liaison on Monday. Through no fault of Jeff because he was probably exhausted and forgot to put a notation on the emergency pager report that you wanted a follow up call. Our apologies for not returning your call
I have reviewed your outstanding issues from your possession and have the following listed as not completed:
1. Replace the j-trim just to the right of the front entrance door
2. replace/repair drawer on the stove where it was dented
3. remove caulking off the face of the cedar shingle on the front of the house
4. The roof garage leak.
Please advise me if any of the above have been completed and the paperwork was not sent in by the trade.
Regards;
Janet Cuvelier
Customer Relations Manager
————
Jeff
Please speak with Nancy Newman as there are many other issues that you have not mentioned. She also has further details about roof damage that was done by the stone masons, that I’m sure has further aggregated this leakage problem. I’m told the main problem is a result of faulty lapping of the building paper/flashing. What is irritating is that you guys knew about this problem well before we moved in and did not react to it before the stone went on the house 3 weeks ago. Now, roof, siding and stone need to be torn off to fix an issue that would have been a 5 min job. Not really my concern as far as cost goes, but every time it leaks a what was otherwise new structure is being compromised. The root of the problem is a lack of professional workmanship and inspection by Cedarglen, now further irritated by the fact you can not react to it. Not impressed.
It seems there is nothing I say that is going to change this, so as far as I’m concerned Cedarglen is responsible for any and all damages that are caused as a result of this leakage, including my personal property.
Regards,
Jeff
————
President of Cedarglen Homes, Scott Haggins - Response to Requests
Has Mottle been in the Bottle? Seems like quite a pleasent fellow. Perhaps send him a bottle of vinegar.
Fill me in when you have a minute Janet and we can see what number we can put him on the list. Maybe the bottom.
Jeff
————
Are you serious! I paid this much for my house and I get a comment like �had mottle been in the bottle� and �send him some vinegar� from the President of the company! I am absolutely appalled and there is no apology that is going to remedy that. That is completely inexcusable. Before that comment I was just upset with the poor workmanship and slow reaction time, but you can be sure I will be printing this out and showing it to anyone and everyone that will listen. I�ve CCed a number of my friends and family in the industry and people I know who are currently looking for homes, so they can see the type of service that Cedarglen provides. While I no longer work with Steve XXXX, I do work in the Architecture industry and I know a lot of people in this industry.
Posted in general rants, humour |