A result

Just in case you're wondering, If I'm not happy with something, I don't just put it on this blog and hope something will change.

Nope - I contact the people who might be able to do something about it, and I tell them.

So it was with my comments regarding the tiles in my last blog entry. To quote from the last entry:

"When we commenced, the consultant explained to us that there is an extra charge for the laying of some of these tiles, which are part of the standard range of tiles. To our way of thinking, the extra charge should have been factored in - as far as we are concerned, because of the additional labour charge, these tiles are now upgrades. None of these tiles in question had dots on them to indicate a higher labour charge. The additional charge was small, but every little piece adds up....."

I heard back from Porter Davis, and the explanation is that some of the tiles in the standard range have been replaced with some new "Porcelain" tiles - which cost slightly more to lay. The good news is that as a result of my comments (and not because of this blog - I wish I had that much power!), Porter Davis and National Tiles will change the system so that there will be no more confusion for customers.

How? I'm not sure - I doubt that the companies will absorb the extra laying charge. Perhaps a new sticker will be used to indicate those tiles which cost a little more to lay.

It's nice to know that companies will sometimes respond to customer feedback!

Tile Selection

Tile selection day today. Even though we already had some idea of what we wanted, we still spent 2 1/2 hours at National Tiles going through the details.

Why is everything shades of light brown? Perhaps I should say "neutral colours" - one thing is for sure, the safe colours are the most popular, and we went for the popular colours.

The end result of the process is that you walk away with a sample pack of the colours you have chosen, and diagrams of your house showing where the various tiles will go.


As our consultant said - the sample pack may not mean much now, but when the house is at lock up and you can't remember what you chose 6 months earlier.....


The only down side for us is around an additional charge being imposed to lay some of the tiles.

Picture this - the National Tiles showroom in Port Melbourne has three walls of tiles. Some of the tiles are standard range, meaning there is no upgrade fee associated with those tiles. Others are considered upgrades, and have a coloured dot (green or blue) so you can see immediately that a particular tile is going to cost extra.

When we commenced, the consultant explained to us that there is an extra charge for the laying of some of these tile, which are part of the standard range of tiles. To our way of thinking, the extra charge should have been factored in - as far as we are concerned, because of the additional labour charge, these tiles are now upgrades. None of these tiles in question had dots on them to indicate a higher labour charge. The additional charge was small, but every little piece adds up.....

It's nice to have all the colour selections and appointments out of the way!

Porter Davis 24/7 Update

It's nice to know that our builder (Porter Davis) is taking an interest, and is reading this blog - probably because I sent them a link, but that's not the point :-)

After the last entry regarding 24/7 I received some feedback which PD is happy for me to share:

• Messages sent via the 24/7 web site can be seen by the Customer Service Coordinator immediately. The CSC will see the screen below (click on the image to see a bigger version):
  
  
  
• Unfortunately viewing the pictures of the house online is still something which is being worked on. PD hope to have this service running soon.

Thanks to Porter Davis for the feedback, and for the screen shot. I blanked out some personal details for obvious reasons.

I wonder how many other builders would take the time to send through the information?

Porter Davis 24/7

While we wait for the next stage of our project, we thought it would be good to share one of Porter Davis' services with you.

Every customer building with PD has access to an online service they call 24/7, which is accessed from their home page (click on any of the images to see a bigger version):


There's a username and password which is sent to you in one of your letters from PD, so you enter them into the login screen:


Then you have access to the following items...

A summary of the progress, coming appointments and contacts:


Messages to and from your Customer Service Coordinator:


Documents, including letters, tender document, colour schedule, variations, progress claims and delays:

In addition, there are contact details for your Site Supervisor, and the names and contact details of those people involved with building your new pride and joy!

As the home is being built you will see progress photos of the house (I think most people will be taking plenty of their own...)