Ron Benkert, Rick Bell, Eric Crabb 13 months to complete home, failed to deliver the exterior design we paid 20k extra for, walk list still not complete Ripoff Brentwood Tennessee
In October 2005 we contracted on a home that was supposed to take 6 months to build. In February, Turnberry said the home we chose would not fit our lot. So we chose another lot that carried a 15k premium with it in lieu of our first choice. At the end of March our construction began. This was a brand new exterior design for the company and it had not been built elsewhere. Since my husband and I are in the business of selling new homes we knew that there would probably be challenges to overcome with this new design. No problem we were prepared for SOME challenges. What happened was slightly more than that. Our lot which began as a relatively flat home site, became a sloping lot and a crawl space 9 blocks high in the front was placed on it. Then the real big problems began. They started framing and they built the garage area up to high and were not able to make the home look like the picture that we bought it from. After multiple visits to the site with Ron Benkert, Eric Crabb and at the time VP of sales Eric Bentley, we were promised that this house would look like the picture we bought it from. Although I wasnt gaining too much faith in that because the superintendant said and I quote "We dont really look at those blueprints anyway" WHAT??? MANY MANY attempts were made to fix this area in front of the garage (see photos) and at the time the pedestrian door opening was about 10 foot tall. They also could still not get the arched portion where the window and roof line is correct (see photos) The trim inside of this area is still awful. It looks like they cut up a bunch of pieces of trim and glued it up there. Because of the constant delays with trying to fix this area over the garage this home didnt close until the end of November 2006. There were other issues along the way most of which we could let go due to the newness of the elevation but the wrong windows and exterior doors went in and we were consistantly told that the right ones were on order. It was like playing some kind of game, I had to tell them that the exterior didnt match what they were building. For example...Oh by the way the wrong door frame is in, our front door isnt that shape, the wrong windows are in thats not what the photo shows, Where is the trim over the upstairs windows like in the photo? We have a child who is 2 years old now and we are deathly afraid that she is going to grab a hold of a spindle on the staircase and fall through it. The spindles on the staircase are one of many items on our walk list that have not been completed, they are falling out of the holes and they have tried to repair them in several places with glue. As they continue to fall out you can see where the glue was. Missing stone outside the house and the brick stairs in the rear that they have now replaced 3 times. 1rst because they fell the wrong direction and water would not drain off them. Then they replaced them and they used the wrong mortar, again the 3rd time they were replaced they used the wrong mortar color again and now they will have to be replaced a 4rth time. The tile in our bathroom is unfinished and mortar is missing from it. The trim, paint and drywall are awful and caulking is slapped into open holes to cover it up and slopped around everywhere, stain is all over the stair spindles and cabinets too! Ridiculous! We had to argue with them about moving the floor vent in the kitchen which was directly under the cabinets and they couldnt even get the moulding around it! A couple of the concrete blocks in the garage were crushed and an attempt at a repair has been made and its awful! We have missing phone/data/cable outlets. They've not come to finish any of the walk thru items and we continue to be told that they will set a time frame for completion on these. They say that we accepted as a resolution to the exterior issue on our house a transom window in that area with a 7ft door. I paid $20,000 extra for this upgraded exterior design and I only got part of it and Im telling you right now that it is NOT acceptable. Down the street they are completing a home with that has the correct doors and windows and on the first try...go figure. We have stated that we will not accept this lame attempt to pacify us and we will not let them install the window and door they have for this until they get us the correct ones. We have received a letter from Turnberry Homes stating that they will not replace this door and window with the correct ones. My husband and I are very easy going people and we both work in the home building industry and know that building a home is not a perfect science. It is a builders willingness to handle situations like these that make make or break a persons experience. As you can see ours is pretty broken. We are prepared to go to the mat with this one and have bought a website called www.dontbuyturnberry.com
We wont let this go until they do what is right.
John Doe
Brentwood (NORTHUMBERLAND), Tennessee
U.S.A.
8 Updates & Rebuttals
Patty
Nashville,Tennessee,
USA
We're customers of Turnberry
#9Consumer Comment
Mon, December 03, 2012
Thank you for your report and retraction. Building a house is a process and a journey and as you learned, sometimes things don't go as planned. Once you've reached your destination, all the problems along the way seem to disappear.
We are currently under contract with this company and thus far, this has been our best building experience. This is the 5the home we've built and Turnberry is head and shoulders above the rest. Honestly, there is no comparison.
I'm glad things worked out for you and sorry that other people feel the need to call you names. It's very hypocritical to criticize someone because they criticized someone. Kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. At least you had the decency to apologize.
phoenix
Fairfax Station,Virginia,
United States of America
SCATHING REPORT
#9General Comment
Wed, August 15, 2012
I just contacted this builder to discuss the possibility of them building a home on my lot. This report would certainly change my mind about using them for a number of reasons. First, because of the issues. Second, because of the way they handled the issues.
However, the writer should have put their name to the report rather than John Doe. I'm sure Turnberry knows who they are. If you are going to accuse someone or some company of wrongdoing you should be up front enough to use your own name.
The details sound solid enough. You would think that an executive of the company would have gotten involved if the project manager didn't provide satisfaction. It also seemed that the project manager was not up to speed and Turnberry's subs are sub-standard (pardon the pun).
I will say that I walked through Chardonnay, one of their subdivisions, while one house was under construction. I saw some issues right off the bat and decided the development was not for us. I did not know at the time that it was Turnberry.
I'd be interested to hear how they respond to the allegations.
Scott
Massillon,Ohio,
USA
You're backing up so fast you need a beeper
#9Consumer Comment
Thu, April 21, 2011
Posts like your last ones are so obvious it makes the rest of your complaints even worse.
2 possibilities here...
1. You're a loudmouthed idiot who made false claims against an excellent builder
2. You were offered something in return for that pathetic attempt at an apology.
Sandy
Brentwood,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
RETRACTION
#9
Fri, September 18, 2009
I'd like to retract everything we stated in the prior post because this really does need an update. As the consumer, you need to be aware that during the building process sometimes things can be heated and frustrating. The true mark of a great company is one that comes through for the customer when problems do arise. Ive asked for a removal of the statement above which rip off report refuses to do. In the end, Turnberry came through for us and fixed our exterior, replaced doors, rebuilt steps and more. You should know that we appreciate the efforts of this builder to make all of these things right with us. We'd like to mention that while we were so frustrated in the process, we wished that we had waited to post anything regarding our home. We regret posting the original remarks out of anger and frustration. As someone who works in the construction industry, many builders would have given it up, given our money back and said maybe this is not the home for you. They did not, and they spent a great amount of time and money to build ours to our expectations. Our home is one of the very best floor plans that we've seen in the area and we love our home and look forward to many years in it!
Sandy
Brentwood,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
RETRACTION
#9
Fri, September 18, 2009
I'd like to retract everything we stated in the prior post. As the consumer, you need to be aware that during the building process sometimes things can be heated and frustrating. The true mark of a great company is one that comes through for the customer when problems do arise. Ive asked for a removal of the statement above which rip off report refuses to do. In the end, Turnberry came through for us and fixed our exterior, replaced doors, rebuilt steps and more. You should know that we appreciate the efforts of this builder to make all of these things right with us. We'd like to mention that while we were so frustrated in the process, we wished that we had waiting to post anything regarding our home. We regret posting the original remarks out of anger and frustration. Our home is one of the very best floor plans that we've seen in the area and we love our home and look forward to many years in it!
Sandy
Brentwood,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
Relocation Fee not given
#9
Fri, September 18, 2009
I have not been given a relocation fee and for some reason this is not standard.
Sandy
Brentwood,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
Drainage issues yard eroding away
#9Author of original report
Sun, February 11, 2007
Our neighbors back yard is eroding into ours and creating a pond at our rear foundation when its rains. As well as our side yard is eroding away. We have visited the codes dept and they have agreed that the drainage will have to be reworked on our lot.
Lori
Kalkaska,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Contact HADD
#9Consumer Comment
Sun, February 11, 2007
This is a website devoted to Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings. The website should assist you in making contact with the appropriate State officials to file complaints and get some action. Although my home is a dbl wide, I found support and the knowledge needed to make my home a safe, warm and NICE place to live. (And this house was NOT a cheap fix!)
I am not going to mislead you and tell you that there is any easy fix. It's a long and arduous road, but with persistance, you CAN get your home repaired. In addition to State regulatory offices, you also have your mortgage company and the ability to take these people to court for their incompetence. If you want/need someone to vent to, or maybe a show of support through these next few months, look for duffndame residing at charter dot net. Reference ROR so you don't find yourself in the 'spam can'.
You CAN do this. Keep us updated!