Umar in Toronto

First off I want to say that I think this builder has a lot to offer. Shopping around for a new construction home and being a real estate agent, I can tell you that what this builder is offering as standard items and the quality of work is really quite good. Where I feel they are falling short (I am currently in this mess with them) is lack off communication and too many people doing too many different things which has actually made my home buying process a nightmare (currently). Let me explain: Our first visit to the sales center in Milton and we were convinced that this is the builder we want to work with based on what they were offering. Easy enough sale for the realtor working there (who is a third party). This agent however was just pushing to sign paperwork and failed to mention that there are different layouts available on the main and second floor. House is worth $1,164,000 and the second largest model they offer. Either way we didn't know there was a choice and were happy with the model selected. We requested to have a side door entrance to the basement and were advised by the realtor that was not possible with the builder. Fast forward to our first décor appointment with our specialist, Tanya. She was great and very knowledgeable and near the end of our appointment in passing we mentioned that we wanted a side door, to which she replied: I can do that, I have done that before on this model. She needed a couple days to talk to construction. We were blown away. Couple days later, she advised us that it was too late and she could not do anything. Now we were not happy as this option was not given to us at the sale center when we specifically asked for it. So we escalated to head office where we met Anna, who is and has been absolutely a gem to work with. She reviewed our documents and advised that plans were not finalized or registered with the city yet and we had a very short time left to add this side door in and that construction has given the go ahead for it. We happily went in a signed the paperwork. During this time we found out we had options of different main and second floor designs and we selected the ones we wanted. We would have never known about these if we had not met Anna. Mind you these were extra $$$ but we were happy with being able to select what we wanted. Fast forward to our structural appointment. Décor studio requested we give them a design for a finished basement that we wanted (builder is finishing the basement btw as part of the sale price). My father who is an architectural engineer, drew up the design and we added 2 windows to the basement. This was approved by construction and we were called in to sign the paperwork for the work to start. We go in and our submitted and accepted plans are on the table ready to go. We request a wall to be added to divide the dining room and the kitchen. We wanted an opening on the right side but were told that is not possible and the builder will not do it. We accept the opening on the left side even though it would make the room look silly but with no other choice, cost was about $30k and we signed the paperwork, happy and content that things are finally going the right way some what. Couple days later, drive by the property with my family and we were devastated to learn that they forgot to put in the 2 extra windows in the basement. Actually to correct myself, they put in 1 extra window, wrong size, wrong location. Then we speak to another owner whose house in 80% completed with drywall and he shows us his main floor. Guess what!? they also built a wall between the dining room and kitchen with the opening on the right side. Just like what we requested but were told it is not possible and the builder will not do it! SO FRUSTRATING! I email them right away and here we are a week and multiple email/calls later and all I have received for them is for me to be patient while they figure it out. My trust in this company is an all time low and more importantly we are afraid to see what will happen next. We feel like we are now in the dark and in the next couple of days the wood frames will start going up and not sure what will get built compared to what we selected. Anybody from the Country Homes wants to chat and make this right, we are all ears. This is an easy way to turn around a customer's experience. 1 customer's experience may mean nothing but I will definitely think twice about doing business with Country Homes again and as of right now and I can not confidently recommend Country Homes to my peers or clients in real estate.