Recently moved into a new build Persimmon Home and a feature for the missus was a South Facing "Fairly Flat Garden"
what we are left with is a pile of mud and a slope which you might need to select low box to negotiate.

after various emails to Persimmon Head office (West Scotland) and cc to their MD - completely ignored.

my question is - as our FF's have quite a few large windows, can i legally put large posters saying how poor their customer service is and to invite people in to see our "fairly Flat Garden"

bearing in mind they are still actively selling and still building in our Street and in the estate with loads of passing customers

Can i sit my FF outside the Sales Office/Showhome ??

No police involvement from their side as it is a civil matter??

can i have abig sign in my Bedroom window telling people they are a Shower of Lyimg Bast irts ?? '54 Adriatic Blue Vogue

You bought a house without seeing it first?

Nothing to stop you apart from the way you word it  ====================================

"Open Mike Night " sounded like a lot of fun until i found out i was going to an Autopsy

@gaz..that's quite normal in new build...You can often get a better deal off plan.

@Allexu....you may have been asked to sign documentation and drawing prior to purchase and the drawing number / revision may be detailed. You need to check what you agreed to buy on paper, as anything said by sales is hearsay.

Having worked for a number of house building PLC's (Ex Barratts/ Perssimmon/ David Wilson/ Taylor Wimpey Site Manager / Head of Customer Services) I can say that the regional MDs are hard people to work against unless you can prove that they have done wrong and back it up in writing.

Parking the car up front will not work, as the land / Roads are not normally be adopted by the Local Authority until the end of the project, so they can simply move it at your expense fence it in with hoarding.

You can try to involve the NHBC as part of a process called "resolution" in most matters, but not sure if contractual issues are assisted for by the NHBC. Some say that they are useless, but having being on the receiving end, I can say that they do have teeth and builders do act, but your problem is one that cannot easily be rectified and land levels are complex and can effect drainage and planning heights, so unless the area can be levelled you may be looking at a buy back and that is very very hard to push for IMHO

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Last edited by paulmoran2 on 30th May 2014 5:55pm. Edited 1 time in total

As a property agent and investor I can only advise on experience. Did you get the promise in writing about the fairly flat garden or was it just verbal with the sales person? If written then you could threaten them on the terms of the sale not being met. Your conveyancing lawyer would be able to advise on the exact process.

Eitherway I don't think they can do much if you politely complain through the use of signs in your windows.

Personally I would go and sit in their show room (on the busiest times) and talk loudly in front of all their potential clients complaining about the issue, they should then at least take it seriously in the hope of you leaving and not coming back. Levelling off a garden should be easy if they still have the construction equipment nearby. Tom

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At time of taking keys - they were still building the house behind which still had scaffolding in our garden which we were told they would top up to correct level as per other properties adjacent - but surprise surprise came home and the fence was up and no soil.
when i put a laser spirit level on slabs at back of French doors it comes half way up the rear fence.
yes bought off plans where it shows a 1:10 from Front of property at drive to Rear of Garden but a major drop at the bottom of the garden - been told that we should have a fairly flat garden but the drop is 525mm in the last 1.5m but overall from front to back it is not far off 1:10 whereas next door is "fairly flat" and has a difference of a few mm from us - not happy about being blatantly ignored - i am going legal with NHBC and secretariat@consumercodeforhomebuilders.com as been advised by a friend in Trading standards, but really want to make a point with negative opinions whils they still have customers

have done the loud conversation in front of perspective buyers in sales office but have been told it is only Head Office that can sort it?

looking to see what i can get away with saying : as long as it is factual and non defamatory i think i can express my views on my own property? '54 Adriatic Blue Vogue

Ha a mate who had a problem with drainage in back garden on a new build was getting nowhere with site agent and head office, so took his dog for a walk in the site and let it get covered in mud.
Them took it into show house and let it run about all over the cream carpets, sales agent was not impressed so he said this is what my f***in house looks like.
Couple of days later team on site and fixed his drainage. Gone
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With regard to your question about what can I get away with saying.....be careful. As I said, it all depends on what you agreed to buy in writing as per the drawings you had presented to you. If you say or publish anything negative and it turns out that's what you agreed to buy, that could be considered slander / libellous and that could go against your claim.

I assume you have approached the site manager to ask for his opinion on the sudden drop off at the bottom of the garden and the reasons for it?. there may be a completely legitimate engineering reason for it.

My advice is to take as far as you can free of charge with the NHBC as that's an arbitrary way of dealing with it, because as soon as you go legal the builder may bury you in technical information and as you have already said the drawings state 1:10 slope the only part you can argue over is the sudden drop off at the bottom end towards the fence line and whether this constitutes something that should reasonably have been brought to your attention.

I once had a customer whose property backed onto a farmers field and newly erected slurry pit. The customer went balmy until I showed him the drawing with the huge words " working farm" plastered along the boundary line at the back of his property and his signature next to it.....was that unreasonable of us (the builder) to not actually specify what a farm does?....we got away with that one, as we had reasonably brought the farm to his attention...it's all in the paperwork mate! GONE 2010 Facelifted 3.6 TDV8 - Stornoway Grey + 22" Overfinch Olympus
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LARGE POSTERS IN WINDOW ON ROAD:

Unhappy Persimmon Home Buyer

Customer Care Doesn't Care

No Reply To emails


all factual - no defamatory comments

On FFRR Back Window:

PERSIMMON HOMES CUSTOMER SERVICE = NON EXISTENT

NO REPLIES TO EMAILS
NO PROBLEM RESOLUTION
6 MONTHS OF SNAGGING LATER

COME IN AND SEE OUR
“FAIRLY FLAT GARDEN”


Big sales push on today with open viewing of completed homes unsold and only access is right past my house  '54 Adriatic Blue Vogue

I routinely hear people who are unhappy with their new build houses, being mrics and running a small house building company, i always try and accommodate customer concerns asap, however topography is topography, changing it is expensive and may have planning implcations. Fortunately for me the vast majority of our homes are sold partially complete so the buyers can see what they are getting in terms of space and garden.

I think as you are not getting what you were promised then you have the right to complain, if it was described as a fairly flat garden in the blurb, then you may have recourse through the property misdescriptions act, which regulates how accurate the property marketing details have to be. Ie if they describe it as one thing and is something completely different then the selling agent becomes liable for the discrepancy, as they are sold by persimmon themselves the onus to describe he property
Correctly lies with them or their marketing department. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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p.s this is not my garden - mine is muddier but not as flat