I am a "customer" in GA. I began at the end of 2015 looking for a new home to purchase. As anyone who has gone through this process knows, it is stressful and time consuming. I visited Century several times & I initially begun conversing and meeting with a GREAT agent on duty named K. Thomas. She was shortly reassigned. After an exhaustive search with various builders and the NEED for a reasonably sized bedroom on the first floor for my nearly 80-year-old mother, we decided to go with Century and specifically chose the OAKWOOD. We were informed that the “next phase” was about to begin and the OAKWOOD had been renamed and now was the “OAKMONTE.” ; For SEVERAL months prior to contracting, our agent & I asked for the specific changes that were going to be made to the OAKWOOD, now the OAKMONTE. I got NO answers from the new agents on duty at Windsor Estates. In addition, we were ignored almost completely while trying to get ANY information. I could not understand the unprofessionalism, dishonesty, failure to respond and deception, despite the fact that I had already been Pre-Approved by their preferred lender and told, “You have nothing to worry about, just go find your house.” Our agent complained to me about the disrespectful way in which the sales agents at Windsor Estates were treating us and her. They would not return phone calls, emails or texts. They did not know the answers to basic questions that could be easily found on the websites of other builders who were the exact opposite of Windsor agents. I was constantly told the agent(s) were “on vacation” or “off today.” The only thing Century agents communicated was “the prices are going to increase by $3,000 if you don’t contract by May 31, 2017,’ despite not knowing which lots were available, what changes were being made to the floor plan that met our needs. Our agent was finally able to get information from another Century agent that worked in another city about the changes with the OAKWOOD vs. OAKMONTE. What she was told was, “there is a loss of 108 square in the OAKMONTE. The changes are ALL in the kitchen and they consist of a loss of the breakfast bar, a larger island and the addition of four windows.” We were perfectly fine with these changes, as they did not affect the NEEDS we had overall. Towards the end of May 2017, I was directed by the Century agent at Windsor to “go to” another Century subdivision to look at the Oakmonte. We arrived at the sales office in this subdivision, which just happened to be the OAKMONTE. It was about two minutes after closing & the agent made sure he told us they were “closed,” despite being told that we were Century customers sent over to look at the OAKMONTE. He allowed us in, but kept telling us “we are closed.” We were allowed to enter the first floor. This was the model home, so of course all the upgrades were in the home. I specifically explained our concerns and asked him what changes had been made to the Oakwood vs. the Oakmonte. He recited the same thing our agent was told, “you lose 108 square feet, but it’s all in the kitchen. You won’t have a breakfast bar & you get a larger island and a few more windows. He rushed us and told us, “we are technically closed,” however there was a customer in the building with another agent. He did not offer to show us anything, but asked that we “hurry.” We CONTINUED to ask for clarification regarding the changes to the OAKMONTE, but we could NEVER get an answer from Windsor agents. However what we did keep getting was a reminder that prices were going to increase On June 1, 2017 by $3,000 & we should make our “earnest money out to Windsor Estates.” We met on May 31, 2017 around 5:15pm in a rush to beat the price increase deadline. The agent had been off that day and came in after a dental procedure. They were confused about which lots were available and kept sending me and my mother out to look at lots. They would quote one lot fee and once we selected one they would increase the price by $2k-21k. We ran back and forth by ourselves 3 -4 times. The WHOLE process was rushed, unprofessional and lacked any consideration for us as customers. They would then say we couldn’t build the OAKMONTE on the lots we liked & they had identified as an option. We were told, “you can’t skip a lot. You have to choose one next to one that has already been sold or built on.” I did notice lots that had been sold that were standing alone. Mother, my agent and me became concerned when the agent told her partner that she did not “know how to put their information in the computer.” The printer stopped working and it was one problem after another. My agent said she wanted us to include the other agent because the one assigned by Century was trying to write a contract but didn’t know how to get started. All promises made after we signed did not occur as scheduled. We heard nothing after receiving copies of the contract to sign & the designs cent4r documents via email. We were about to leave town to support a family member having a cancer transplant when I received an email from the agent asking me to come to the office to sign paper work because the scanned “copies are too light.” I told her I was downtown at the doctor, leaving town in the morning and I did not have time. She ignored my family and personal commitments and told me she was going to leave my PIP “under the mat so you can come by and sign it and put it back under the mat.” I asked her to NOT place my PIP under a MAT & if it couldn’t wait until I returned then I could not do anything to remedy it. We had NEVER been accommodated from the moment K. Thomas left. We were always on the agent’s schedule. It was the most stressful, unprofessional, inconsiderate, unethical treatment I had ever endured during ANY business transaction, let a lone the most important purchase of my life. She replied, “We will work with what we have.” Several weeks passed and we heard nothing. My agent emailed me and asked if the Century agent had contacted me. I told her I had not heard anything and she did not keep any of the deadlines agreed upon at contracting. Our agent then said again that she had never seen a customer or agent treated so poorly with such unprofessional failure to communicate. She said we should have been contacted by now to set up an appointment with the design center and the permit should have been in by now. I was advised to call the city and ask if the permit had been applied for or issued. I was floored when I was told that no permit had been applied for, issued AND the step before the permitting process had not been done correctly. I was angry at this point because I had already spoken to the District Manager several times and she too did not show any more concern for us as customers than her agent. She too gave conflicting information about available lots and mysteriously new lots had “just been released” the day before I talked to her. I was forced to log onto the Century website and chat with an agent. I explained my problem and I requested to speak with senior management at corporate. I was asked for my information and called within 30 minutes. I explained to the VP of Marketing the LONG horror dating back to March 2017 when we first visited the community. I praised the former agent K. Thomas and stated SHE was my preferred agent. The VP of Marketing stated she was not fully knowledgeable about certain processes, but begged me to give her until the next day to get back with me. She was very apologetic and of course stated this was not “The Century Way.” Instead if hearing from the VP I spoke to, the VP of Sales at Atlanta corporate called. I had to recite the entire fiasco once again. He said that we were given an “inaccurate closing date. You won’t be closing in September, it’s more like December.” He too stated he is not familiar with certain processes. I explained that this has created a problem because we were NOW renting month to month. We were in a home that was falling apart and creating safety and health issues for me, a disabled Veteran, and my mother. He stated that we should be contacted, “at least once to twice weekly.” And then asked if we also would like to be contacted “just to say there are no changes.” I said, “Yes, we want to know what is going on because we have been neglected, disrespected and treated like we are nobodies.” He assured he would handle it, but I never heard from anybody else in a management position. The same day we received a call from the design center to schedule an appointment. They offered us the next day at 8a,m, which we could not meet because I had another engagement, the center was almost 50 miles away and we would have to contend with rush hour traffic in Atlanta. Instead we were given another option 2 weeks later. Our agent sent an email to the Century agent on July 20 asking when the permit was scheduled to come in and she had the nerve to say, “ We have not received the permit yet. "There is nothing to do at this time until the permit comes in." I estimate we should receive it soon, then we can schedule pre-construction walk.” The CITY stated that the “permit was paid for and picked up on JULY 10, 2017.” On July 26, my agent again asked about the permit. She did not receive a response until July 27 at 5:42 PM that read, “The permit came in today, we will contact you on Monday to see when we can set up the pre-construction walk once we meet with our builder.” I was physically sick at this point because the dishonesty was so offensive and the "we don’t give a crap" attitude was beyond comprehension. This was a convenient lie! We received an email at the last minute offering an appointment with the builder on two dates that did not work for us. We did not meet until August 7. The builder immediately began apologizing for how he heard the process had been for us and wanted us to know he had nothing to do with it. He stated that from this point forward HE would ensure our satisfaction. He estimated a completion date in “October.” We went to the lot and walked it and he made us feel excited and confident. Needless to say, that would soon be undone by nothing being completed as promised. I understand and we discussed delays that were not under anyone’s control. We did not care if we had to wait until November, even December, as long as the home was built properly and it was not a rushed process. We had family who closed in Windsor in December 2016 who would send us photos if we did not drive over ourselves. The stress of this process began to affect my health. I was constantly watching this nightmare continue with NOBODY being held accountable. Even those I met in the subdivision admitted having horrible experiences, but “nothing compared to how you guys are being treated.” Once the foundation was finally poured the LAST week of August 2017 we became hopeful again. I went to visit the site and there were beer bottles and cans surrounding the property. I took photos and sent it to the agent. She tried to say it was probably “people coming into the subdivision dumping their trash.” She added that drinking would lead to a “big fine” and she would take my concerns to the builder. The bottles and cans were ALL Spanish brand beers and the workers were primarily Spanish speaking. I never heard a word back. My agent had to ask for Monday morning updates and that STILL required a reminder. We received 2-3 Monday morning updates, of course with a request to comply. I did not think it could get any worse, but I returned two weeks ago to the lot and there were probably 100 beer cans and bottles strewn around the lot, in a ditch, in our wooded back yard and by snack items. I took photos and was so angry. I knew that whomever was working on our “home” was drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. It almost felt like a slap in the face as compared to the number of beer cans and bottles found previously. This time there was the same brand (Modelo) and ONE Budweiser bottle. It’s the equivalent of having someone on drugs working on your car, who would be ok with that? Who would feel confident with this? I don’t drink, but while I was in the military I couldn’t drink on duty. While I was on my job as a licensed professional, I could not drink and service clients, so why would it be ok for individuals building HOMES to drink on the job? The agent sent a photo of OUR “home” to OUR agent and COPIED it to ME. The agent is not paying a dime for this home and the disrespect had worn on EVERYONE close to me. The final straw came when we went into the framed house and noticed changes to the model, which were never communicated to us. We picked the OAKMONTE based on the word that the ONLY changes from the OAKWOOD were “the loss of 108 sq. feet in the kitchen area. You lose the breakfast bar and get a longer island and additional windows.” I just cried when I went into a completed OAKMONTE.” We did not recognize this plan as the one we had contracted for. I sent an email AGAIN asking for specifics on ALL CHANGES, use of space, square footage and explained that THIS WAS NOT THE HOME WE WERE PROMISED. I detailed the massive differences. I was directed to the Century website which provided NOTHING but the REALITY that many things were OPTIONAL and were not communicated to us at ANY POINT. They had taken a massive amount of square feet from the bedrooms upstairs. We saw doors disappear and family that had the OAKWOOD commented about how drastic the loss of space was. Ironically the agent I liked had been moved back to Windsor and she was TRYING to get answers while the other unresponsive agent was “off” AGAIN.” On 9/24/17, only a couple of months from “closing,” she sent an email apologizing for the delay in responses. What was suspect in the email was the fact that she attached a part of the contract to us, unsolicited, reminding us that we had agreed that the builder could make “minor tweaks” to the home.” It also said “The Oakwood and Oakmonte are NOW considered TWO DIFFERENT PLANS.” This was BEFORE we saw the changes made to the home. We rationalized that they KNEW they had changed this plan without consent from or knowledge of customers and were trying to justify it by attaching the addendum in the contract giving the builder rights to make tweaks. Another couple was in the finished Oakmonte with us and the first thing they said was, “this is not the same plan and these rooms are much smaller than what we were told.” The secondary BEDROOMS upstairs were so small in comparison to the OAKWOOD. Even the largest of the secondary bedrooms was so small.; Doors had been removed and the list goes on. Our agent sent several emails asking to meet with the builder after I told her how we felt violated and now are contracted for a home of which we did not agree. on 9/27 we went back to the subdivision & saw the Oakmonte again. As we were leaving we saw the builder working in the lawn at the same house he told us had to be finished by October 8. I’m sure we were seen going into a couple of Oakmontes as workers were all over the subdivision. As we were leaving we saw the car of the agent C. Henry at the sales office. Two minutes later I got an alert informing me that I had a new email. It was from C. Henry and it read,” Just FYI I am trying to get a meeting scheduled for you to meet with the builder. It will be sometime next week with it being month end he’s pretty busy. I will see what works for HIM next week and see if that works with your schedule as well.” I have encountered ONE Century employee who is a decent human being and concerned for customers. That ONE is K. Thomas. I called corporate in Colorado last month and NOBODY returned my call. This is clearly a system wide problem with Century. Who in good conscience treats customers with such blatant disrespect and disregard? Who in a leadership positions ALLOWS THIS? So, we now have a contract for a home we DID NOT choose. They have made extensive changes & it no longer accommodates our NEEDS! To say we are devastated is an understatement. I would not recommend this builder to anyone. I wish to God I had gone with another builder. I have spoken to so many with similar experiences, but EVERYONE says, “we went through a lot but I cannot believe what you have been put through.” I now have to pursue the only options available since we don’t know where we will be by the end of the year and that is to contact the Disabled Veteran’s consumer Affairs office at the Georgia Bar association and other agencies recommended by the city, real estate commissions and legal professionals. Century should be ashamed, but I’m sure they are not….who are we? 1
Sounds like the old "bait and switch" type of sale. They show you one thing and it looks good, but after you sign the contract they claim all those really nice features are "extra." You might carefully peruse your contract along with the plans, etc.
to see what is actually stated as included in the plan you paid for.
If not specifically stated, most of the amenities you "thought" you were getting are not specified. Thanks for the heads-up on this problem, tho.