Builder warranties

Archive Public Archive
1

Originally Posted By: jonofrey
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.


Had a pre insulation inspection cancel today and I’m a little miffed because I worked hard to get this one. Here’s how it went down. Received an internet lead for new construction. Called customer, sorry, he says, my sales lady told me the sheet rock is already up. No problem, I’ll mosey on over there and take a look anyway, it’s only five minutes away. Takes me an hour to get there, geez! No sheet rock. Great! Call client and advise him of such. Why would my sales lady icon_twisted.gif tell me the sheet rock is up when it isn’t, he asks? Don’t know, you’d have to ask her. Schedule the inspection for next day. Check email this morning and here is the cut and pasted message from the customer:



Hi John,
>
> Thank you for speaking to me. I just spoke to the sale
> lady, and she had copy of reports from their different
> inspectors for pre sheet rock on my unit. And I forgot
> that I still under 10 years warranty from builder.
> Please accept my apologize for not having you be my
> Phase II inspector. But in future, I will ask you to
> help me for Phase III-final inspection.
> Sorry for any inconvience.

BULLSH*T. Needless to say, now I'm pissed. I'm going to do the inspection anyway. Customer can pay me for access to the report if he ever wants it. Until then, it'll be on my dime.

Here's a link that I sent to the client with along with my response http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/560700.asp?cp1=1
If NACHI members (or non-members as well) will rate this MSNBC story perhaps they will cover more of the same. I would urge anyone with any interest to follow this link and rate the story.

--
Inspection Nirvana!

We're NACHI. Get over it.

2

Originally Posted By: jonofrey
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.


My client wants me to do the inspection after all. Must have lost some confidence in his sales agent. icon_lol.gif

–
Inspection Nirvana!


We're NACHI. Get over it.
3

Originally Posted By: Brad
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.


John:


I am familiar with the Dateline story you linked to. I personally do not put much stock in anything that show does a story on. You've got to realize that they are in the business of "sensationalizing" specific, isolated events. All this does is scare the crap out of uninformed consumers who then make inaccurate generalizations. I personally think you would be stooping to their level if you used that story to your advantage...but that's a decision you'll have to make.

The scary thing is that someday Dateline will be doing a story about a home inspector that did a bad inspection. The short term effects could mean a lot of headaches for the HI industry...good inspectors would then be put under more unproductive scrutiny than they already are.

Good luck with this customer and let us know how the inspections came out.

On a side note, Pulte was correct, that house in Greenville, SC was not designed to handle 13 degree temperatures. Nor was it designed to handle lighting strikes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc...that's what homeowner's insurance is for.

4

Originally Posted By: jonofrey
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.


Brad,


When someone throws the first punch I will use the leverage that is available to me at the time to produce a knockout. You are right about sensationalizing but that's good marketing. MSNBC must have some credibility somewhere.

I really wanted to send the customer to this link but it wasn't working on the day I wanted to send it http://www.txbr.org/warranty.pdf

The builders sales agent talked my client out of an inspection that came my way as a legitimate lead. I had won the business and she used the 10 year warranty as a reason that the new construction didn't need an inspection. Brad, you do realize that builder warranties are for the protection of the builder and not the consumer, don't you? Geez, I hope that link above is working! My point is this - please do not try to take food out of my family's mouth by spewing garbage about how a worthless 10 year builders warranty is going to protect you. Thems fighten words and it enrages me. If you are an inspector it should enrage you to.

I did do the inspection on the home and found plenty that would bug me if I was buying the home and an unscrupulous sales person had tried to talk me out of being informed about it. Not the least of which are the pictures of spliced rafters and questionable gas vents that I've posted on this board recently. That's only the stuff I found that I had questions on. Builders warranties need to be exposed for what they really are. Home buyers will get better value and inspectors will get more work.

Your comment about stooping to their level is duly noted and now duly forgotten. BTW, I could care less if MSNBC runs a story on a bad inspector. Bad is bad, Brad.

--
Inspection Nirvana!

We're NACHI. Get over it.

5

Originally Posted By: Brad
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.


John:


Well we're not going to see eye to eye on the strategy of using a tabloid TV show to secure business, but I totally agree that your customer was being fed a line of BS about the 10 year warranty. That 10 year warranty is required by law (at least in my state) and usually only covers major structural defects. But even if it is "covered," why wait until its a problem when a pre-drywall inspection can catch it sooner. Additionally, all warranties have their exclusions regardless of who they're written for.

The important thing is that you got the job. I hope your customer also realizes that if the sales agent felt so confident about the product they were selling, they would have welcomed an inspection rather than feeding a line of BS about a 10 year warranty.

Yes, bad is bad, but whats worse is when one bad apple (or inspector) gets national attention. I feel confident that a show highlighting bad inspectors would not be good for our industry.

Just a suggestion: when you go for the pre-closing inspection, pull the sewer clean-out caps in the yard off while you're running water inside and listen or shine a light in to check for good flow. New construction is notorious for getting debris in the sewer line and causing a blockage.

Brad