Our experience is a bit different to others here
Paid Metricon $1000 in March 06 to commence work. House will be finished before xmas that year
Another $2000 the next month, still looking at xmas
Balance of 5% deposit in May (around another $11k), funds cleared now we are looking at April 07 all of a sudden. Person I've been dealing with says it's not his problem as I'm now dealing with someone else. That someone else says there's nothing that can be done xmas should never have been promised
We give notice at our rental as per confirmation that house would be finished but of course it was a major stress to have it done in time. We accept we are moving in with a heap of stuff not done, and no occupancy permit
Last day of March 07 and we take handover. Now the problems start
Solar hot water breaks first day. To their credit was fixed same day
First night we decide to have a spa together been looking forward to this for over a year. Spa jet from behind me flies out. Hits the wife in the head (at least I saw the funny side - she wasnt hurt) water is now flying out of the bit in the spa the jet came out of and floods ensuite
Dog destroys termite protection after spa incident. We have a young boxer he destroys everything. If we had of been told termite protection didnt mean having the house sprayed and instead was the plastic thing that sits above ground and goes around the house I would have had someone spray the house outside of Metricon. Accept it's my fault for not asking the right questions. Wife is pretty upset at this stage and worried for dogs health and makes me call that poison info line in the middle of the night. By this stage romance is out the window
A month or so later the french doors leading out of our bedroom into a courtyard stop closing. Accept that that's part of the house moving or whatever. Then they fall off. Dont accept that that's part of the house moving
Master bedroom door handle/latch breaks and wont open. We are in the bedroom at the time so I break through the door like in the movies. Metricon refused to fix this
Front door refuses to close (this has happened a few times since). End up putting dining chairs
None of the bedrooms hooked up to the heating unit
Solar hot water breaks continously throughout winter. They dont like frost. Happened at least 3 times that winter, and has just happened again for a different reason though
Aircon breaks. On inspection birds have also caused damage to the inside (but were'nt the cause of it breaking). Great it's under warranty but guess what? Your 12 month old $8800 aircon didnt come with bird protection so it has to be retrofitted at your expense
Oven recently broke
Ensuite shower has been re-tiled twice
Sorry for the long post that's all I can think of at this stage. Metricon (and any sane person who hasnt put up with this crap) argue that it's all third party products that are the problem. And of course everything bar bedroom door and the bird related aircon problem has been fixed to Metricon's credit. I cant compare their after sales customer service as this is the first (and most likely last) house we've built but eventually things do get fixed. But after spending close to $300k on construction (at 2006 prices) you kind of expect better
As for the house itself, it's our palace. When we have the "what would we do if we won $30m from lotto" talks, selling it isnt really on the cards