I wish I visited your page before buying! I just moved into my home and do not or at least have not noticed the same problems as all the other homeowners on this site. My problems are considerably minor. My complaint is with the service. No one is returning any of my calls to get any work done on my house and I'm starting to feel that this ignorance is intentional. The gas pipe for my range is too large consequently my range sits out about a foot from the wall and for 2 weeks now, no one has called me back to get this. Two weeks ago I called the plumbing company listed under my contact list given to me by Pulte. I was informed that the company that I called was not the comapany contracted to do the work but prior to my purchase they did go into my home and work on some plumbing. They were happy to fix my problem, all they needed was approval from Jeff Miers (Pulte) to do the work. Later that day I was told that they were denied authorization and that they would be contacting me to service this request. No one called... I'm sure this comes as no surprise. I was told by the sub contractor that if nothing happened in 3 business days call and they'll try and get things done. Well... in 3 business days no one called so as instructed I called the subcontractor and for 2 more days they have been working on getting an authorization and of course denied.
When I first purchased the home, the range was not installed. For the first week we were not in town. I called and left a couple of messages with Jeremey Smith to let him know that we were not going to be in the home for the delivery and installation of the range and that he needed to get back to me to schedule an appropriate time. He never returned my call. I returned to San Antonio a week later. The following business day I called Pulte and spoke with Alyson Playfair, the sales representative and told her that no one has called to schedule an appointment to deliver my range. I have a family of 7 and obviously cannot cook for them. She assured me that someone would be contacting me to get this delivered. No one called. At about 3:00 p.m. that
day I followed up and finally spoke with someone about this problem. His response was that they attempted to deliver this range while I was out of town and blamed me for Jeremey inability to reply to his messages. He could not deliver this range until the following day. We ended up upgrading our appliances and as it was being installed we were told that the pipe is too large and the range cannot be placed against the wall because of this... well you know the rest.
Our windows are also jammed and again... no one is returning my calls to get this done. The door know was installed backwards... again no one has returned my call. The electrical outlet for the garage door opener is placed too far back... I contacted the company myself and they should be here today... I hope.
When we agreed to buy the home, Alyson Playfair informed us of a knob to knob warranty that covered cosmetic damages. After closing we were told that the policy changed and we were not eligible to receive this policy. Basically, the sales representative lied to us to get us to buy the home and got away with it. Furthermore, after all this mess, Jeff Miers had the nerve to tell me that he has bent over backwards to help me. Do what? Not a damn thing.
DO NOT BUY FROM PULTE. We are being mistreated by them. They promise us verbally and in writing that we can do color selections because we are out of state buyers. I have contacted them numerous times to email me the selections numerous times, no results. Now is the third week, all our loans is processed and all of a sudden they threaten us that they will cancel our contract if we don't fly back from California to make the color selections soon.
They have number one in customer service sign in their open house, there is no way for any one to rate it. I do not get to rate it when I purchase the house, and I still do not get to rate it right now.
Update to Linda Huang's testimonial and situation.
I have the problem resolved after I talk to the headquarter. They applogize and offer me free air tickets and hotels to Austin paid by Pulte. I think Pulte headquarter does value their client's business, but it's just sometimes the people working for them might mess something up. As long as you stick to what you think is right and complain all the way to the top, they will check what's wrong and see what they can do to resolve the problem. I guess being a realtor in CA myself helps too, because I know what's legal and what's not.
- We have lived in our new Pulte home for 6 months. The concrete in our drive way and on our front porch is busted; they refused to fix it at the 2 week or 3 month check list, siting that we had to approve it on the final walk through before closing, which we did - they plastered over it so it would 'look good' and we would go ahead and close - I feel they were intentionally deceitful in doing this.
- After the start of winter, as soon as the thermostat went below freezing, we had about 14 cracks in our wall joints - a really bad one from ceiling to floor in my son's upstairs room, two in our ceilings and along the mortar line of our bricking out front. Pulte's solution is to re-texture,paint and caulk over (their solution to most any problem)the drywall corner cracks. That is fine, but no solution to what the REAL problem is. They are just trying to delay us until AFTER the 11 month checklist by covering the problem up. None of our neighbors' homes are 'cracking' and their concrete work is not shoddy, either. Our crime: we are from way out of town and could not babysit our house when they were in the process of building!
- Gas piping to our furnace was not even screwed in to the piping leading to the vents! Thank Heaven I noticed, they did at least come fix it.
- Our deck is now cracking after the freezing temperatures. Boards actually have chunks of wood falling out. I haven't mentioned this problem yet, but hope they will make good.
- The upstairs floor (carpeted) is VERY cold in the winter if you are near an exterior wall. I have to wonder if they insulated our home properly, though our electric bills are about what we anticipated (we won't know about the gas bill for a couple of weeks).
- Support beams to our roof in the attic look like rotten boards from a lumber yard, they are not nailed together well - you can actually see the nails between
boards; they are as far as 2 inches apart and there is 'play', or movement in many of the rafters if you gently wiggle them. I feel the cracks in our walls have to do with inferior wood for the skeleton of our home, not the foundation. Will have Pulte correct that at 11 month (or I will go to the media).
In all fairness, with the exception of the concrete work, they have at least
made attempts in repairing many things, but many times they use caulking to correct aesthetics without really addressing the core problem - buying them time to get through the 11 month (final) check list! I was amazed that they actually replaced a rotten board on our home - and did it correctly. I think our current contact guy (this is a revolving door position) at Pulte sincerely does all that is within his power to correct issues, but it is obvious he can only do so much.
I prefer to remain anonymous, as this is a new subdivision and the Pulte people only have about 12 residents, and to be honest, I fear retaliation from some of them.
Anonymous, San Antonio Texas
Posted December 10, 2005
Anonymous wrote:
Our home was built in 1986. Most other home builders at that time in this subdivision used copper pipe. Pulte chose galvanized pipe.
We had our first pin hole leak in the ceiling about 2001. Since that time numerous other pin holes have occurred - not only in galvanized horizontal pipe but vertical pipe as well.
The pipe we pull out is severely occluded. Light is barely visible when looking through a 5' length of old galvanized pipe. After replacing even a few pipes our water pressure inside the home has increased dramatically.
Spending a few hundred dollars more initially for thick wall copper will save the home owner a lot of headaches and thousands in repairs over the years.
Demand copper - don't settle for galvanized or the plastic pipe systems prevalent today. It's a classic case of penny wise and pound foolish.
Anonymous, Houston, Texas -
June 24, 2005
Jay Feeley wrote:
I am writing this testimonial just 12 days after handing over my ernest check to Pulte. And only 1 day after handing in my loan application. I told my sales person that I was getting cold feet and wanted to cancel this deal. I was never prequalified my (dti) debt to income is too high. I was told by my salesperson John that if I cancel this deal, that I will not get me
1000.00 dollars back. And even if I was not approved for this deal,I will not get it back. I was lied to about them depositing the check. I also spoke to the corporate office and they told me that it was up to the salesman's discretion wheather I would get the ernest monies back, all he has to do is approve the check to be given back.
Please help in what I should do!!!!
Jay Feeley, Glenn Heights, Texas -
jay316@att.net
May 29, 2005
Jim & ingrid King wrote:
When we bought the house it was only 2-yrs old. It is now it is 3-yrs old but we have had numerous problems with our air conditioning. Backwards wired, illegal wired used (they used doorbell wire), and so on. When I contacted Pulte they gave me a bunch of excuses. Now I am out almost $500 in cost to my air contioning Guy. He told me last year I should report this problem because they use unqualified people. As of this day I would like to know who inspected our house when it was first sold. I also think we have other problems with the Electrical.
It should be looked into who Pulte uses for workers. I think that a lot of them are not certified
Jim & Ingrid King, Houston, Texas -
iking@houston.rr.com
July 8, 2004
A general contractor from Houston Texas wrote:
I was recently at a Pulte jobsite and was doing an inspection. I noticed that Pulte was using an OSB product and asked them about it. It turns out they have switched back to OSB siding. They are actually using LP (remember innerseal?) and saying that the Smart Siding is better than any other product out there and that it is waterproof. Then I read the info packet that comes with the material. Talk about loopholes! If a soil treatment is not done before
installation- Warranty Void! If the sprinkler system hits the siding- Warranty Void! If the cut edges are not primed prior to installation -Warranty Void! While there I saw them putting up a piece of exterior paneling, curved like a bowstring- obviously from water-exposure. I asked about it and the salesperson told me that it was fine and that when it was nailed up the curve would come out! He also told me that Pulte had a great warranty program and even if there
was a problem with the siding that they would fix it.
So when I got home I looked over the online warranty. Loopholes big enough to drive a truck through. It comes right out and says that "Some warping, cupping, splitting or rotting of wood can be expected. In cases where excess warping, cupping, splitting or rotting of wooden members exists, THE BUILDER, within the manufacturer’s warranty, will repair or replace as necessary."
(http://www.pulte.com/living/pulte_protection_plan_introduction.asp?subject=Exte
riorAndSidingTrim)
Rotting is expected?!? Nice.
I made a lot of money as a General Contractor replacing innerseal in the late 90's. Looks like it's time to get back in business. Thanks Pulte!
This testimonial was submitted by a general contractor the wishes to remain anonymous
March 15, 2004
Skip & Kathy Bretz wrote:
Homeowners are deceived and left out in the HEAT!!
Our decision to purchase a Pulte Home was based solely on
Pulte's guarantee of an Energy Efficient Home. Pulte Reps. explained to
consumers that these "Energy Efficient" Homes had extremely low heating and
cooling usage resulting in the heating and cooling portion (which they claimed
was 70% of our Bill) to range from $35 to $55, depending on the size of our
home.
Immediately we had excessive electrical bills and 15-degree
temp variances throughout the home. They continually asked us to wait a year
and said we were the only homeowners complaining. It took until November 2002
for Pulte to admit their errors and advise us that they had been monitoring
another home with the same floor plan since August trying to determine the
problems. Engineers were brought in from Building Science and they found the
homes (our model only) to be poorly insulated, the a/c unit undersized, ductwork
too small, registers too small and other problems. Massive modifications were
made in my home from Jan-May of 2003. This was done to 22 homes in our
subdivision, leaving the other 70+ out in the heat literally.
I now possess dozens of news stories, which all quote various
Pulte Representatives as saying specifically that they GUARANTEE THE UTILITY
COSTS. We have also received analysis from three (3) HVAC Companies, a
Structural Engineer, a Home Inspector and an Electrician whom all agree that our
home is poorly designed (HVAC System and Insulation) and will never get the
utility costs promised and this current system will never cool my home properly.
Costs to repair range from $12,000 to $28,000. Any of these reports from third
party inspectors or Pulte reports & documentation are available upon request.
Other recent problems have been:
- It was discovered after 18 mos. that two (2) 8 x 16 strips of insulation were missing from our daughter's room outside wall
- A window fell out in my hands last month
- Lights dim and flicker in our home (this is normal), lights come on by themselves, TV's shut off by themselves (our main breaker had to be replaced in month 6)
- Last month our dishwasher, microwave and stove all began
having problems staying shut, my ceramic sink cracked in the kitchen and there
is a 6 ft. crack across my kitchen floor, which is even with the crack on my
foundation outside. They will come out this week to see if the foundation is
cracked?
We are now in month 20. Pulte has offered to give us half of the price quoted from Central City Air Conditioning in Houston, but continue to deny that anything is wrong.
This is clearly DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE on behalf of Pulte Homes and we cannot let them get away with this. This is the single most expensive purchase that our families will make and we stand to loose on these homes.
If you are considering purchasing a Pulte Home, Please Beware!! Pulte will continually attempt to buy time to get the consumer to just "go-away". In Texas, we have Binding Arbitration. Even though there are a large number of complainants, we cannot file a Class Action. Each homeowner must be handled on a case-by-case basis and each homeowner must go
through a separate Arbitration Hearing. Wish us luck!
Anyone wishing to review our problems and back up data and support materials may do so by request.
Skip & Kathy Bretz, Tomball, Texas -
skbretz@aol.com
January 13, 2004
Rick Giallombardo wrote:
I am going to ramble on, so you might just post this rather than read it.
I moved to the Dallas area from "up North" several months ago. I was not all that
happy with my last house until I saw what was available in the Dallas area. I quickly
realized that I needed to by the cheapest smallest house I could find so that I could
complete the required "repairs" in a timely fashion. I ended up in a 5 year old Pulte home.
I resigned myself to the fact that this was a "bargain" home built to the minimum
"standards", but I thought that, at the very least, the home would have to have met some
building codes.
Here is my list of problems after 5 years: -- None of the walls are close to flat or
plumb. I'm sure the home was like this from day one.-- Drywall in ceilings is visibly
sagging between trusses-- "cardboard" used to sheath outside of house is falling
apart. I stop short of calling this stuff wood.-- Lots of nails poking through
ceilings and walls-- Framing in attic is VERY poor. It looks like the house was
framed with a chainsaw by a guy who couldn't read a tape measure (as I was working in
the attic to add insulation, I leaned against one vertical 2X4 support and the single nail
barely holding it in place broke loose and it fell out!)-- The holes in the roof deck
where chimneys, vents, etc. exit were created by driving a hammer (or other blunt object)
through the OSB-- OSB roof deck is warped and heaved and extra supports had to be added
in several spots-- All soffit vents were completely plugged with fiberglass batts and
covered with blown-in insulation-- bathroom vents go nowhere. There is a small stub of
duct plugged with insulation in the attic.-- ductwork (the flexible insulated type)
is twisted and pinched off and wrapped around almost everywhere you look.-- Electrical
wiring is laying around everywhere restrained every once-in-awhile with a nail bent
over and pounded down flat In general the house looked like it had been built in haste
with no real plan for wiring, plumbing, and HVAC, by workers who lacked training and
did not have the appropriate tools (like a saw!). Furthermore, there could not have
been any "official" inspection of the work by anyone who knew what they were doing.
Or, if there was, nothing was corrected. In short, I have lived in a lot of not-so-nice
homes in my life, but this one was truly built to the lowest possible standards.
Reading your page confirmed something that I had previously suspected. My take on Pulte homes is that the difference between a $100,000 Pulte home and a $500,000 Pulte home is square footage period. I'm glad I picked the $100,000 model and I feel for those that spent more.
Coming from a background in the appliance industry, I have a hard time with a couple
of things. If I was a builder and I was going to build 20 (or 50 or 100) of the same
floorplan home, I would take the time to get a really good layout for the wiring, HVAC,
plumbing, etc. that would provide the best performance, minimize wasted material, and allow reasonably easy access for repair. If a builder took the time to do this, I believe that they could easily compete on cost and speed of construction with a Pulte or whoever, and provide a superior product. Why doesn't someone do that???? In most cases, it doesn't take much more time to do things right the first time then to do them the "Pulte way". But it's a major pain in the ass to fix them later!
The only reason companies like Pulte can do what they are doing is because local inspectors and government agencies allow them to. Check out this guy's site:
http://www.flash.net/~carlton2/city.htm
Rick Giallombardo, Dallas, Texas - rgiallom@centurytel.net
Nydia L. Montero wrote:
Pulte Master Builder NOT
Please read before you purchase a Pulte Home Nightmare
Pulte will not fix, repair, exchange, or honor their warranties without given you a nightmare of problems, excuses, runarounds, bad labor or workmanship, or asking you to sign your life and rights away. Neither do they solve anything in a timely manner. In the likely event the home starts falling apart, foundations cracks, doors/windows leak, paint starts peeling off, nails begin to pop out, wood trim begins to separate, wood rafters are nailed incorrectly to where it cracks and splits the wood (which will not be replaced), walls that warp, backyard floods with small rains, carpet wear and tear in less than 6 months, insulation missing in walls and attic, plumbing noises, leaks pipes that are improperly installed, A/C Units that do not meet Energy Saving Standards, documentation not properly filed at the corresponding county offices, survey plats documentation not properly disclosing complete information on the lots while in the sales office and at closing, warranty requests that can take up to 1 year to be resolved and in most cases are never resolve properly. And please let's not talk about Pulte's favorite piece of equipment to solve most
problems..caulking,,,,caulking,,,,caulking. Caulking guns are the levels and the crack cover ups and uneven cover ups and the miracle tool to repair most everything. And wait and see what happens when you try to get your warranty issues resolve. That is truly a nightmare. All you need to do is type in any search category Pulte Home Builders, or The Pulte Experience, or The Pulte Nightmare or better yet Ripoffreports.com. Need more information BBB Better Business
Bureau Nation Wide, or visit our home and our neighbors home and the next door neighbors home, or go to CINCO RANCH or ATASCOSITA or ELDRIDGE PARK VILLAGE or north, south, east, or west or nation wide,,,,, you will find thousands who will say it has been a nightmare !!!!!!!!!!!!! and what is more there is no help. There is truly no law in place making sure these kind of builders STOP building THE AMERICAN DREAM HOMES NIGHTMARE and force them to do what is right !! After all, you and I vote to get people sitting in places who give a blind eye to these issues. Is there any one out there who cares?
Educate yourself before you buy a PULTE HOME.
CC: The President of USA, House of Representatives, Congress, General Attorney's Offices, News media, Internet Communication Services, FHA, HUD, Fannie Mae Foundation, Federal Trade Commission, BBB, Nehemiah Funds, ACCORN, and to any one else in search of their dream home, Not a nightmare home.
Nydia L. Montero, Sugarland, TX 77478
The following is a letter written in response to the
conditions set by Pulte in order to correct the problems in the home of Nydia L. Montero. This letter was written by Nydia L. Montero.
Pulte Homes of Texas: Wants us to sign our rights away even more
That is right as of May 3, 2000 an in accordance to the letter we received from the city president Houston division. They will not take further action with respects to our warranty issues until we sign an agreement that will prohibit us to talk about any of these issues, will make us liable for any legal fees and any other expenses Pulte may incurred to obtaining restraining orders to prohibit us from our first ammendment rights (freedom of speech). Signing this document will also include that we voluntarily wave our rights forever in the future to file any lawsuit or make any legal claim for damage of any kind against Pulte. Furthermore, condidentiality agreement states that if any of us breaches this confidentiality agreement, we will have to pay Pulte immediately the amount of $125.00 plus 10% annual rate. (This amount represents the amount paid in full by us to a certified carpet inspector who deemed our carpet to had lost 25% of it twist and on avarage look of 2.5 per CRI picture to have been installed incorectly and to his opinion showing bad signs of wear and tear already. {the carpet was installed by Pulte just 6 months ago making this one the second bacth.) The check send to us by Pulte in this amount has not and will not be deposit. Want more,,,,, our signatures on this document will represent willing acceptance of this agreement... wether or not we have consulted an attorney and in either case that we will have voluntarily enter this agreement with full and complete understanding of its terms..... Have they lost their minds....... All of the issues been requested for immediate attention are labor, workmanship, and warranty issues. By the way the letter starts with "after reviewing your recent demands"
well no no no,,, all of the time we have address these items as issues. Please have this
information review. We are 100 % sure that most of this cannot be accepted is probably
illegal and unethical. Neddless to say this is our home and our rights, that Pulte is trying to step all over.
Ron Crook wrote:
Pulte installed cheap inferior quality toliets in my new home. When I complained about problems I was having (letters and contact with BBB), Pulte refused to replace them. My complaint made through the BBB remains as not resolved. It also included other smaller issues that were only partially repaired.
Pulte showed no respect for me or the BBB in reference to my complaints. I have never dealt with such an arrogant company! I would recommend that prospective homebuyer not buy from Pulte.
Ron Crook
Michael K. Ashcroft wrote:
My family has began having problems within the last few years with primariy defective plumbing. We have a two story Pulte Windsor Model home and have noticed lines developing on the ceiling on the first floor of the home. At first there were just lines, but now the lines have become leaks because the pipes which we believed to be copper for our water lines have turned out to be 3/4" galvanized pipe which is developing leaks. A year or so ago I discovered a leak, called a plumber to come and repair the leak, and to my chagrin,
no sooner had the plumber repaired the leak when another leak developed a foot or so from the first leak. The leaks continue to develop. I no sooner fix the first leak and patch the hole, when another leak develops. The plumber recommended that a total pipe replacement be performed at an estimated cost of $6,000 to $10,000.00.
A number of other families in my neighborhood who also own Pulte Homes have had their pipes replaced. My father was a Plumber by trade and told me that if the proper pipes had been used, you should never have to replace a pipe, copper or otherwise unless you live in an area where it gets really cold and you do not have heat during a extended cold period with temperatures getting and staying well below freezing for an extended period of time. Thus far Pulte has refused to do anything about my home. I am the second owner of the home which was originally constructedin 1984.
I have also had other problems with the home electrical wiring system. Thus far these problems have not been as bad as the plumbing which worsens by the day.
Michael K. Ashcroft, Texas
A Pulte customer from the Dallas area had a testimonial removed because:
"My current employer has a business relationship with Pulte Homes and I would lose my job if they came across your site."
Utah
Douglas Rush wrote:
Thank you Mr. Santora for providing a forum for unhappy Pulte homeowners and a warning for potential customers. I own an Pulte home built in 1997 (8 years ago). I have begun to compile a list of problems we have had with our home since the one year warranty expired. The list is not comprehensive because I started it recently and can't remember everything.
- A joint on the drain pipe connected to an upstairs master bathtub broke. The pips are very crooked which I believe caused the connector to break. An entire wall in the kitchen was saturated with water and the sheet rock needs to be replaced. There may be mold in the wall. I believe it had been leaking for years, possibly since the house was new, but we don’t use the tub much and didn’t notice it until my wife started letting the faucet drip to entertain the cat.
- Pipes froze in our garage. There was no insulation.
- Exterior door rotted out. The door is of a very poor design, so when it rains, the door threshold becomes a puddle and the water is eventually absorbed by the door frame.
- Didn’t use treated exterior wood on outside stairs and the support members go into dirt. We have a long flight of wooden stairs up to an apartment garage. They will need to be replaced with steel because someday a stair will break and I will be liable.
- Garage floor is beginning to crack and spall.
- Part of our lawn is a swamp. Our problems are minor compared to our neighbors, who had to install a sump pump in their basement.
- Rain gutters drip on exterior stairs creating an ice coating in winter. Attempts to fix the problem have not been successful because the roof line is not horizontal.
- We can’t turn on any interior lights on when entering our back door. We have to walk across the room in the dark to the nearest light switch.
- Kitchen light was not centered on ceiling.
- The shower door threshold doesn’t drain back into the shower. The enclosure is poorly designed. Water can go into the threshold, but it can’t get out. So it rots and stinks. I believe I must replace the entire shower enclosure to solve the problem.
- The electric heat pump used to heat and cool our garage apartment died at the same time the warranty expired and was expensive to operate. We replaced it with a gas furnace and a new AC unit.
- There was sand in the bottom of our water heater. Luckily if failed while still covered by the water heater warranty.
- The floors creak very loudly in our upstairs hallway and our daughters bedroom. My wife is a very light sleeper.
- The roof started leaking today. We have 2+ stories above grade. There is no practical way to get on the roof without a lift. It is raining like mad.
Virtually every stucco home in our neighborhood has needed the stucco replaced. Luckily our home has siding. To my knowledge Pulte (or the sub) has replaced the stucco.
The warranty period on our home was 1 year “bumper to bumper”. After this warranty period expired the only warranty in effect was a structural damage warranty with extremely vague terms and issued by a third party. I don’t think it unreasonable to expect a home to be trouble free for 15-20 years. Do you?
Does hiring the subcontractor who submitted the lowest bid also guarantee the lowest quality of work?
I strongly recommend hiring an attorney to write a contract when purchasing a new home. And don’t leave it all up to the attorney. You may need to determine the majority of the terms in the contract. If the builder won’t sign your contract, WALK AWAY! Regardless of how much your wife loves the house.
After 2 new homes in the last 10 years I believe inferior quality is a widespread phenomenon in the home building industry. As an engineer with almost 20 years experience in a manufacturing industry I can say with confidence that most homebuilders would last a week in any other line of work. The quality of work is simply appalling. You must take precautions to protect yourself!
Douglas Rush - Draper, Utah - Legacy at South Mountain
April 9, 2005
