Lawn bullshit, repeated again and again

Hi readers, thanks for your various feedback over the last few weeks.

It seems that since the first houses were completed 2 years ago, virtually every household has been complaining about drainage issues and the quality of the turf, or in some cases the lack of turf in the first place.

Krystle Smith’s first response is, as you might expect if you have ever had to deal with her style of customer service, to claim that the ground has been well prepared with a rotavater and high quality turf has been laid.

However, every independent gardener who has visited the site immediately recognises that the drainage is inadequate and that the lawns, where turf has actually been laid in the first place, need relaid as the grass is dying to due being water logged and the roots rotting. Many households have had to install additional drainage measures. Rather than just admitting there was a problem and sorting it out across the site, Krystle Smith on behalf of Mansell has claimed one by one that the lawns are all just fine. The next tedious step for the householders is to individually go through the process of getting the delightful Mansell director Ken MacArthur out to view the lawn before he finally admits that it he will refund the £800 money people have paid for the lawn. Why does it have to be like this with every issue, and with every house?

In some cases the grass has simply self-seeded from the field at the back and no turf as been laid. The proof is in the lack of a sandy topsoil layer and the original field rocks protruding through the self-seeded wild grasses and weeds. Still though the Ken-and-Krystle-partnership claim this is high quality professionally laid lawn. More to follow on this partnership in good time.

 

 

 

Email address changeover bullshit

For whatever reason, Mansell decided to change their primary contact route for complaints from:

perthcustomerservices@mansell.plc.uk

to

perthcustomerservices@mansellhomes.co.uk

Oh wait a minute, this was not for whatever reason, it was so Mansell Homes could deny receiving any complaints and avoid having to perform their statutory duties for a month. Why else would a customer facing company ever change its main email address and not tell its clients, unless this was out of sheer and utter incompetence?

Their “customer services” letter dated 24th of the month advised that emails since the 5th of the month had not been received.

Is Krystle Smith even qualified to perform building inspections?

Krystle Smith who performs the Mansell Homes building inspections on the Crownview estate hasn’t got a a single valid qualification which would allow her to make a qualified professional judgement regarding the structural integrity of buildings.

On her Linkedin profile, http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/krystle-smith/67/8b9/638, she lists her career “highlights” as:

•     Tanning Salon Manager, Denis Hair Design

•     Promotions/Public Relations Assistant, Circus Nightclub

•     Playworker, Caledonian Road Primary School

So a history of managing the tanning bed diary and organising nightclub flyers really quite emphatically suggests that no, she is not qualified to perform professional inspections of building faults…examples of extreme incompetence to follow!

NHBC force Mansell to act on Crownview Glamis build

Well work has started today at Crownview in Dunblane lifting and replacing the upper floors of one of the Glamis houses following incorrect specification on Mansell’s part, leading to unacceptable noise and movement.

Obviously Krystle Smith (Mansell’s Customer Services Coordinator) and Ken MacArthur (Mansell’s Director) denied all responsibility until the bitter end, or at least until NHBC stepped in and made the decision that it was not acceptable and forced Mansell to start work.

Rumours are that the majority of the houses on the Crownview estate are suffering from the same problem.

I would advise people looking to buy Crathes or Glamis houses on the Mearns Grange development to check that this serious design fault has not been replicated on the new development.

 

Mansell Homes, part of the Balfour Beatty Group

“Good will”, that is a term used again and again by Mansell Homes.

The news from the Crownview development in Dunblane is that the residents’ “good will” has well and truly expired.

When entire upper floors need replaced, 1 year inspections are denied, streams run through multiple properties, and the Mansell sales team sell a house from under your feet that you have paid a deposit on and paid to be modified, “good will” conversations with Mansell Homes take on a sour taste.

This blog gives honest hard working people a voice to warn future customers of Mansell Homes of the sort of customer service and build quality they can expect to enjoy.