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An article from the New Zealand Consumer magazine Slow learnersThe Consumer guarantee Act has been around for more than six years. However, some traders are still ignorant of the rights the law gives consumers or, worse, deliberately ignore the Act's provisions. Take the case of the man who bought a new car just over three years ago. It came with a three-year warranty. A few weeks after the warranty expired the crankshaft failed. The car had been serviced regularly and had been used for normal motoring. The owner called the dealer. Yes, it was almost certainly a factory fault, but because the warranty had expired, repairs were going to cost the owner around $3000. The owner thought it was unreasonable to have to pay such a hefty repair bill and came to us for advice. We were able to tell him that, under the Consumer Guarantee Act, he could still make a claim against the dealer. The point being, a manufacturer's warranty does not replace your rights under the Act. Anything you buy must be of acceptable quality. A car with a broken crankshaft after just over three years doesn't meet the legal test. Some traders also ignore the Fair Trading Act, This Act says, among other things, that traders mustn't mislead or deceive their customers. Computer retailers all too often overlook this basic and very reasonable principle of trading. Advertisements are still appearing in daily papers quoting prices exclusive of GST, without making this clear. The companies defend their position by claiming to be advertising to trade buyers and not the general public. Why then are they advertising in the daily press? Traders need to have a good working knowledge of basic consumer law. Many do but a worrying minority don't. Consumers deserve better Article by David Russell |
But of course (as I adjust my halo) we, at Moss Brothers Housing already knew that. You've probably heard of the Master Build New Home Guarantee provided exclusively by Registered Master Builders . It's a pretty good investment for anyone thinking of building a new house as it protects the new homeowner against material and workmanship failure during construction and for up to five years after completion. The owner has a choice of taking it for three or five years from the date of issue, and the real benefit comes if your builder goes out of business for any reason during the construction of your house, the house will be completed by Master Build Services Ltd (a subsidiary company of New Zealand Registered Master Builders) as per the plans and specifications and contract documentation - that's real peace-of-mind.
As you know, faulty workmanship can show up and does appear after three or five years of living in a new dwelling. As with the car in the article, if it's a manufacturer's fault then the manufacturer can still be liable for the repairs plus any to damage caused by the fault.
I'm not sure how long Consumer believes the manufacturer should be liable for faults, but with Moss Brothers Housing we take the stand that if a job is done well in the first place, any fault will be minimal. So we guarantee our workmanship for 10 years and if there is a fault caused by our workmanship we fix it for free. After completion of your new home I or one of my team will phone once, if not twice, a year for those first 10 years just to make sure all's well. Nice people, aren't we.
False alarms with domestic security systems
Unfortunately false alarms with security alarm systems are so common that when we hear one going we tend to take little notice of them. It's even worse if the system is hooked up to a security company and monitored 24 hours a day, that false alarm will cost you about $30 a call out. It can become expensive if it happens three or four times a month, like it's happened to us on a couple of occasions.
Fortunately there is a very simple solution. The fact is that spiders are the greatest reason for false alarms. They think it's a nice dry warm spot for a home and who knows, maybe the little light that flashes inside attracts its food. Solution: Just give each sensor a dose of fly spray across the front and round the sides every four-five weeks. Take the cover off and give a wee squirt in the guts of the sensor about twice a year.
The number of false alarms I have had in the office and workshop have reduced by 99%, and I've never had a false alarm at home since we had that one installed. That's been two years now. If you have an alarm system that plays up, give fly spray a try. But it must be regular (as I say, every 4 - 5 weeks) or the little buggers will be back.
The three secrets of building a successful and attractive replica home
As you're aware we've been building replica homes for a few years now, and it's amazing just how much we have learned. We've found new ways to improve on them, and seen what makes them less attractive by cutting corners when owners want to save money. One of the drawbacks in this type of construction is that there is far more carpentry and painting labour, but most would agree the end results are worth it. There are many reasons for wanting to build a replica home but the main one is (especially when I'm dealing with a couple) one wants new with hassle-free low maintenance, while the other wants the character and charm of an older home.
Because the replica home market is a niche market. Our business tends to take us round the lower half of the north island and top of the south. We do get requests beyond there, but choose not to go past those boundaries. But getting back to the three secrets of a successful replica, they are as follows:
1) Proportions;
With modern or contemporary house design architects and designers don't seem to pay much attention to proportion. It's a bit like modern art, anything seems to go. But with replicas it's critical to get styling balanced, symmetrical shapes and proportion otherwise the end result will jump out at you and say one of two things: They've tried to replicate the old style and got it all wrong, or it will end looking like a dressed-up modern house.
For example: The height of a verandah roof in relation to the size of the verandah posts, or the pitch of the main house roof in relation to the height and pitch of the verandah roof. If you get the mix and combinations (proportions) right, then the design looks attractive. However if the mix and proportions are not in balance, the end result will say: Well we/they tried to get it right, but!!!
2) Attention to detail
In the instance of building or restoring a colonial villa, the attention to detail I'm talking about is the trim, style and finish of the fancy bits, as I call them. In other words, it's the decoration and dressing-up (ie; finials, scrolls, verandah post necklaces, verandah post fluting, weatherboard capping, window and door facings, base board trim, soffit brackets etc etc..).
I estimate that about 25-30% more carpentry and painting labour is required in this style of house than the contemporary house, and almost all additional labour is taken up in fixing these decorations. On several occasions in the past we have been instructed to leave these decorations off, with reasons ranging from cost to it doesn't need it. End result, the house looks flat, uninteresting and doesn't achieve the desired result. The only positive is that most of these decorations can be added after completion of the main building work once the owner has taken position and moved in. In reality though, that hardly ever happens.
3) Colours
Most of us think that it can't be too difficult to provide a colour scheme for the new house. And it would be fair to say that some people do have a natural flair. Unfortunately, based on what I've seen in the past, one of two things will happen. 1) the owners are either not sure themselves or quite unhappy with the end result and seek to be reassured by asking other people (usually friends or family) for their learned opinion, and we all know what happens when we ask someone a loaded question. They most often reply, "it looks great", not wanting to offend you, and then talk about how it's not their choice of colour on the way home. And 2) We choose colours that are safe, plain, boring and uninteresting.
I'm always amazed when I'm working with people spending in excess of $300,000 on a new home and they won't spend a few hundred dollars on a qualified colour consultant. As I say, many people think they can do it themselves but don't stop to think that a qualified colour consultant most often has years of training and experience. Some colour and paint shops do offer a free colour consultancy service, well they say it's free, I'm sure there's a cost built in somewhere. But it's human nature not to value most things that are supplied free, so according to what I've heard only half the information is taken on board therefore making the final look worse than it was going to look.
An imaginative colour scheme from a trained colour consultant will simply blow you away, and add value to your new home and investment. I remember when we built and finished the current showhome. I approached a colour consultant that I had a lot of faith in. When she came back with the colour scheme I shook my head in disbelief. She wanted to use a combination of about six different colours on the outside alone. And all she was able to show me was samples on the colour charts about 40mm square and I didn't like what I saw. However I was professional enough to change nothing and let the painter get on with it. As you know the showhome is so striking and attractive, that about 75% of all new inquiries are from people who spot it as they drive past.
And although the colours are just fantastic, it's the combination of all three that make it a real winner. It makes me angry when people that just come off the street, start taking photos. I should be flattered but it's nothing short of intellectual property theft. Other people sneak up outside office hours to try and match up or find out what colours we've used so they can use them on their own place. We know this because I've had to clean paint splashes off the verandah decking from people that have taken test paint pots up to the weatherboards to see how close their match is. How bad is that? But at the end of the day, that's the power of an attractive colour combination. If you want fantastic results, employ a trained and experienced professional, I think that's the story of our lives isn't it. It's a common saying isn't it, do what we do best and leave what we can't do properly to someone who can. That way you can expect and demand performance.
Visualise the dream.
One of our best assets is we draw all of our plans on the computer. What the computer can do these days is amazing, and they continue to improve at lightning speed. Because a lot of people find it difficult reading plans, it means you can see exactly what your proposed new home will look like before it even gets printed onto paper. We can show print out a 3D model from any angle of your new home, inside or outside. So take advantage of this new technology, and to make it easier we have a special offer price if you bring the attached flier with you when you come to visit and want to start the planning process. And don't forget our web site for additional information, this month's password is, Plinth.
And finally, these newsletters are produced free for your benefit, so you may not fall into the same trap as so many others. However, if you believe they are a waste of time for you or you're not interested in us continually sending them to you, please let us know and we'll take the necessary action.
Regards
Julian Moss
Oh PS: More and more inquires and sales are from beyond the toll free area of our office. Because of this, for your convenience I have installed an 0800 Free-Help phone line to our office. So if you have any questions or queries you can contact me (that's Julian Moss) on:
0800 MOSS BROS (6677-2767)
And a PPS; If you have some burning issues that you'd like answers to, write or phone me, I'll research your subject and give my reply in the following newsletter so that thousands of others may benefit from the information.
