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letter sent to DR Horton CEO - I live in your Creekview subdivision located in Cedar Park Texas, 78613. I am contacting you directly because I am very dissatisfied with the home I purchased from DR Horton less than 18 months ago and the overall experience I have had with DR Horton.

First let me say that I find it truly unbelievable that a company that claims customer satisfaction is their goal to ignore my numerous requests to speak with someone. I have filled out the on line survey and requested someone contact me about my issues, it has been several months later and I still haven't heard from anyone. I have sent requests through your web site and have still not heard from anyone. This is why I am contacting you directly via email.

My issues stretch far and wide from the planning of my home, construction of my home, repairs of my home, quality of my home, and to the lack of courtesy your company has for the current residents living in the community.

Let me outline each one โ€“

Planning

1. The number one issue I have with the planning is the lack of communication in regards to the plot we picked out for our homes location. We were very clear we wanted a larger back yard than front yard, but the sales person clearly ignored or was oblivious that a "corner" cul-de-sac lot would have a large front yard and almost a non-existent back yard. Reason why? Well because the house must be 23 feet from the curb and the cul-de-sac cut into the front yard pushing the house back. This was the FIRST major failure of DR Horton.

2. The options in the home where not fully offered to us in the design center. We had to ask about a ton of options and some not all of them were explained. Nothing was freely giving or sold to us. We had to ask about different light switch and different interior doors to name a few. We asked about some upgrades to the bathroom and kitchen and were told that they were few if any.

Construction

1. Paint exterior

a. First we had to email the super multiple times explaining exactly how we wanted it painted even though we had already gone over it with the sales person. We had to give them the color and the location. They had to be told the eves this color the louvers this color. Also originally they had painted the WHOLE house one single color with no accent colors being added.

b. The over spray was abundant and I ended up having to scrap most of my windows with a razor blade to get all the paint off. This is a new home why do I have to CLEAN off paint?!?!?

c. Roof vents half way painted, looks like paint was just slapped on.

2. Paint Interior

a. We paid extra to have our ceilings paint white. The cut in was absolutely horrendous. It took two trips out to make it look half way decent. The super told us that they don't normally do this and that's why they had such a hard time. They claim they had to bring in s special crew to do this. Don't offer it if you cannot do it right.

b. The paint quality is of poor grade and is not applied with any skill. There are thin spots where the paint simply rubs off.

c. Approximately 75% of our interior doors where chipped, then painted over with high gloss paint, that doesn't hide anything. Now I have a house full of doors that no longer look new. So I bought a house NEW with doors that looked lived in.

3. We requested recessed can lights in our game room and no ceiling fan/light. This was a nightmare! I provided a floor plan with measurements and lights marked on it and that was not followed. I was on site prior to the sheetrock going up, told the super that the lights were not straight. Now when I say not straight they weren't of an inch or two but half a foot, they looked staggered and horrible! I told the super to please fix them prior to putting the sheet rock up. They didn't, the cut them into the sheet rock the next day. I told the super they were still wrong. The tried to put them in straight and they got it wrong still. I informed the super AGAIN and they still didn't get it right before they textured and painted the ceiling. They tried to move it and patch it and I had enough. The ceiling looked awful and I wasn't going to purchase the house. The super finally after weeks of this going on had them redo the whole ceiling, which only made it look "ok". So once again NEW house with that lived in look! Not to mention I had to tell them to remove the ceiling fan box after they had installed it. Why did I go through the efforts of a markup on the plans?

4. We requested the eating are light in the kitchen to be centered, once again plans and measurements were provided. After two failed attempts by the construction crew I came in on site, on my OWN time to mark a circle on the ceiling. They were able to figure it out after that. This shouldn't have been my job to do, why wasn't the super taking care of this?

5. Painting of the metal balusters for the stair case was absolutely a joke. First off this speaks to the quality portion. My issue is who hand paints GLOSS with no primer onto metal? These should have been sprayed on not brushed on. Originally they were painted white, we had requested black per YOUR designed centers suggestion. After they repainted it black it looked like my ten year old had painted it on, not that it looked much better before when it was white. The paint was streaked, thin in spots, clumpy and over all just plain bad. After our first compliant they tried to paint over it and just made it look worse. Finally they sanded it and tried again. It still looks bad.

6. The stain color we picked out for the front door and the hand rail wasn't right, your super argued that they only used one color then finally had someone do something to them and they looked close but not the same as the stain color we picked out. Once again we are arguing to get what we paid for. Sound right to you?

7. Face plates are crooked and looked like the word level isn't in the vocabulary

8. We had power outlets placed in the eves for Christmas lights. There was a house plan with drawings marked with the desired location. They were not followed. The super had to add the ones we desired in the proper location only AFTER we called him on it.

9. Extra power outlets were marked on the house plans and they were not added until we caught them and had the super add them. See the pattern here? (note here, all this would have gone unnoticed until closing had I not been on site daily to do YOUR supers job making sure things were done right.)

10. We requested and additional cable outlet placed in the kitchen that once again was on the floor plan that wasn't installed until I informed the super of it missing. Please explain to me how you would have put on there after all the sheet rock went up with texture and paint?

11. All the cable outlets were not terminated, I had to terminate them.

12. There was a bowed portion of siding that got NAIL down with at least 2 dozen nails. Now this isn't wood siding its hardy plank. If there is something wrong it should have been removed. So now when it fails and breaks or cracks I will be stuck with the bill of repairs!

Repairs

1. Windows had cracked panels and they howled with wind - fixed

2. Cracked grout on black splash โ€“ re-cracked

3. Backdoor weather stripping on door torn โ€“ torn AGAIN

4. Garage interior door weather stripping torn โ€“ torn AGAIN

5. Bathroom tile cracked in half - fixed

6. Foundation cracked right front of house, patched TWICE

7. Ceiling wall crack (understand settling house) - fixed

8. AC drain backed up in less than one year. AC tech claimed it hadn't been installed correctly. It was missing a float switch and a cap. Still backed up and not fixed. Now we have to close our sink drain in our master bathroom and plug the overflow drain so we don't have to listen to it drip all night while we try and sleep.

9. Microwave fan made noises โ€“ fixed

10. Eve was missing a "chunk" out of it. So they cut out a piece and put a new piece in place of it but not the whole piece only a portion of the eve. PATCH job on a NEW house?!?!?

Quality

1. The interior paint is just a cheap as you can get.

2. Carpet is garbage, we upgraded thinking we would get a decent carpet but we were wrong! You can see the back in spots, and if you walk to close to where the nail board is, it will poke your feet. I am glad my kids don't crawl anymore.

3. Stand up shower has non stainless steel screw so they rust..RUST

4. ALL caulking in most wet places of use is almost gone, either applied wrong or to thin.

5. Garage door switch works sometimes

6. The electrical circuits are not run properly and I believe they are over loaded or loaded to the max. My wife cannot have a hallway light on and vacuum without throwing a breaker. Does that sound right

7. The sheet rock is wavy, so much there is as much as ร‚ยผ to ร‚ยฝ difference on a single walls run.

8. The "safety" outlets are cheap so they are difficult to use.

9. The toilets do not flush, I now have a plunger in every bathroom.

10. The lawn is put down with two inches of topsoil.

11. There is trash IN the top soil such as cans, paper, plastic, construction trash.

12. Air leak in form exterior wall outlets

13. The vent for the oven fan allows air BACK into my house. Great energy efficiency

14. I believe our AC unit is not sized correctly โ€“ I will be PAYING for an outside contractor to evaluate.

15. Bathroom hardware isn't of quality since they are starting to lose some of their finish.

Courtesy

1. You construction crews even though legally can work on Saturday and Sunday chose to do it at 7AM, also they doing it at 7am on Holidays.

2. Trash in my yard

3. They play their music loudly to accent their banging

4. They work too late illegally at times. Youtube video of it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC3LdNdFg6k . The best part is your people lied about the reason why they were out there so late. Since clearly we know more about their construction detail than they do.

5. Your super doesn't not act like he truly cares. All he wants is a high score on the survey and is clear about it. He even asked us into giving him good scores.

6. When we complain we hear nothing back from anyone.

In summary I now have a home, still a new home that has things that just were never right. I feel DR Horton got their money and ran. The only way DR Horton as EVER stepped up is when I yell and scream and that ISN'T customer care. I now have to come out of pocket to fix things that truly should have never broken in the time I have been in this house.

I am going to hire an outside contractor to investigate my heating and cooling system, electrical, plumbing and structural integrity. I have NO faith in DR Horton to right any wrongs or actually care.

I plan on posting my reviews of your company where others can be informed of this. I plan on standing in front of your sales office and informing all perspective buyers to be wary of how DR Horton does business.

I am insulted that a company such as yours would simply take my hard earned money and provide such a poor experience and quality home.

Monetary Loss: $220.

Location: Houston, Texas

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Guest

Not much better in Southwest Florida suggest looking for other builder.

Guest

You should have forked out the dough for a custom house.

Guest

So not right. Shame on D.R. Horton!

Guest

Did you receive a reply? If so, what was the resolution?

We haven't moved in yet but the agent sucks and they make promises then do the opposite. They refuse to give an answer. We were thinking of calling corporate but does it help or is it better to get out before it gets bad? Every home in this area is built by DR. There are very few homes not built by them.

We've pushed the agent to fix things before we close, our granite was broken, paint job is pathetically done, island was built improperly so despite our requests to do it right, they chopped a chunk off the end. Numerous dings and broken spots on walls and doors.

Guest

I should have read this before, I bought a house from this builder.

I have seen some of the *** job on the house I bought.

thanks

Homeowner

Guest

I have a DR Horton home too in Goodyear, AZ. I can relate to the issues as well as to the handful of things going wrong after the warranty.

outlets catching on fire. A/C unit re wired.

and the list goes o and on. I know is not a custom home but they sure sold it for that price back in 2006.

Guest

This is NOT BS. I live in Oregon in a DR Horton community of about 65 homes (the other 25 are a different builder, which I own).

The neighborhood was JUST finished, and my new neighbors are having some SERIOUS warranty issues. So many of the ones mentioned in this letter. Think twice as a consumer!

Research before you make a huge decision! --Thankful NOT a DR Horton Home Owner in Oregon

Guest

From your letter it sounds like you wanted a custom built home for pennies on the dollar. You are asking for a perfect home and they do not exist.

If you wanted all those specifics you should have with a custom builder and paid much more for that type of home. Most of the items you asked for are not standard features for that range of home. Champagne taste on a beer budget.

You cannot expect a completely custom from a volume builder.

Guest

I TO AM HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT PURCHASING A HOME FROM DR HOMES. WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I SEE LACKING HERE IS TRUE CONCERN FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

IF CUSTOMERS ARE NOT SATISFIED THEIR WORD OF MOUTH IS DETRIMENTAL TO ANY BUSINESS NO MATTER WHAT IT IS.

YOU DO AS A CONSUMER NEED TO BE ON TOP OF AND AWARE OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS OF YOUR HOME, SHEETROCK, CAULK AND MUD HIDE MOST ANYTHING FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, SO FROM THE FOUNDATION TO FRAMING, WIRING, INSULATION HANGING OF DOORS SEATING OF WINDOWS, YOU AS THE CONSUMER SHOULD BE ACTIVELY OBSERVING WHAT'S BEING DONE ON THE JOB SITE. I AM A WOMAN, NOT COLLEGE EDUCATED, BUT DO HAVE COMMON SENSE AND EXPERIENCE, DON'T SIT ON THE SIDELINES AND ASSUME THINGS ARE BEING DONE, GET INVOLVED.

Guest

I love my DR home and We're about to have our second one built for our new family ... I think you just had bad luck ...

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-573427

No, Rick, I think it's highly, highly, likely that you work for or are in some way affiliated with the DR Horton. IF you love your DR home, than YOU are the lucky one....."1" being the operative word; probably the only one in the country!

We are living our nightmare (going on 18 mos now) and I find it uncanny that there are thousands upon thousands of posts in TX, SC, GA, NC, NM, etc......of THEA EXACT SAME ISSUES! It's astounding!

This is the most blatantly corrupt company I have ever seen. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!!

Guest

I feel ya, I have a lot of the same issues you have and the superintendent is a complete liar, just tells you what you want to hear and never follows through. I will never buy a Horton home and i will advise anyone considering buying, not to buy

kaushik Wgw
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-456700

I agree with you. DR Horton has done a horrible job in building this community.

Have other neighbours who agree with me. On the other hand the adjacent community builders have done much better job and rectified the issues during the walk through; unlike the cunning DR Horton guys.

Guest

I was/am considering buying in Parmer Village in NW Austin.

Just found this website while researching the builder.

Anyone have any info on it?

thank you,

CT

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-314701

I live in Parmer Village on White Ibis.

We didn't buy thank god, we are renting. After just seeing some of our issues I will never buy a DR Horton home.

Guest

Im having issues of the siding/hardboard cracking on every side of my home. They said they never seen anything like it but if you walk the neighborhood youll see almost every house has this cracked siding.

They say its because of the heat. WHO IN THE *** BUILDS A HOME IN TEXAS WITH MATERIALS THAT CAN'T WITH STAND THE TEXAS HEAT? They did replace the cracked boards and let me know it was a favor since they weren't obligated to do so under the rules of contract.They also informed me the company they purchased the siding from was no longer in business. Wonder why?

Well, today I noticed new cracks and wonder if they will replace those.

Im disgusted. :(

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-312696

In Texas, with the heat we have...nothing is guaranteed. Being from Texas you should know this.

Roofing, Stucco, Siding...anything exterior will not be guaranteed because the heat does damage all of these things. It's a thing of nature.:/

Guest

WOW! If what you say about DR Horton I don't know how they stay in business.

"You Reap What You Sow" I am in the market for a new home and have seriouly considered DR Horton Homes and visited models I like how they utilize the space and the appearance however I am now having second thoughts.

Seems like the many complaints I have read there is a lack of quality in there homes and noone at DR Horton is addressing the problem. I wish you the best in getting your problems resolved.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-307260

I was going to see a model home too but I think I might cancel the visit. :?

Guest

Actually mr relator dr Horton does suck. My walk thru went great but a month after moving in water was leaking from my third floor turns out the workers did not put in the pipe correctly then my down stairs was freezing in the winter yet my upstairs was warm put in 7 requests to see what was wrong turns out they did not remove the seals on my vents down stairs needless to say I had an infant, then I blew up a 2,000 dryer brand new because again the builders did not remove and open the seal on my roof for the dryer yet I have put in 20 requests so far to come open it and have talked to 3 employees who claim they are coming so I *** of work then they don't show up.

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