Ashton Woods Homes review: bad ethics, dishonest 14

I once interviewed for a job for Ashton Woods Homes in Houston, and the interviewer was totally unprofessional. I'm not the type to protest for feminism, but I was treated appallingly. I honestly don't know why he called me in, except to be able to say he interviewed a woman, although he made it very clear that my uterus meant he had no intention of considering me for the job. He actually asked me if I was going to be able to deal with subcontractors without crying! Then, he proceeded with, "Now I know these questions are illegal, but I want to know. Are you married and do you have any children?" UNBELIEVABLE. Clearly the hiring practices and ethics of this company are questionable at best.

You are right! I am watching them build several new buildings (2012) in my Florida subdivision and I have noticed a huge amount of wasted materials. I have also noticed the poor building materials they use in the construciton of their homes and townhomes.

They use a great deal of pressed wood and just a tiny bit of real lumber in the center of the roof. For the most part, the entire 2nd floor (walls & roof) of their buildings are made of pressed wood which is known to warp and rot. Some of the earlier buildings (2010) in the complex are showing signs of rotting, cracking, and warping..

They know exactly what they are doing. Build them cheap and leave the consumer hanging years later. They painted darker colors over the buildings with problems, but they still look like varicose veins on the exterior.

Everyone needs to speak up and put them on notice. Only then will changes take place. Tabitha

Ashton Woods in Austin lies!
We were under a contingency contract to build a town home with them. The first lie we caught was when we tried to upgrade our microwave. The upgraded microwave was an outrageous amount. When we brought this up they said they had forgotten to credit for the standard one. How many other buyers did they "forget" to credit. This also happened when we wanted to add a decorative band of tile in the secondary shower. The original quote was $150 a linear square foot! When we brought this to their attention they said they "forgot" to credit for the standard tile. They knocked the price down by half. The original tile was a cheap 6inch ceramic roughly $0.30 a piece. Finally the sales people assured us that they would give us a 48 hour notice if they recieved an offer to buy the home so we could decide if we would like to risk our $5, 000 deposit + $2200 option deposit or walk away. The call never came. Ashton Woods sold the home out from under us at an estimated $30, 000+ profit and will not return our option money. They are the greediest builder I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Not to mention the town home had the worst framing job I have ever seen.

Very poor construction, skipped over some legally required portions of the inspection process by having an unseen sign-off on a block of homes in order to process faster and get them in under the bubble. Refused to work with pricing, misleading customers, did not perform correction of punch list items with exception of anything that could be fixed with caulk, which was about 6 items and poorly at that. I paid quite a bit extra for a flooring upgrade for approx 1000sq ft, I got flawed tiles which were probably in the cast-off bin for a reduced price, obvious manufacturing flaw repeated in each tile. Ductwork had to be redone after the fact by my own hire as well as insulation. Builder refused to address. Also found some evidence of using refurbished plumbing fixures such as the toilets and tub, not cheap to replace those. Drywall patched together instead of using a full sheet, you get the picture. As many things on a new home are simply fixed, I only wrote up the expensive, complex or structural things and still had two pages. Got caulk. Was threatened with legal action if I refused to close or went public. Wish I had. Maybe someone will read this now and know the underbelly of their beautiful model homes - you won't get that product.

I can't say that I was not warned...We also had a MAJOR issue with Ashton Woods ORLANDO and their reputation for false advertising and 'bait and switch'. They pulled us in by telling us that if we signed with them, they would rent our current home for 6-7 years - guaranteed income. We were approved and saved money for the deposit. We signed the contracts and then called the rental company and they said that Ashton Woods never contacted them for the paperwork and the guy that we were working with, of course, left the company! Ashton Woods dropped the ball big time and deliberately puts nothing in writing that they tell you - 2 mortgages is a lot to cover if we cannot guarantee that it can be rented. This was brought to the President of the company - Apparently, he doesn't want to honor the incentives of a previous rep or care if we walk away - but wants to keep our deposit, what? We were told that everything was taken care of and approved - we didn't need to be involved any further. Because this incentive was not documented as being mentioned again by us at the contract phase (even though it was apparently not part of the main contract), they are declining it was ever said. We didn't think anything of it because it was through a 3rd party and we were told we were all set. We read this about them in the beginning, called them on it, and they said that they do not do business that way. Wrong! You are warned...We are trying to fight this but they want to keep our deposit...of course they do.

The WORST builder you could possibly try to buiild with or purchase from. We almost bought an Ashton Woods home in Lakes of Bella Terra (Richmond TX) and the sales guy, Jeff Blue also had a major case of 'bait and switch' accross the board. First off, with the price of the house, he told us one thing only to find out after we signed the contract and put our earnest money down, the price changed! We argued and fought back relentlessly and he finally agreed to pay the difference out of pocket. He was also unwilling to assist with order changes to the finishing touches of the house (backspash, bathroom tiles)-even though we offered to pay for the upgrades with Ashton woods ourselves!
We noticed that as soon as we put down our earnest money, we couldnt get a hold of Jeff, he stopped replying our emails, texts or phone messages when we tried to reach out with questions or concerns. He only reached out to us a few times when he wanted to talk about money issues or closing.
There were so many other things totally wrong about the way Ashton woods does business, we called the Corpoarate office to complain, left numerous messages and none of the management folks thought to call us back either. They clearly don't understand the importance of customer service! Needless to say, our closing date issues and disccusions became a nightmare, they were so pushy and shrewd and we were informed last minute that our house wouldn't include applicances that had already been agreed on previously. With these issues and a lot more of the horrible experience we had with them, we decided to back out of the deal and lose our earnest money. They have since relisted the property but wouldnt provide us with the contract cancellation document to sign despite our numerous attempts to do so. They are all about the bottom line, nothing more, nothing less! You have been warned, STEER CLEAR of Ashton Woods in Lakes of Bella Terra, they are souless, ruthless and will scam you of your time and hard earned money!

All - we are actually going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau around fale advertisements and their bait and switch tactics! This is extreemly unethical and bad buisness! We are also considering legal action. If we pull together as a group we can make a difference. Please contact me at tb_bucs_fan76@yahoo.com if you would like to join the Better Business Bureau complaint. Once I am don't with my legal team I will also share information about the potential case.

I too was misled by their sales agent / agents at the Fountain Parke community in Lake Mary . When the home site turned out to not be as represented on site map that they made me sign at contract, along with their agent signing, they would not move me . Said " we will retain all of your funds if you do not close . I walked . They sold the unit the very next day for full money and even laughed in front of me how Wanda Belaire was now getting the commission ILO Jacqu;ine Babcock . I contacted the AG office in Talahassie and being over 60 years of age got a tremendous amount of support . The matter was investigated from 8/2013, and completed 4/19 of this year . Investigator then sent to the state attorneys for the next step . That is where the matter is currently. Perhaps the arrogance of the likes of Mike Roche, the area VP of sales, may be finally challenged.

I would NOT recommend Ashton Woods to build your home due to our personal experience of constant delays and poor communications. If you are building in the Dallas area, I would advise that you consider other builders. I dropped Ashton Woods and hired a local builder, which I think is one of the best decisions of my life

I agree with all the bad things about this builder AW; terrible build, issues are everywhere. Bad quality of the construction. you will a lot of issues during the close out and warranty . I don't know what to tell you ALL LOOK BAD. I will never buy from this builder.

what funny is; you have to tell them on every issue you see during close out and after. It really hurt; you send all the money you have and end up with pain, that is a bad business and they need to be aware what they are doing to the people. Live with it.

I was disappointed of this Builder AW; when you buy home from this Builder and spent your money; they don't care after you close. I can't imagine how bad the deal turned to be. They have their own code regarding the AC system for house; they want you to live in house with HIGH HUMIDITY so you and your kids can be sick all times. I have not seen this before. what funny is when you complain about something they tell you oh we build all house like this and nothing I can do about it. that is a dumb from them to say that. That is completely wrong business doing and I WILL NOT BUY EVER FROM THIS BUILDER AND BE CAREFULL OF ASHTON WOODS. I would buy from any other builders because they are not HONEST and you can't TRUST them at all.

I just bought with Ashton Woods Orlando, Laureate Park. The amount of lies and promises are alarming from the sales reps having an incorrect email on their card, when I went to contact them; to the appointment at the one month warranty that was not scheduled, and the promises from the head of build. I tried to contact the area office and there has been no response. The walk though was a joke, should have been a sign that this was a dishonest organization. Oh well, just returned from military service of 30 years overseas! Welcome home. I definitely would go with another builder at this point of 3 weeks after signing. Other buyers beware.

I am currently building an Ashton Woods home here in North Dallas (McKinney). The issues started the minute they leveled the lot and prepared for the foundation to be poured. I started to notice alcohol cans and bottles throughout the lot and trash being buried at various points. Once the foundation was poured I stopped by again and noticed over 48 beer cans on the lot, in the concrete, buried in the dirt and hidden in wood piles. Ashton Woods has done nothing but make excuses and more excuses for the workers actions. Further, the slab is not level and is in need of repairs as it was not done correctly the first time. The operations manager blamed this on the sub-contractors but would not provide any recourse for their actions. Apparently it's an anything goes environment.

To make matters worse I visited the other homes under construction and noticed the same thing, alcohol is everywhere. Thinking that it was just this particular builder and development I visited another McKinney, TX development and the same issue was seen. The workers have a systemic problem with drinking on the job site. This company puts everyone involved at risk and does not enforce the law. Be very very cautious!