Metricon QLD, Robina Questions & Answers

If you decide to build with Metricon you have to be sure what you want. Ask a lot of questions for details - what is given as a standard, what not . What colors of carpets in the standard, colors of the tiles in the standard (no extra charge), types and colors of floor finishes in the standard, colors and types of roofing in the standard, materials and accessories for finishing the kitchen, bathrooms (eg.doors, handles ) All this should be noted down by you. A lot of tricks that Metricon uses .Example: you choose the color of the laminate floor, the color of the roof (steel or tiles) tiles in the bathrooms, top stone bench top for the kitchen and bathrooms, LED lighting, fans ....... And what?
..... During the final selection in their studio as standard there are only 2 lighter floor colors at a standard price, the rest of the colors in the standard are only very dark. Bathroom tiles are only 4 colors as standard and 1 size (black, dark brown, beige and white). Similarly, kitchen tiles come in limited colors and shapes as standard. It is a bit better with the colors of kitchen cabinets - here is a large range to choose from. Stone top bench are standard only for the kitchen - you have to pay extra for the same for bathrooms. Ceiling fans are very expensive and old models. They do not have ecological / energy-saving with DC motors and LED lighting. In addition, they offer LED lighting for an additional charge (from each piece in the ceiling). Remember that downlights are not the same as LED lights. They say they have LED but you will get ordinary bulb lighting if not payed.
All these "tricks" are there to get the cash out of a confused customer. Also remember that Metricon's head office is only on the Gold Coast. It is difficult to get in touch if you live in Brisbane or Sunshine Coast. There is sometimes a lot to explain because they send you the same signing documents you signed during an earlier visit in their studio. These documents probably are sometimes lost and a mess is created - a lot of paperwork, scans and emails are generated. Thanks to this, someone always has a virtual job and proves to his superiors that they works. There is no point in explaining on the phone because you will feel like in a maze - divert calls to selected people and there is often no answer ......
My advice ... dude, before you start building, relax and go on vacation. Later, get a ream of paper, a computer with a capacious hard disk, a good printer with a scanner and software for converting scans to pdf. Then have the skills to handle all this well. Read everything carefully because in this bureaucratic process there is: a builder, developer, financial broker, bank and solicitor ...... You can get insane, believe me. And whether you choose METRICON or others now depends on you

Hi Greg. Thank you so much for your comprehensive response, I really appreciate it. I can see you luckily haven't lost your sense of humour throughout the process, which seems like is needed as well throughout the process. It is an absolute mine field of information I agree and it is such a shame companies aren't upfront and honest about the inclusions. I understand they say they are but it is always the fine print that should be in larger font than what it is.
I think we are going to have to go custom because of the shape of our block, none of the project homes would work and if they do, they would be orientated the complete wrong way. I did wonder about the energy ratings of the houses, sometimes they have the air conditioning off and you get a true sense of how hot they are. Thanks again for everything you have written above and I hope you got the house of your dreams after all the experience above.