“Shocking customer service, the customer service "manager" is less so evident in managing rather than avoiding and saying no to anything and everything when or if they decide to respond.”
“Honestly too much to put down into words on here but the customer service is non existent so if you have an issue of any sort you will be left banging your head against a brick wall (actually that would hurt less than dealing with the shambles that they call customer services) because you’re on your own.
Moved into a new build, pretty much all radiators were / are wonky, ceilings out of level, floors out of level, electrical faults, door bell stopped working, rust / heat marks over external white UPVC window cills, a drive way that doesn’t actually work because it’s too steep so you scrape the bottom of your car on it every time you go to park, faulty plumbing, now a leak from a faulty toilet causing water damage to the downstairs toilet which has spread up the wall and caused damage to the floor, wall, skirting boards and door linings and they are not interested in helping at all so I have been told that I need to sort this out myself with the house being only 18 months old and even their plumber agreeing it was their issue and a fault with the toilet!!!
I would avoid these guys at all costs and I certainly would never buy a house of theirs again.”
“Absolute nightmare to deal with and judging by the reviews here, I'm not alone. Customer service is geniunely the worst I've ever experienced, would not recommend. Delay tactic after delay tactic in order to avoid repair work, new 'points of contact' after every few months to try and put the customer off. Avoid!!!”
“I own a 3-year old Cala property in the North of Scotland. I can honestly say that the standard of their customer service is appallingly bad. They show minimal levels of interest, willingness to show their duty of care and desire to provide a quality service. In summary they do not care about their customers! All they're interested in is maximising their profits by sacrificing the quality of their customer service.
I could list loads of detailed examples of this inadequate service, however I don't think this texting box is big enough to accommodate them all.
I am already looking forward to the paper thin / wishy-washy response I receive to this exceptionally negative review. Will they reach out to me and offer to help, absolutely not don't be stupid. They do not care!!
Avoid!”
“Bought in 2018. Love my flat, however.....
Faulty radiator £150 to replace.
Flood from above (washing machine not fitted correctly) £50 to call out an electrician as water caused loss of power.
Microwave not working, who has ever had a microwave stop working on them?
I flooded downstairs as a result of the washer in my toilet not being properly fitted causing my poor neighbour's kitchen ceiling to come down. £3500 in damage and a £500 excess for me.
Extractor fan in bathroom is faulty. (substandard fan fitted as this should not be failing after 4 years.) However Cala did not fit the inspection hatch large enough, for the engineer to access I know unbelievable isn't it!
I sent an email to cala re this. Five weeks later no response. Sent a further one asking for their complaints resolution process and timescale. No response. Phoned them They have agreed to come on the 30th to rectify. Speaking to my neighbours, it would appear that several had queried this back in 2018 and Cala fixed it. So Cala were aware at the time but did nothing.!
This is not the experience that I expected to have buying a house from a so called "premier" builder.”
“Not good. Been waiting nearly a year for snagging issues to be sorted. Once cala have your money they dont care. 5 star builder?! Dont nake me laugh. Not even a 1 star rating”
“Have lived here for fourteen years. Within the first six months we were out of the house living in a hotel due to serious water ingress. This set the pattern for the following years twelve of which had serious water ingress resulting in total disruption to life. Cala dealt with repairs on a first aid basis until now when they have washed their hands of any further repairs. As I write water is yet again dripping in the bedroom. One star because I can’t give zero.”
“CALA are developing in Liss, Hampshire and have not complied with the planning as agreed. They are also apparently in the process of trying to crowd out a neighbour through placing a temporary office metres from an existing properties front room window. A very unethical and awful builder. Liss has had to deal with COVID and CALA in 2020/2021 but will be living with the effects from both for many years to come.”
“Horrible experience with them, especially dealing with Belinda Taylor, she often sent threatened emails to us, and was not able to lay down the procedures of how things should be brought forward in the transaction but often threaten to proceed with things. We were first time buying a brand new house, obviously we wouldn't know the procedures, but this is what she wrote "Cala homes will regrettably be remarketing this home". In her email it was the first time we were told we need to do survey, and she threatens with the statement of backing out on us . Unbelievably poor manners of Cala Homes staff, I was reluctant to email her, she was recently put to handle our case and started all her nonsense. Appalling service, who couldn't simply converse what is needed to be done. I guess this is how majority of the buyers experienced from them.”
“Worst experience buying a house through Cala would not recommend to anyone. They lie to get you to exchange and lie about fixing snags in fact they even put stuff in writing (which is legally binding) and try to get out of doing what they agreed they would do. I have had to live in a mould infested house, having dehumidifiers in for 6 weeks, furniture all in the middle of the rooms, mould on my mattress which I had to chuck out and Cala think this is acceptable living conditions (Cala did reimburse me for my mattress and electricity bill). Contractors are also very careless with their work and don't put down protection. (which according to Cala customer service it is standard procedure to put protection down where working) One contractor damaged both my personal items and put a scratch in my stone worktop and now I am having to fight with Cala to get them to replace my worktop to exactly how I left it before the contractor entered my house (brand new with no scratches) It is a constant fight with Cala, not what you expect from a 5* builder who claims to be all about customer service. For the Cala reps who are shown to be "trying to help" by getting you to email in is all for show unless you are actually going to carry out what you have already agreed to in writing.”
“Very very poor attitude and standards.
We bought a property at Parklands in Aberdeen (Managing Director Mike Naysmith).
Private road, footpath were left in poor condition. Residents hired a surveyor. Please see below a just few points from the survey (to mention all points I have to write a book) and my comments:
The tarmac roadways are poorly finished. The bitumen joining is incomplete in places.
After the development was completed, kerbs at the DISABLED parking space were already broken and uneven. In my view it called "TRIP HAZARD".
The tarmac poorly finished at the edges, around drains and at joins.
The tactile paving at the end of the paths was so badly installed it is already crumbling.
The path installed between the front door and the bin store and disabled parking spaces is uneven and has slopes in two directions.
It makes the path difficult for people with mobility problems and dangerous in slippery conditions. I don't think CALA cares, that is my view but again I am not a builder.
The path stops before the door entry system which means people in wheelchairs cannot reach the doorbells.
This problem is so serious it would probably FAIL an accessibility test for buildings regulations. That what it says in the report.
The surface does not slope towards the drain enough and it is uneven. So when it rains water does not flow away and lies in puddles on the surface and slabs are already cracked.
Installation of gutters and down-pipes were poorly installed. The elbow joints are UPSIDE DOWN and backwards, and joints in the pipes are only held in place by mastic. A leaf guard on the roof didn't install and the downpipes have clogged with debris. There are any gutters etc for the bike stores and these flood when it rains.
All of these issues have been raised with CALA previously. Customer Service Manager Stuart Moggach was at AGM with Parklands residents in January 2020. He heard about the issues from the residents. CALA Homes in Aberdeen acknowledge the surveyor report but has refused to fix the problems with the development.”
“Very poor after sale customer services. Have been chasing problems for 3 years now and Cala do not respond. Would highly recommend another builder to purchase from.”
“Sales team gave wrong information and kept on blaming their new computer system for all the errors. Customer support non existent thankfully on site manager good but that’s only one person.
Home well built but problems with social housing and noise Cala then say nothing to do with them despite numerous others complaining.”
“Stay away from Cala Homes.
We purchased a property nearly 2 years ago and at first they were very professional up until they received our money.
We have had several major issues and all you get are lies and denial.
Just to get their attention we have had to threaten legal action before any progress ever begins. And even then the resolution was not always satisfactory
If I listed all my issues there would not be enough space here to type them all up.
Now we are coming to the end of our two years and all they seem to be doing is wasting our time knowing it will not be their problem once the two years have past.
Dont fall for their trap like we did.
They are all liers and twist their words.
Was suppose to be our dream home but has been a nonstop nighmare.
Suppose to be a 5* property, I could have made a better home out of card board.
All workers are apprentice so quality of work is very poor.
I now have to get in independant suppliers and pay out of my own pocket to fix issues that Cala Homes should have fixed.
Looking forwards to selling the place and using a more professional developer who are 5* rather than think they are 5*.
Cala Homes you should be ashamed on how you treat all you customers.
Nearley 30 properties in this area built by you and they all share the same view.”
“Sadly Cala Homes are very uncaring about where they build. They literally will build anywhere, including last little bits of green areas, or by making single track lanes near schools dangerous for children. They are arrogant and treat consultation as a tick box exercise. They try to get away with the minimum and only do the right thing when forced. There is no way I would ever buy a house from Cala Homes.”
“cala homes specialise, in poor quality of workmanship, it is the only thing they excel in, that along with, their hopeless communication skills, they seem to think they are a government agency when you ask for the name of their directors clerks of works quality assurance managers, they claim they dont give out such info, they should actually be banned from building anything apart, from maybe lego sets.”
