Choose your reference point (carefully)
We all have opinions. With some exception, we share them with others. What do you think of that restaurant, or car, or vacation destination, or book, or movie, or… ? Endless possibilities. And given human nature, the range of opinions runs full spectrum.
Now, what about references? When seeking a job, or entrance to a school, or (in this case) when buying a house; we asked, and we received a short list of previous clients. Something to reassure, if we had niggling doubts.
Perhaps the builder should “vet” those clients…
The first was simply an address. Google didn’t know the street. Neither did our friendly GPS. After using Wikimapia, a homonymic possibility came up, and we found the new house in question. Based on first impressions, we shouldn’t have.
Fast forward one day. Another community, another new house. This time around, a new client with perhaps too much to say (for a reference). The couple were newly installed and the shine had not gone off the windows and door knobs. Unfortunately, their admiration for the builder had not grown with time.
Let’s be frank. In the educational sector, a qualified failing grade, with no option to repeat the material. Delays in delivery, cost overruns, the wrong door knobs (twice). In fact the only positive aspect was a certain admiration ( on the clients’ part) for the personality of the owner.
I await price quotes from two competitors. My hope is that one will prove to be a true outlier, so that I can choose the other with a clear conscience and less pocket stress.
