Clayton Homes CMH Homes, Inc.; SE Homes Failure to provide complete home per order, switches materials without approval, attempted to get us to sign away request for repairs

My husband and I recently purchased a home from Clayton Homes (aka SE Homes, aka CMH Homes, Inc.), and have had a poor to fair experience with customer service, product quality, and resolution/repairs. I would not recommend purchasing a Clayton Home at all.

We ordered our new Abigail model home in June 2018. It was delivered in August 2018. To date (December 4, 2018) there are MULTIPLE issues that were present at delivery that have not been addressed. Here is a detailed account of our experience so that hopefully, another customer can avoid this headache all together.

Customer service: Let me first say that everyone at the dealership has been very nice and accommodating. However, there is a point at which when someone tells you that you will receive something the next week, or that they can get something done by a deadline, and fails to deliver again and again and again, nice morphs into patronizing.

The overwhelming theme of our experience with the staff is that they readily tell the customer what they want to hear, rather than facts. This leads to a customer service experience in which the dealership over-promises and under-delivers.  And unfortunately, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Poor quality materials and workmanship: When we toured the model home, one of the big features were beautiful barn doors in the master bathroom. When our home was delivered, we immediately noticed that the doors we received were not real wood at all. They were particle board with a cheap wood pattern overlay glued over them.

The doors were ultimately replaced with the doors from the model home that we toured (our understanding is that the doors we received were actually pulled from the model that we viewed). One of the particle board doors was disposed of in a burn pile at our home (with our permission), and we noticed that as soon as the moisture from outside hit it, the cheap overlay bubbled and peeled. These particle board doors are now the standard in the Abigail home, and they are in a bathroom, where they will be constantly exposed to moisture.

I use this as an example, because although my doors were replaced, we toured a home with a much better product, were quoted a price for the home based on that product, and we received a far inferior product to what we originally paid for. It was only after several follow ups and complaints that we were able to get the doors that we originally paid for.

Poor communication and purchasing process: The ordering process is frankly a bit of a joke. Part of the order process is to sign off on all of your modifications for your home, but the details of the order form leave a LOT to the imagination. Ultimately, you have to rely on the communications between the factory and dealership salesperson, and hope for the best.

One example is that the exterior of our home was to be a light color, with a darker insert. The order form simply states the color and any upcharge – there is nowhere that you sign off on where those colors were to be placed, and when we received our home and they were inversed (dark with light instead of light with dark), we had NO RECOURSE whatsoever, since that is what was on the order form.

Flagrantly usury verbiage in an attempt to remedy company errors:  In addition to the order form itself, there is a lot of back and forth between the dealership and factory before you actually place your order. We had discussed one countertop the first day we were at the dealership, and chose a different countertop. The countertop on our order form is not what we received. (Who even signed off on the specs at the factory inspection prior to delivery, because they’re clearly not doing their job?)

We agreed to come up with a settlement agreement, in which Clayton Homes offered us only a portion of what it would actually cost to replace the countertops. The agreement we were sent to sign and actually get the check included the verbiage “Buyer(s), jointly and severally, do hereby forever release, discharge, and agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless [Clayton Homes] from any and all claims, liability, damages, and expenses whatsoever, whether now existing or hereafter arising.”

We had an attorney review this document and he agreed that this verbiage released Clayton Homes from ANY repair, not just related to the countertops. Clayton was unwilling to redline this agreement and to date, we have yet to receive any compensation from this company for THEIR error.

Our home is yet to be complete: As of the date of this writing the following issues persist at our new home.

We have not received the deep cabinet drawers for our home. The home was delivered incomplete, and for months we have been told that the 13 missing cabinet drawers would arrive “Next week” and “We’ll get it taken care of”.

Our lighting upgrade is nonexistent/inoperable. We paid a premium to have additional lights installed on the exterior of the home at each entry. The lighting for the front entry was not installed at all. The additional lighting at the rear door was installed, but is inoperable (does not function). (Again, someone signed off that the entire electrical system was tested before the house was shipped.)

Our skirting has yet to be installed.

And the issues with our kitchen island. We paid $1,600 to have the island widened to the size of the countertop instead of having a seating ledge, and to add an additional bank of cabinets on that side. The cabinets were added, but not extended like they were supposed to be, making them dysfunctional to use. Also, the cabinets installed did not match the opposite side as requested (there are no drawers). In addition, several cabinet bodies were “unfinished” leaving a matte appearance next to a glossy cabinet. This gives the appearance that the cabinets are two different colors of black.

Clayton Homes sent a representative from the factory to view the issues first hand, and that representative brushed off the complaints stating that “it’s not that bad”. Clayton homes offered us $350 in compensation for their errors on the island, or they would replace it. The compensation should be calculated as how much it would cost to get this fixed to specifications not what Clayton deems their shortage of performance is.

We opted to have the island repaired to specific performance, and the replacement cabinets that arrived had the same issues with some of the surfaces being unfinished, and were the same incorrect depth.  We also waited over 3 months for this repair because we were told a team from the Alabama plant would be sent to make the repairs. Only one person showed up with the cabinets, he was from Fort Worth, and he had no helper with him. My husband had to help him carry everything, dismantle everything, etc. We are not here to be Clayton Homes’ free labor for repair orders.

To date, this issue has not been resolved, and we are paying interest and mortgage payments on a home that is incomplete. Please save yourself the headache, and avoid purchasing a Clayton Home.