Help: Home Delivery Headaches

[Tim]

We are having problems getting a Panama City Horton Homes dealer to deliver a home purchased over two weeks ago. We need advice on what route we should take to tie this company down to a definite delivery date without the opportunity for them to continually change without regard to how it affects the customer. My concern is that they are taking advantage of our elderly parents who are not homeless from the last hurricane but living in a severly damaged home that needs to be replaced sooner rather than later to ensure the health of my elderly parents.

Through a dealer search here in Georgia I found a 2003 double-wide that my parents liked, so we provided our parents the money needed and they traveled to PC from the Pensacola area two weeks ago and paid in full. It has now been two weeks since they received payment and we are running into problems getting the company to deliver the home. My parents have stayed ahead of the game getting all the required permits and even faxed this information to the dealer and then even faxed the required dealer applications, since the dealer stated she was having problems contacting the local county offices. They have given every excuse they can give but none get my parents in the new home.

DOes anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

[Mark]

I bought my home from the pensacola horton dealer, after 1 phone call with the panama city dealer, I went back to the pensacola dealer.

Their first mistake was paying the dealer up front, that should have been done AFTER the home was setup and complete, a deposit is fine, but full payment? You NEVER pay a contractor full price upfront!. The dealer has NO incentive now to finish the job in a timely manner.
Is there anything in writing that says when the home will be delivered?
Was there any agreement at all as to when the home would be delivered?

That being said, do keep in mind that *everyone* in this area is busy. It's been a month since I called for estimates just to repair my roof. The newspaper reports that it could be 3 years before all the roof damage in the area is repaired.
I would say two weeks would be the least amount of time it would take, even if everyone was recovering from hurricane damage. Add that in, and you could probably double that time easliy.
Also, it's been raining, and they don't like to do delivery/setups in the rain, the truck/home tends to get stuck.
Every day that I am out, I see at least 3 homes being moved/delivered, and there are only one or two delivery/setup companies in this area.

[rmurray]

I would suspect that the problem is with the availablility of set up crews..the hurricanes have put everyone behind..Of course the dealer could have easily explained all of this to you...

I do not blame you for your fear though..

I would call Horton Corporate office and ask for the number of the region managers phone number...I think this is a Horton owned dealership and they work out of the plant..

try 800-657-4000 and ask for info and number to get to upper management of the retail division..

[debbie]

Tim:
I am hoping that by now your parents are in the doublewide that was purchased. As for the time of 2 weeks that is a reasonable time to wait for delivery. My husband and I owned a used dealership in virginia and we told our customers to allow 2 to 4 weeks for delivery depending on the weather. You have to realize that this has been the wettest year for some time and the people down if Florida are recooperating from 4 or 5 big storms. We have now gone to doing the delivery and set-ups and am finding that the ground is just too wet for delivery in a lot of places. It is better to give the delivery crew enough time to safely deliver and set up the home as just a little movement in the wrong direction on these homes can severly injure or even kill someone. I can not understand how the delivery crew gets blamed for holding up the delivery jobs as they do not get paid until the job is done. What you have to realize is that the tool expense that is required for the delivery and set-up crew is extremely expensive, and if something gets damaged it falls back on the driver. They are normally highly skilled people ( drivers etc..) Just as you know how to do your job, they know how to do their job. This doesn't mean to wait forever. By the 3rd week you should see some results. It can take them several days to a week to set a doublewide and they probably have to finish up on the customers that was before you. smile it will get done......

[Tim]

Thanks for the replies. My parents have been through so much with this transition to the new home. The house continues to be in the same condition as it was the day the crew left over a month ago. Even with the discrepancies faxed to the PC location nothing has been done. There is now hope because my father found that the Horton Homes in Panama City has been sold and the general manger (Cindy) is no longer there. The new owners were not even aware that parents had a home with problems. They have promised action within a week.

As to your assertion that 2 weeks is an appropriate waiting period I don't disagree just don't tell me you are showing up on Monday and not even call when you don't. My parents were promised so much so many times only to find that the general manager didn't do what she had to do on her end to make it happen. As to the Horton homes leadership they weren't a lot better but did go the extra mile to get the home there finally...there with difficulties. The setup crew arrived one day and began setup but didn't return until two days later. Horton homes (Mr. Walker) promised to refund the hotel bill but my parents haven't seen it yet.

Hopefully the new owners in PC will be better than the previous group.