Customer Satisfaction Reports

[Tim Johansen]

I have narrowed down my search for a MH to three companies. Each one seems to have award plaques on the wall from some associatin or another for quality and/or customer satisfaction. Of course, each one says they are better than the next guy. Is there any way I can get a hold of some independant customer satisfaction reports? I tried the Better Business Bureau, but all they could tell me was that each company had a satisfactory rating.

Thanks
Tim Johansen, Tucson AZ

[David Oxhandler]

Take a look at the TOP 25 REPORT for 2005 at www.mfdhousing/top25

The manufactured home builders rankings are based on the total number of HUD-code homes that each built last year. This information was compiled from reports by industry sources, including the trade magazine Manufactured Home Merchandiser.

Customer satisfaction ratings: The four grades — Hit & miss, Satisfactory, Good, and Excellent—are derived from anecdotal reports, not from a customer survey, but present some interesting contrasts.

Check it out www.mfdhousing/top25

[John Grissim]

Hi, Tim....
I encountered the same problem you have when I was shopping for a dealer. What I did was ask the sales manager for the names of six of their customers who had purchased homes from them in the previous 12 months to ask them their experience with the dealer. One dealer somehow never got around to furnishing me the names/tel. numbers. He lost my business.

If you succeed in getting references, choose a few who have had their home closer to a year. They're likely to be past the honeymoon stage with their dealer and will have a better perspective.

And, yes, do glance over my Top 25 Report for 2005. That should get you started, however, keep in mind that building quality is one thing, but even a solid quality home can be badly compromised by a poor installation and lousy warranty repairs. Again, it boils down to the dealer and the installer.
Good luck.
John