Countryside Homes Home Counties South Paddock Wood reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Terrible Customer Service Post Sale

Beautiful houses in terms of the spec, skylights, downlights, flooring, chrome sockets etc. all included, but the detail of the finish left a bit to be desired, however, that isn't anything that should have been unfixable. The customer service once you have moved in is abysmal. Not only do they take weeks/months to get back to you (this was before COVID), they can be rude, inflexible and unresponsive.To give you the full timeline of all of the issues, the base lack of experience of the staff and the behaviour of the staff would mean me writing a small novel. No organisation, no project management skills, and once you have paid them the hundreds of thousands of pounds, they have very little interest in getting things sorted. We have essentially had to project manage the snagging process personally and with around 300 total snags, this is no mean feat. Suppliers are given no information regarding the work that is required although the people who come in to do the fixes are always great, customer service lie about the information they have passed on and when you escalate the issue, nothing changes.Essentially, some people seem to see their main priority is to protect their own reputations internally rather than solve customer problems and provide adequate compensation where relevant. They refuse to admit any fault, regardless of the evidence placed in front of them and 12 months after moving in, we are still waiting for our snagging to be finished.Our home is undeniably a great place to live, but on their customer service and post-sales support alone, I cannot recommend them.

L · 12 August 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

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Great Experience (Dash, Hoxton)

Had a great experience with Countryside during the buying process at Dash Hoxton thanks to Gemma and Kristina. They reliably answered my queries and addressed any concerns I had. Thanks!

Rahul · 13 February 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

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A lucky Escape.

After viewing the Ellesmere house type, on the Stone field Edge development in Bilston, we where told that there where some available and were advised to put our own house on the market, have proof of sale and come and reserve a plot.Having done so three weeks later, we made an appointment to see someone to do this. Has we where using the sale of our house and some savings we where told we needed to arrange a small mortgage with their adviser. So we rang on the morning of the appointment to be told that they where in a meeting. when they rang back it was about an hour and a half before we had to leave for appointment and that we needed to email over to them details of Bank statements Wage slips etc and that he'd send the email address to do so in about fifteen minutes. About an hour later the email address came through giving us approx' twenty minutes to do all that before we had to leave for our appointment. We rang and said there was no time to do that now and would it still be worth going over without this being done. However that call wasn't returned so we went over anyway.When we got there the sales assistant said can i help as if she wasn't even aware of the appointment. We explained the situation to and they said that yes this would have to be completed before the order could be processed.But on asking when the house would be ready we where told that it would be seven months. Just impossible to expect the other people in the chain to wait this length of time. We where then told of another house type that would be ready in September as this was a cancellation and as such would be subject to a five percent discount. Upon viewing said property we really liked it. They said they would hold it till tomorrow so we could get all the relevant paperwork done. When we got home they rang and said sorry that property was sold by the manager the night before. Amazingly the Manager had failed to inform his sales staff of this important fact. But on reading some of the reviews on your website and some of the dreadful problems that people have had with this company i think that we have dodged a bullet.

KEF · 2 August 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Great sales team

Looking for house in Chelmsford area and called 2 sites (Beaulieu and Hatfield Peverel). Amazing experience and how they even managed to sell them is beyond me. 2 responses I received from 2 different sites: 1. Because we are selling so good, we are only looking for cash buyer2. We don't even have show homes and people buying them off the plan blindlyWow. If this is what you expect from the sales guy then good luck with after sales. If that was the first impression or the tactic of head of sales you are doing an amazing job.

The · 24 July 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Extremely poor building standards

My experience in the new house I bought showed extremely poor building standards. Crumbling brick work around the entire house. Every window either cracked or scratched and some installed inside out. At least 3 out of the 4 new houses in our street had exactly the same poorly installed pipes causing water damage to walls and floors - we had mould as a result. Pink stuff oozing from the floors. Thermal images shows cold spots in most rooms including right above the radiators. Light fixtures installed in the wrong place. Cannot easily lock my back door from the fist day we moved in. Building debris blocking our plumbing causing clogged toilets and sinks. And this is just to name a few of the 150+ items on the “snagging” lists.The management at Countryside refuse to respond, are unprofessional if they do and are downright dismissive. You get quoted “NHBC Standard” when they wedge a block of wood under your door frame, and put an poorly painted wood frame around your mirror to hide a 2cm slant in the wall. They try to blame everyone else for shoddy workmanship and refuse to take responsibility for lack of quality. They advertise “high spec and quality” and deliver a DIY project done by a five year old. A few words come to my mind when it comes to Countryside properties. “Smoke and mirrors”, “Scam artists”, “Corruption” “Cons”.The blanket response from them to this review below is a prime example of what you will expect from this building company. They already have your hard earned money so they don’t really care.

James · 17 July 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Misleading advertising

They heavily advertise their property on Rightmove but they abruptly cut you off if you have questions in regards to buying them as they only want buyers that don't have a property to sell. I don't mind this notion, but it would save me a lot of time if they advertised honestly. It took me three phone calls to find out that 1) they won't show me the property 2) there is a rather long criteria for being accepted for their part exchange plan 3) they simply like cutting you off abruptly if you are not what they are looking for. I think it is fair game that they want to sell chain free but it wouldn't hurt to advertise that in block capitals. If they are that sure about their 5 bedroom homes going with so much ease, why even bother putting it up for potential buyers. Moreover their area and grounds are not even ready so I don't understand what's the rush to skim off buyers who are in the process of selling. Anyway, I have wasted a lot of time in finding out more about their development only to find out cold and abrupt response about how they can't be bothered with buyers.

Emma · 16 July 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Excellent customer service

We have been working with Rachel Keating at Wilson Chase who has been fab. She knew the property type we were looking for and kept in contact as some were reserved while our house was on the market allowing us to time things well so as not to miss out! She has also been super friendly and accommodating of our changing house sale situation up to reservation which was done really straightforwardly. Having bought with other developers previously the service from countryside is of a much higher standard so would definitely recommend them!

Miss · 22 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Abbotsfield site St.Helens

Abbotsfield site St.Helens - Dealing with both Lisa Bryan & Lisa Wilkinson, both very knowledgable and experienced professionals. We managed to secure a plot across a combination of both phone and email very quickly and efficiently during the COVID lockdown. Our customer experience to date has been very much of a positive journey and we are very impressed with the quality of property on offer as well as the attitude and professionalism of the sale consultants, nothing is too much hassle.

Michael · 22 June 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Shocking company, JUNIPER GROVE and ABBOTSFIELD

Shocking company, no after care, customer service staff are rude on the phone and inexperienced with the houses they sell, customer service managers are clueless and have no idea of the layouts of any of the homes, I have been in now 7 months and had floors relayed twice and now it’s worse than it ever was, cheap contractors used who was caught having a wee against a neighbours brick wall on there ring camera !! If It allowed me to put no stars then I would, be aware they trick you with lots of freebies and added extras but once you have the keys and moved in they become your enemy.

Unknown · 19 June 2020

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Eaton Fields

I was really disappointed with the customer service at one of the sites, Eaton Fields. I felt the sales advisor was very cold and it didn't make me want to purchase a home from them. I felt she had nothing more to offer us and it was this is it or nothing. Whenever I called, it took me at least 3 attempts to get through and it didn't matter what time of the day I called. Just a very disappointing experience when buying a home is supposed to be so exciting.

LLB · 15 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Amazing service and quality homes

Our customer care experience from Countryside has been amazing, right from the very start. Sian & Annabel have been incredibly helpful and patient in answering all of our questions and have helped us to secure our first home. It really makes a difference that they take interest in us and listen to what we would like in a house. Since we hadn't bought before, we were new to the whole process and we are so happy about how well-explained everything has been and how smooth the process has been so far. Their homes are absolutely beautiful with great standard specification so we were impressed that we didn't need to spend loads of money on extra things to make our house a home. I would 100% recommend buying with countryside!

L · 14 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Good Service

Although I did not buy, as I needed a new home before a countryside home could be available. I liked the property & Rhodri was extremely helpful in Wakefield.

Mandy · 18 March 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

SEAMLESS HOME PURCHASE MADE EASY

Countryside have been phenomenal in the housing industry. Their incentives are fantastic and exceptional. Don't know who else provides such mouth-watering incentives in the industry. And despite these unprecedented times, they made the whole process of purchasing a house seamless. Thanks to their dedicated staff - Tara and Debbie, you ladies have been exceptional sales consultants. They went above and beyond to ensure we were guided in the process of purchasing our first home. They stood by us all the way despite the lock-down, and made our dream come true. From reservation, to answering our queries patiently and checking up on us afterwards, they made us feel at home. They are true professionals, friendly and with great sense of humour. Racheal & I (David) celebrate you ladies and we say THANK YOU for being there. We couldn't be happier than this.

DAVID · 1 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Countryside Properties prove that buying and selling during COVID19 Pandemic is possible

Countryside sold my own property through 'House to Home' in just over a week which enabled me to reserve my plot on Countryside Properties Abbostfield development. The whole process has been great, even though everything went on a go slow during the COVID pandemic, Lisa, Tara and Team were brilliant. Every business involved in the process kept the sale and purchase moving and ensured that everything was in place so that we were all ready to proceed once lockdown restrictions were eased. Finally I exchanged and completed in May 20! No business or purchaser has been faced with such unprecedented challenges but Countryside and House to Home have pulled it off.

J · 31 May 2020

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

2/5 probably too generous.

I feel giving Countryside 2/5 is probably far too generous of me...Me and my Wife moved into a "Dunham" type of Countryside home in early 2019. Around December 2019, I noticed water dripping in the wall of our Master Bedroom. Several weeks later, around Jan/Feb 2020, a Contractor visited to assess the problem and assured me that it should hopefully be promptly dealt with and he didn't foresee any reasons why it wouldn't be sorted reasonably quickly.Fast forward to today- end of May 2020- what's happened?No more visits from Countryside. Yes we're in the middle of "Covid 19", however, the initial fault was reported several months before this was known in the UK.I've sent several emails to Countryside- The lady I had been in regular contact with- roughly once/twice a week- very polite and trying her best, but seems like the various different people she has contacted simply failed to respond to her requests for them to assist. Since Covid 19 has occured, Countryside have understandably closed their call centre, however, they are failing to respond to any emails- both on the generic customer service email address for the area of the UK where we live and also the personal email of the lady who had been helping me, which now seems to reject any more emails, as if she no longer works at Countryside.We've been unable to use the Master Bedroom, owing to the mould the leak has caused.Also previous issues we've had, include faulty smoke alarms- to Countryside's credit, they did remove the old ones and replace them within a few days of me calling them- very grateful- but there was no way of silencing them in the mean time.Also have had a leaky ceiling in the kitchen- again reported early 2020, but no one been to rectify the issue.

Annoyed · 30 May 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolute shambles of a company

Absolute shambles of a company. We were in constant contact with Countryside to the point of our house was on the market and ready to be sold. We tried contacting to reserve the plot we were interested in only to be ignored. Days later they got in contact to tell us the plot had been sold and there was nothing we can do. Beforehand we were told not to rush and the words 'the plot is yours' were even said. Would not recommend countryside to anybody.

Chap574 · 29 May 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Very poor quality of work when building this house both internal and external

Exceptional customer service from Rachel, Anne, Jo and Megan. Really helpful and friendly. Unfortuntely though the quality of some of the work on the house is of a very low standard along with the attention to detail and has been rushed. The ongoing snag list is becoming a joke. I've even had to have an emergency plumber out as the drains were full of building rubbish and blocked all the water in my toilets, shower and bath. Its a disgrace such laziness. Such a shame as it really has detracted from the pleasure of buying my home. I also think that it will take a long time to get things fixed having to go through customer care. Should of got it right in the first place to save me all this hassle and stress.

Nicky · 27 May 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Disaster

Disaster, If I knew that my new house will looks like that I will never buy it. Amounts of defects is endless. I’ve never seen so uneven walls, there is about 1-2cm difference on external wall that we need to cover when we have been placing flooring. Ceiling in living room is even worse, made with plaster boards , you can see each of them on different level, going up and down.When you think it cannot be worse that yesterday after taking bath upstairs I’ve seen water pouring through turned on ceiling halogen lights downstairs to living room on my new solid wood flooring 😐. Serious health and safety hazard, what next water leaking through electric sockets ? Gas leak ?I’ve check what’s going on and realized that outflow from bathtub is not properly attached, they have just put one pipe into another without any proper stabilization...Cheap materials, everything looks like have been done by compete amateurs as fast as possible.Avoid for all costs...

Dawid · 27 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Thank you Tara and Debbie

I have been dealing with Countryside sales team for quite sometime and in particular the sales team lead by Tara and Debbie. I genuinely found them both to be very professional, Friendly, helpful and did their best to answer any questions I had. I found such support is vital especially in buying my new property and don’t have much information about the area, building structure and contents. Their input and help is simply second to none which is very difficult to find such caliber these days. So thank you very much and please do keep this height standard of support as it can only help the new buyers and put them on ease during their exciting venture in buying their new home.

Ahmed · 23 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Tom and Kristine first house

Debbie and Tara this review is about You. Each of you did amazing work for us. Always ready to help , kind and no pressure sales ladies. We bought our first house and we came to the office with 0 experience and knowledge about houses in couple of minutes we left with more information then what I could possibly find online. Great level of service and always kind. Very appreciate your help you help us to achieve our first home. 👍thank you. Tom and Kristine.

Tomas · 22 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Amazing and supportive sales team

We are first time buyers with little experience of the mortgage process and the sales staff at Countryside have been nothing but helpful and supportive from start to finish. Richard in particular went above and beyond to ensure that we were kept up to date with developments and helped ensure that we were able to get the best possible out of the help to buy process. They offered really good advice and were happy to answer any random questions we had. I would recommend them to anyone.

Carley · 1 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Annabel and Sian at Duttonfields have…

Annabel and Sian at Duttonfields have been amazing. Nothing has been too much trouble. They have been supportive to both my daughter and myself who are both buying properties on the site. They are very efficient and informative and nothing is too much trouble. The after care has been brilliant everyone has gone over and above what they needed. It has made moving house a very stressful time, much easier. I can’t praise them enough THANK. YOU xxxx

Hollie · 11 November 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Dutton Fields

Annabel at Dutton Fields has been fantastic! She is so helpful and down to earth. She always makes us feel welcome at site and the whole process has so far been smooth.

Georgina · 15 March 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Our Dream home

We bought our dream home through countryside and have been blown away throughout the whole process and are in love with our new family home.When we attended the sales office we were met with Martin and Rachael who answered all of our questions and were with us every step of the way from show home viewing to choosing our carpets.The site manager graham talking us through various things when we visited during building was fab.Billie in the main office was amazing, we had a nightmare with the chain through selling our house and she supported out solicitors and estate agents in chasing everything and keeping us informed. If it wasn’t for billie we may have just let our dream home go. Thanks to her we got our house.Since moving in Connor and Craig have been amazing putting right any snags (which there have been very few of) they have been more than happy to come in and put things right and have always come when they said they would. If you keep in mind just how many properties they are on our site and there is just a handful of them resolving any problems the timescales are incredible.We have had the best experience which is the polar opposite to our last new build experience with another developer. We would 100% recommend countryside. The finish to the houses and attention to detail along with the added extras you get is another level.Thank you to everyone mentioned above for making our experience amazing and for building and supporting us in getting our dream home.

Aimee · 10 March 2020