Perry's Britton Homes
New Customer Critical Review

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We observed the following business-practice pathologies with Perry's "high end" Britton Homes.  Not mistakes, but cultural issues, and consistent.  Over time, we came up with the following handy and humorous (?) names to identify Britton’s insults, systemic management problems, passive-aggressive ruses, lying, rudeness, and methodologies of failure.  

Names have not been changed... to expose the guilty.

• “Value Series” 
  1. Used to justify
     • Slap-dash work
     • A talk-down attitude
     • Rejection of any suggested solution to problems… unrelated to price
     • An indulgence in snobbery, because we deserve as much
  2. When we started pointing this out as a cliché, the actual phrase become more rarely used, but the underlying attitude continued and festered
  3. It’s a $600+K house!
     • So we should be ashamed, and have zero standards, and take the abuse, eh? 

• There Is No Builder
  1. Sums up that “no one is in charge” and, especially that nobody has ownership or pride in actual construction
     • Project planners, feather smoothers, purchasing agents… sure; but builders = none
     • No effort is made to even pretend otherwise; just open capitulation to chaos
  2. “Trust the tradesmen” is the justifying slogan for this leadership vacuum
     • But the gas line was put into where the e-box should go, the window where the oven should be, the countertop cuts into the trim, the plumbing is brought up in the wrong spots, options are not installed… in a keystone-cops farce of error on top of error
     • Not mere mistakes, these are systemic errors that must occur when “nobody is in charge”
  3. When visitors would notice absurdities and sloppiness and mistakes, the simple and truest answer always seemed to be “There Is No Builder”
     • So why ask why?  Is the latest gaff, outrageous waste, mistake… really that surprising? 
  4. Of note in observation, the Britton “builders” seem to (with a few exceptions) lack any native interest in the work, tech, or trades
     • Mention anything and eyes roll, “ask the contractors,” or yawns start  (we had some fun with this, happened EVERY time)
     • It is difficult to take seriously “construction managers” / “builders” who seems so instinctively uninterested in building

• Make Work
  1. The corporate slogan of Britton Homes ought to be: “We can’t do it right the first time, but we’re happy to fix it later”
     • Or, more accurately, to “…make a big show of fixing it, but get it wrong again, or break/ruin something else, and then repeat…” until all profit and good humor are exhausted
  2. Britton local “builders” and tradesmen have an open and cavalier attitude about doing it wrong (examples abound) combined with an odd and perverse glee in pick-up work as something to be expected, not avoided
     • And if it is wrong yet again, or wrong in a different way, or even (yes!) worse than before, jump to “Value Series” snobbery or…

• Who is the Customer???
  1. Nearly every contractor told us that “you are not the customer, Britton is our customer” as a way of dismissing poor quality, damage to the house, installing the wrong thing, refusing to correct obvious problems, slipshod work, etc. 
     • By Britton, they mean corporate; the contractors have a similar punk disrespect for the local build team
     • The contractors are convinced that their “customer” is a corporate VP somewhere, not us buyers or the local construction team
  2. A Customer = the person putting money INTO a business, not the middle managers or bureaucrats shuffling that money around
     • In other businesses and industries this is obvious… regardless of subcontractors or partnership in the execution… everyone tries to please the real, actual customer as a matter of course
     • But with persistent Britton bad-management mind-fog on this, it takes a higher-up to scream to get anything done, which means that the only thing that ever works is escalation, which (ahem) is not a working business model or practice

• Tradesmen Run Amuck
  1. Contractors openly scam the local Britton build team and real customers with obvious cons like not finishing jobs as a shake-down for more pay, doing things deliberately wrong as a sort of “favor” to the other trades, etc.
     • Or, are they really just this careless or incompetent… with few exceptions?
  2. Fire em?  Can’t happen
     • Don’t even “criticize them”  no matter WHAT THEY DO, as “nothing can be done; we have zero control over who Corporate hires” and “they don’t work for us”
     • If a bad contractor were to be taken to task, “they might complain and we could GET IN TROUBLE with Corporate!”

• Blame the Bureaucrats
  1. Tasking a “construction manager” / “builder” to do a job with no ability to fire or even criticize,  could never work… and (guess what!) it doesn’t
     • The tradesmen know that There Is No Builder in the sense (here) that they “have no teeth…” so to speak
     • Small wonder, then, that Tradesmen Run Amuck, there is systemic confusion about Who The Customer Is, and there is an ingrained “nothing can be done” attitude
  2. Corporate is culpable, in large part, for setting up this doomed-to-fail “management” scheme

• “Not Custom”
  1. This could be valid.  But in Britton-speak this = an exceptionally wrong and irritating use of the phrase where least appropriate
     • Construction mistakes due to not communicating or directing the tradesmen are found by us or inspectors
     • Then, when required to remove what was done wrong or install what is missing, “Hey, we did X (repairing of a mistake) Just For You (an alternate name for this ruse) and you should know that WE ARE NOT A CUSTOM BUILDER
  2. All this in overweening magnanimity and chutzpah, as if some special favor were being handed out against corporate policy
     • Chutzpah has been humorously defined as killing your parents, then asking for special treatment as an orphan. Or perhaps better still when Britton screws-up (happens, but…) then suggesting that the customer is getting extra special “CUSTOM” treatment!  
     • We don’t think this “Not Custom” platitude was ever used in context: always and ever for an outrageous Britton mistake or subcontractor failure only repaired under duress
       • In shared experiences, where no-one else is listening, such obvious lies can only be interpreted as a goad or an insult, just rude

• “Code” = Shut Up
  1. Like Not Custom, nearly every time used inappropriately
  2. In short, if a buyer wants a change or improvement “it can’t be done; CODE” … you know!
     • A slight variant is “We must adhere to the process / paperwork” whether it makes sense, will fit, is insane, or not
  3. Unless, of course, Britton wants / needs to change something, then it would seem that anything is possible
     • A fence must be put on the East side, “Code”, then a few days later, “Can’t be there, Code,” with zero irony--a mistake of course, but don’t miss the comedy of the surrounding verbiage and bombast
  4. The porch stairs supposedly met “Code” when they were installed, we were told; “Trust the Tradesmen”, such that obvious danger and inappropriateness (pointed out by passer’s by!) was summarily dismissed
     • Sergio told us that if WE WANTED steps not minimally short, not over steep, and non-sloping, then we’d have to fix them on our own dime after closing, as THIS MEETS CODE
     • Then, when red-tagged by the city as uninhabitable just days before closing, by some dark magic the situation is suddenly “we fixed the stairs For You” and "we are Not a Custom Builder,” and since we are low-class Value Series I suppose that we should be grateful for any crumbs we can get…

• Pushing Rope
  1. Working with limp “builders” and amok tradesmen to get obvious problems fixed is like trying to push a rope
     • Britton shows extreme recalcitrance to do things right, or fix things, or do what was committed
  2. I think the record here for a petty issue is the “Sticky Drawers” which (so far) has taken 25 emails, meetings, etc., and still is not resolved
  3. An example big issue is the HVAC, which is 1) under-tonned (verified with 2 separate companies + common sense: it can't keep the house cool) and 2) badly unbalanced ducting room to room, with nothing done...
     • Make it this hard, and the customer will just give up?
     • Or is all this to delay until summer is over?
  4. At some point, the recalcitrant / defiant responses by Britton homes have to be dealt with, and customers have to 1) triage, 2) just capitulate to not getting what was in the contract, or 3) fix things ourselves

• Lying Bombast
  1. Over-confident untrue assertions that over time become annoying, as if by “saying so” and making a show of that, it is so… even when it isn’t
     • “We will get that done,” but it rarely is (see Pushing Rope), especially with Chris
  2. An egregious example of this was Amy telling us that we could not move the outlet from the sides of the Island to under the Bar, due to “Code”
     • So we paid change fees to remove the Waterfall option, as we could not stand to think of a hole cut into the side of the granite
     • Imagine our anger when we found out (after closing) that just previous to being told that it “could not be done” that precisely what we had asked for (and was common sense) was done for a neighbor on our same street!
       • But that neighbor was not “Value Series”, so that excuses the lie, eh?

• Beg Me For It!
  1. "No problem, we will fix that" (see Lying Bombast)
  • So when will it be done?
  2. "Don't you worry, we're on it" (then do nothing)
  • So, er, Chris, can you please give us an update?"
  3. "Just a little more time, we always follow up" (double down on the lying, play a bluff, be the Rope that can't be Pushed)
  4. So we send reminder emails, put the item on a list, ask in passing, (don't want to seem too pushy!) send a pleading text, ask politely yet again. Over time this is functionally and emotionally exactly like begging. The perp basks in illegitimate homage and dominance. And the longer this ruse is drawn out, the more obvious the buyer's begging pose becomes
  • Picture a promised treat for a dog… withheld just out of reach, but not far enough that the dog gives up
  • Diabolical. Abusive. Dishonest. Routine.
  • Only works if you make the mistake of playing it nice, take note

• “Set Expectations”
  1. To be sure, Expectations are important to Set properly… in any sphere of life or business
  2. But in typical Britton perverse/inverted form, and as a supposed "solution" to the above, what Lance means by this is to commit to nothing, then do nothing
     • But don’t (at least) lie about it
  3. Admittedly, this is considerably less annoying and more honorable, but really? 
     • “Set Expectations to ZERO” is the escalation end-game for “customer service” at Britton? 

The above handy list is Britton’s workaday business culture. It is not like you have a choice who builds your Britton Home; you're rather stuck with who you get. They know this, so thus all these games. I mean, what are you going to do, abandon your deposit? (Would have been worth it, in retrospect!)

Mistakes were/are not the problem, they happen in construction. At issue are these prejudiced, dishonest, evil responses, routine abuses, and a culture of lying and systemic mismanagement.

The relational insult of even one of these ugly cheap-shots, done over and over and over again, would result in a very negative experience.  With all of these popping-up incessantly like whack-a-mole, and never ending, even after closing?  Is there a rating below F? 

How can seemingly normal people behave this badly?  We have thought a lot about this, and have come up with 4 theories. 

• 1) Yin Yang?
  1. By all accounts, Britton is very responsive with non Value-Series buyers
  2. Perhaps all this overdone pleasantness and fawning must be balanced / compensated with rudeness to us in the cosmic scheme of things?
  3. In talking with so many neighbors, there is clearly a Jekyll-Hyde polarity based on price
     • Even so, for example in another context, if you go into Tesla looking either for a model Y or X (at 2x the price) they treat you the same, as would makes sense, right? 
     • So while this strange prejudicial indulgence / abuse is interesting to note, there is still the WHY?

• 2) Wrong Market? 
  1. Britton may not have the HR to sell homes into the high-end market
     • In luxury shops we’ve all seen some inexperienced (or ill suited) employee acting too obsequious on the one hand, and rude on the other
       • Totally.Inappropriate.Staffing for the requirement, and you’ll never go back to that shop again if you can help it
       • But with a homebuilder, you are rather stuck with 'em, which is a very big problem
  2. Wrong HR instincts/natures/reactions/personalities lead to theory 1 polarizations… and then alternatively to cloying then abusive behavior

• 3) Bad Eggs?
  1. Perhaps Britton has just hired a bunch of jerks who like abusing people, if and when they can?
  2. There is much to be said for this, when looking at particular people, and as the saying goes: “birds of a feather”
  3. Sadly, we think this the most likely dynamic: just mean people with repressed prejudices that--at Britton Homes--can be indulged with a captive audience
     • And tied into #1, they don’t dare be rude to the high-end buyers, which makes it worse for the rest of us

• 4) Nice Guys Finish Last @ Britton? 
  1. Trying be nice, understanding, being hopeful for the best, trusting... has miserably failed for us as a strategy
  2. In talking to others, it is now clear that we should have taken a harsher line than asking, persuasion and explanation
     • Confrontation, demands, acrimony, and escalation are what we've learned works with Britton... let the buyer beware

In our experience, then, Britton = Stress + Insults + Slap-Dash + Waste + Scams + Inept Management + Dripping Condescension + Passive Aggressive + Disappointing.  

 

Buying a Britton Homes Value Series house has been an utterly disgusting experience.  

 

As an analogy that captures the disaster, Legacy West is like an expectation for a great meal based on an artful high-concept menu with fine ingredients shipped in…  only then to have a bunch of slapstick clowns turn it into a food-fight… instead of fulfilling the latent promise.   To have such great design and ingredients devolve into this dysfunctional, sloppy, nobody-in-charge, finger-pointing, insult-mill business practice mess… is truly a shame. 

 

Process get an F-.  Product gets a C+, as you can’t dull the good ingredients, great location, and fabulous style/design all that much... even with this bunch of villains.  

Our advice? Buy a "debugged" Britton home, not a new one, and avoid this ugly process.

For other critical reviews see the BBB complaints page.

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