Oakwood Homes of Millsboro

On 5/11 we had our home burn to the ground..we purchased a Oakwood modular home in the end of June with the promise that we would be in it the end of October...the mod arrived the 15th of November...We had the floors changed and approved by Gil,this did not happen and we had to have people come in and rip up carpet to lay more flooring.The wrong appliances and I mean refrigerator and microwave were apartment size,when the men came to replace them they ripped my flooring and we had to have a floor man come to patch the flooring which is unacceptable...The most important thing is that the hot water heater had the wrong orifice that burned the burner,we notifiedGil...we were out of hot water for days and it could have caused a fire,we notified the factory and they sent us the correct orifice and burner assemby, Vol sent us a incompetent contractor who couldn't do the job and we had to hire our own contractor,which Oakwood did pay for...we have photos of all of this. Gil was also notified about the heater,we had a contractor come here to service the heater and we found out that the exhaust stack was not installed correctly and the orifices again were the wrong ones and the gas valve was bad,we paid our own contractor for this service call...we notified Gil who ordered the orifice and gas valve and then Vol said that afterr paying for these parts he is refusing to pay the service call that came out of our pocket...Just the thought of two potential fires is a lot for people to stomach,enough is enouugh...This has been a nightmare since of beginning of this process...if it wasn't for the girls in the office,,we would have contacted a lawyer..these women should be commended...To complete this complaint,we scheduled our end of warranty service call in which I took off a day of work, it was scheduled a month ahead of time,on this day Gil cancelled our service call with notice the morning of the call at 0925. This resulted in a day of pay for my wife...There is plenty more I could go on and on about but I am sure it would be to no avail but I am very dissatisfied with management.
I am so sorry that I went with Oakwood homes,what could have been a good experience has turned out to be a fight for the workmanship that should have been what was told to us during the sale...The factories work was a disgrace..laziness is obvious. Paying for what is supposed to be a home has been a fight all the way...So there advertising a wonderful home is a fallacy.

Review: Complaint – Oakwood Homes, Millsboro, DE - Office Manager – [redacted]

To Whom it may Concern:

When we first spoke with Gill [redacted] we told him we wanted a supplemental heat source which is why we ordered the fireplace. We talked about our old house – how we could heat it with the wood stove insert to minimize heating bills during the winter months, and with our choice of fireplace we had to include additional costs to our build although we never got an itemized listing from the company. Mr. [redacted] mislead us from the start of our the home build/design. We have since spoke with Rhona Hoffner of Oakwood homes who informed that they did not offer any devices for supplemental heat, that they were intended for design purposes. Had we been properly informed we would not have ordered a fireplace from them at all.

That said, upon delivery of our new home, we noticed that the mantle above the fireplace was loose, the stone blocks were falling off the wall, and that the hearth was simply spray painted blocks of cement (very cheap). We also noticed overspray of black paint on the wall and floor which indicated that the hearth was sprayed in the home. We have since removed the block facing and replaced the hearth with granite (assuming additional expenses to make it right).

After the front porch was constructed we were informed that the chimney for the fireplace would have to extend up through the newly build porch roof. When we initially ordered the fireplace we were informed by Mr. [redacted] that the chimney could be installed on the backside of the house. Suddenly we had to make a decision to change out the fireplace to a gas insert vs. wood (which was our preference) so that the chimney vent would be less intrusive through our roof. We were not provided a design choice on the unit and we had to once again finance additional funds to accommodate the acquisition of the gas insert and installation of piping for propane hookup. While performing the install of the gas insert the technician from [redacted] noticed that the original wood fireplace was installed incorrectly (built with wood surrounding the firebox) which posed a potential fire hazard and stated that it was a good thing that we were switching it out. We were very un-nerved at this point.

During the fall/winter we turned on the fireplace as instructed. Even with the fan on high the unit barely projected any heat. In fact, if you step back away more than 1 foot you feel nothing at all. We called Oakwood Homes several times to complain and asked that they send someone to our home to ensure that the unit was properly installed. They sent over their handyman who worked on the unit switches and he said it was proper working, but agreed that not much heat was coming out. Frustrated, we checked around the area and found a company who would come out (for an extra charge) to ensure proper hookup and to add additional insulation). Still the unit barely performed. At that time we were informed that the unit was in fact not large enough to provide supplemental heat. Again we placed calls to Mr. [redacted] who stated “we got what we asked for” and it should heat the room. He then directed us to contact his sub-contractor at [redacted] Rhones.

We have since called [redacted] at least 12 times . No one returns our calls. In summary we have spent an excess of $2,000 to correct unit flaws (mantel, hearth, removal of fake stone blocks and propane hookups) but still have a gas unit which is not suited to heat our home. Mr. [redacted] cannot recall any of our previous discussions during build negotiations (his staff admits he Is often forgetful), however, that has been his excuse from the start on anything that has gone wrong with our home.Desired Settlement: Suitable Resolution – We have contacted several heating supply sources and a unit that would appropriately resolve our heating problem would cost $6,000. This expense would include procurement of heating insert, installation and re-facing of fireplace surround.

Review: My husband and I purchased/ordered a Modular home from Oakwood Homes and signed a contract in January 11. 2014. Our sales lady and person of contact was [redacted]. The price of the home was to be 150,000.00. Since we were paying cash for this home we were told we needed at lease 1/2 down for them to get started, so we gave them a cashiers check for 80,000.00. We were never told that we would be required to give balance before home was completed but we found out that when we were called in on April 14, 2014. At which time we were told they needed the balance of 75,000.00, now. It was 5,000.00, over our agreed contract cost and was told it was due to additional costs. ??? no explanation given for what these cost were to be ever. Our sales lady [redacted] then took a leave of absence due to health issues and the only contact we had was the manager [redacted] who was totally clueless to our home and what details were involved. We were called in to the office on April 14th, 2014 and was told by [redacted] that we had to pay the balance now, before home was completed since we were paying cash we were told. Home had been put on property that day and they wanted/needed the balance paid at that point. Were was my warrentee that they were even going to finish my home?? We were told that our home was going to be completed by Easter. It was not, then every week it was to be completed but again to this day which is May 16, 2014 it is not. We have been storing our furniture in a unit which cost us 89.00 per month, and since it was way past the point of us getting into our home Oakwood Homes, [redacted] (Mgr) said he would pay for the Month of May's storage. As of this day he has not. On May 15, 2014, we got a warning from the storage until manager that it has to be paid or we will not get our belongings out.

After our paying of the balance on our home we were told by [redacted] on 5/3/2014 that that weekend the trim would be done on our home and we could move in by end of the following week, it did not happen, again on 5/9/2014 we were told that trim would be done by end of weekend, and again it did not happen. Then we were told by Gil that when the electric was connected it would only take 1 day to finish our home. The electric was turned on 5/13/2014, as of this date 5/16/2014, home is still not done. My son received a call today 5/16/2014, from [redacted] telling him to tell us that home will again not be completed until end of May. No explanation. When we went over to our home on 5/14/2014 we noticed that one side of the home the electric was not working. I called and spoke with [redacted] and he said to me call the electric co. I told him I did but they said that the problem was in our home wiring so he sent out one of his electricians and they found out that the electric was not connected and wired correctly on that side of the home. We paid 155,000.00 cash for this home and was promised that we would be in it in 3 months. It has been well over that and still we are not in our home. They put the incorrect flooring in our home, wrong color in carpet and hardwood. They were to paint the home but it is two different tones, the trim is still not completed. This has taken such a toll on my family and especially me. Found our sewer still needs to be completed and water still not connected. Lots of promises lots of lies. We paid for 5 back windows, only got 4. We made color choices but they were changed. We paid for stone color on fireplace and it was sent incorrect. We also had paint thrown on our back side of our home and porch. Lots of paint drops on flooring and paint job was horrible. scratches on flooring also and on new sink.Desired Settlement: We are asking for 5,000.00 of our monies back. This money was never agreed upon until we had to come up with additional cost (per Gil) . Plus a gift certificate from Johnny Janosik furniture of 1000.00.