Excel Homes

Rating: 3.3 out of 5

Excel Homes reviews (234)

  • Review from Customer of Excel Homes
    Rating: 2 out of 5
    Review left on 3 Jan 2019

    Not worth it

    I waited for around a year and a half before providing my honest review about Excel homes in Calgary South East. So here it goes… We decided to buy a NEW home just because we didn’t want to deal with fixing issues with a pre-owned home. We decided to buy a house in south-east Calgary. We had several options (Builders) to choose from and zeroed in on Excel mainly because of the price. Our salesman back then was very efficient in relying to emails and messages. I never waited for more than an hour during working hours for a response. This part was great. The buying process however felt a bit rushed and the selection of all your options were literally done in the basement of the show home. Some may like this as they have limited options as compared to other builders. I found it extremely hurried and chaotic as you had to decide then and there. Here is the important part - MAKE SURE YOU GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING Let me tell you why… We decided on a color for the Granite in the Kitchen on the day we signed the offer. Everything was fine until one fine day I decided to follow up on the status of the house and not sure why wanted to confirm the color of the granite and I’m glad I did. The color they had was totally off. Now you will hear this a lot that the color of the granite will differ from the sample which I agree but this was way off like black and white!!! Lucky they were able to stop the order before the granite was cut and installed thus me saving the builder thousands of dollars. The irony is I got a faulty island as a thank you. The island issue was pointed out as a deficiency during our final construction walkthrough and the construction supervisor said they will fix it. We took possession of our house under the impression that this issue will be fixed. At the 6 month walkthrough the customer service manager installed some blocking in the basement but that did not fix the issue at all. So we contacted customer service again and were informed that this was a known issue with this model of excel homes and that the island was built by code. Now remember this word cause you will here is a lot. Build as per CODE. That is how you will get a response to most of your complaints after you take possession to problems excel homes cannot fix. The cherry on the cake was I was told to contact new home warranty…. For a brand new home!!! They too confirmed that it was as per code. But if this was a known issue why was this not brought to our attention when buying! There were several other issues which were identified during our walkthrough and after moving in. The garage door was faulty and the tech came in and rewired it but still gives us issues till today. He did not know what the issue was but told us that we will be charged if we call him again even though the issue was not resolved. The water heater did not work when we moved in and we had cold water for 2 days due to a faulty part. These are supposed to be brand new equipment and appliances which the builder should have checked. Can you imagine no hot water after driving and moving for 12 hours! Since it was a non-emergency as per Excel we had to wait 2 days for the issue to be fixed. The Furnace was leaking 2 times within the first 2 months and the HVAC had to come in to fix it. The washing machine stops working and we had to do a hard reset several times. There was a problem with one of the gas burners within 9 months which the service tech fixed. We have our fingers crossed now that the appliances are out of warranty. Apart from this … Several walls not painted properly. A lot of paint flashes and drywall discrepancies. Be aware if you have a drywall issue or cracked paint they will only fix the drywall after you take possession. We already have several paint cracks on our walls and we were told the contractor will only fix the crack and not paint it. We were not informed about this earlier and had to cancel the appointment. Make sure you identify any paint issue on your final walkthrough or else you will have to fix it yourself later. A window frame cracked within 6 months but was replaced. Hopefully this was a one off because if anything breaks now it’s out of warranty. Screen in the basement and bedroom were missing but were later installed. The toilet bowls were wobbling and they fixed it using a shim! There were several other issues that were identified but fixed as we caught it during our walkthrough so pay good attention. On the bright side the customer service representative we dealt with was amazing and extremely helpful. She went above and beyond to help us as we were first time home owner and knew very little. So the bottom line is we decided to go for an Excel home because of the price as compared to other builders in the area but we definitely paying the price for it now. If I knew I had to settle for a new house I would have taking my chances with a pre-owed or gone with another builder.

    Answer from pro:

    Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. Excel Homes takes all feedback very seriously and we are sorry to hear that you are not happy with us. We want to assure you that Excel warranty staff are committed to approaching every home with care and attention and completing all warrantable repairs. When our team makes recommendations to contact Alberta New Home Warranty, it is to provide an additional third-party inspection for your piece of mind. We apologize that post drywall repair paint touch ups are not a part of the warranty program and do try to be as transparent about this as possible by including it in the information provided to you at possession. As the introduction of new environments to the home happens throughout the first year, we are unable to guarantee a paint match and therefore do not complete any paint or texturing touch ups. We would be happy to follow up on any outstanding warrantable items, including re-inspecting your island concern with our trade partners and Warranty and Service Manager. Please feel free to contact us at customercare@excelhomes.ca with the details and your address and we would be happy to follow up. Warm Regards, The Customer Experience Team

    Reply created 15 Jan 2019
  • Review from Damien Kelly
    Rating: 2 out of 5
    Review left on 16 Nov 2018

    Excel provided us with a beautiful home but the sales lady caused tons of unnecessary stress. Price was changed many times,and she gave us lots of incorrect information . If you do buy build with excel get everything in writing as the sales lady verbal

    Can not stress enough to make sure everything is in writing, as in all finishes, upgrades and discussions. Sales lady has no word and does nt care once she has your money. She caused us so much unnecessary stress. No ways professional. Let the team down big time. They have moved her to another location now. Lots of fellow excel purchasers we have been talking had same experience. Not good enough when you are parting with so much money. You need to get what you are being told you get for your money. Not the case. Once you ve parted with your deposit there is no changing things so just be careful and read and verify all ,and put verbal agreements in writing. We were also give a 3 month build guarantee by the same lady however she forgot to let the construction team know so we did nt get this guarantee either . Major room for improvement in communication
  • Review from Customer of Excel Homes
    Rating: 2 out of 5
    Review left on 16 Nov 2018

    Many issues

    Garage pitted in less than year Garage door opens and massive viberation felt on 2nd floor Paint coming off already Garge door safety sensor inoperative ( reapir person looked at it at 1year warrenty appointment for random Garge door opening issue) guess what safety sensor does not work after that.
  • Review from Customer of Excel Homes
    Rating: 1 out of 5
    Review left on 9 Nov 2018

    Poor customer service

    Very poor customer service. Have had to fight for the service that the promise in the purchase agreement. Six month walk thru issues still outstanding after one year. One year walk thru done but no response or follow up by excell. All in all the worst company I have dealt with regarding warranty of it product and service.
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 1 out of 5
    Review left on 26 Oct 2018

    Sub Standard Driveway - Refusal to Repair

    We moved into our new home in December, 2017. We were unable to seal our driveway due to winter weather. By April when the snow finally melted the driveway was pitted all over. Excel refused to repair as it wasn't over 10% of the total driveway affected. Other builders in the area took responsibility for sub par concrete work and had the driveways sandblasted and sealed. We now have a 10 month old home with a driveway that requires expensive repair work. Excel has been a challenge to work with. They are certainly willing to fix small items, paint chips, damaged lights, etc. but not anything major. If this is what Excel considers acceptable work, I am very concerned about the overall quality of our new home.
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 0 out of 5
    Review left on 25 Oct 2018

    Worst home buying experience

    Worst home buying experience Paid much than my friend And got alot frustrating As every problem with home is said to be normal No one even hear what you want they have only no Never care for your feelings Thanks and Sorry if this hurt someone

    Answer from pro:

    Hi Sekhon, We are so sorry to hear that this was your experience with us. If you would be willing to discuss your concerns further, we would love to look into them and try to make things right. Thank you.

    Reply created 6 Nov 2018
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 1 out of 5
    Review left on 21 Oct 2018

    VERY DISSATISFIED ABOUT AFTER SALES CUSTOMER SERVICES

    On the day of they came for the "11 month warranty assessment", I report my damaged driveway, the Excel Homes staff refuse to fix it and said "Excel Home can do nothing about it, it is your problem not to maintenance well the house." THEN HE LEFT! until now, no staff come again to do my 11 month warranty assessment, they just pass it.

    Answer from pro:

    Hi LL, We are so sorry to hear that you have items in your home which have not yet been inspected as part of your 11 month walkthrough. If you could please get in touch with us at: customercare@excelhomes.ca with your address and information, we will set up an inspection for you right away. Thank you.

    Reply created 6 Nov 2018
  • Review from Customer of Excel Homes
    Rating: 1 out of 5
    Review left on 20 Sep 2018

    Savanna Calgary NE

    The quality is not up to the standards. I island in the kitchen wobbles even if kids walk 6 feet in the surrounding. The floor feels like card board as it is too noisy in bigger rooms. Their rep initially realized that there are issues bit later he said its normal. I have checked my friends house brand new from Homes by Avi there is no such issue with the island. I was already doubting the way the finished the house in no time and hand it over to us. The back side room on top of garage was shaking like in earthquacks when the wind was gusting only 60 km/h. Again their rep said next time please make a video or let us know if there is any crack occur. I m contineously following up with him but he is using delaying tactics with me.

    Answer from pro:

    Thank you for your feedback. We apologize that this is the experience that you have had. Could you please reach out to our Customer Care team at: customercare@excelhomes.ca and provide them with your information so that we can have your concerns investigated further? Thank you!

    Reply created 25 Sep 2018
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 4 Sep 2018

    First Time Home Buyers

    We are first time home buyers and had a lot of questions, but Charla, Macy and Josip were very helpful throughout our homebuilding process. They were very patient and had an answer to all our questions. We love our new home but we really wish some of the changes/choices we wanted to make were considered instead we were told they are builder choices and cannot be changed. I would still recommend Excel Homes as its a painless buying/ building process.

    Answer from pro:

    Thank you for sharing your experience and for your kind words about Charla, Maci and Josip :) We hope you are settling in well in Heartland, and welcome to the Excel family! :)

    Reply created 25 Sep 2018
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 4 out of 5
    Review left on 23 Aug 2018

    Stunning home in MountainView

    Stunning home! The Brentwood in Mountainview is unlike any floor plan I have ever seen. It works so perfectly and people are just stunned at our beautiful home. I enjoy every minute of cooking in that stunning kitchen!! Great sales and construction team. I really can't say enough for the experience. My only negative review is that I wish we could make more changes when it came to windows and lighting. For the price of the home, I felt that was a bit on the cheap side.... but overall I would definitely recommend to build with them.

    Answer from pro:

    Hi Kristen, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! We hope you are settling in well in Mountainview! Welcome to the Excel family :)

    Reply created 28 Aug 2018