More Toll Brothers Advice

My last post was full of compliments for Toll Brothers, at least in my community, because of how my building process went overall.  Yes, there were minor hiccups here and there but overall things went smoothly and issues were addressed.

The most recent issue we came across involved our media room. After the initial construction meeting and before the foundation was poured, we met with the multimedia guy. During this meeting we discussed how to set up the media room. In the model, the AV equipment was in a closet, but of course that was some non-standard option. Naturally our next question was, "Well where are we supposed to put our equipment?" His solution was that he could build a cabinet to put adjacent to the wet bar that could store the equipment. He could make it the same height as the counter and it would blend in. We loved the idea and we had him route all the cables there on the plan. Now, fast forward 5 months.  There is no freakin' cabinet. We were emailed an invoice following the initial meeting showing the costs of different media options (i.e. addition CAT-5 outlet, additional audio pre-wire, etc) but there was no mention of a cabinet, but we discussed it so it should be fine, right? NO!!!! Since there was nothing in writing, it's as if there was no mention of it or as if the conversation never happened, even if we would be willing to pay for it. I mean, who in their right minds would have wire directed beside the wet bar for no good reason? The sales manager and the multimedia guy did not argue with us they simple said there will be no cabinet.

Given the above situation, my advice is the following:

• ALWAYS write things down that are okay'ed by ANYONE working for the builder 
• You typically only meet with the sales manager, construction manager and multimedia guy
• Once an invoice is provided, double check everything with what you wrote down address it
• ALWAYS ask what EXACTLY is included in an option such as a wet bar, butler's pantry, media cabinet, or whatever and be VERY specific
• Ask if the cabinets come with the glass doors, upper cabinets or under cabinet lighting like in the model. NEVER assume that your upgrade option will be like what you see in the model.
• We were surprised that the price of the wet bar only included a lower cabinet and a sink. The wet bar in the model had upper and lower cabinets. Don't be surprised by what your option does not include
• Address your concerns sooner rather than later
• We asked about the cabinet 4 weeks after the multimedia stuff was done. We thought maybe they were still making it. Perhaps if we weren't so close to closing they may have considered doing SOMEthing.