Unfortunately, our experience with Highland Homes does not reflect with reviews that are written here. We are returning to Boise after being gone for several years. We have already purchased a lot just above Lucky Peak. We were looking for a builder that built quality homes but also specialized in building while the homeowner was out of state. It appeared that Highland was a perfect fit. We went to Boise to met with a few builders and after seeing the homes that Highland build and explaining where our lot was and what we wanted to build, we were told that every that we wanted was doable by Nichelle (Sales Agent). Our initial meeting with Nichelle was on a Saturday morning. She said that she would like for us to meet with Mike (the owner of Highland Homes) but he was busy in the morning but would be free in the afternoon. We went to lunch and waited for Nichelle to call us and tell us when and where we would meet Mike. As the afternoon progressed and did not hear from her, we attempted to call her. After two calls and a text that did not get returned, Saturday came to a close and we did not meet Mike or ever here back from Nichelle. It was the weekend and things come up, totally understandable. After the weekend was over and our returned home, Nichelle reached out to us via email. She responded "It was great getting to know you both and hearing your amazing home ideas. :) We would love the opportunity to build for you. I want to get a conference call scheduled for you to talk with Mike Dildine (owner/builder) and Kristin Pugh (Design/pricing) to talk about next steps. Can you give me a day/time that works best? " We immediately began looking at Highland's existing floorplans and within 7 days we sent them back a mocked up floor plan in a software program. We expressed that we are anxious to get going on this quickly because we would like to get the plans completed and the house built. The response from Nishelle was "Thank you so much for that information.... Very Helpful! :) We are excited to work with you and Kristin will jump right into plan design with you. I see you copied her on this email so I am sure she will respond quickly with an available day/time to connect with you." After nine days of hearing nothing from Kristin or Mike, we emailed again to see what the status was. The reply that we got from Kristin was "I appreciate your following up and we appreciate, so much, the interest in our company! The delayed response falls entirely on me. We have been extremely interested in your project off Mores Creek - such a beautiful area - and it's been the topic of conversation everyday within our company. Though it is a difficult decision, we ultimately have to decline at this point. We feel the distance from our current commitments prevent us from taking on a job so far out of the area this year. As we expand our company over the next few years we're hopeful at the opportunity to serve clients outside of just the Treasure Valley. Again, thank you for considering us as a builder and we wish you the absolute best on your future project!"
So, it was nice of Kristen to use the Management Technique of the "$hit $andwich". Here you have all three elements of the $hit $andwich: one the flattering or cheerful opening, two the actual news and three the Optimistic conclusion.
This has been a huge disappointment for us and waste of our time! We got slow/no responses, there was a lack of follow through (last thing you want to deal with when somebody is building your home), us doing our due diligence, our design time, wasted time on our trip to Boise, etc. read more