Friday, December 26, 2008

Sobha Developers Rules always

Beware Sobha is a tough nut to crack. Sobha will dictate the terms and condition before sale and after sale. The terms and condition can change any time as per Sobha’s requirement and benefit.

Being a customer you will always have to feel helpless. They may show you charges which you may not have agreed when you have signed the contract. The delivery dates changes without notice. Sobha will always give you some reason which may not be acceptable but need be accepted. This builder is so powerful and adamant they the customer will be helpless very helpless. You may be having a same feeling and frustration as if you are dealing with some autocratic.

Sobha has built their reputation over years and that reputation may not be true today. I am not sure if other builders act the same so if you are dealing with any please beware. Compensation clauses changes without notice if Sobha wishes so. I don't know what these clauses mean legally and why they are in contract.

Please tell me if you are customer of Daffodil or you know somebody who is customer of Daffodil project

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sobha Developers - Extremely horrible quality by cheats

Sobha is a cheat who charges high rates but gives extremely poor quality houses. Classic case is Sobha Jasmine which was positioned as a high end super luxury apartment but is a low quality place.

The developer has not done the ROADS, THE BOUNDARY WALL HAS FALLEN, THE TENNIS COURT HAS BEEN LEFT INCOMPLETE and THE LANDSCAPING has not been done. More than that, they have handed over possession without any FIRE FIGHTING SYSTEM IN PLACE. In spite of repeated reminders they have done nothing . I wish the court sends the expat MENON to jail for cheating people..maybe he is a Al quieda terrorist.

The approach road has not been done and the entrance to the blocks is still not complete. I wish their was a consumer protection forum which could de-certify them based on poor quality and delivery.

They have also not given back deposit money of the other apartments as they seem to have eaten all that money.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Sobha Developers - Sobha Petunia

I’m looking for anyone who has booked an apt in Sobha Petunia. I had not seen this blog before. We have gone ahead and booked a flat and paid quite a bit as usual the CRM dept is doing nothing for the customers.

We booked in the understanding that they would allow few modifications (like a pooja room and converting the servant room to an office). This is supposedly a super luxury apt but none of the accessories used in the model show any kind of luxury if any… The CRM dept insists among all the customers who have booked an apt at petunia we are the only ones who wants changes in the flat and make it a home..!!!!!!!!!!! If anyone has booked a flat please write a line here and we can form a forum and get Sobha to hear us out.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Sobha Developers - Blue Collor Cheaters-no ethics-robbers

Not all companies maintain their reputation. Sobha developers belong to those kinds of firms who leverage the reputation they earned in the past to the evil extent. The place where i booked, they delayed the handover by 2 years , on top of it they haven’t paid any penalty . They cited a reason saying we selected not standard tiles for bath rooms. We have paid 42K per month as pre-emi for extra 2 year , just calculate the kind of cost escalation … on top of it water, electricity connection charges tripled, registration charges double during those extra two years.

People are in wrong impression that sobha gives high quality; I did not find it in reality. The floor tiles they laid are at uneven level. Even after complains they rectified few highly uneven tiles but rest left as it is.

Looks like the management is very greedy, they offer less salaries and wages to the employees and laborers. So they are not able to retain people. Huge attrition. This is the main reason for the delays.

Behind Sobha Developers marketing machinery lies some dark truths

I brought an Appt form Sobha Developers in their Iris project . One major reason that I selected them was that they where the most reputed builder in Bangalore.

I required some modifications to my appt and that was done by them reasonably well. But from then on to my surprise they have behaved in the same unethical and cunning ways of a third grade builder.

The project got delayed by more that a year and half and they did not provide any compensation to most by using one obscure clause in the agreement . They also padded costs on all area that could do it increasing the net cost of ownership. The water connection cost BWSSB charges was initially told to us as would be around RS 70 thousand but turned out to be 2.2Lakhs plus .

The electricity connection costs was to be about 60k is about 1.3 lakhs and many more.
When asked for a break up they have not yet provided that. They are building their corporate office there and it looks like they are using iris to get the infrastructure for that.
The additional car park was to be about 2L and that is 3L now.

Also the per sq rate they quoted does not seem to mean much as they then tagged along land costs etc and not that looks about Rs.200 per sq. ft. that the original estimate.
As for quality it looks ok now not great . I have not seen my appt after full completion . Hope the final quality is what they make it out to be.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Sobha Developers - Sobha Moonstone

I have booked an apt in Sobha Moonstone almost 2 years back by paying an advance of 2 lakhs. After a year long of delays they have got necessary approvals. Feb 08 they made us pay 25% down payment. From then they have hardly constructed as there is a rock and they are unable to blast it. If I move out according to agreement papers I need to lose 5% of the total cost of the project. What are the options do I have? The project will get delayed by at least 2 years, so is it wise moving out? I am afraid if I move to other projects the story might continue.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Horrible experience with Sobha Developers

I have having a very bad experience with Sobha Developers. I booked an apartment in a North Bangalore project based on the good experience that a few of my friends had with them and the good quality they seem to be known for, paid the booking amount that runs into a few lakhs, and started following up on the legal papers and agreements.

- They delayed for months in providing all the project papers. They haven’t yet provided one key document - the project commencement certificate, which is necessary for them to start the project.

- They started project construction without two key documents - environment clearance and commencement certificate.

- Their agreement is one-sided. It has a clause in that they can change the agreement by just sending us a written communication by post ! They also don’t have a clause that they will refund the amounts paid if their project gets canceled. I am trying to get these agreements changed, but they are not willing to entertain any changes.

- I have been following up on these issues, but now they are insisting I pay high interest for my next payment, though there is no provision for it in the terms and conditions at the time of booking.

- I approached their senior management and they are not listening to my case. Their only approach seems to be to deny everything and expect me to fall in line, and now they threatening to cancel my booking. They are very unilateral and autocratic in their approach.

I didn’t expect this with a supposedly professional company, but now active more like a fly-by-night operator, looking for quick gains.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Cheating by Sobha Developers

I am pissed off with Sobha and unfortunately never read any of these websites before paying them for the appartment. I had booked an apptt at Sobha Carnation, Outer Ring Road.

I wish to go to consumer court as any other court would simply cost too much money and hold their one-sided agreement as binding. It’s crazy that a public listed company can get away by cheating highly literate / educated people like us.

If u r keen to join me or support me with all evidence to build my case, please email me at chiranjiv@yahoo.com

Monday, July 14, 2008

Sobha Developers - No better than any other shark in the industry

I don’t have much idea about other developers or builders, but like many other customers of Sobha Developers I feel disgusted to have dealt with this so called "reputed builder". I wonder how we Indians grade these people as "reputed" so easily.

For new home buyers, my honest ranking about the company below , based on my and my friends’ experiences, may be helpful : (Scale of 0 to 10 and 10 is the best)

Quality of Construction: 7
Quality of finishing (Civil work): 7
Quality of finishing (Doors, windows shutters, sinks etc.): 4
Response of the sales team: 7
Response of Customer Care: 6
Response of the legal team (you are at their mercy at one stage of the deal) : 2
Response of the employees at the lower levels: 2
Response of the top management (you will obviously feel like speaking to top management when you get frustrated by the dishonesty and lies of lower grades) : 0
Keeping up with their words: 1
Overall Honesty: 2
Transparency: 1
Sensitivity: 0
Undeserved hype for the company: 9
Value for your hard earned money: 4

I must also tell you that many apartment owners hesitate to speak negative about their property fearing depreciation in value for their investment, despite having all the wrath and frustration.

Ok, you too may compare and evaluate your experience and comment upon the same for the benefit of other customers.

After all, if someone had warned me about them before, or had I read the other comments here earlier, I would’ve missed this "opportunity" to be called as the customer of this "reputed" builder !!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Contacts - Sobha Developers

Some key contact details shared by a user here for customers who are keen to escalate their issues with Sobha Developers.


Dear all,

Here are the mail ids of the key executives at Sobha. I suggest that we write to them and express our frustration/outrage.

1. Mr. P. N. C. Menon - Group Chairman
Tel: 91 9845068825
e-mail: pncmenon@omantel.net.om

2. Dr. Madhu Nambiar
Tel: 91 98450 69510
e-mail: madhu@sobhaprojects.com

3. Mr. Mahesh Kumar A- General Manager
Tel: 91 98807 30037
e-mail: mahesh@sobhaprojects.com

4. Col Jaggi C Narula
Senior General Manager
Sobha Developers Ltd
Bangalore - 560 027
Tel: 22227621/22/23/24/2
E-mail: jaggi@sobha.co.in
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/4b4/722

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Book flats from Sobha Developers at your own risk

There are many reasons, why you should be careful before booking flats with Sobha Developers. I will list down the main areas of concern below:

1) Delivery Delays (my project delayed by 1.5 Yrs and still not sure of exact handover date...this could be longer)

2) Be ready to lose 25% of project cost...by the time they deliver, your net project cost would have gone up by 20-25% (my experience)

3) Careful with their agreement clauses.

4) Careful with their payment schedule...this has no relevance to their construction progress.

5) Careful with their sales promises...knowingly or unknowingly they may be cheating you (my personal experience) and management does not care about those promises.


Delivery Always late:

I have booked a flat in Sobha Iris in January 2006. The flat was supposed to be ready by February 2007. The delivery was postponed 3 times till now. Sobha gives a date and when the date nears they postpone it by 6 months. The current promised completion date is end-July’08 (mind you...it’s completion date but not handover date!). Even if they handover in Aug’08 it’s a good 1.5 Yrs delay.

Financial Loss:

If you book a Sobha flat, be ready for a loss of about Rs.10 lac. I have calculated my financial loss to be about Rs.11 Lac (assuming delivery will be in Aug’08. If it delays further, then be prepared for more losses).

Do they cheat ?:

Am not sure whether it is intentional. We were given a payment schedule and were told by their sales that the construction will be completed as per that schedule. However, 96% of the payments have been collected by Aug-2007 (means 96% of the construction should have been completed) and the rest 4% takes more than an year !! It means, Sobha completed that part of the project which gets them money on time and conveniently delays the rest for any period as they have already got their money (including profits!!). Very efficient cash flow planning with customers money indeed !! Mind you, they are right to have collected the money, if you look at the agreement wording. I only hope that this is not a new form of organizational cheating.

Agreement Terms:

They are mostly one-sided. They also charge hefty Advocate fee from customers. This basically means you are paying the advocate fee to have the agreements designed for the benefit of the "Other Party". Considering that all the agreements use the same format - Advocate fee is really wonderful profit margin !
Be cautious of delay clauses : What happens if the project is delayed ? Developers may also have a clause to pay penalty on delay. But look at these clauses carefully to see when they are not applicable and argue with them to change suitably.

Be cautious of Payment Schedule:

Ask them questions on, what it means in terms of actual completion. Most probably, you will pay all the money at least 1 yr in advance, though they claim otherwise !!!
Ask them questions on sharing of financial loss. e.g. if they delay the project by 1-2 years, govt may increase taxes & levies. If the increase is substantial, then you will lose a lot.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Sobha Developers - Sobha Iris - Customers loose Sobha Wins

Sobha’s reputation as a dependable builder both in terms of quality & delivery made me opt for them. However in reality my experience has been quite the opposite. On quality - I do not know yet as they claim to have German engineers certifying each apartment. This also needs to be verified as rumors abound that they have done away with German certification. On the delivery side the project is already delayed by 1 year and by the time the handover is made it looks like it will be another 6 months.

Whatever the reasons I have lost substantially, in terms of interest on amounts paid, higher registration, electricity and water levies etc. An approximate amount would be Rs 10 lakhs as losses.

Sobha has displayed a ’don’t care’ attitude to the several queries and demands to share/compensate losses taking cover behind one sided agreements. Customers are not eligible for compensation for delays if they opt for even minor modifications, say changing color of floor tiles or adding electrical switches. Ridiculous by any sense!

Please be extremely careful when signing agreements with them. Fortunately it is a buyer’s market and all intending buyers should ensure a win position as much as possible.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sobha Developers provide sub-standard services to customers in the name of “quality”

I recently bought one apartment with Sobha in Bangalore. Here they don't have any amenities like club house, swimming pool, children's pay area etc in the apt complex. Instead they are building a common facility about 500 m away for about 7 apartment complexes in the vicinity. But it still will have only one swimming pool and badminton court for about 1500 families!

Can imagine a Kumbh Mela during summer times near the swimming pool. Sobha is cutting too much corners to save money and provide sub-standard services to customers in the name of “quality”. They also hiked the BWSSB and BESCOM charges to about Rs 100 psqft and refuses to provide receipts from respective agencies. Service tax was collected from us and was apparently not paid to the tax department since it is not required any more. However Sobha refuses to acknowledge this and keeps the money. Not sure how such “reputed” builders get away with such tactics.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Sobha Developers Informing About the delays at the last minute

Hi Everyone here,
I share the same thoughts of those written in the posts here.
The project in which i booked the flat is already 1 year delayed and i am seeing another 6 month(minimum) delay. even at the 11th hour, these guys are not able to give the next expected date.

As per the sale deed, its a one sided agreement. If you make any mod, even shift a electrical point by one inch, you are not going to get the penalty promised for delayed delivery.

CRM has no decision making power, do not know whats happening in the project, do not know if project is understaffed etc… its just a front office just to make sure you don't hurl abuse over frustration direct to the site engineer or project director. If you ask to meet any higher ups, they will take you to CRM’s GM who is another ill informed fellow with no power.

So be prepared for delays and be cautious while going for Sobha Developers. I hope PNC reads this.

Regards,
Jeeth