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.
Friday, October 10, 2008
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
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 !!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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