Quick response and timely after-sales service key as customer outrage rises

"We cannot guarantee that none of our homes will have some kind of damage resulting from the construction process, but the way to solve such problems is to respond quickly to any concerned customers," said Property Perfect chief executive officer Chainid Adhyanasakul.

According to a number of developers, more customers are these days complaining about the quality of their homes due to construction faults or errors originating during the construction process.

For example, 200 townhouses on Ratchavipa Road in Bangkok have recently been damaged as a result of land subsidence, with home-owners having to file a complaint against the developer of the project to the Office of the Consumer Protection Board early this week.

Meanwhile, in other residential projects, there have been instances of houses collapsing due to pillars weakening, as well as for other reasons.

"Most residential projects will face the problem of houses collapsing when property firms speed up construction to the point that they cannot wait for the land to stabilise sufficiently for building work to commence.

"Normally, it should take between one and two years after land reclamation before building on the site can start. But now, many developers leave only three or six months after land reclamation, as a result of which the land will subside in just one or two years after housing has been built on it," said an engineering expert.

Chainid, meanwhile, said it was a business risk for property companies when they build more and more projects around the country, in terms of maintaining their construction standards when they appoint several contractors to carry out the work for them.

However, developers have been trying to improve their after-sales service and provide a quick response in solving customers’ problems, he added.

Pruksa Real Estate’s president and chief executive officer, Thongma Vijitpongpun, said his company had completely enhanced its after-sales service, and now made sure it provided a quick response to home-buyers by setting a tough procedure and standard for the resolution of construction faults.

"Some problems will be resolved within seven days after hearing from the customer, while other cases will take more time, but all of them have to be reported directly to the company’s executive management. This is the way to reduce the number of complaints from customers," he explained.

AP (Thailand) chief executive officer Anuphong Assavabhokhin said the company had been operating a call centre for customer complaints since the middle of last year.

The service, which is for home-owners with an AP property that is still under guarantee, ensures customers that they will get a quick response to their grievance within 24 hours of their call.

The developer will then dispatch a team to repair the home in question as rapidly as possible, he said.

Meanwhile, for those customers with a home on which the guarantee period has expired, AP has a dedicated department for receiving and acting upon complaints.

Again, the company will get back to the home-owner within 24 hours, before sending out a team to estimate the damage from the construction error, or the damage resulting from the unit’s life cycle having expired.

The repair team will then fix the residence, with some of cost being met by the company and some by the customer, he explained.

According to a report by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board covering the fiscal year from October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014, the agency received 5,909 cases of customer complaints across all sectors.

Complaints about residential problems accounted for the highest proportion, followed by those concerning consumer products – and especially car problems – with issues about advertising over the Internet ranked third.