[Resolved]  Godrej Properties — sales miscommunication/malpractices while selling

Address: sector 44 gurgaon, 122051

I am writing this email to express my grievance regarding the purchase of this property with Godrej. I have already escalated but no one is responding to my email at Godrej.

It is utmost shocking to me as well while mentioning this subject line for a brand like Godrej and unfortunately, this is happen to be the only reason I fell into this trap "Brand Name".

I will first highlight my understanding of a reputed/branded builder and my reasons not to purchase my dream house in a non branding project and choose a brand like Godrej.

Pro's of buying in a Branded Project

1. Commitment - They stand true to their words and don't fool the customers for the sake of sale as they have a reputation to keep in the market.

2. Better Infrastructure/Quality of material - they have to offer what they write as their whole company comes at stake if they don't.

3. No worry of late Possession - They deliver on time or before their commited time.

4. Maintenance - Trusted Maintenance companies are hired to maintain the project.

4. After Sales Service - They invest in their people and provide excellent customer service after the sale. They take the complaints very seriously.

Con's of buying from Brand/ Pro's of Non brand project

1. Cost - They are always on the higher side when compared to market non reputed builder.

2. Mode of Payment - they only accept payment in bank which make is quite challenging in a country like India where only 2% on entire population pays tax.

3. Flexibility - They are not at all flexible with any kind of amendments in the unit at any point whereas others are always happy to make arrangements.

Despite knowing all the above con's, I decided to go with a reputed brand like Godrej as my priorities were the Pro's and I happily accepted to pay a premium price than the market for better service

To my sheer disappointment, I was absolutely wrong in trusting Godrej by its brand name which forced me to write this email to highlight how a person who is buying his first house ever, I call it Dream house, fell into the trap by a brand whose least priority is customer.

Before I proceed further, I would like to let you know that I work for brand named "American Express" whose motto is "Customer First" and we are trained to treat customer as "God".

Below are the reasons which changed my opinion about Godrej Brand

1. Commitment

a) At the time of selling, I was told that the project is ready to move in but because of th NGT ban they are unable to do the finishing part and hence need time. I categorically mentioned that I need it as soon as possible and was told that my unit will be finished on priority and will be delivered before the first week of February. After a hell lot of chasing, I got final invoice yesterday on 28th Feb. I kept chasing my RM Deepika who kept giving me false dates at every stage. Because of this, I lost my loan offer with SBI, which was offering waiver on interest rates if loan gets disbursed by 15Feb.

I also committed my landlord as per dates given by Godrej and now facing a lot of trouble because of this.

My question is who will bear this loss because of false commitments from Godrej

Answer from non branded developer is obvious - Customer

But answer from Godrej - exactly the same

b) I was committed that the maintenance of project will not go beyond 3rs per sqft including GST as this is the upper limit. My 2BHK is 1351 sqft so it comes to INR 4000.

This was quoted by Abhishek, Mani and Shashwat during my multiple visits.

To my dismay, it is woking out to be INR 7000. I got to know on the event day, 15Feb and was shocked. But Mr. Gaurav acknowledged the issue and promised to waive 3 months charges. Now, this will come down to INR 5200 which is still 30% more than what was quoted.

The reason given for this is last minute change of company hired for maintenance - which is now CBRE.

My question - Did you ask/intimate the stakeholders, I mean customers, before approving this change as ultimately they will be one who will be paying it?

Answer from a Non Branded developer - Ofcourse not

Answer from Godrej - Exactly the same

c) No one told me about paying 1 year maintenance fee in advance. To my knowledge, it is supposed to be monthly. And if no, this is definitely to be communicated while selling. I do not have budget anymore to shell out this money in advance.

When I asked this question to sales guy Abhishek that why such prices of maintenance as to what was quoted and why I was not told about 1 year advance maintenance fee ?

His response- maintenance is related to CRM so please reach out to them.

1 year advance is common provision. Had you asked, I would have definitely mentioned.

You can certainly expect a better response from non reputed developer.

d) I clearly mentioned at the time of deposit that I would need atleast 1 year time for registration as I will be exhausting my funds for this dream and won't be in a position to spend another 4 Lacs instantly. I was told "No problem".

Today, I have been asked to register my house to take possession.

I would definitely have got waiver from a non branded developer.

e) I was told there will be a provision for Gas pipeline in the kitchen. This was also mentioned on brochure and is mentioned on BBA. Now when I enquired as I didn't see any such provision, I was told it will be done at a later stage.

If someone is getting possession now, do you expect him to wait for your provision?

The thing is Godrej was smart enough to not mention any of above points in any of agreements as they knew it would lead to concern for them in the future. But are these the ethics they follow at such a big stage. I have recommended Godrej projects to my friends and families but now will never dare to do that.

I expect Senior Management to throw some light on the above concerns.

Unit No. - D1104 Godrej Aria