Working with Trico was bittersweet.
The initial planning stages and talks with the Seton Area Managers/Associates, George and Johnna, were awesome. Both of them were so great to respond to any questions or concerns, and with this being our first home they provided so much help with construction decisions. We would work with those two for every house we build if we could. Truly spectacular people.
The Design Centre was a blast as well. We had so much fun working with Lindsay and she was extremely patient with us. Lindsay offered great suggestions as well and made the selection process so fun and we are still so happy with all the decisions that were made.
Throughout construction a few updates were provided on the process of the home being built, however whenever a progress update was requested it was provided in a decent time frame. The possession date moved from a Aug/Sept estimate to Oct/Nov, and eventually we took possession on December 20. With the 2021 shenanigans this was totally understandable, and gave us more time to save money to have a solid emergency fund built up before possession.
The Customer Orientation Appointment, 1 week before possession was great. Jacob and Dene (might not have been Dene) were extremely knowledgeable on everything installed in the house and made sure we were both happy at the end of the walkthrough. All of the things noted on the walkthrough that could be fixed for possession were fixed.
On possession we were very sad to find out that there were quite a few things still missing or not to spec in the house. These items include our oven (Coast), microwave (Coast), kitchen sink faucet, laundry dryer (Coast), main bath sink & faucets, master bathtub faucets, window coverings (Sonata), air conditioner and exterior paint. The seasonal items such as the air conditioner and exterior paint were acceptable that they would be missing until weather permitted installation (we also don't need air conditioning in the Winter). However, most of the items missing were a surprise and a lot of items are still not installed now at the start of March with no date in sight for when they will be finished.
We were disappointed that we were instructed to follow up with Coast and Sonata ourselves to get the missing items delivered and installed. I don't know if this is standard, but in our opinions it should have been Trico's priority to contact the vendors regarding the missing items. Window coverings and our laundry dryer were installed within a month (after harassing vendors), and we are still missing our oven and microwave from Coast.
The plumbing work to be completed in the main bath (both faucets and sinks) is still outstanding. It has been now over 2 months since possession and we don't have a date or timeframe on when these essential items will be finished. This is extremely disappointing as we have had family stay with us that are unable to use their bathroom due to not having the plumbing hooked up. The items are all there in the sink, but no attempts to come and finish the installation have been made. When we followed up with Trico Service and Warranty regarding when the missing items are going to be installed we get late replies that indicate there is still no date in sight. At this point we just want to hire our own plumber to finish the sinks, but were told this voids the warranty so we can't do that ourselves. I've tried to be the good guy, the bad guy, and the annoying guy through email/phone to get things moving and get answers, but nothing has worked.
To summarize the end, Trico has left it on us to finish our house. Once possession was finished and the money had been sent it was clear that we were dropped to the lowest priority. This is what makes the whole process bittersweet. We have an incomplete house and are having the worst time trying to get it finished. We've been told that it's up to us to harass vendors to get them to complete work. When it comes the contract work such as the plumbing, we're told to wait patiently and not handle that ourselves. It's just a bit confusing and quite frustrating. We've read other reviews mentioning similar experiences which include going to higher and higher elevations of staff to get answers or actions to be completed.
I find it hard to recommend Trico to my friends and family that are interested in building new homes. The selection process and quite literally everything up to possession was amazing, but quickly dove off a cliff afterwards. Perhaps if you are comfortable being a mean/angry person towards others you will have better luck with the post possession process.
