Thomas Archer Homes
12 reviews
- Pre-Construction
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- Mid-Construction
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- Post-Construction
A Seamless Experience Thanks to Lisa and the Thomas Archer Team – Our experience so far with Thomas Archer Homes has been overwhelmingly positive, largely due to the professionalism and expertise of their team. From the outset, Andy, our presales consultant and architect, truly stood out. His extensive knowledge of design and architecture provided us with added confidence throughout the process. His early… Read more
involvement made a real impact, giving us peace of mind, knowing we were in capable hands from the very beginning. Lisa, our project coordinator, has been nothing short of outstanding. If I could give her 6 stars out of 5, I absolutely would! She consistently went above and beyond to ensure everything ran smoothly. Lisa’s communication has been impeccable; she always kept us informed at every step and responded promptly to any questions or concerns we had. What sets Lisa apart is her genuine care for our home. It felt like she was as invested in our home as we were, and that level of commitment made all the difference. Her attention to detail, proactive nature, and organisational skills have been invaluable, making the entire experience stress-free and enjoyable. With Lisa in charge, we always felt completely supported and confident that everything was in the best hands possible. We can’t speak highly enough of Lisa’s professionalism, dedication, and warmth. She made what could have been a stressful process into one that was smooth and enjoyable. Thomas Archer Homes is lucky to have her, and we couldn’t have asked for a better project coordinator.
Note: We are now at the pre-slab stage with a pour expected in Jan 2025.
A long and frustrating build – Let me provide, for the benefit of anyone looking to make a decision as to whether to use this builder, a fair and honest account of their strengths and weaknesses. Thomas Archer does a great job with marketing, with modern and elegant facades to choose from, and a beautifully styled display home. Their accounts department are also pleasant,… Read more
on-time and accurate with invoicing etc.
That’s where the positives end however. Behind the polished marketing veneer is a poorly run construction company, from its leaders, to its operations, and construction teams.
The handover from sales to operations was poor. We had to re-explain almost all of our objectives to the operations team, and were constantly dealing with contradictions in what we were sold, to what we were now being told TAH can deliver. Building knowledge is low within operations, and for a builder that promotes itself as being able to customise, the actual ability to customise is very low.
The tender price presented to us, for requirements that were negligibly different to our PSQ, was an insane 61% higher. It was so ridiculous and unsettling that we arranged to meet with the owner, who showed little interest in our concerns – and did not once ever follow up with us to see if our concerns had been resolved, and to make sure we were happy customers.
After much painful negotiation, and months and months of drafting corrections – having to continuously highlight errors in the plans, we signed a contract in March 2022.
Construction started 10 May 2022, and finished 30 August 2024; 120 weeks or 2 and a quarter years after site start! And that was to build an almost empty two-story box. No carpet, no floorboards, no wardrobes, no cabinetry in any living room, no steel-frame glass doors, no window furnishings, no driveway etc. etc.
Why did it take so long? With the exception of one Client requested variation, which was documented to have a 28-day Time Extension, we were faced with incompetence beyond measure. It is quite evident that Thomas Archer sub-contract the components of the build to cheap and/or incompetent trades, and provide little to no oversight or management of them. Work is constantly done incorrectly, i.e. not in line with the contract, or not to Australian Standards, or in line with the manufacturer’s installation guidelines. And Private Building Inspector (PBI) reports are ignored by Thomas Archer where they feel they can get away with it.
Our Building Coordinator (BC), provided no follow up outside of issuing Variations. Emails, even including a formal complaint, were completely ignored by the Operations Manager (our assigned BC). In comparison, we built a house with Arden Homes, from PSQ, to tender, to contract and construction – within the construction timeframe of Thomas Archer. And, our BC called us every fortnight to check in and make sure we were happy and to deal with any concerns we had.
Now the final product we’ve ended up with is pretty good, albeit some absolutely horrible paining that I will fix myself. But let me be very clear, that is despite Thomas Archer, not because of them. We have had to, with the support of our PBI, micro-manage this construction for over two years, fighting to ensure that just the bare minimum standards and contractual adherence would be met. The relationship was quite strained at the end, because Thomas Archer simply don’t like to be held accountable; to their commitments, contract, and to completing work to a professional standard.
We finally settled, 414 days, or 60 weeks, after our agreed contract end date (plus extensions), and there are still a few issues that Thomas Archer have to resolve post-handover. We can only hope now that any Warranty claims, if necessary, won’t be as painful to deal with as the rest of the process has been.
If you’re thinking of using this builder, we recommend you take a good look at the Facebook groups that have been established by other dissatisfied customers. We only wish we had seen them before we signed up.
Amazing team and end result! – We have absolutely loved the experience of building our first home with Thomas Archer. Our Supervisor, Project Coordinator and the rest of the team were always friendly, professional, organised and provided considered and experienced advice throughout the entire process. So impressed with their attention to detail and level of quality. We would definitely build with them again! Show details
Worst experience ever – Building with Thomas Archer has been a nightmare We are now 6mths over time and have been down 3 times for handover, still not complete. 4 different supervisors Quality is below standard Force you accept now or get delayed even further Award winning display homes - best to buy the display As a former Builder if this is the new normal, buy established - you will only be disappointed Save your time and look elsewhere Show details
Great design and very responsive and accommodating! – We are in the process of building with Thomas Archer and had a great experience so far. We engaged them in 2021 with a brief to design a custom home to meet our unique block requirements. They came up with a great design that met our brief and also met our budget whilst also providing various options to upgrade and downgrade the design and the… Read more
subsequent cost.
The selection process was a breeze and their interior design consultant spent a lot of time with us providing great insight into a very daunting colour selection. They were also very accommodating with some custom home automation work that I wanted to getimplemented.
The staff have been very responsive and setout realistic expectations from the start.
We recently signed our contract and within 2 weeks they were on site quickly making progress.
Can't wait to see the final product!
Wasted time and money – We spent 12 months going through the design process with TAH and wasted over $10k because of their ineptitude and dishonesty. Before proceeding with them we provided TAH with a soil and site survey and gave them very clear and specific instructions about our site and brief requirements, we were told that they could accommodate our requirements and… Read more
we paid multiple fees for them to proceed. A preliminary quote was provided and were told it would not deviate more than 5% at contract stage. Our site and design brief stayed the same throughout, we actually reduced the size of the home. We sent email upon email and had many conversations to reiterate the same brief, they had constant personnel changes, communication was terrible and the people we dealt with simply forgot or did not listen to what we communicated in prior emails or just long periods of radio silence. Basic instructions were not followed, an example of this is we needed to send 4 emails instructing them we wanted square down pipes and not round, an item which was at no cost or effort to change, but each time we got our revised plan this was ignored. When we finally got our tender document and their price came in 40% more than their preliminary quote, their excuse was the site engineering was more expensive than anticipated. This was despite our conversations and correspondence before we signed up and TAH being provided with a site details and completing their own site survey and soil test before providing us with a preliminary quote. The whole process was painful because they do not listen to their clients and cannot effectively communicate. They should be avoided they are incredibly dishonest and unprofessional.
Professional and responsive – We are about to start construction with Thomas Archer Homes. Our experience with Colin, Jess and the rest of the team to this point has been outstanding. They are professional, have listened to our needs, are frequent and clear in their communication, and have been flexible in their approach. Looking forward to watching our family home being built and a further productive relationship with the team. Show details
Love our house – From the moment we found Thomas Archer Homes we we had found our builder, they were professional and upfront with all costs , and stuck with our budget to produce a custom home that suited our family. The quality of the fixtures and fittings are amazing without having to upgrade anything, the interior design help we received made the whole… Read more
process an enjoyable one , we were very confident that everything chosen was going to be perfect.
Our home is uniquely different to any we had looked through , it suits our beach lifestyle , I wouldn’t change anything about it.
Also I would like to mention the ongoing support after the build from handover to current has been excellent.
It shows Thomas Archer and the team are proud of the homes they build and would build with them again and also recommend them to anyone looking for a quality , professional builder .
Do your homework – Classic example of grabbing your money up front and taking the average customer for a ride. Promising the world for you to sign up and hand over your money and then delivering the worst possible scenario. We are just a little family just trying to build their dream home. Lost thousands of hard earned money and a lot of time with this company. We… Read more
ended up back at square one with nothing to show for it!
The most disappointing part is the lack of communication or concern from their directors about their clients. Not even a single courtesy call or follow-up. So many more friendly and reputable builders our there that actually care.
Do your homework and get EVERYTHING in writing before handing over your dollars.
Client focused builders, excellent quality! – We looked at a lot of local builders before deciding on Thomas Archer for our dual occ development. We went with them because of their high quality build, excellent customer service and flexible approach and we were not disappointed! Every stage of the process was great with friendly and knowledgeable staff to help us. When we chatted to the… Read more
trades on site during the build they all said what high quality materials and processes TA use compared to other builders, which was great peace of mind.
Thomas Archer Homes - Builders with integrity – We have been living in our Thomas Archer home for one year and love it as much now as we did when we first moved in. The quality of the build and all the fixtures and fittings are so evident. The customer support at Thomas Archer Homes never once failed us and being first timers to building, we felt our hand was held through out the whole process.… Read more
Our builder was on site both morning and afternoon and always available for any questions. The after care service has been as responsive now as it was prior to moving in. Before choosing Thomas Archer Homes we looked at many other builders but non offered the build quality that we wanted and have subsequently got. Our house is always commented on for its aesthetics and quality. I didn't know what to expect in terms of service throughout the build but Thomas Archer Homes has, I believe, excelled in this area. If we ever build again it would not occur to me to not use Thomas Archer Homes. Highly recommended.
Great Home and very responsive service – Thomas Archer Homes did a custom build for us with the price coming in no higher than most of the large builders that do very few customisations at all. They were always extremely accessible despite us often requesting minor changes to our plan. The final product was great. We are often told by others in the street how much they love our new… Read more
house. It is a period style house with lots of character - something that none of the larger builders were able to demonstrate to us. Highly recommended.
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