The build is overall good, Customer Service needs Work! – I have lived in my Simonds home for nearly a year, I wanted to wait a while before I wrote this review to ensure that the experience was accurate.

The Good: The house looks very solid, happy overall with the build as a whole. There is nothing I can fault with it structurally. I've had it looked over with an inspector and several Tradies, all have said that the house was built well. The house was built fairly quickly, we lived near it and watched it get built, it was clear that no time was wasted and we inspected it as it was built with our inspector.

The Bad: First the major issues, to begin with throughout the entire process we were constantly asked to write a review, we were asked before any building had started, and I stated how am I supposed to review something that does not even exist yet, regardless they persisted. To a degree I believe we were unlucky is some aspects of the build. To begin with, the key they gave us did not open the front door, so we had to use the back door to get in and out until this was fixed. Our Master Bedroom door lock got jammed on our first night, so I had to disassemble the lock mechanism and get them to fix that as well. The main Air Conditioning unit (Haier) broke 4 times in the span of 1 year, the over fan (Technika) was not working correctly and the dimmer lights flickering to the point it could give someone an epileptic seizure. Although some of these issues could be referred to the manufacturer at the end of the day they were not install correctly and Simonds chose these brands/installers which is a reflection on themselves thus they also have their share of the blame.

Next Major issue I had was the customer service. Obviously at the start of the build it was flawless (apart from the persistence on reviewing them), but once these issues came into play they fought not to do anything about them. I have just had another inspection of the air con, lights and various other issues, from the attitude of the inspector it was very clear that it was going to be a battle to get them to fix most of these issues. When I pointed out the oven cooling fan is rattling, his response was "Mine does that as well, just leave it open." I was appalled at this attitude it was very clear he would attempt to disregard any issue I threw at him. I told him of the flickering lights and he attempted to blame Energex, I then told him "I have another set of dimmer lights that do not flicker, its not Energex, its the installation, fix it." As the inspection went ahead he begrudgingly accepted some of the faults I pointed out and had to argue the point with him.

Conclusion: The house structurally is good, and I would recommend Simonds for this aspect. However, their Customer Service and choice of appliance brands hold it back. I would strongly recommend a different air conditioning unit that is not Haier. When it is inspection time, don't let them disregard any issues. Point it out and be firm.