Buyer Beware Regarding Referral Fees
I purchased a house and took possession in April of 2018. Building the house was a stressful time but most employees were helpful and when we had a complaint and took it to the customer service department it was dealt with appropriately and fairly. Since then, I have referred my cousin to buy a home with Sterling as I thought their workmanship was great and I felt that they did a good job overall with our house. Unfortunately as he was closing the deal for his home, he was told that he would have to forgo the referral fee of $2019 that would have been given to us as he was "already getting a really good deal on the house". Unfortunately the purpose of a referral fee is to reward the people who are referring Sterling Homes as a company. Not give a home owner a better deal on the house. This is the 3rd family member of mine to buy a home in Westerra. We deserve these referral fees and it's extremely unfortunate that Sterling Homes would cut us out of the sale in this way. So please buyer beware when it comes to referring this company as there will be of no benefit to you.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,019.00
- Company Response
Hi Jaime, We have read through your review and have investigated the circumstances. We at Sterling Homes place a high value on happy customers and appreciate referral business. The fundamental requirements of the referral program rely on the referral being communicated to Sterling by the customer purchasing the home and that it must be identified at the time of the purchase agreement. In this particular case the person who purchased the home with us declined to identify and record the referring party after being asked twice by our area sales manager. So it was not presented with the offer to purchase or considered In the negotiation of the deal. Because of this we are not able to pay out a referral at this point after the home has already taken possession.