Brian's World

I learned today that Bowen Family Homes has not been honest with us on yet another issue in my neighborhood.  We have this area at the back of our neighborhood that has a pole owned by Georgia Power just at the edge.  When we purchased our home, we asked two different Bowen Family Homes representatives about this area and what would be done and we were told the following:

• The area is a common area would be fully landscaped before Bowen Family Homes finished the neighborhood
• Georgia Power was to move the pole and power lines to the very edge of the property

We found out today that the area likely belongs to Georgia Power and that Bowen Family Homes will not do anything with the area regardless.  Once again we were told lies. 

Please read the complaints on this blog posted by me and many other visitors through the comments.  Do not take a chance with Bowen Family Homes.  You will likely wish you had not done business with them in the end!

For just over a year now, my wife and I have had our kids enrolled at Holdheide Academy in Woodstock, GA.  We cannot say enough about the education my kids are receiving even before they start Kindergarten.  I have a daughter who is almost 4 and she is actually reading and my son, who just turned two comes home everyday with something new he learned about. 

The teachers at Holdheide are warm, caring, and loving people and are passionate about teaching our kids.  Holdheide does not prepare your kids for Pre-K but for Kindergarten and First Grade.  My daughter has already mastered what she would be learning in the Georgia Pre-K program. 

We are extremely happy with Holdheide Academy, its programs, and teachers and wouldn’t want our children anywhere else.

I recently learned that a friend’s brother has lung cancer.  No matter how strongly I feel that all things happen for a reason, it is difficult for me to accept that good people should have to go through something as horrible as cancer.  How is this the way life should be? Countless lives are affected by this and many other diseases every day inexplicably there are always good people being affected.  I am not saying that bad things don’t happen to bad people.  What is right or reasonable about taking someone from their family way before their time?  For me it all seems so senseless. 

Well, we have yet another issue with a Bowen Family Home!  I have been smelling natural gas off and on since we moved in and could never place where it was coming from.  I even went as far as making sure that no gas was being used in the home and went out to watch the meter and it never moved. 

My father owns a gas detection device that can pickup even very small leaks.  He brought it in one day and sure enough there was a very small almost undetectable leak behind my stove.  The fitting had worked itself lose after the 3 or 4 times Bowen Family Homes had to move the stove out to fix various things around my kitchen before and after closing.

I called Bowen Family Homes warranty department even though I was not covered any longer and to my surprise they actually had someone come out to fix the leak.  The guy came out on time and replaced the fitting as it apparently had a hairline crack in it as well as being loose.

I am certain had this been a more serious or expensive issue they would not have been so accommodating :)

I was looking at the search results that brought people to my blog and found some additional complaints against Bowen Family Homes…Imagine That! 

Since I don’t want to post other peoples complaints for them on my own blog, I will simply link to them here and you can go and have a look for yourself:

Complaints Board - Bowen Family Homes 1

Complaints Board - Bowen Family Homes 2

There are plenty more out there if you just look.  You will occasionally come across a person here or there that has had good luck with Bowen Family Homes but they are few and far between from what I can see.  Good luck!

Yesterday at 10:20 am, we lost my mom to pancreatic cancer.  I was fortunate enough to be blessed with the time to spend with her in the hours before she died.  She will no longer suffer from this horrible disease and is now at peace. 

Mama, we will all miss you so much.  There is never enough time but I will always have the time we had together in my heart.  You could not ask for a better mother.  Nothing will ever be the same without you. 

Wow, this past week has gone by so fast.  I started a week long vacation on Panama City Beach, FL and we are now on our last night.  The trip went very well (as well as it can with a 3 year old and a 19 month old)

We were fortunate enough to rent a condo on the beach for the week.  The view from the thirteenth floor is beautiful.  I enjoyed sleeping in the living room with the patio door open so I could hear the sound of the ocean.  I don't remember when I slept so well.

So it's back to the real life tomorrow.  Have to drive home, unpack the car, etc and then back to work on Monday. 

Looking forward to the next vacation....

Several pictures have been added to the photo section.  Stop by if you have time and take a look.

Recently, I visited some family and decided to purchase a portable GPS unit for my car.  I had been thinking about it for a while, and while picking up a few things at the local Target where I was visiting, I saw what was a pretty good deal on a Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS.  They had it for $199.99 which was about the cheapest I had seen that model since the day after Thanksgiving last year. 

Upon bringing it home, I decided to check the web to be sure there were no better deals out there on the same model and found that Circuit City and Wal-Mart both had it cheaper by $30!!!  I called the Target store where I purchased the unit and their customer service representative advised me that Target did not match prices.  When asked if she thought it would be better for me to return the item instead of adjusting the price, she said it that there would be no price adjustment. 

I returned the item (opened) and received a full credit then drove across the street into Circuit City and purchased the item for $30 less!  Target will now have to sell the item they refused to price match for a discount since it was opened.  Maybe I am doing the math wrong but I just don't see the benefit to a company pissing off a customer by refusing to match a competitor's price on the exact same item.  Seems to me that they are still turning a profit on the item as the GPS' are all over priced anyway. 

Now, because of this bad experience, I don't think Target will get any more business from me going forward.  Not only were they not competitive on their price, they refused to honor a competitor's price as well and that is not the way to keep me as a customer. 

After looking a bit closer at Target's return policies, I notice they are much more strict than any other direct competitor.  You can't even return an item received as a gift without at least a gift receipt.  If you present a gift receipt, they will only give you store credit even if the gift giver paid for the item with cash or credit card! 

Target, you have just lost a loyal customer.  I have spend thousands of dollars in your stores over the years and that has just come to an abrupt end.  I may or may not be able to convince others to do the same but I am certainly going to make every attempt to sway friends and family away from your stores permanently.   If I am able to convince just one other person to not shop at Target going forward, I will have succeeded. 

I am now 4 months past the end of my warranty with Bowen Family Homes. Based on previous behavior from Bowen, I should have just written this post 4 months ago since it was inevitable.  There are still several items that have not been addressed.  It would be nice to get all these issues resolved but when you are dealing with Bowen Family Homes, nothing is easy or completed correctly the first time or in a timely manner. 

In reading and responding to some of the comments left on my various posts, I can see my family and I are certainly not the only homeowner that has had numerous issues with Bowen Family Homes.  Stay away from this builder!!!

Today everyone got together for Jordyn's 3rd Birthday.  Family, friends of the family, and friends from Jordyn's daycare came over to celebrate.  Lots of pictures posted so head over and check them out!