Consumer Protection: Invaluable Feedback From New Homeowners

Builders who rank the highest in survey of new homebuyers are chosen as finalists and recipients of Tarion’s Homeowners’ Choice Awards

How often have you weighed in on a customer service experience or purchase? How often do you check out reviews before you decide on a product or service?In a world where abundant information is easily accessible, consumers have come to expect that their opinions matter and that they don’t have to go into a purchase blind.Buying a home is no exception. As one of life’s biggest – and sometimes most complicated – investments, it makes sense to take advantage of the experience of others before you sign a purchase agreement and put down a deposit.

Tarion understands that information is power, and that’s why we survey more than 50,000 new home and condo owners each fall about their experiences buying and owning a newly built home or condo.

We ask about the entire process: from the signing of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, through construction and the pre-delivery period, to aftersales service. Owners can weigh in on both their builder’s customer service as well as Tarion’s.The best part of this survey is that the results are useful for consumers, builders and Tarion.The builders who are rated “tops” by those who fill out the survey become finalists and recipients of Tarion’s Homeowners’ Choice Awards. This information is added to their record in the Ontario Builder Directory on Tarion.com, where future buyers can see it when they are doing research to find a builder.Builders, meanwhile, use the results to improve their customer service. When there are enough completed surveys on a particular builder, that builder will receive an individual report with their results and we work with them to identify where they can make improvements.The surveys are very useful for Tarion, too.The results help us measure how well we explain the new home warranty, communicate with homeowners, deal with warranty claims and resolve issues. This feedback has led to many changes: improvements to how we deal with disputes; the addition of new features to the Ontario Builder Directory and to MyHome, the portal that allows homeowners to manage their warranty online; and the creation of new tools like Home Explorer to help homeowners better understand our Construction Performance Guidelines.If you have taken possession of a new home in the past year, keep an eye out for the survey. It will come to you by email or post mail.And please take the time to complete it. Your feedback will benefit you and other homeowners, as well as those planning to purchase a new home in the future.Howard Bogach is president and CEO of the Tarion Warranty Corporation.Tarion.comFacebook.com/TarionWarrantyCorp