Palm Harbor Homes

I bought a Palm Harbor 6 years ago and it's taken about that long to realize that it was a big mistake. I've put $2000 into the air-conditioner. I've found out that the manufacturer of the unit is out of business (fly by night) and so any warranty I would have had is no longer good. I could go on but that's enough, don't you think?

I have spent 2 weeks just trying to get a base price from them on a specific modular home. After reading these reviews I am glad I was not even able to get one, I suspect, (as some people said), they probably are like a used car dealer where they can pad the price by nickel and dime-ing you to death. I am Very disgusted with their lack of customer service because all they give is 'lip service' . And as another person said they will do a house 'they' want instead of what you want. When I told them want I wanted to spend per/month he decided there was no possible way I could do that and acted like I was inconveniencing him. What I ended up telling him was he needed a change of attitude because it was none of his business what 'I can afford' because he had no idea what type of cash I had to spend besides the $40k equity I will have from selling my home .

My sister and brother-in-law just purchased a home from PH in Odessa, TX. When the home was delivered it was the wrong home. Wrong color, wrong floor plan. Company is trying to strong-arm them into accepting the home for $5000 off the price. Then, they tried to say that my sister and brother-in-law ordered the home that was delivered. Unfortunately for PH, my sister took photos of the home they chose.

PH had a web page with average selling prices per model, called them and salesperson confirmed those were good estimates of base prices. I was interested on one. Drove to there model center to see what they looked like, how they were built, liked what I saw. But in executing the contract the sales person changed the "base price" from the average listed in their web page, increasing it by 20k, saying the costs were for building it for stilts, problem was it was not going to be placed on stilts, and the contract as written said nothing about stilt construction.....it was simply the base price. Don't trust these guys, you need a lawyer to review everything with them, require 72 hours review time before anything is binding, and be prepared to overpay by nickle and diming....trust them as you would a used car salesman.....best advice look elsewhere....you mat like what you see, problem is you have to deal with them, not worth it.

After working for Palm Harbor for nine years, in sales and mangagement, I was a believer. I taught people to sell the product, how to explain how we had the "best product and service" in the industry. I sold homes to both my grandmother and uncle. They both paid cash for very nice homes, but the service was very difficult. I had to push behind the scenes to get things done for them. Now after all this time, I find myself a Palm Harbor owner as well. My wife and I cannot get anything handled by the factory...the workmanship is shoddy. Their "Gold Key Care" program promises to be the best service in the industry. What a joke. To all the customers who got the "spiel" from ME or my salespeople over the years...I am truly sorry. I'm sure you had to deal with problems and frustration after overpaying for your home. I believed it, gave them a quarter of my life, finally resigned, and I'm so happy now. Just wish I didn't own a crappy house. Still in the industry, because I believe in factory-built housing. It's a viable option for many buyers who own land. If you don't own land or you are letting the PH guy "force" you to use his contractors, you are headed to the poor house. The most profitable stores are the ones that won't let you do your own sitework. Get bids from others and you will see. I still have a lot of friends there, but I could never recommend buying a home from them...unless you found an independent dealer who sold their product for less, and handled service outside of the retail nightmare that is Palm Harbor. Work smart...work safe...and buy a Karsten

I began talking with PH in 12/2009. I gave 1K earnest money while they worked on securing financing. Two months later (2/2010). I was given the runaround game by Rebecca, the financial person. Ron, my saleman was clueless and a joke. He was a Sales director/center mgr. in FL and IN and ended up only a salesperson in NC! That should have been my first clue that something was not on par. When I talked with Ron and asked where we stood on my status, he replied, "We're waiting on Rebecca to tell us what to do." He seemed clueless that I was talking with Rebecca about pulling my credit score. She told me that she was waiting on the lender to notify her. That has been a week and I have not been contacted! I told Ron that I wanted my 1k earnest money refunded. I was told that I needed to file a writeen request and that it would take 10-14 days! NONE of this information was ever given to me when I began talking with PH in GSO, NC. I, like the others who have posted, adivse EVERYONE to stay away from PH. I have also learned that PH is closing the Eastern Divion, including sales centers and manufacturing facilities. I do not know exactly which centers/facilities these are except there are 21 involved. AVOID PH at ALL cost!

My husband and I went to Palm Harbor Homes in Plant City, FL. We were paying cash, they seemed to have a promblem with that. They did not seem so friendly any more. When we started the paper work our sales person Heathler Dodds, made a mess of it. Paper work showed different prices, we were being charged for things that were suppose to be included. We told her what stuff WAS INCLUDED, and she rolled her eyes a lot. We lost respect for her at that point. Then she started "throwing in" some of the things I recalled that we were told came with the home. More eye rolling from her. Later, I found the paper THEY gave us the first day, showing what was INCLUDED. SAVE EVERYTHING. Our paper work had to be redone, to include everything eles that was included, another 2 hr drive back there. They did not even try to compansate me for the drive back to fix their mistake. Heathler ALSO made math mistakes, their favor, she kept telling me I was wronge. Again I had to demand someone eles come in and show her how she was still charging us for appliances we did not want. We found her to be very unproffessional. We bought a stick built house in Maine & everything went well. Alittle hassle may be expected, but what we have been put through just to be a customer of theirs has been awful! Once we were in the home, we discovered trim work damage, rug not fitting to wall, cupboards falling apart, woodwork damage, LOTS MORE, with pictures. ALL pointed out during walk though. Both sides made a list. AND counter top was deeply scratched by 'fixs it man's' tools (Allen) had laying there. I showed him, he removed his tools to the floor, & said he had stuff to rub it out. I said no, that it would always show the DEEP marks. He said he would replace it. Days later the general manager, told me that our child must of made the marks. They refussed to fix it, even after I repeated the conversation I had with Allen. After much stress, they replaced it. I expected 'a list' of repairs, no big deal to us, sales people told us there would be. Said they would come out after we moved in, to take care of the "little" things that would need "a touch up". We did not expect the hassel & stress when fix it time came. We simply wanted the stuff fixed, that's all. The bay window was not put in very well, I have pictures of the rain pouring inside. Their idea of fixing that was to por caulking down inside. Come on, caulking will just shrink in time. When it came time to have repairs made, the stress really began. Most of the repairs were very disappointing. Nails driven in center of bay windows, looks awful, cupboards still falling apart, 2nd bathroom mirror needs to be replaced again, floor caulking still breaking up, broken door handles, awful looking paint job front door, theres more. (moved in 14 months ago) I will have to hire my own repair man. Not Fair! They promised to fix everything. Repair man was here several times, but a lot of stuff not done right, or stuff continued to happen right away. Talking to general manager was always stressful, he was very rude, very insulting. There was no need of that. I am not hard to get along with, I was never rude. There was one great girl there, can't remember her name, short black hair, they could all take a class on manners from her. PLEASE, be careful when dealing with Palm harbor homes. They are nice & friendly at first, but after you buy, they treat you awful bad. They will take forever to return calls & then they will treat you badly when you expect them to do what they had promissed you. They do not care what the inside, OR outside, will look like after you move in. Then you are on your own, don't think they will be fixing any damage correctly. Stick building takes the same amount of time, because PH will keep changing your delivery time by months. Also stick built homes come out better.

My fiance and I have 5 children. We were interested in the Gotham which would accommodate our huge family. We own our home but wanted something finished and nice so we looked into buying a modular home from PH. The closest location that had this model was in Hickory NC. We were told it was 2.5 hours away right outside of Asheville..First lie..it was 80 miles past Asheville and about 4.5 hours to get there. Second lie...He quoted me a price over the phone of 146,000 (total). Much to my surprise the board inside the house said 158,000 base this was with no tile or carpet..white walls just plain old basic. I had a appt on a saturday but thanks to my bad directions and longer time in the car it was 4:30 ( they close at 5:00. I tried to call 11 or 12 times from my cell and no one answered. Finally we arrived it was 15 TIL 5. Only to find no one anywhere. We walked right thru the office and out on the lot still no one. We walked around for ten minutes and the dude I had a appt with completely ignored us...me and my daughter were going into a open home to find the employees in there just hanging out. The MANAGER came to the door and said were closed. I said I have a appt and have been here for 15 minutes looking for somebody and have called numerous times. She said I heard the phone but didnt answer it!! Im sorry but you'll have to come back on Monday! I said O hell no Im not I had a appt and I dont appreciate the treatment I am getting. Theh she was all O I see well he is busy and will be with you shortly. After that we did get to see the home we were interested in but he just sat down and said go look I'll wait here! So several times I was lied to. He also told us that us having our own land would help but we would still need 10% down which was around 10,000. Please when you have your own land that is enough. This was without a credit check. These people were going to take me for a ride. They should be ashamed I have 5 children!!! So needless to say we are NOT buying a home from these people they are not worth my time or money. We are going to finish ours afterall it is OURS!

We have worked for over a year to purchase a Palm Harbor modular home.

We were, initially, given a contract to sign with the major expenses marked "TBD" To Be Determined. We did not sign, of course. We did give a $500 deposit to keep them talking to us. I believe, at that time, the sales force used a bait and switch sales tactic.

We continually had problems with getting an appraisal, where we had our property, to allow us to continue with the purchase.

To make a very long story short, we eventually gave them a deposit of 8k to keep things moving along. We continued to have apprasial problems and when I finally decided to pay for an independant apprasial I was told that the company used specific appraisers and that I would be wasting my money. It was at that point I learned that there was no formal apprasial...just an informal, telephone quote.

The sales manager suggested that if we would make a higher down payment, (they already had 8k) that they would be able to finialize the contract. They wanted a total of 15k before they would finalize the sale.

I lost all confidence in the integrity of the sales manager.

I stated that I wanted to get a legal consultation on the contract and was told, as soon as I mentioned the word "lawyer," that they could no longer work with us and that a refund would sent to us.

I have wasted a year with this company. And, I feel, that we were lucky NOT to have contiuned with a purchase.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Our experience with Palm Harbor can only be described as frustrating, dissappointing, misleading and wasteful. From researching modulars homes through the internet we became very interested in their 4 bedroom buckeye. After numerous trips to the Texarkana dealership, 1 trip to view a slightly different version of the same home (in which we drove 4 hrs. 1 way) and extensive phone calls to numerous dealers (one would say one thing, the next another) the so called sales associates and managers were uneducated, and very quick to pass the buck or become 'unavailable' when you ask specific questions or for a break down of how they come to their prices. Which in our eyes shows how you shall be dealt with after the purchase. We were very fortunate to not have made the mistake of purchasing one of their homes, and feel they wasted 3 months of our time. I recommend that no one believe what you see or read on their website as it is not kept up to date. In fact the home we were very interested in purchasing was unavailable, in the end, unless we added a room that was not wanted (but was shown to be available without) & would have cost more than the dream home we are now building! Educate yourselves people. Do not let them tell you one thing and deliver another. Read ALL of your fine print and know that even when they give you a pricing list those are subject to change at their discretion and whim, and, in my opinion, will not be of the standard or quality you see in their 'show homes'. I believe that to be true of any manufactured or modular 'show homes' though.

I AM A HOME OWNER AND A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF PALM HARBOR HOME . MY HUSBAND AND I BOUGHT A DOUBLE WIDE HOME...WE THOUGHT WE WERE BUYING A QUALITY HOME AND WAS TO GET A EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT ALSO ...OUR HOME WAS CRAP WE DIDNT BUY FROM PALM HARBOR DIRECTLY FOR OUR DISCOUNT WAS MORE THAN TO BUY FROM A DEALER...WE ENDDED UP BUYING FROM DEALER FOR LESS ...OUR HOME WAS TO BE BUILT IN A MONTH OR TWO...WHICH TOOK 4 MONTH ONLY BECAUSE I WORKED THERE WITH MY HUSBAND AND WAS ON THEM AS WE DIDNT HAVE A PLACE TO LEAVE... THAY DID A CRAPPY JOB ON OUR HOME ...WE AS EMPLOYEE NEW WHAT OUR HOME WAS SUPPOSE TO LOOK LIKE AND IT DIDNT....AS A EMPLOYEE. WORKING FOR PALM HARBOR HOMES IN PLANT CITY ..WAS JUST AS BAD... THEY TREAT THERE EMPLOYEE LIKE CRAP.GOD FORBID IF YOU ARE WOMAN WORKING FOR THAT COMPANY YOU ARE A LOW DOWN DIRTY SCUM ...IF YOU ARE A MAN YOU ARE LORD OF ALL LORDS...PALM HARBOR LIES TO CUSTOMERS ON DAILY BASES...THAY TELL THEM ANYTHING THAY CAN TO GET THEM OFF THE PHONE...THAY ALSO DOUBLE CHARGE FOR ALL APPLIANCES AND ECT...JUST ASK THEM FOR A PRICE BREAK DOWN AND THAY WILL TELL YOU THAY CANT GIVE YOU THAT.WONDER WHY ... I HAVE SEEN SO MUCH IN 7 YEARS OF EMPLOYMENT I COULD GO ON AND ON...WHEN I DID BRING IT TO UPPER MANAGEMENT THAY FIRED ME....SO I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND A PALM HARBOR HOME TO ANYONE AS A HOME OWNER OR EMPLOYEE...YOU WILL BE TAKEN FOR .... SO IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MORE INFO ABOUT PALM HARBOR HOME FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ANYTIME...I HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE ...AND JUST WANT YOU ALL TO BE AWAIRED OF THE HOME YOU MAY BE BUYING.....