"Smoke and mirrors"
"Smoke and mirrors" is a phrase that springs to mind when I think of my experience with PJ Livesey. According to their website "If there is one area where the P J Livesey Group stand head and shoulders above the competition it is our commitment to quality"
I'm thinking the directors might need to look again at this statement, as my experience is far from head and shoulders above anything remotely high standard.
I moved into The Cedars in Didsbury, a Victorian villa built in 1867, in December 2022. This was after a delay of around 8 months. Finally, on completion day, I got the keys to my apartment in their "grand and luxurious" development only to find my terrace far from complete.
Rusty ironworks and steps that are a trip hazard, combined with missing paint and a membrane left with no gravel stones on top. It was agreed on completion day that this would be fixed, however, 10 months later this still has not been rectified.
Despite having this rectification work agreed by two of the site managers and the iron works manufacturer, I had the repairs booked in for March 2022 to rectify the mess. On the morning of the said works, a phone call informed me this was cancelled and would be rearranged.
After months of emails back and forth, many being ignored, I heard no more about this work being carried out. I received an email in June 2022 from the After Care team to say this will now not be finished at all, as they deem that it is "built to design and correct specification"
Another further complaint that I reported in December 2022 was the issue of the heating system inside my apartment not being sufficient for its size, once again the site manager was sent....and nothing has ever been rectified.
If you're thinking these high standards they promise continue inside the rest of the restored Victorian house, you'd be mistaken. Cheap finishes are throughout, not "painstakingly restored" like they'd want you to believe when you're pressured to exchanging your 30% deposit.
It's not only the apartment though where PJ Livesey fall extremely short of their "high standards" The landscaping of the grounds to the "grand period property" of The Cedars are far from the fancy design plans that they lovingly show you at the sales centre when they are wanting your reddies.
Approved council plans detailing block paving and resin driveways has been replaced with no block paving, badly matching and breaking up, poorly laid resin. Indian flag stones are cracked and have been for around 5 months, which will continue to crack due to how poorly they have been laid.
The landscaping of the gardens is far from another fabulous quote on the PJ Livesey website in which they state they take "a determined approach to put quality first every time"
Lawns missing grass, rubbish and rubble left, limited amount of actual landscaping installed which in reality is just a few cheap bushes which are only in certain small areas.
Basically a cheap, bad job done throughout the whole development.
And then that brings me onto the amazing After Sales Care. Basically, non-existent. Emails constantly ignored, items agreed upon and then cancelled and basically an attitude of "tough, we're not interested"
Be warned, anyone looking at these new prestigious developments on their website and on social media, it will be nothing what you are promised.
PJ Livesey are nothing more than a glorified Barratt home...though to be fair, that would be an insult to Barratt.
11 October 2023
Unprompted review