Has anyone ever driven past a Pulte sub multiple times and been amazed at how industrialized their process is? I mean it borders on the ridiculous. One day there are several basements all dug in a row and capped for safety. The next thing you know, there is a row of framed in houses. And soon? A bunch of finished homes.

That whole thing made me nervous for a while. I mean why would anyone buy something that is that processed… that industrial. SO, I always said that not only would I not buy something in a Pulte sub, but not in a sub at all. It was land for me.

My wife and kids and I lived in a condo from the time we were married until now, and while it was VERY convenient, I was looking for more space… both inside and outside.

Some friends of ours decided to move into a new home in Holly, and asked us to check it out. The more we looked, the more attractive it became to look at a home here ourselves. The catch? Well, Pulte homes were looking better and better.

Those of you that know me know that I’m pretty picky about customer service issues. I’m likely to decide not to buy something that I want, need, or absolutely have to have if anyone shows poor customer service skills. Oh, and did I mention that I’m a pretty difficult customer?

I was pleasently surprised by what I found. It’s made me think a lot about how I do business with MY customers. Pulte has a commitment to customer service and quality that ranks pretty high in my book!

I started engaging with the Pulte sales person at a particular sub. Tom Tillier. I’ve dealt with realtors, but the quality of interaction with Tom was pretty new to me. I found him to be very helpful, but not high-pressure. Not cheesy and smarmy as some realtors are as well. What’s more is that he was personable and seemed to take genuine interest in us as people. I observed his behavior with other of his prospects, and this seemed consistent to his character. He’s professional, patient and knowledgeable.

He took my calls on his off days and gave me his cell number. He introduced me to other people that were looking to buy in the same subdivision. He showed me the lot in the sub where he and his family were purchasing a home as well.

I asked around to friends that build houses, and they said that Pulte has a reputation for quality. Well, that was enough for me. I decided to take a closer look.

We found a home that we liked, and in a whirlwind of negotiations, paperwork and after work and weekend visits, closed and moved in less than a month.

After moving in, I figured we’d be left to our own devices. I’ve never purchased a NEW home before, so I don’t know how this whole thing works…

Well, they got our deck built within a week of us closing, and continue to surprise us with the way they go above and beyond.

We had a two hour orientation where the builder’s representative walked us through the whole house and showed us every piece of information that we needed to be sensitive to… from maintenance practices to how to best use appliances.

Also, they have a few forms that they give you to fill out. There is one for a three month checkup and a one year checkup. If you notice anything wrong, they’ll come fix it.

After we closed, Tom turned our relationship over to Rick LeBlanc. I SHOULD mention, however, that Tom still gives me a call once a week to make sure we’re doing ok and that the move went alright. He saw us out walking last week, and came out of the Pulte office and chatted with us for a minute and introduced us to a couple that is just moving in as well. I think a company's interaction with a customer AFTER they buy speaks volumes about their integrity.

Well, anyway, Rick said that they usually take care of any issues people have with houses at the three month checkup, but that if we had any immediate concerns that he’d help out.

Well, our first concern was that after we moved, we hadn’t gotten our washer and dryer in yet. (We decided to purchase one with the Pulte home and just roll it into our mortgage.) We finally picked the one we wanted about a week after moving in.

It was supposed to be delivered the following week. Well, by this time we hadn’t done any laundry in a couple of weeks (with three boys under 6 years old, this is CRAZY). Well, when Rick came to fix a problem that we found with our garage entry door, he noticed that we had a few bags of laundry in our laundry room. He called my wife on the morning that they were supposed to deliver our new washer and dryer, and apologized profusely. Apparently, someone had colossally screwed up. The washer and dryer had been delivered to a Pulte sub in Grand Rapids instead of to our sub. Rick said that he’d never done anything like this before, but that he knew we had lots of laundry, felt bad for Tina, so he’d like us to let him pick it up and take it to a laundry service here in town.

We weren’t entirely comfortable with giving our laundry to someone else to take, so he said we could meet him up there with the laundry and he would pay. Well, we did, and we had close to the record for laundry for that place… 162 pounds. He paid $137 for us to get our laundry done. I don’t know if any of you have ever gotten laundry service, but it came back clean, folded and fresh. All we had to do is put it away.

They’ve always been courteous and attentive, and we’re happy with our investment. Each person we’ve met with has asked us if they’ve satisfied our needs and requirements, and if there is anything else they can do to help.

These are only a few of the reasons that I’d recommend a Pulte Home to anyone (and HAVE to several of my friends and business contacts). Pride of construction. Quality. Customer service. Great employees. Beautiful homes.

You can find Pulte Homes at http://www.pulte.com. Pulte takes pride on their customer satisfaction guarantees.

From their website:

In building more than 408,000 homes in its history, Pulte Homes has been honored as “America’s Best Builder," and was named Builder of the Year 2002. Providing excellent customer service and offering a wide variety of loan products, Pulte Mortgage LLC, Pulte Homes' national mortgage company, meets the financing needs of Pulte Homes' customers throughout the country. Whether it's a first-time buyer or a growing family, Pulte Homes' commitment to quality is reflected in the way it builds homes, demonstrated in the way it treats customers and evident in the more than 12,000 employees who provide customers with exceptional value and a buying experience that exceeds their expectations.