A tale of endless delays and unkept promises

Review on Casagrand FirstCity, Perumbakkam, Chennai

I am writing this as a cautionary note to all planning to invest in Casagrand projects. I took the plunge with FirstCity and now feel I made a bad decision in trusting what was verbally told by the sales team and not ensuring the same was called out in writing in the agreement or in the form of an email at least. The manifold amenities were what lured me in along with a reasonable price point given the amenities and promises of a grander living experience.

In particular for FirstCity project, one of the main selling points by the sales person was that CG is investing 12-13 crores in building a RO plant and the water we will be getting will be RO purified and there won't be any issue of scaling or need for an RO purifier. This was not called out in the brochure or in the agreement and it was my stupidity that I didn't ask for a written confirmation on this before booking the flat. Now, as per the CG team it is not feasible to build an RO plant as TDS of water is not suitable for the same. Conveniently they say this now while I and many other owners (as I got to know) foolishly assumed they had already done all needed checks and post that only had informed sales team to quote this while selling the units. Big letdown and lack of trust created.

In my book, this is duping the customer and first degree cheating but unfortunately since I didn't ask for any verbal confirmation while booking the flat, I have no proof basis which I can contest this broken promise with CG. Another point of contention is the actual date of handover which again was conveyed verbally as Aug 2023 by the sales person but as per agreement it was August 2025. When I questioned this I was told since overall project will be completed by 2025 for agreement purposes they can only go with this date but rest assured since my apartment is in phase 2 it will be completed by Aug 2023. It is Aug 2024 now and I doubt even by end of 2024 it will be delivered as promised. They were very prompt in building the structure as per the timelines mentioned but when it comes to finishing of units it's been delayed for more than a year now. And the payment structure is made out such that 90-95% of the money is collected when structure is completed. In short, get all the money ahead of time and then delay and go slow on next steps.

Couple of other grouses I have as a home buyer are:

1. They never allow us to see the unit untill everything is ready which means we never get to see what is happening with our money and can only go by what they share via emails. I am yet to see the unit after more than 2 years since booking and having already paid up 97.5% of the cost and registration completed.

2. The lack of flexibility from their end for doing fully modular kitchen. They will not provide the granite slabs in case we want to do fully modular kitchen and they can only build with cement slab under granite which reduces usable space. It also means you can't install dishwasher as cement slab will reduce the height available for a dishwasher to fit in. In this age where a dishwasher and fully modular kitchen is so common, I was really put off by their lack of support. The model flat has modular kitchen and hence never thought there would be any restrictions.

If I had known issues like this will popup later on then I would have stayed away. The corridor width inside the blocks i.e. between front door and wall opposite is a little small. Car parking in the basement also is a blunder considering it is an area prone to flooding. If they really cared about that they would not have had basement parking.

Too many surprises overall and the delay in final stage works getting done is why I am sharing my experience here so that others can take an informed decision while contemplating investing in a CG project. Every week a new project is getting announced by CG while existing projects are getting delayed and not getting completed. Hoping things change for the better soon. I will update my review if things change for the better in near future.

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