Hi kkcheow,
I just engaged my ID and started reno on 4th May so I totally understand how you feel as I was clueless. All in all I visited about 3 IDs, gotten their quotes, saw their designs and finally decided on a particular ID.
Renovations cost a huge amount of money, so naturally I wanted to be sure that I don't get conned. However I believe in paying for quality and not to milk the ID so dry that everyone loses. It's good to get info from Renotalk such as IDs to avoid and stuffs, but ultimately you gotta know that only about 10% to 20% of pple kenna very bad experience and most pple whose experiences are great don't really blog about it or get suspected by others when they recommend so & so ID on the forum.
Personally for myself, I chose my ID based on the fact:
1. Coy is ISO certified
2. Made him bring me to view his previous work (at a person's house)
3. Great design. Other IDs gave me standard ones or told me that they have done my house floorplan a million times before so they have exhausted all the permutations. I don't want to hear that, I want to know that you have made an effort to think of something for me; to know that my design is unique.
3. Compared quotes with other IDs (or ask for help here) and made sure I'm not quoted something excessively; if it's excessive, I ask why that price.
4. Ask for discounts and see how willing they are to give. If they give without blinking an eye, maybe they are already charging you a premium so it'll help to hold your horses and negotiate more.
5. His workers/ sub-cons are mainly malaysians, helps in quality control. They also got warranty and rectifying period.
5. Check Renotalk for bad reviews on ID/ Firm. Neutral reviews or no reviews might mean that the ID/ Firm still can make it.
6. Does ID need my business? Or does he want it? Is he hungry for it? My ID is a malaysian and I can see great hunger and desire to provide excellent customer service. His designs are really good and he bothers to come up with alternative designs before I even think about it. That's taking the extra step and it's something we can demand for especially in this bad economic climate.
7. Most impt criteria for me is how I feel about the ID, can I work with him? Do I like him?
To each his own, you might have your own criteria, maybe it's budget, maybe it's design etc. But stick around the forum and you'll learn alot. Talking to more IDs actually help you to streamline and discover what you really want; it makes you more familiar with the different design terms too.
Even though my chosen ID wasn't the cheapest, I still got him because I feel that I can trust him, loved his designs, he shows his dedication and I felt that I will be getting value for money.
And that's my 2 cents worth. Hope it helped.
