lachesis

dbl post...

Hi Osol, Er, the screen is meant for insects. Sorry, but am not sure if it can withstand a cat's claws.. or chewing. In our previous place, we had lots of built in furniture near windows, and since we don't like grills, we had to keep the windows closed all the time so the kitties could be safe. Here in the new place we don't have any furniture near windows so we can open the windows to let in air. Closed windows might be the safest way to keep kitty in, esp if kitty is used to venturing out. Good luck!

Hello everyone, It's been 5 weeks since my post on the cockroach problem, and we are happy to say it seems to be under control now. After clearing out all their favourite places, getting pest control to come down, we only saw maybe 1 or 2 and it's been okay since (touch wood). The most effective measure, I must say, was the magnetic insect screen (netting) we put up at the kitchen window and common bathroom window. Here are some pix - in the day you can barely see the netting at all! Kitchen window - 1 big panel (left), 1 small panel (right) Kitchen window - left panel, different angle Common bathroom window - it's a bit dim even with the light on as the sun is really bright It has not only kept out cockroaches, but other flying insects too! I know for a FACT it works against cockroaches, because one morning, I lifted bottom right corner of the net to push the sliding windows close (we were leaving for work). A cockroach took the opportunity to try to crawl into the house. I got a shock when I saw the cockroach, so let go of the net which snapped back into the place. When I lifted the net, the cockroach boldly crawled in. Killed it by squishing it with a tissue. If I hadn't lifted the net, it would never have been able to come in at all. The screen cost us around $300 (the total area was smaller than the minimum size), but it was WORTH EVERY CENT. It has been so effective, we didn't even sign up for the yearly package for pest control in the end. The service was very good - their technician even advised against wasting money on a yearly package as our place is very clean. The weather is blazing hot these days, and we're thankful we decided to put an aircon unit in our dining/living area. We'd almost left it out to save cost. So all's well in the EA in Bishan. Only sour point - had a major run-in with BOSCH over a trivial matter of our fridge door handle. You can read about my blood pressure raising conversations with BOSCH in my other thread. Warn your friends too!

Hey everyone, Buying based on friend's recommendations may not always be the best way to source for products. There are many new models on the market, some could be quite good but no one has tried yet. In our case, the problem was not even the fridge itself (thankfully). It was a door handle, and only ONE of two door handles at that! The left one handle has been working fine since Day 1, and still is. The damaged replacement handle is also working fine as at today. In any case, whether it's MIC, assembled there, partially assembled there, their after sales service completely broke down. There has been update since the my first post there. Their Manager of Customer Service, David called me on Friday to apologise, and said they would rush the parts over by DHL, which will take about 3-4 working days. It should be in by mid-week, which is when he'll call again and make arrangements for it to get fixed. He assured me that my case was an exception, not the norm for them in terms of customer service - I sincerely hope so. He also assured me they are looking at their internal procedures. I can only hope this translates into better case management and that no one else gets the run around like this. I'm sure I popped a few blood vessels talking to their staff on the phone. Stay tuned for how this turns out.

Hello everyone, As a cautionary tale to all, I have to share our experience with Bosch's after sales service. We're generally happy with their product. Bought a fridge (side by side model KAN62V00-02, see pix of the fridge in our t-blog, washing machine (WAS28444) and oven (HBA23B550J) in Oct last year. The fridge is working well, as are the oven and washing machine. There was only one small problem (or so I thought) - the right door handle on my fridge started squeaking whenever we open the fridge. This started in Feb 2011. This small little issue has since exposed how incompetent and unprofessional the after sales service is at Bosch!! Here's the chain of events: 19 Feb 2011 Bosch technician Mr Chan comes to investigate. It's a new model, and the first time they have come across it. He tightens the handle. The squeaking stops. Good and polite service by Mr Chan. 28 Mar 2011 The Bosch technician Mr Chan comes by again as the handle is squeaking again only after 4 weeks. He tightens it again, and suggest that if the sound comes back we should consider getting the whole handle changed. 29 Mar 2011 (the very next day!) The handle is squeaking again. 30 Mar 2011 I call Bosch to tell them about the problem again. I speak to Edmund (sounds a bit blur). Bosch says the parts will take about 2- 3 weeks to come in as they have to order it from Germany. 2-3 weeks later, sometime mid April I call to ask about the parts. I speak to Jasmine, who says they're not in yet, and to wait another 2-3 weeks. I'm also told that Edmund has quit. 28 April It is now ONE MONTH after I called to ask for a replacement handle, and 2.5 months since my handle first started to squeak. This time I speak to Jessie. She says the parts aren't in yet, but will call me back before the end of the day with update. SHE DOESN'T CALL BACK. 29 April Jasmine calls me to tell me the parts are in, and that I CAN COME AND COLLECT THE PARTS FROM THEM. OMFG .... collect the parts from them!?!?!? :jawdrop: How can I, the customer be asked to come and collect parts? This is for a fridge handle! Am I supposed to fix it myself?!?! From my subsequent conversation with Jasmine I realise that there is no proper record of my case. My name was recorded wrongly. They keep calling me "Patricia". There was also obviously no record of what the problem was. I had to explain the case to FOUR different people (Mr Chan, Jasmine, Jessie, Edmund). In between, Edmund and Mr Chan had since resigned. There was no proper handover or follow-up for my case. Jasmine had no idea it was a squeaky handle, and it was only the right side. She asked if there was a malfunction, and then later even said she'd recorded that both handles are making noise! Jasmine also said to me that there were a total of five parts. How can I, the customer, be expected to know how many parts there are in their fridge handle? I wrote them a nasty e-mail where I said "I state for the record - the RIGHT door handle on my fridge is squeaking, and it needs to be replaced. It's THAT SIMPLE." NO one from customer services replies. Only their marketing person replies to say sorry (we met a nice marketing lady at the showroom, looped her into the e-mail too). Jasmine then said she could arrange for the technician to come by on 3 May, between 10am and 2pm. I asked for him to come between 10am and 12noon, as I had to be back in the office after noon. I also reminded them to ensure that their technician has all the necessary parts and tools to fix this once and for all as the hubby or I can't keep taking leave to deal with this. Jasmine said her technician would call me on the morning of 3rd May to confirm the time. 3 May 2011 No suprises on 3 May. No one calls to confirm the timing. I have to call Bosch at 10am to ask what time the technician is coming. This time I speak to Cynthia. She says the technician is coming at 11am. The technician Alvin comes on time. BUT, he shows up with only his document bag (no parts in sight). I ask him, you brought the parts. He asks me "What parts?" I say "For the door handle!" And as I rant about already explaining to his office, he asks to come in to take a look. After looking at the handle, and opening the fridge a few times, he asks to let him remove my vegetable drawer so he can check the model number! Meaning he doesn't even know what model it is! He then says he will go down to his van to look for the parts. I call Bosch and speak to Cynthia again, who sounds exasperated that Alvin doesn't know what is happening, and assures me she will call him and talk to him. WTH is going on??? Alvin comes back with the handle and fixes it up. When I go over to try it, I see that the corner is damaged! OMFG... they really know how to add insult to injury! Now we have to order a NEW HANDLE which will take god knows how many more weeks, and we'll have to take leave again to get them to come over to fix it! Even if this was a new model, they really should have spare parts of hand, instead of ordering the spare parts one at a time from Germany. If they are ready to sell it, they should be ready to fix it. It's obvious people in their Service & Warranty section don't talk to each other. They don't record customer's instructions properly, they don't brief their technicians properly. I called them back to relate today's experience. This time I spoket to Jasmine. They explained that they don't open up such parts as customers may ask why the parts have been opened up already, and whether they are new parts or used before. Instead, they're okay with bringing damaged parts to a customer's house! So, Jasmine says they will order the new handle on 'urgent' basis (i.e. 10 working days or so). I gave her a lecture on keeping customers updated and briefing her technical staff. I expected a lot more for Bosch. First in terms of the quality of the product, and second in terms of service. Can you imagine what it'd been like if it wasn't just my door handle? What if it was a vital component of the fridge? Am I supposed to have made do without refridgeration for 2.5 months?? So fellow forumers, be wary of their after sales service. If you should find yourselves having to deal with their Service & Warranty section (hopefully not!) , play it safe, drop them e-mails to document all conversations with their staff. Obviously no one keeps records. Stay tuned on how long they take to rectify this situation. I'll probably only get the new fridge handle after National Day. **edited to fix link to t-blog

Hey Jaskel, Wow, your place looks awesome. Especially the LED in in the solid surface - I remember you telling us about it when we were doing our kitchen! Love the designs in your false ceiling too.. funky man! Can't wait to see the real thing

Four months on... It's been four months since we shifted in. No major issues - our flooring popped due to expansion and contraction but the QS guys were extremely prompt and efficient. (See my other post in the Quickstep thread). Minor rectification work had to be done as well, but these have all been settled. The place is really windy, in fact TOO windy! Was drying towels on our tekko in the kitchen - the wind was so strong the whole tekko fell off the holder. I hate cockroaches! The only real problem we had was a COCKROACH INFESTATION!!!! Only after four months, we found a group of them hiding in our upper corner cabinet, which only has tupperware in it. They laid eggs on the tupperware. They also crawled into our stove!! Of all places!! They hid inside the metal box under the knobs and laid eggs there too! Imagine our horror. No wonder we found a lot of cockroach poop in the cupboard under the stove - it'd been falling out through the holes in the bottom of the stove. OMG. There was even a dead cockroach in the stove - when I finally got it out through the venting holes, I found out it was... headless... *faint*... No wonder we'd always find at least one or two live/dead cockroaches in the kitchen every day. We cleared out the cabinet, cleared out the inside of the stove, and just decided to call pest control. Pretty good service even on a Sunday- they came down, sprayed the drainage holes and skirtings in the whole house, put gel baits in all the kitchen cabinets poison baits in other cabinets. Kudos Town Council I also wrote to the Town Council to get them to spray the bin chute and the roof. To my surprise, they were VERY responsive. They sprayed chemicals in the bin chute, and reassured me that they flush the bin chute twice a week. I actually got two e-mails from two different people and a phone call from the guy managing our block. I was so impressed I sent them a nice thank you e-mail, complimenting them on their service. Two days later, someone came by to drop off a little package from them - a little present to thank me for my compliment! Heh heh! Although it was just a post-it pad, thank you card and luggage tag, it was a nice gesture. Hand delivered too! Anyway, here are photos of our house warming gift from Jaskel Thanks dude - a LOT of people like it. By special request, here are photos of our kitchen corner drawers. According to Jaskel, only Blum does these corner drawers. A look at the interior of the drawer. It's arrow-shaped, but really spacious! Love the cutlery trays from Howards Storage.

Hey guys, So sorry! Haven't logged in a while. Titan and I both very busy at work. Cleared the box Yuene - hope we didn't miss it! Ne0 - nice to hear from you! hope you're all settled in and enjoying married life!

We moved in four months ago, and so far no problems with our QS Largo flooring. Love the colour and feel, and the grooves feel nice too. Just before CNY we did have a bit of an issue though - the planks in the dining area were 'popping' up, like there was a swollen area that would . It started as a small area of about 1-2 square feet, but the area grew bigger daily, to double the size. We called QS, but since it was too close to CNY nothing could be done. We arranged for a date after CNY, and told them that they had to make sure the workers came prepared with extra boards, extra skirtings and all the necessary tools so that the issue could be fixed in one sitting. On the appointed day, the guy who delivered the materials was EARLY. Then, the team of 3 workers came EARLY too! They were also very professional and friendly, and explained that because of the large area (living and dining combined), the expansion of the boards slowly pushed all the boards towards the dining area which is why the area 'popped' up. For smaller areas this is less of an issue, as there is an allowance for expansion under the skirting. They removed the skirting, trimmed the boards with chisel and hammer, and within about 3 hours they were done. They swept up the place and the area looked as good as new. Kudos to the sales guy who's handling our account, and the installers.

Hee hee.. Thanks Kor. Can't wait to see pix of your place all done up too!

Hi hi. Thanks! Can't this coming Tue - next Tue?

Hey Kor, Glad to hear you're back home. The reno is moving along nicely! Eh - don't scratch any scabs! Your cheetah spots will be gone before you know it. Calamine lotion will help with the itch.

Hey Gals Mama, Yeah, the Buddha is pretty recognisable. Hee hee. Found it a a shop along Serangoon Road - just had to get it

Hi Yuene! Nice to see things are shaping up - love the orange kitchen backsplash, and the colour of the study! Also like the light you got for your WIW. Also love how you recycled your old TV/PC bench into a seating bench. Very creative What colour will the velvet curtain in your WIW be? $4 meatballs on Tuesdays!?!? Count me in!! Love the Ikea meatballs... and the fried chicken wing... dammit now I'm hungry. Hope your bedframe comes in soon!

Hi Dr.A, How are things with you? Yeah, pretty much settled in and enjoying the new space. The kitchen top is Corian. When we were shopping for solid surface (SS), noticed that LG pricing is almost similar so decided to go with the longer established brand. White is actually not that difficult to maintain. Just keep it dry (the hubby is VERY particular about this - will wipe the SS very time we use the sink!). The other MAGIC WEAPON is Magic Clean's 'Stain and Mould Remover'. It's super powerful, b'coz it has bleach in it. Tried and tested - it could remove tumeric stains from the white SS. Thanks for the compliment on the tiles. Especially like the MBR Bathroom ones - they feel very resort-y. Heh heh. Not much by way of hidden costs - but total reno and furnishing cost a pretty penny. As the hubby likes to say "You pay peanuts you get monkeys", so you pretty much get what you pay for. Sprung for quality stuff since we're gonna be staying here a while.