sofyanwong

Hi All, I'm new in the forum, which I regretted because I could have learnt so much before going out to buy my furniture and have a super bad experience. I know that this thread is supposedly discussing on Life/Living Story, but since FCC is mentioned, I thought of sharing my experience too. If you don't have time to read the whole details below, please just remember one thing: "Do NOT buy ANYTHING from FCC Sungei Kadut" If you're interested to know why, you're welcome to read. Background Story My wife-to-be and I were shopping for furniture for our new home. After a few rounds, finally on 23-May we decided on FCC because we liked a dining table there. And we tried to buy our sofa set etc. from the same place to get a group discount. Ken was the one who served us. She was very helpful, and we had a good discussion. We asked her if she could custom-make sofa, she said yes. We told her that we saw somewhere else, but none in her shop, a curved sofa. So we described to her that the whole sofa is slightly curved (imagine a semi-circle, but not so curved), and we wanted 4-seater. She said ok. In addition, we would want an ottoman, she said ok. In the end we bought: 1 dining table + 6 chairs set 1 custom-made sofa set (4-seater curved and 1 ottoman) 1 TV console 1 coffee table 1 custom-made rug Because the sofa set and the rug are custom-made, they said it'll take 4-6 weeks. As I need the furniture to be in by 4-Jul (just nice 6 weeks) because my tea ceremony for wedding will be held in the new house, we asked if it could be earlier. In the end we decided on 1-Jul. The dining table set, TV console, coffee table were to be delivered on 31-May, since they're on stock. I paid for the whole package upfront (which is a very unwise thing to do) by credit card 0%-interest installment plan. Now, time for the more interesting stories. The Waiting Story Since the 4-seater sofa is custom-made, we couldn't decide on the length (between 3-3.4 m), and the size of the ottoman (3x3 or 3x4). So finally we arranged with FCC that Ken would come to our new flat to take measurement. She made my wife-to-be wait for her for more than 1 hour during the appointment. The TV Console Story Ken told me that the TV console couldn't be delivered on 31-May, because out of stock. She asked me if I could change to a different model, or different design, or something else (can't remember). When I went down to FCC again to confirm on the model, and I showed her the model that I bought, she said "oh it's this one ah? If this one then we have." The Dining Table Story When 31-May came, the dining table set only came with 4 chairs. I called Ken, and she told me "you only bought 4 chairs right?" After some arguments and checking of invoices then she said yes, supposedly 6 chairs, but because out of stock, so the 2 chairs will be delivered on a later date. When is "later date"? Apparently the shipment could only come on 10-Jul. Ken even asked me "do you want different coloured chairs (if you want the chairs earlier)?" to which I sternly refused. In the end I arranged for 18-Jul because I will be away before that. The Rug Story It was supposed to be delivered on 26-Jun, together with the refund (read The Main Story: The Sofa Set). On 25-Jun, a lady called to ask for postponement because the driver was on MC. So in the end I just ask them to deliver all on 18-Jul. Let's just wait and see if they're going to postpone AGAIN. The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Part 1 On 31-May, Ken told me over the phone that "the sofa round back design got problem". As I could not understand her description of the "problem", I went down there (and also to settle the TV console problem - see above). Basically she asked me if I had wanted L-shaped sofa, or U-shaped sofa, to which I said NO. What I wanted is a slightly curved sofa. So I drew her my design on a piece of paper, then she claimed that she didn't understand what I wanted earlier. Then she asked me to give her a picture of the sofa that we saw. I asked for what, she said if she saw the picture, then she could make the sofa. Then what's the difference between seeing the picture of a real sofa and seeing the design concept that I've already drawn for her? She finally said no need to see the photo, and that she could do it based on my drawing. She kept on saying that I must top-up money, because when she thought I had wanted a straight 4-seater sofa (and thus the lower price). And that curved sofa is difficult to make, the mold and the whatever etc. It's true that when we placed order on 23-May, we didn't give a picture or a drawing but she said no problem to our verbal description. So I insisted that she had sold me the whole package and I refused to pay any top up. She finally said OK, and promised to send me the design via email. Now, if she had MISUNDERSTOOD my requirement, she wouldn't have told me that there was a PROBLEM in the first place. When I asked her about delivery time, she said 4 weeks (which is in line with my requirement). The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Part 2 Feeling everything under control, I didn't follow up closely with her until around mid-June, when she finally started sending me the sofa design. She called me and asked me if I wanted velcro-ed or fixed cushions for the sofa. I opted for fixed. She said I had to top up MORE because I chose fixed. So she gave me an option then she asked me to top up? I asked her about delivery time, she said 10-14 days. I naively believed. The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Part 3 I kept on asking her about the delivery date. She complained how come I kept disturbing her about delivery date, to which I said that "because I need it by 4-Jul". And to my horror, as of 23-June the sofa was not even in production yet. It's all still in design stage. She then kept on asking me to top up, and rattled on that I had "opted for fixed cushion so it'll cost more, and plus the ottoman, and plus the rug". Wait a minute... weren't we just talking about the 4-seater sofa? Why did the rug and the ottoman come into picture? She finally gave me the ultimatum. "The decision is now yours: 1. Fixed cushion: top up $600. 2. Velcro-ed: top up $300. 3. Refund the sofa set. 4. You not happy, you can bring to CASE." I was furious. I demanded to talk to her boss (we're on the phone). She said her boss can only speak Chinese etc. (I'm Indonesian with limited Chinese skill). I said never mind, I still wanted to talk. Then she siam-ed and said "I'm the boss, everyone else here is my worker". The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Finale On 24-June, I called and asked, how much is refund? She calculated here and there, and said "$1250". Now, the sofa set was sold to me at $1800, plus I upgraded to half-leather which cost me $500-600 more. So, "retail" price is $2300-2400. Given group discount, i.e. by calculation of individual item retail price and minus the group discount, it should have been in the range of $1500-1600. So I went down to FCC again, feeling unjustified. I saw Ken, and demanded to only start discussion when I saw her boss. (and oh yes, she apparently has a boss) Now, her boss is a lady, who speaks Chinese (not sure if she can't understand English or just pretending, but it's not for me to speculate). In any case, I explained to her about the sofa-set with my broken Chinese. Her attitude to me was unbelieveable. This ladyboss: 1. was totally uninterested 2. told me she was the one who asked Ken to inform me about all the top-up and stuff. 3. told me that she had "empowered" Ken to handle my case, and asked me to just settle it with Ken. 4. walked away during our discussion as she was "busy" and "had other things to do". In the end, I didn't want to waste my time, energy, money, my own peace-of-mind to this unreliable FCC, so I agreed on their price for refund of sofa set (4-seater and ottoman): $1300 minus 5% because I paid with installment = $1235. I agreed the amount after I put a note there in the invoice that I am totally not satisfied with their service, and that I shall be entitled to share my bad experience with anyone. They didn't budge. They're willing to trade a few hundreds with bad publicity. Conclusion I've learnt so much about FCC now that I am convinced that nobody else would need to be disadvantaged like the way I was. You may forget what you've read until now, but just remember one thing: "Do NOT buy ANYTHING from FCC Sungei Kadut" If you want to ask specific questions, you can contact me at sofyanwong@yahoo.com Thanks for reading.