folwer

I m using ikea, one of those small white round side table

Hi, I have been reading the post here and it seems that a lot of people has complaints about their experiences. Quite frankly, I feel that a lot of problems can be avoided if we take some steps to protect ourselves. Sales people all have their bags of tricks to close their sales, furniture shop all have various strategy to earn money... I think we might as well pool our ideas and experiences in dealing with them. Here is my experiences in dealing with them: Before buying: - do a first round of shortlisting, go shopping alone, best during weekday. When the sales ask how they can help you, just reply..."I'm looking around and will bring my family around this weekend if I see something suitable" they will normally leave you alone or even if they talk to you, they will quickly realized you will nit commit without the agreement of your other half. - no matter how much you like or how good the promotion, be prepared to walk away. I purchased a sofa at 50% off but I refused to meet the sales man deadline of comiting on the spot. In fact, I call back a few day after the end of promotion and the sales man was able to 'fight for me' to get back the promo price - what a joke - do not pay in full, even if it is a policy for pro optional item or even if they have to 'shipped' from Europe. I have yet to encounter a sales person that is unable to convince their boss of your special request. If really cannot, then walk away, you wouldn't want to buy from a company that is afraid that you will reject their goods anyway. Of course dun be unreasonable and offer only 1 dollar down or 10% down la. - go only to those well establish shops around for 5-10 years, especially those with good reps. When taking delivery: - make sure you hve a couple of dates and set the delivery on the earliest of your dates - insist they call you you before they deliver. The delivery centre will always say they need to have a 4-5 hours time window, but I alway tell them with handphones, it doesn't take much effort for their driver to call. Never take leave, just ask for time off and go home when they call you. So far, only they wait for me, rarely I wait for them - and because the delivery guys is already committed to deliver the goods and collect the money (hope you have not paid in full), I find them to be more accommodative. But please be graceful and not let them wait for hours, they need to make a living too. - if you see goods not right, reject them straight. It's important you select company of good repute as they will normally work out a solution for you. In my case I reject a dinning table before. Instead of taking it back, they actually let me use it until they can get me a replacement a week later. This will not be possible if I did not select a good shop in the first place. In fact, it happen just before cny, and I end up having a brand new table after I used the first one for my party... Finally, keep the receipt for at least 2 years. The above are just some of the strategies I adopted after years of making silly mistakes...usually it's not really about the money, but about the nagging feeling that you have been taken for a ride that bothers me. So I have learnt that if you dun take steps to protect your own I terse, you only ave yourselves to blame...

designer.sg got tons of pictures, lights, sculptures to choose from. But sofas only got like 6-8 patterns. no point looking at the website you got to go there to take a look. but do call before you go take a look...i was extremely surprised at how they run their business...... in the end, did not buy anything as the design does not suit my needs. if you don't work there you might also want to arrange such that you go visit lush or EL as they are all quite near to each other.....

Dun go to those decor fish shop (espucalkt those in imm), I suggest you get those custom fish tank builder and get him to work with your Id/contractor. In wall tank is a long term commitment, if you don't get it right, 3/4 years down the road, you are going to wake up in a Swiming pool. I was into the reef keeping hobby and lots of newbie regretted getting these people to do their fish tank....go look at sgreefclub.com to look for info...

Same problem with mine, it will get worst and start tp peel off... I had to throw it away as repair was more expensive then if I get a new one....

guys, I'm looking of a digital lock for my place. I kind of like the design of the samsung Digital Lock SHS-5230. Anyone has contact of a reliable lock smith who carries it? Or at there any model that look just as good....

Settle the living room, now moving on to the study.... Other then ikea or custom made, any one know where I can find nice collection of bookshelf and study room furnishing? I'm look at doing up a mini-library kind of study room with wall to wall bookshelf

Bookshelf installed by who? I realize for ikea stuff, getting them to install especially big items are safer...they also have weight specification, they are quite accurate, once you exceed them, they start to bend....ikea vs scanteak big price different so my expectation quite different

Brought mine from celini promotion sometime back, table $1,800 and chairs $120. Found a scratch on the table, complain and getbmy replacement within a week. No question asked...after sales quite good

that is why reupholster the sofa. I tried looking around for a new one, but those that design that I'll like cost more then 2K....so if reuphostery is good, why not... This will be my secondary sofa to be placed on the second floor, do don't really want to spent too much time shopping round.

i got contacts from the newspapers.....but contacts like that got no point of reference....all claims to give top service, high end leather cheap price. so if any forumer here have any personal experiences to share, it would be great....

hi, anyone got any contacts for good and honest leather sofa repair or reupholstery services? brought a sofa less then 2 years back, but never kept the receipt...now can't even remember the shop i got it from. salesmen claims it real leather but within 1.5 year everything start peeling....so naive to have believe him.... Now for my new place, I'm keep all receipt in a safe and scanning all of them into the PC, just in case i lost it....

my wife and I will unlikely to buy from them again. few years back, saw a touching ad where the son grew up and remember back the time the dad gave him the scanteak table where he crave some lovely sketch inside the drawer..... went out to get a similar table from them for my son and daughter. 2 months down the road, the table top start having a bubble like hump. It then crack and split and the top layer has a a big hole. now my son have to put a cardboard on top in order to do his homework.... after 1 year plus, the hoe just get larger and larger, you can see that the bubble is coming out and cracking the rest of the table top... guess some ads are just misleading....my ikea table last longer without the cracks and spilt.

you are right about the water soaking in part..... we were always careful when mopping floor and tried not too make the floor too wet for too long. but now with a maid, my ikea side drawers and small book shelf are affected.... I guess it's a matter of selecting the suitable type of furniture for your lifestyle. One thing good about them, you are unlikely to get unsatisfactory customer service from them, they always entertain refunds with not questions asked....

what is wrong with IKEA? maybe its just the sofa? My study table, bedroom wardrobe, book cabinet, coffee table and chairs has all been with me for the pass 10 years... even my office, you can still find ikea tables that are still in tip top condition..... seriously, if you hunt at some HDB shops you can get good and cheap stuff too....but the look might be a little bit too old fashioned for some of us... for me, rental property its better to lease furniture then to get IKEA furniture. Also try hunting at those refurbish workshop, sometime you will find interesting things around . You will be surprise at the premium that you can demand in rental for a nicely renovated house....

thanks man....thinking of putting down a deposit for a sofa are marquis ......anyone has any feedback on the brand Max Divani???? takes 4 months to deliver as they have to indent...

hey, I got the same type of peel as what is shown here...somemore same color....but I don't think i brought from CASA, i got it from a shop in beach road furniture mall. Did not keep the receipt and can't remeber that shop as it was 1.5 years back....the sale guys did say is top quailty real nubuck leather from brazil...but i think i got con..... Thats is why now i need to research this site before buying a new set for my new place...

Hi Guys, Thanks god for this forum. I have been reading the first few pages of the forums and it has certainingly told me which shop to avoid. anyway, after reading this forum, I think i'll increase my budget for a leather sofa to be in the range of $5k-$8k. But I rather be careful and would like to get from reputable shop that has been around for sometime. I'm thinking of going for shop like Marquis(budget bearly make it), xzqt or celilini. As they are still around since the last time I hunted for major furniture (more then 10 years).... So if anyone know any shop that sell good quality full leather at the price range, please let me know. I prefer shops that has been around for at least 5 years....