Yes, their MD Louis Chia is an unethical conman. Conned us into signing a wolly wolly contract for A and A works to our house. The contract was lacking in details on the materials to be used, and the payment schedule also requested for payment for almost half of the contract price until the point of demolition of the old structure, but without any actual works done yet. Was defensive when we probed him for more details on the bill of quantities and the details of actual works to be done. Was also unprofessional in his interactions with us, accusing us of trying to delay when all we wanted was to get more clarity on the details of the works.
He is now under investigation by the authorities for various violations. We have also taken legal action to terminate his contract. Unfortunately, we are not optimistic of getting back the 5 figure deposit he has conned us of unless we take him to court.
And we got to find out from a friend only later on that Louis Chia owed our friend money for a few projects that he had engaged my friend to carry out, and in the end refused to pay. If only we had found out earlier, we wouldnt have engaged Archetype to do our house.
Archetype might very well have closed down by now, but Louis Chia, the MD, might just reappear when all the dust has settled, to open another company under another name.(remember Jover Chew?)
So to all looking for a reno or homebuilder, or an interior design firm, beware of this douchebag Louis Chia. Dun be conned by him!
