BEDOK BTO BNW

Source of dissatisfaction/bad experience; 1) 4th March: I asked if he can give sample pictures of completed works for the false ceiling c/w acrylic panel design c/w cove lighting but he asked me google it myself. Bad customer service. 2) 4th March: We wanted PD door with mirror panels but he think don't have that kind. So, we had to take time & effort to go down ourselves to the shop and find out that indeed there is this item. Bad experience, we wasted our time & effort, he should be the one to check for us. 3) 5th & 6th March: Didn't reply to our queries because he went back to his village in Malaysia and didn't informed us earlier of his trip. Bad experience. 4) 8th March: I had to chase him for the timeline of works which he had promised me earlier. He then promised to give to me on 12th March but didn't keep his word. Bad experience. 5) 10th March: He asked me for my full name & NRIC number but didn't ask what it was for. I has to ask him instead. Bad experience. 6) 11th March: We wanted an aluminium door for our master toilet but he said the door is acrylic, we had to take the trouble to get a picture for him and call to ask our cousin to confirm if it is aluminium or acrylic. Very inexperience & bad service like we have to proof to him it exist then he can try to find for us like we are working for him. At the end, he realize that it is aluminium. This might be a small matter but as a customer we want what we like and if contractor cannot give what we want, it is a source of stress & disappointment for us. 7) 11th March: We wanted a electrical point in the toilet which he has done before. He told us that there must be a trunking that runs across the toilet. Again, giving us problems to think about and resistance to what we want. Thankfully I had a picture to show him where there wasn't any trunking and he was silent. Inexperience & forgetful. Bad experience. 8) 12th March: He keep pushing us to sign the contract first and then change the quotation which I am not comfortable with. It gave me stress. Bad experience. 9) 12th March: I raise my concern to him about the covid-19 and how it will affect my renovations. He replied it won't have much affected. 10) 14th March: I had to chase him again and do his job for him asking what are the items dimensions that he needs from me. I don't see much initiative and follow up from him. Bad experience. 11) 14th March: He didn't help me liaise for the other works I have for my house. He asked me to update him when it is completed. Bad experience & not helpful. 12) 17th March: Malaysia declares lockdown from 18th March. I ask him many queries but he did not reply. I called him and he said he will be staying in singapore to manage my project but I found put later he lied. He went back to Malaysia. What about my renovations? 13) 19th March: I ask him if we can meet that day but he said he not feeling well and at the clinic when in actual fact he is no longer in Singapore. Even promised to meet us on 20th March if he is feeling better when in fact he is not in the country. Bad experience. 14) 19th March: Multiple delays for the 3D drawings. He promised us by 21st but gave us on the 24th. Bad experience. 15) 20th March: He said that there was a submission error for renovation permit. Instead of solving it with hdb. He made me work for him and got me to call HDB and provide him with the solution. Bad experience. 16) 21st March: Didn't inform us of his situation. He claims he got 5 days MC which will end 23rd March which he didn't update us and kept us in the dark. Bad experience. 17) 24th March: I had to be on the ground running the show since he is in Malaysia. I told him to postpone the floor protection but he did not inform his men. They came and did the protection on the 25th. Thankfully I was there and ask them to remove. At this time he made me believe that he was in Singapore after multiple times I asked him why is there an overseas tone when I called him. Really bad experience. 18th) 26th March: I called him but again overseas tone which he doesn't pick up and called me back using Whatsapp call. I totally gave up on him and your company. I believe that all the anxiety, disappointment and difficulties that your company made us go through, I demand a full refund. I can show you all the Whatsapp messages. No problem. I hope you understand the situation better now.

Transferring the 10% is super easy peasy, fast and feels like nothing but to get it back is extremely difficult, like holding burning coal. So please be weary before that 10%

Ok so the learning lesson which is extremely important is that: NEVER EVER put your 10% deposit with any ID until you are comfortable to lose 100% of your contract sum. This 10% is like a bond to the other 90%. To think of it, might as well give the whole 100% instead of 10% because it feels like it. I believe this 10% is a gimmick and a cheating method allowed by the authority to make it seemed your money is less valuable than it already is. Of course it is easier to lose less than to lose more but the way ID company market it is totally wrong. They usually attached the 10% as a step for ID & home owner to move to the next step. Like attaching 10% deposit then we (ID) will give you the 3D drawings when in actual fact, they (ID) should say things like: 1) Are you comfortable with me handling your house renovation project? 2) Do you see me as a fit person to handle this project? 3) Are you ready to commit to this project where you will be comfortable to pay this full contract sum at the end of the day?

As it happens guys... We went to the firm yesterday and spoke to the senior designer about our intention to cancel. Everthing went better than I expected. I'm happy that I do not need to argue, make my blood pressure increase and make a scene although my wife thinks I enjoy it. - _- Overall, it was still a peaceful discussion. The designer said that their director will call me later that day. That evening, the director called to apologize & requested multiple times the opportunity to do our project but I kindly decline. We discuss further and came to an agreement to cancel hdb permit & full refund minus works already done. I will not be sharing the firm name via PM because I feel, for now, they are still reputable and just. Will update here again.

First and foremost b4 even using services like renotalk, facebook and Instagram, We need and must first take a step back and evaluate is this good for us, what's the outcome of using such service. We cannot blindly just follow what everyone is doing and make believe that this is normal etc. Of course, everyone want to be trendy and follow and do what the crowd does. With that I am surprise & sad that reno talk does not make this topic a sticky and push this topic at the top of their MAIN PAGE. if you really wanna help people, I believe that is the way to go. I hope reno talk is not afraid of such feedback & suggestion and does not bring this post down. I understand reno talk and everything got agenda. Before I begin my post, I would like to highlight to readers that i have not edited and make it nice for you to read since I have no time. What you read is VERY RAW. So if it doesn't make too much sense, don't worry. In time, I'll edit my words with chronological order. My intention is to help so wait for it. -post start- Id doesn't apology when we spot he's mistake. He will cover it up or make excuses or deny it. Id always promise to do it later and then forget about it. He said 3d drawing can be ready by tuesday then when the day comes no updates, we had to ask him. Then he denies and say "where got so fast?" and "did i say tues?" then say fastest by sat or sun, there was no exact day or time given, unreliable. Then when the day comes or coming to the day, again no updates and we had to ask. Doing the asking is tiring because we have to keep tabs on the project when we thought paying id we would get a peace of mind and id would keep us updated at all times instead of us chasing him. We feel that we are handling and managing the project more than the id. We got other things to do in our lives thats why we engaged an id We keep asking when the 3d will be out sat or sun? He will under deliver and takes the later date on Sunday. When sunday comes, no exact time given. We had to wait until the night. And when still haven't get, we gave up and lose hope. Whatever updates he gave we won't believe. Again he will give excuses last minute at 10pm on sunday that drafter has many rendering to do, he will say by tuesday. Then apologize. Too late. Communication is very bad. We have no confidence in the id to continue the project where we will be doing more work than the id. Ids have a bully mentality. Drastic change can be seen b4 and after u paid the deposit. Best is to make id work for you and request many many things many many changes in quotation b4 u sign to see the resilience of the id. Put id in many tough situations and see id reaction. E.g. See id reaction when u make id revise quotation 4 or 5th time. Make id come to you place at least 5 times to see his willingness and whether he can travel for u, if id doesn't, big chance he wont travel and visit your site after u sign. They will want easy way all the way. After we sign and pay 10% deposit, we are like fish hooked on a fishing rod. We are stuck. My id last min tell us he is on mc 3 days then doc extend to 5 days. This is a BIG WARNING SIGN. Then he says quarantined for 14 days. Then I ask how? He says team leader take over. I call the replacement id and she with a bully tone say 'want to meet for?" What a crazy question? U want to take over and no need meet? No need to see your client? Id still have the cheek to say id won't come to our place and we have to go to id office which is super far for us. Never b4 in reno talk where people are telling the story as it happens. Almost all nightmares are past. We are dealing this right now and we will be meeting the id later today. Wish us luck. Forward looking: 1) We already call hdb to standby cancel the hdb renovation permit if they decide to play punk and delay the cancellation. 2) we already call case to standby for our lodging of complaint. Here we go... -post ends-

Aiya.. Sorry to bring back this topic. I'm in this situation now. Any advise. I'm just going to case as back up and will meet the replacement ID in person this saturday.

Aircon guide: Ok finally we secured aircon for our house, all rooms got aircon. The damage is $2190* ? First, to find out what aircon is suitable for you is to know how often you use aircon. For me, rarely use and can't stand the cold so this means can go for lower ticks = cheaper. If you use everyday, you MUST get 5 ticks aircon. Upfront you pay more but electricity bill throughout your usage is cheaper. Example if use aircon everyday: 2 ticks total electricity bill is $5000 5 ticks total electricity bill is $2000 If you rarely use don't worry so much about electricity bill even if you have 2 ticks. Next is the btu needed. Normal BTO rooms are small so no need so powerful. My common room is 7.6sqm (81sqft) and my master bedroom is 10.5sqm (113sqft). Just times the sqft with 35: 113sqftx35= 4000btu needed. But the smallest aircon is 9000btu so good enough. The aircon inside your house is known as indoor unit also known as fan coil unit also known as condenser. Same thing different name. For my living room, it is 17.3sqm (186sqft) so requires 6510 btu but if you have gatherings you need addtional 600btu/person. Example my living room need 6510 btu for 2 person, if additional person comes in my living room I need 6510+600= 7110btu. So if I got the smallest aircon (9000btu), I can only invite 4 friends over. ? (calculation: 9000-6510=2490| 2490÷600=4.15 persons) Next is the compressor which is also known as the outdoor unit. If all the 3 indoor units you have is 9000btu each, you will need a compressor that supports 27,000btu. (9000x3=27000). This means you can on all your aircons at the same time with no problems. So again if you intend to on aircons for all rooms at the same time, get a bigger compressor. Usually only your rooms aircon are switched on at the same time at night when you sleep and not your living room unless someone sleeping in there. So 2 rooms = compressor must support at least 18000btu and 3 rooms = must support at least 27000btu. Last is the complete warranty where you don't worry for the next 5 years, indoor unit & outdoor unit got any problem they will come and fix it for you 2 times, 3rd time they will do 1 for 1 exchange without you coming out a single cent. For 2 ticks aircon = $300 For 5 ticks aircon = $700-900 Problems such as motherboard, pipe leaking etc. Next is the 1 time installation or 2 time installation. Everything can be done in 1 day but for BTO usually is 2 times. 2 times must add $85 or $90 1st time is running the piping & trunking & compressor. Then u do all your renovations, box up the aircon trunking if you want and last your painting. 2nd time aircon people comes is to drill the bracket (the metal thing to hold the aircon) then put up your aircon. If you do only 1 time installation, the wall behind your aircon is not painted. ? Other less important factors are 1) colours. Most aircon is white. Unless you really like black, then go for LG. I saw white aircon display units becomes yellow (discolorization) so need to becareful with that. 2) wifi function. Switch off you aircon when you are outside your house with aircon like samsung, LG & Daikin 3) functions on the different models, e.g mitsubishi heavy industries can blow the aircon up and down whichever position you want using the remote and left & right also using remote. For the left and right u have 2 flaps u can control each flap if you want it to face right/left/centre. Most aircon can control only up & down. That's about it. Mine is europace from harvey norman. 2 ticks 3units; 2x9000 btu 1x18000 btu (living room) Compressor supports up to 33,000btu. I also top up $90 for 2 times installation. And i also top up $300 for the 5 yr complete warranty. So total $2490. ?

please send me also Thank you

wow.. another thread. nice. i'm happy that you are happy with the works.

thanks for all the info. can give some links or video to watch..

wah HW, so many people is asking for your contractor info. amazing. I am also getting quotes for multiple ID and contractors. like never ending. Can you share why u decided to put ventilation fan in the toilet? what are the benefits and after some time are there any improvements or things you might do differently? thank you.

thanks for the info.