lwyzyben

Hi everyone, we are a young couple who recently got a resale flat. This is a rather long story about our nightmarish experience with an ID, from a certain ID firm in Singapore, whom we have dropped recently. Before we go any further, I want to say that this is NOT a bad review of the ID firm, but a honest retelling of our experience with one of their IDs. This is not because of what their boss has requested of us as you will see later, but because we want to be as objective as possible about this. We will start by giving you guys some context on our predicament, and then highlight some of things he did. We shall also use “he” to refer to the ID, to protect his identity. Furthermore, there will be numbering, so that you guys can keep up. I will give credit when credit is due, but I will also spare no detail when describing these less-than-pleasant experiences. For those who know me, I am a quiet guy and I really hate to draw attention to myself. My social media presence, naturally, is basically non-existent. Unfortunately, this experience has been so massively bad that I now feel the strong need to communicate this experience to all you people out there. Then, you can be more prudent if you still decide to work with any ID firms in Singapore, for your future home projects, especially if you are a young couple with no experience like us. Then, you might be able pick up the telltale signs of something going wrong. I should emphasise that despite our bad experience, other IDs from this company have produced good work for other people too. Our grievances are mainly directed at our ID, and not at his company. Before we begin (and for those tldr), here is a summary of the main problems I have raised here, for greater clarity: 1. We overpaid for lights and bathroom fixtures, and he did not take our design preferences into account during the selection process. 2. He made us wait one month for two 3d drawings, with little or no updates unless we prompted him. 3. He gave minimal design inputs, even though he had access to our mood board and whatnot. 4. He spent another two months to do up the 2d technical drawings, and there were still some errors because he did not take notes. 5. Up till when we decided to drop him, he still hasn’t produced the revised quotation. 6. He was willfully withholding photos of his old projects, but was able to spontaneously produce them when asked by a prospective client. 7. Took almost one month to source for tiles, even though it could have been done within a day. 8. Took forever to update us on OneWood, even though they were also contactable throughout CB. 9. Did not make any real attempt to improve on response time, despite being told on multiple occasions. So, like all other young couples getting their first home, we were excited about crafting our own space. After some discussion, and after compiling some materials, which comprised of a Pinterest mood board and a google drive folder filled with design ideas, for our prospective ID, we went to the renotalk hangout session in Feb 2020. In short, we wanted a cosy, country-style look to our place. Bear this point in mind. There was where we met our ID from this ID company. In that meeting, he spontaneously gave us useful inputs, and suggested some practical ideas. He told us that he had 20 years of experience as an ID, and certainly made an impression on us. He was also very responsive, and constantly kept us updated after the meeting. So, we eventually settled on him. In fact, we were excited to begin, and sent him the google drive and pinterest links way before we signed the contract. He immediately followed us upon receiving the link, and hence, gave us the impression that he already scrutinised our mood board. This was also where the nightmare began. A few days before CB was announced, he asked us to head down to his showroom to pass him some forms, and to select lightings and bathroom fixtures. We waited a few days for his design inputs, or for him to ask us about our preference, but it never happened. Little did we know, the response rate would only get slower as time went by. Soon after, PM Lee announced that CB will begin from the following Monday. Our ID then advised us to do the lighting/bathroom fixture selection as quickly as possible, so that we might be able to do some renovation during CB. We were busy with some stuff because of the sudden announcement, and there was the real possibility that we could not make it for our arranged meeting, but he insisted that it was necessary. Fine. No one understood what the CB entailed exactly. He cannot be blamed for pushing us to proceed with the selection. Fine. Since our meeting was scheduled for Saturday, we proceeded with those plans and headed to his showroom. He sat us down and spent 15 minutes telling us the number of lights we need, and where we should place them in our flat. Then, he immediately brought us to a place nearby to get our stuff. So here is point 1: At the lights shop, he told the saleperson that we were going for a MODERN theme even though our mood board had country-style references and left her to recommend lighting designs based on that. He even went on to say, very confidently, that “I know what you want”. Remember, earlier, that we had a Pinterest mood board and google drive containing material about a more cosy/country-style theme. We went along with his ideas, trusting his 20 years of ID experience, and made do with what the shop had. In the end, we ended up paying almost three times as much for similar lightings we can find on Lazada, and we settled for his design. Then, CB started, and all renovation work was halted as a result. There was no point getting any more stuff. Instead, we thought we should focus on getting the off-site details confirmed first, so that we can proceed with actual physical work when renovation work can restart. For some extra context, just before CB, He said he’ll get started with his 3d drawings. However, it is understandable that because of the sudden announcement of CB, he had many personal and administrative matters to attend to, and so it was likely impossible for him to have began working on those drawings at all. So, for simplicity, we shall take 31st March to be the day he promised to start on his drawings. Here is point 2: Throughout the first half of the CB, we asked him about the drawings, but received minimal replies. He would say that he was still working on them, but never once provided any reason, nor did he take any initiative to give us updates. On 25th April, he finally produced the drawings. We looked at it, and were quite pleased with them overall. Still, he made us wait almost one whole month for two drawings, and never explained to us why he needed so much time. We then asked him for a Zoom meeting so that we can discuss the minor tweaks we wanted. Mind you, we had to initiate the meeting. He finally explained that as IDs, they rely on the draftsman to do up 3d drawings, and that the typical home computer takes significantly longer to render these images. Fine. We would have accepted that explanation if he just told us about it. We also asked him about the other carpentry for the kitchen, but he waved if off, saying “don’t have what”, until we pointed out that it was stated clearly in the quotation we signed. In the same Zoom meeting, we also asked for 2d technical drawings, which he had also already done up. We discussed about the dimensions of the kitchen island, and also about extra features we were thinking of. Point 3: Interestingly, too many of these design inputs came from us, which made us feel as though his initial creativity streak have fizzled out. We also told him that we did not need him to update the 3d drawings because of the difficulties they are facing. We only need 2d drawings just so we understand how much space we really have. So, we requested only for that. At the same time, we also asked him to amend the quotation, as there were some items that we thought were unnecessary. He said he would do those things, immediately. So we waited, like fools, for “immediately” to happen. This brings us to points 4 and 5: It was only on 5th July, long after CB ended, that we got the updated 2d drawings when we met in person, and even then, some of the details were wrong, because he did not take notes during the Zoom meeting. So, he spent another two months to come up with 2d drawings, and with little or no explanation why he took so long. Up to the day he asked for a face-to-face meeting, he also did not take the initiative to tell us what he intended to do for the meeting. We had to ask him again the night before, and he only replied after we prompted him again in the morning. Up to the point to just before we decided to drop him, he still hasn’t produced the updated quotation. To describe point 6, let us go back to 4th May, during the CB. We finally asked if he could give us photos of his old projects, but he refused to show us, telling us that he has not taken up any projects for the past three years. What kind of a designer does not have a portfolio? It was only later, after CB ended, on 5th July, that we found out that he had readily shown those photos to a prospective client during a F2F meeting. The guy had contacted us with regards to a post my fiancée put up on a telegram group chat. She asked on the group chat if what we’re experiencing with our ID company is normal. So, he did have photos after all, but refused to show them to us for some reason. So, prior to CB, we also gave him the codes for the existing tiles in our resale flat. He said he would order these tiles, so that he can make minor repairs during the renovation. Near the end of CB, on 27th May, we asked him for updates about the tiles again. He said that he already sent the codes to the tiles company. Time went by, and he never updated us. My fiancée got impatient and decided to look for the tiles herself. On 16th June, she found the company that manufactures those tiles within a day, contacted them, and got a reply on the very same day. That brings us to point 7: He was only willing to update us on the tiles, on 21st June, and only after my fiancée updated our Whatsapp group about her own findings. So, starting from 27th May, he spent almost one whole month to source for tiles, even though LSH was fully contactable even during CB. Point 8: Also prior to CB, we told our ID that we would like to consider OneWood for our kitchen worktop, and so he told us that he would contact them. Long story short, he took too long, gave little or no updates, and we decided to contact OneWood ourselves just to get an idea. The ID only managed to update us about OneWood when we met him in person on 5th July. Let us go to point 9, which is our final point. Despite several requests for him to be responsive, he never really improved. The following screenshots are, unfortunately, the norm for the majority of our interactions with him. Quite honestly, the highest contributing factor to our decision to drop our ID is tied between points 3 and 6. Point 3, because it feels as though we are doing the majority of the work, and point 6, because it really made us question his integrity. Go back to the top of this post, or scroll all the way down, for a summary of these points. We went down to one of their branches on 7th July, and requested that they get someone else to take over our ID. The duty staff got the boss of the ID company, to call us, and he did so the very next day. On the phone call, he listened to my grievances about the ID, and seemed somewhat sympathetic. However, he defended the ID on a few occasions, which I thought was quite admirable – having a boss fight for his employee. However, it was clear to me that the ID already got the chance to first tell the boss his side of the story. The boss offered us two solutions – either we change to another ID within the company, or we get a full refund. Initially, I thought it’d less cumbersome if we stuck with this ID company and have another ID take over, instead of starting all over again. But that changed, towards the end of the phone call, when the boss commented that it takes two to clap which implied that we have not been cooperative. It was already clear that they are now pinning the blame on us. So, we decided that the refund was a better deal for us, since there was no longer trust between us and the company. I proceeded to send a message of goodwill to the ID, but he ignored it. Fine. He is upset after all. However, the boss is now telling us that the refund can only be processed if we promise not to post any negative comments about his company. We had no intention to post anything at all, before his strange and unethical request. The trigger that got us to write this post was when we found out that it is clearly stated on their website that we can get our deposit back WITHOUT any additional conditions. As of this writing, we have rejected his offer, and will be getting in contact with CASE. I have sent him an email, asking the company to honour their promise, but have gotten no response so far. Here is a summary of the main problems I have raised here, which I have repeated for greater brevity: 1. We overpaid for lights and bathroom fixtures, and he did not take our design preferences into account during the selection process. 2. He made us wait one month for two 3d drawings, with little or no updates unless we prompted him. 3. He gave minimal design inputs, even though he had access to our mood board and whatnot. 4. He spent another two months to do up the 2d technical drawings, and there were still some errors because he did not take notes. 5. Up till when we decided to drop him, he still hasn’t produced the revised quotation. 6. He was willfully withholding photos of his old projects, but was able to spontaneously produce them when asked by a prospective client. 7. Took almost one month to source for tiles, even though it could have been done within a day. 8. Took forever to update us on OneWood, even though they were also contactable throughout CB. 9. Did not make any real attempt to improve on response time, despite being told on multiple occasions. This is the end of our story. I shall remind you, the prudent reader, that this ID company has many other competent IDs, and has completed several good projects. I personally believe that the majority of their IDs are good. So, I leave it to you to exercise caution when hiring an ID from any ID company, so that you will not go through the same experience. All the best for your renovation journey, and thank you for reading.