Citypainters

[madmax67 0]

Hi there!

I'm sourcing for painters to paint my place and so far those who quoted me from reno contractors or IDs cost around $1800 and they can't do it before CNY. I called up Citypainters and their quote is very cheap with ICI/Nippon regular paint and they can do it before CNY!

Hope anyone who has used their service can share your experience.

Thanks!!

[zentheman 0]

Hi there!

I'm sourcing for painters to paint my place and so far those who quoted me from reno contractors or IDs cost around $1800 and they can't do it before CNY. I called up Citypainters and their quote is very cheap with ICI/Nippon regular paint and they can do it before CNY!

Hope anyone who has used their service can share your experience.

Thanks!!

Hi!!

So did you use their service?

If so can you share your experience?

Thanks!!

bert

[keltong 4]

They are cheap if you use the emulsion paint. If you use any of those you can find in the normal paint catalog, the price shoots up. The paint is ok lah, the most basic one and with limited colors, so if the colors happen to be those you like, than it is ok. My colleague got them to paint his 4NG flat at I think around $450 or $500. Paint use is either Nippon Matex or ICI Super Maxlite. My colleague choose Matex. He seems quite satisfied with their work and recommended to us.

FYI normal Nippon/ICI paint (those you see in the catalog) cost about $50-$60 per 5 litre, Matex/SuperMaxlite cost about $50 for 20 (TWENTY) litre. Thus they can charge you cheaper.

My EA there quote me $1400 for normal (they call good paint) and $1100 (or $1000, cannot remember) for the cheaper paint (they call normal paint). In the end because they take like forever to get back to me (ok, the boss is an extremely bz guy as I think he got other biz) so I didn't use them.

[popeye gal 0]

They are cheap if you use the emulsion paint. If you use any of those you can find in the normal paint catalog, the price shoots up. The paint is ok lah, the most basic one and with limited colors, so if the colors happen to be those you like, than it is ok. My colleague got them to paint his 4NG flat at I think around $450 or $500. Paint use is either Nippon Matex or ICI Super Maxlite. My colleague choose Matex. He seems quite satisfied with their work and recommended to us.

FYI normal Nippon/ICI paint (those you see in the catalog) cost about $50-$60 per 5 litre, Matex/SuperMaxlite cost about $50 for 20 (TWENTY) litre. Thus they can charge you cheaper.

My EA there quote me $1400 for normal (they call good paint) and $1100 (or $1000, cannot remember) for the cheaper paint (they call normal paint). In the end because they take like forever to get back to me (ok, the boss is an extremely bz guy as I think he got other biz) so I didn't use them.

So which company you choose to paint your house?

[keltong 4]

So which company you choose to paint your house?

Err...it was arranged by my brother, he knows some painters and got them to paint for me. So I just leave it to him.

[zentheman 0]

......

My EA there quote me $1400 for normal (they call good paint) and $1100 (or $1000, cannot remember) for the cheaper paint (they call normal paint). In the end because they take like forever to get back to me (ok, the boss is an extremely bz guy as I think he got other biz) so I didn't use them.

Hi keltong!

You friend is lucky.. he is satisfied with the work...

You are lucky cos the boss was too busy to get back to you, so you didn't use them.

I wasnt too lucky cos, he seems like a nice guy when he came to my flat & so I engaged his services, and unlike your friend I not satisfied with the work at all.

You are right about ONE thing - the boss is an extremely bz guy and does not have the time or... to help me resolve the painting problems.

bert

[popeye gal 0]

Err...it was arranged by my brother, he knows some painters and got them to paint for me. So I just leave it to him.

How's the Workmanship? How much you spend to paint your house? Can PM the contract of the painter?

[keltong 4]

Hi keltong!

You friend is lucky.. he is satisfied with the work...

You are lucky cos the boss was too busy to get back to you, so you didn't use them.

I wasnt too lucky cos, he seems like a nice guy when he came to my flat & so I engaged his services, and unlike your friend I not satisfied with the work at all.

You are right about ONE thing - the boss is an extremely bz guy and does not have the time or... to help me resolve the painting problems.

bert

Hi bert, I'm sorry to hear that, what is the problem, maybe can share so that forummers can look out.

How's the Workmanship? How much you spend to paint your house? Can PM the contract of the painter?

Hi popeye gal, I don't have the contact leh, sorry, my brother did all the arrangement for this.

[zentheman 0]

Dear All,

Just be aware that what you see is not what you get.

They may advertise regularly, their website maybe glitzy, their testimonials may be plenty and their claims of technical expertise may be entensive, or they have an impressive Code of Ethics.

ALL THESE DOESNT MEAN A THING!.

Whatever their claims, do remember that they will forget what they say, or that the content of their website is alien to them, so you should always get them to put their quality assurance down in writing. Better still, get a warranty for the work done if you can. Not many people do this becuase they think they are dealing with honest & reliable & responsible service providers.

Because, sometime, a couple of days or weeks later, after the money has been paid, you might notice or realise a shortfall in the quality of workmanship but you can never get the workers to make good the problems.

Basically, the costs may be minimal to be worth the effort or trouble for a recourse. If you could, then you may have to do your own touch up but if the job is terrible, then you may have to rework the entire thing at your own expense & inconvenience. This could happen just because you didnt get their quality assurance & guarantee down in writing.

Then again, would they honour this piece of paper? Their business may be so good that they dont give 2 hoots to you. Not many people read Renotalk & problem companies like this perpetuate & proliferate.

[zentheman 0]

Hi bert, I'm sorry to hear that, what is the problem, maybe can share so that forummers can look out.

Hi Keltong,

What do painters do? Paint of course.

What do Citypainters do? Citypainters say on their website: We specialise in what we do., We deliver what we promise. You'll never be surprised. Your project is handed by a professional. They also say they are able to troubleshoot problem areas like blistering & solved by scraping, sandng and repainting. (All these can be found on their website)

They claim on their website they are a ACCREDITED MEMBER OF PRCA so they promise to

(1) To provide the services of our trade to the best of our ability.

(2) To be honest in providing the most efficient services, using the best of our knowledge of the materials and methods used for every of our clients and projects

Citypainters are expected (1) To execute all operations as accordance to the highest professional and industrial standards.

(2) To uphold our integrity and honesty in our obligations and contracts to (with) our consumers.

(italics are quotes taken from their website)

The Boss, told me, when he visited the flat that the old paint blisters in the bathroom ceiling would be resolved easily.

Well, his men did a cosmetic touch up & so when I called the Boss about the paint continuing to peel & blister, he told me that his painters only know how to paint & it is beyond their scope to manage problem areas like this. He then went defensive & told me he does not want to engage in a debate. Wah!

He asked me to send him an email & that was the end of it. He never replied my emails & does not return phone calls & if he picks up the phone, his answers are curt.

The irony of it is on his website he says "he realised that the market is offering shoddy painting services ... Since then, City Painters Inc. have been offering quality painting services ."

Dont trust everything you read. Get second opinions from elsewhere.

[keltong 4]

*sigh*

[zentheman 0]

Hello guys,

BTW this company claim to be an Accredited Member of PRCA.

That is indeed wonderful when youu read their Code of Ethics.

However, I am in the belief that PRCA does not exist, cos my search on the net & thru this Forum has yielded no results.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but PRCA is a fake organisation or perhaps CP=PRCA (at least they share 2 letters).

What am I talking about? Look here: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...c=12964&hl=

Whether it is fake or not is not important. As long as they live up to their principles, code of ethics or whatever they proclaim, then we will happily recommend this company.

Unfortunately, they have not up till today refused to respond to my calls & enquiries & emails. So I will have to Highly Un-Recommend this company.

Edited April 2, 2008 by zentheman

[Flimflam 0]

This sort of company, you should not even let them set foot in your house. The mess they make of your place will be 100X more than any savings they claim in their advertisements.

[kentan76 0]

Hey guys, sorry to hear what happened to zentheman.

I actually came across a thread about City Painters a while ago in Renotalk and decided to engage them to work on my parent's place. The result wasn't too bad and they were pretty neat laying plastic sheet before they started, so I got them to do my condo unit recently also for $550 (which is pretty affordable).

I had a bathroom that had pretty badly flaking ceiling too, and i'm pretty thankful it went well for me. I made sure they scrapped the old paint, plastered the uneven surface and applied primer before the fresh coats. I think zentheman's bathroom ceiling problem might be more severe, as it has been roughly a month since then and my bathroom ceiling seems like it's holding up.

Not sure how I could help you out, but the foreman Ah Meng(?) told me that it was because of the humidity in the bathroom, so we got a KDK fan for about $68 to let the air circulate a bit and there seems to be no problems till now. From my experience the boss is okay lah, he seems to be pretty busy. Hope you managed to contact him with regards to your problem.

Cheers.

[red devil 0]

I totally agree with you Zentheman! I experienced the same issues you faced with City Painters! The boss' name is Robin and he is supposed to be the Chariman/President of some Painters Association here in S'pore.

He is always busy, doesn't remember what he quoted, doesn't keep track of our orders for paint models, always says "No problem" but will always end up with many problems!

He was supposed to get 2 painters to paint my condo in 1 day but without notifying me, he just sent 1 to finish in 3 days! He did not get all the paint colours that I wanted and very last minutely told me that one of the colours was not available even though I was liaising with him for the entire week!

When he worker finished his work, he did not even bother to check if the paint job was done to our liking or not and just wanted to ensure that he collected his balance 50%!

When I called him that I needed his worker to do some touch up 1 week later on a specific date, he as usual will tell me that it's not a problem and he will get back to me to confirm the timing(morning or afternoon). He again did not call back and forgot about the entire issue again for the umpteen time! I was really frustrated with him and wanted to get a confirmation on the exact timing and he curtly replied that he said he would try but he did not confirm and that his workers were not responsibile for anything else but painting!

Bull****! His work attitude and ethics are really condemning all members of the Association that he is currently heading! His claims on his City Painters website are nothing but gimmicks and empty promises!

He's totally useless and is not professional at all!

Don't believe him!

It's our ultimate regret that we engaged him and I hope none of you will give him a chance to screw you too!