Life Story Versus Life Storey

[l_club23 0]

Well this is very different from the case of Best T**k or A** B**t. Cause from there we can see that no matter what happens (be it good or bad services, they always stand by their company name, but in this case, they suddenly change their name, and it so happens that their original name BTW is very similar to a very famous brand).

From my own experience, when I first called the sales office, the lady did mentioned that they need to confirm the shipment date from HK, but then after that I called the logistics department, they said they still haven't confirm the shipment date from China!!! If you see the advertisment in the papers, you can clearly see that they claimed that their product is shipping in from all the well known cities (and one one of the product is the very same product I purchased!!). So is this called flaming???

And this is the first time I ever see anyone come in, stating that all the rest who are facing poor performance from a particular co. comes in, say that he/she has got good service and then accuss the rest of "flaming" a particular co.

As I said, we are all here to voice/warn others of possible poor service from a particular co, so please stop your nonsense of starting this "flaming" war.

His first and only post post is against popular opinion and vehemently defending the company... Dubious to say the least...

[MeMyself&I 0]

Hi all

Just to share some updates.....

I called the delivery office on Friday, a lady advised me that items I have ordered are ready for delivery as per agreement. But she was not able to advise me on the time of delivery as her manager was not around. I was rather surprised as I would assume the information is made available in some system/records, since the delivery was confirmed.

Anyway, I decided to visit the showroom on Saturday. That's when I was told that not all items can be delivered on the agreed date as the pending ones have not arrived. Different advice from what I was given on Friday.

Naturally, I was not happy. I ordered the items more than one month ago and I would expect the items to be ready for delivery as agreed. There were confirmation then that the shipping will have arrived. The man who attended to me then even said that he is happy that the delivery date is in end June so that he can ensure the items are available.

Even if any items are not ready, I believe there should be some decency to contact the buyers. No one called me regarding the delay in shipment and worst, I was told items are ready for delivery!

Anyway, conclusion is that some items will be delivered this week and the pending ones are to be delivered in the middle of July, reference date is 14-July.

At the moment, I would not pass any judgement on the company. The name change thingy do happen. Copyrights stuff is quite complicated. Even Mcdonald's have their fair share of experience in such naming issue, although not in SG. I remember reading in the papers about Mc requesting some other shops to change their name and not to use Mc____

To be fair to the company, they seems to be a very new setup, they might have challenges in their own logistic.

Nett, my experience with them so far is a mix but leaning more towards negative. Some staff are polite, professional and service oriented but unfortunately there are a couple that have room for improvement. I do not expect a 5-star hotel service level from them but I think the decency of calls about delays in delivery is definitely necessary.

I just hope the CORRECT items will be delivered as agreed (both in this week and mid-July), and in GOOD CONDITIONS.

Lastly, I think "framing" is not a fair word to use. This is a forum for people to share experience, just like many other sites.

[henrywoo1978 0]

Hi MeMyself&I,

I strongly advise you to call again to confirm the delivery time and time again, and really be prepared to take leave as in my case, they suddenly just drop you a call and then say they will deliver the items the following day. And also beware of the installation quality, as what happened to me, which I have to ask my father to help me rectify the problem.

And yes, the wording "flaming" is really a very unjust word to use here, as i stronly point out again.

Cheers.

[aaronteresa 0]

Just as an update, my bedframe was delivered as promised, yesterday 21 June, however my dining table/chairs & coffee table are not in yet.

According to their logistics department, they will only ship at a later date and thus only delivered to me on the 15 July......

Hope its delivered and if it is, its in one piece and in good condition.

[lezleung 0]

sori for the strong words used, it reali cause me alot of unnecessary tension and sleepless nites after reading the starter's thread. i feel the starter is being unfair to living story and every1 who purchase goods from them just because he got a bad experience wif another shop. how the starter got to know both shops are from the same boss or izit becoz he recognises some staffs from the shop dat closes down and assume tey are from the same boss? i can send u guys pics of my furnitures but it's not assemble yet coz the owners are still stayin there.

[MeMyself&I 0]

Hi henrywoo1978

Thanks for your advice. I def will be calling them again...and again...until my items are all delivered, safe and sound.

[henrywoo1978 0]

Hi MeMyself&I,

And do remember to check the joints of the furniture before letting them go off, (shake it or whatever ways you can think off) to prevent inproper installation.

Cheers

[friends_fan55 0]

yes and remember to check for any scratches or cracks on glass surface as well. Check the chairs as well. When they delivered the dining chairs the first time, I removed the cushion cover and to my horror, the chair seat padding is black and moldy! The chairs look like old, used pieces!

Their service problem is not just the logistics issue. When I called them to confirm or check something, they say they will call back but they don't. At one time, the sales person said she will ask her boss to call me back, and I ask her to give me her boss's number, she did not dare to do that, and she actually hang up the phone on me! After that she switched off her phone completely!! What kind of service is that?!?!

Edited June 23, 2008 by friends_fan55

[henrywoo1978 0]

Hi friends_fan55,

Have the same encounter as you when I went around the world just to get my items. Well its really an experience to met such a company. Lucky all the items were delievered and no major defects to my items. I really hope that all those still having outstanding items will get your items really soon.

Cheers.

[MeMyself&I 0]

Hi friends_fan55,

I encountered the same. They never call back as promised. But I managed to speak to this lady at the showrooms in Genting Road. I suspect she is the boss or at least someone that can make decision. I took down her number. Called her on Monday and she confirmed again that the items will be delivered this week. The pending ones on mid-July. I hope she does keep her promise.

[okxygene 0]

With much info from this forum, my reno process had been pretty smooth flowing. That is, till I had a bad brush with Fashion Home Pte Ltd (Lifestorey/ Living story). A pity I did not come across this post before I went down & make my purchase.

Through their advert on ST (I had also mistaken LifeStorey for LifeStory), I had gone down with the intention to purchase only a tv console. However, the saleslady pointed out there is a matching coffee table, so I took it on their 'PACKAGE' price. As I was in a hurry, I paid the full sum (their sales order states full payment for purchase below $2k.) without checking the details. That was a BIG mistake on my part.

I reviewed the sales order again later to realise that the costs were NOT itemised. I re-tallied the amount quoted for the 2 items & discovered i had been 'overcharged' by a couple hundreds. So I called and wanted to verify. Here come all the bad vibes.

1)VERY POOR sales service

i) I called 4 times, left my name, phone number, invoice number & requested for my sales contact to call me back for verification. Apparently, no1 passed the message & I did not manage to contact her till a week later.

ii) In between, a lady from Fashion Home called to inform of 3 weeks delay in delivery & wanted to arrange for another one. (Note: During purchase, sales contact assured there were sufficient stocks in store so delivery would not be delayed.) She pushed 2 dates in my face, which I could not confirm in a whim. Requested for her to call back tomorrow but she bluntly INSISTED her dates & said she would be putting it down on the delivery form. How could she assumed I would be around to receive the goods?!! She did not even confirm the time. From past postings, I m expecting another delay....

2) Dishonest Sales Staff

By this time, I was dissed. It did not help I saw on following sat's ST that the item I bought now retailed at $599. They quoted me $999 initally & claimed it was much cheaper than the same thing they supplied to be sold at park mall!! The sales staff also quoted a higher price for a coffee table they advertised on ST that week, perhaps hoping I would not take notice.

3) Absurd Delivery & installation Charges- ADDITIONAL $100 Per item purchase

When I finally got hold of their manager (who talks in an unprofessional tone & does not so much listen to customer before firing his rebuttals. ) without much avail of speaking with his staff, he blatantly stated that a $50- FIFTY DOLLARS delivery charge PER ITEM purchased & another $50- FIFTY DOLLARS per item installation applies! Most ridiculous thing he said was that this was the STANDARD practice for ALL furniture stores. As if I hadn't been looking around!

4) NOT allowed to change or void sales order

After all the bad encounters, I had wanted to cancel this sales order and get a refund, be it in part, as I am worried there would be more issues upon delivery. The manager flatly said No & if I cancel, I would not get a cent back.

Long post to share my bad experience with them. I hope any forummer who is planning to visit Fashion Home Pte Ltd/ Life Storey/ Living Story takes extra precautions before signing your purchase. Now I am getting even more concerned. What to do? Caveat Emptor if CASE cannot help.

[MeMyself&I 0]

okxygene

I think I know which sales staff you are referring to. After convincing me to buy on my first visit, he is totally a different person after that. To him the first impression last...LAST as in the last of what we will see of his friendly side. I do not think he actually know his products, except maybe for the colour. He can quickly reply on availability of colours. After talking to other staff, I released that what he told me on my first visit was not true.

This is really a bad experience. I have encountered other bad experiences but at least the sales people are willing to work with me to get a win-win resolution but in this case that particular staff is just not interested. Zero after sales service.

My situation now.....delay in delivery and worst...delivered item is faulty....cannot refund...stuck

Can CASE help? Small Claim?....sigh...what luck......

[kastlekonfusion 1]

Sorry to hear that so many has such exasperating experience whilst shopping to furnish their new home.

Suspicious Warehouse Sales

We have driven along Genting Lane more than a couple of times to visit various home furnishing & appliances offices / warehouses / factories when we were shopping to furnish our new apartment. We saw many of these big banners of furniture sales but it didn't cross our mind that there could be so many problems buying from these companies. I suppose Tom & I just felt that the quality of the furniture from these warehouses may not be quite up to what we want.

Quality

A few years ago, we bought a dining table with 6 chairs. The construction of the chairs were not too good. Tom used some wood salvaged from sewing table project to fix the chairs. I'm not so good with explaining how it's done but it sure make the chairs more stable, and of course, heavier.

After that experience, Tom would scrutinize construction of the furniture we were considering at the shops. If he's not able to see how stable the chairs are constructed, we won't even bother to ask the price of it nor take a picture for reference. Also, it is quite unlikely we will get anything else from that shop.

Same goes for sofa set.

Our Sofa Set Purchase

After much shopping around, we bought a sofa set from Furniture Club and we are very impressed with their service. We were invited to the warehouse to take a look at the castors for the sofa as it was a request made to have them fixed on the sofa.

(1st pix - Tom and his new sofa )

(2nd pix - sofa in the warehouse; it's assuring to know that we won't have any delay with the delivery)

Having seen that the warehouse is well organized and spoken to the manager there, we were glad to have bought the sofa from them. We bought a coffee table from the IMM shop after that visit to the warehouse.

Sharing experience

We are glad that there is this forum that we can share our experience - good or bad - so others can read about them all and use their own judgement what is the best course of action.

Be Firm

For one, Tom & I will not fall into the pressure of any salesman trying to make a quick buck from us. One shouldn't feel as if one would be impolite to refuse the salesman's offer. It's one's hard earned money that one is parting with.

Research

I do as much reading as possible online about the things we want to do/looking for - alot easier with today's advance technology, internet, forums. I remember that it wasn't this easy when I was doing up my first HDB unit back in 1996!

More research

For a few months, we did the "leg work" as extensively as we can to look for things we want; check the quality; I take pixs; Tom notes the prices and whatnots; check online again for reviews.

Review

At the end of the day, we reviewed what we have looked at and finalize what we want to buy. We rented the car again and out we went buying many of the things we want for our new apartment.

It's quite an interesting project.

Credit Card Offers/Discounts/Rebates

We also pay attention to what discounts credit cards have to offer and use the right card to secure the best deals - 5.3% rebate when we use CapitaMall card to pay our ID; 2% rebate when we use UOB card to pay for our purchases at Best Denki; 1 month free instalment repayment when we use Citibank Card at Harvey Norman on weekends; to name a few.

Question: Credit Card Stop Payment; Dispute Case

On the subject of credit card, here's a thought that just came to mind: -

Would it be better if one uses credit card to pay for their purchases? When such unpleasant shopping incidents happen, is it possible to get the credit card company to stop payment?

[Fifi 0]

kastlekonfusion, interesting post of urs

as to ur last question, probably i can share with u wat are the answers i got from the bank.

my hubby and i had also made a deposit of $300 with Cozy Design at a Home Exhibition after much pressing from the salesperson. we signed and paid up without being told there were terms and conditions

only realised the unfair t&c after we reached home and saw it. I called up the bank, requesting them to stop the payment since it is paid using credit card. the replies i gotta from them are:

1) the transaction is already done the moment we signed on the bill. the bank had already paid the merchant with the amount we signed on the bill

2) no way to retract the transaction unless the merchant agrees. however, one still has to pay for the monthly credit card bill that is reflected and the amount will only be refunded after the merchant did the refund with the bank

3) u can opt to bring this case up to CASE or small claims. but will need the card holder to do the appeal.

Which merchant will allow for the refund of the deposits? i guess only a handful and those are mostly the honest ones. for the dishonest merchants (such as the one that i've described above, with unfair t&c), they will be more firm and happy to get just the deposits from the consumers if the consumers should decide to forgo the item.

Due to this, the only thing we can do is to forgo the deposit. Luckily it is not a big amount. take it as a lesson learnt...

Before u sign or pay deposits for anything, check if there is additional costs or "hidden" t&c.

for our case, the t&c is written at the back of the receipt and we were not told. from wat we know, the t&c normally are written on the same page as the receipt (not at the back) and usually the terms are quite fair, as in not purely to the advantage of the merchant...

[jenandy 0]

So till now anyone bought from the mentioned company? Jialat...i just bought from them....sigh...