Life Story Versus Life Storey

[princessdella 0]

Newnyew,

I am a fan of your thread previously.. =)

I had read bad reviews from them earlier on and didn't did i expect that i will end up buying from them as well.

Haiz.. Now hoping that there won't be any problems..

[firehorse 0]

Newnyew,

I am a fan of your thread previously.. =)

I had read bad reviews from them earlier on and didn't did i expect that i will end up buying from them as well.

Haiz.. Now hoping that there won't be any problems..

just saw a Casa Culture ad in the newspapers today (Saturday, 6 FEB 2010, mentioned "Closing Down Sale".

for those who have purchases that r pending delivery (with anything to do with Casa Culture / this "18 Genting Road" address),

suggest you double-check with them what do they mean by "closing down sale".

i.e. what if they close down the company while your delivery is still pending, etc.

[Misc100 2]

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.

thanks for letting us know

i think whenever got new furniture shop open, we must be extra careful

better to go to established and old shops

[wcseow 0]

By the way I heard that Home 2 be (closed liao), OM, Life Story, Living Story there maybe some more are all under the group of Nobel anyone can confirm this.

Above is only my personal opinion only as I don’t work for any of the above company.

OM, Lifestorey and I believe Home2be (closed) are under Nobel.

Life Story (note the missing e) and Living Story is under another company and is the subject matter in this thread

[winhtike 0]

just saw a Casa Culture ad in the newspapers today (Saturday, 6 FEB 2010, mentioned "Closing Down Sale".

for those who have purchases that r pending delivery (with anything to do with Casa Culture / this "18 Genting Road" address),

suggest you double-check with them what do they mean by "closing down sale".

i.e. what if they close down the company while your delivery is still pending, etc.

Hi,

I bought furniture from Fashion Home (Now Casa) before.

The rest I aldy got but I still need sofa to be delivered in May but now I can't call Casa showroom and warehouse phone..

Do you know any new number so that I can call and confirm the delivery date?

I happened to be one of those who bought from this troublesome shop..

I personally do not have any bad problems with furniture that are delivered before..

Thank you

Rgds,

[Ching 0]

Hi,

I have bad experience with Casa Culture, felt cheated and need advise please.

I bought a sofa set with 3 back cushions from Casa Culture on 16th Jan 2010. Delivery date was set on 1st Feb 2010, the delivery was delayed but was finally delivered about 6 day later without the 3 back cushion. which is alright as they had infd me upfront that the cushions can only be delivered after CNY.

a week after CNY I called them up to check, and they said the cushions are not ready it can only be delivered in mid-march. Of course by then Casa already closed down, I have no choice but waited. By mid-march, as per before they delay again to 1 week of April, I called as per before and they said they will check as get back to me on the 8th April, which they did. Today they called up and infd me that the order will come in between 21-25 April.

Frankly, I do not really trust them at all as each time they always say "confirm" "confirm" but not a single time came true.

From this thread, it seems like the management keep cheating consumers money by closing down and declaring bankrupt.

Then open up another shop with a different name, can they actually do that?

Appreciate if anyone can advice me what I can do to either get back the 3 cushion or get the refunds.

Going to Case is not really going to help since they closed down right, but can I go to the police as we should not condone such acts.

Thou the cushions cost less than $200 but I presume alot of others should have been cheated by this management. This is our hard earned money, thou bankruptcy act can cover them but an act of cheating should not right.

Of course unless more people like myself voice out to the police to show that they indeed have intention to cheat else my voice alone would not be heard as they will lightly refer me back to Case. Anyone had a better avenue to handle this?

Thanks.

[YakZ 0]

What if you do not claim against Casa Culture but the registered company instead?

The retail name is just a signage that the registered business used in marketing their products.

[firehorse 0]

Hi,

I have bad experience with Casa Culture, felt cheated and need advise please.

I bought a sofa set with 3 back cushions from Casa Culture on 16th Jan 2010. Delivery date was set on 1st Feb 2010, the delivery was delayed but was finally delivered about 6 day later without the 3 back cushion. which is alright as they had infd me upfront that the cushions can only be delivered after CNY.

a week after CNY I called them up to check, and they said the cushions are not ready it can only be delivered in mid-march. Of course by then Casa already closed down, I have no choice but waited. By mid-march, as per before they delay again to 1 week of April, I called as per before and they said they will check as get back to me on the 8th April, which they did. Today they called up and infd me that the order will come in between 21-25 April.

Frankly, I do not really trust them at all as each time they always say "confirm" "confirm" but not a single time came true.

From this thread, it seems like the management keep cheating consumers money by closing down and declaring bankrupt.

Then open up another shop with a different name, can they actually do that?

Appreciate if anyone can advice me what I can do to either get back the 3 cushion or get the refunds.

Going to Case is not really going to help since they closed down right, but can I go to the police as we should not condone such acts.

Thou the cushions cost less than $200 but I presume alot of others should have been cheated by this management. This is our hard earned money, thou bankruptcy act can cover them but an act of cheating should not right.

Of course unless more people like myself voice out to the police to show that they indeed have intention to cheat else my voice alone would not be heard as they will lightly refer me back to Case. Anyone had a better avenue to handle this?

Thanks.

What if you do not claim against Casa Culture but the registered company instead?

The retail name is just a signage that the registered business used in marketing their products.

200804271C FASHION HOME PTE. LTD. GENTING ROAD Live

200917660G CASA CULTURE PTE. LTD. GENTING ROAD Live

both r still 'live'.

faster act, the sooner the better, imo.

[Baby_gergerl 0]

Luckily i managed to cancel my orders (I made a police report! didn't complain to case..)...phew! save me from all the hassle and trouble! In the end, I bought furniture from Cellini, which was waaaaayyyy better and of course, reliable!

[junel 0]

Hihi, i'm part of this family as well...

Didn't managed to read this page soon... but we had already place order for sofa & bed on Jan.

After reading through the posts, we went down to ask for delivery ASAP last week.

Today they called and say no stock of the bed that i wanted.

How should i bargain with them to cancel all orders?

Baby gergerl how did you manage to cancel your order and get back your deposit?

[Uncomonsense 0]

an update for my stuff:

i started out by putting a deposit for the following from Fashion Home (a.k.a. Casa Culture / Innovation Furniture):

1pc x L-shape sofa

1pc x dining table

2pcs x dining chairs

after a series of ding-dong and unpleasant teleconversations with "Ken" and "Philip", we reached an agreement for me to pay them the value of that sofa less $50 for my trouble and cancel the rest of the items.

(i.e. i kept the sofa - couldn't find any external faults with it).

at least this **** saga is over for us.

Look at the inside of the sofa I bought from FCC, this wonderful company we are talking about. You cannot see defects on the surface of the sofa, but the inside is made from fire wood. Yep my friend, a contractor for 30 years saw it and told me it is literally fire wood, the kind people use as fuel for a camp fire. Sure looks like fire wood to me.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?2f5cfca2a6.jpg

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?86fc9f9d23.jpg

[sofyanwong 0]

Hi All,

I'm new in the forum, which I regretted because I could have learnt so much before going out to buy my furniture and have a super bad experience.

I know that this thread is supposedly discussing on Life/Living Story, but since FCC is mentioned, I thought of sharing my experience too.

If you don't have time to read the whole details below, please just remember one thing:

"Do NOT buy ANYTHING from FCC Sungei Kadut"

If you're interested to know why, you're welcome to read.

Background Story

My wife-to-be and I were shopping for furniture for our new home.

After a few rounds, finally on 23-May we decided on FCC because we liked a dining table there.

And we tried to buy our sofa set etc. from the same place to get a group discount.

Ken was the one who served us.

She was very helpful, and we had a good discussion.

We asked her if she could custom-make sofa, she said yes.

We told her that we saw somewhere else, but none in her shop, a curved sofa.

So we described to her that the whole sofa is slightly curved (imagine a semi-circle, but not so curved), and we wanted 4-seater.

She said ok.

In addition, we would want an ottoman, she said ok.

In the end we bought:

1 dining table + 6 chairs set

1 custom-made sofa set (4-seater curved and 1 ottoman)

1 TV console

1 coffee table

1 custom-made rug

Because the sofa set and the rug are custom-made, they said it'll take 4-6 weeks.

As I need the furniture to be in by 4-Jul (just nice 6 weeks) because my tea ceremony for wedding will be held in the new house, we asked if it could be earlier.

In the end we decided on 1-Jul.

The dining table set, TV console, coffee table were to be delivered on 31-May, since they're on stock.

I paid for the whole package upfront (which is a very unwise thing to do) by credit card 0%-interest installment plan.

Now, time for the more interesting stories.

The Waiting Story

Since the 4-seater sofa is custom-made, we couldn't decide on the length (between 3-3.4 m), and the size of the ottoman (3x3 or 3x4).

So finally we arranged with FCC that Ken would come to our new flat to take measurement.

She made my wife-to-be wait for her for more than 1 hour during the appointment.

The TV Console Story

Ken told me that the TV console couldn't be delivered on 31-May, because out of stock.

She asked me if I could change to a different model, or different design, or something else (can't remember).

When I went down to FCC again to confirm on the model, and I showed her the model that I bought, she said "oh it's this one ah? If this one then we have."

The Dining Table Story

When 31-May came, the dining table set only came with 4 chairs.

I called Ken, and she told me "you only bought 4 chairs right?"

After some arguments and checking of invoices then she said yes, supposedly 6 chairs, but because out of stock, so the 2 chairs will be delivered on a later date.

When is "later date"? Apparently the shipment could only come on 10-Jul.

Ken even asked me "do you want different coloured chairs (if you want the chairs earlier)?" to which I sternly refused.

In the end I arranged for 18-Jul because I will be away before that.

The Rug Story

It was supposed to be delivered on 26-Jun, together with the refund (read The Main Story: The Sofa Set).

On 25-Jun, a lady called to ask for postponement because the driver was on MC.

So in the end I just ask them to deliver all on 18-Jul.

Let's just wait and see if they're going to postpone AGAIN.

The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Part 1

On 31-May, Ken told me over the phone that "the sofa round back design got problem".

As I could not understand her description of the "problem", I went down there (and also to settle the TV console problem - see above).

Basically she asked me if I had wanted L-shaped sofa, or U-shaped sofa, to which I said NO.

What I wanted is a slightly curved sofa.

So I drew her my design on a piece of paper, then she claimed that she didn't understand what I wanted earlier.

Then she asked me to give her a picture of the sofa that we saw.

I asked for what, she said if she saw the picture, then she could make the sofa.

Then what's the difference between seeing the picture of a real sofa and seeing the design concept that I've already drawn for her?

She finally said no need to see the photo, and that she could do it based on my drawing.

She kept on saying that I must top-up money, because when she thought I had wanted a straight 4-seater sofa (and thus the lower price).

And that curved sofa is difficult to make, the mold and the whatever etc.

It's true that when we placed order on 23-May, we didn't give a picture or a drawing but she said no problem to our verbal description.

So I insisted that she had sold me the whole package and I refused to pay any top up.

She finally said OK, and promised to send me the design via email.

Now, if she had MISUNDERSTOOD my requirement, she wouldn't have told me that there was a PROBLEM in the first place.

When I asked her about delivery time, she said 4 weeks (which is in line with my requirement).

The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Part 2

Feeling everything under control, I didn't follow up closely with her until around mid-June, when she finally started sending me the sofa design.

She called me and asked me if I wanted velcro-ed or fixed cushions for the sofa.

I opted for fixed.

She said I had to top up MORE because I chose fixed.

So she gave me an option then she asked me to top up?

I asked her about delivery time, she said 10-14 days.

I naively believed.

The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Part 3

I kept on asking her about the delivery date.

She complained how come I kept disturbing her about delivery date, to which I said that "because I need it by 4-Jul".

And to my horror, as of 23-June the sofa was not even in production yet.

It's all still in design stage.

She then kept on asking me to top up, and rattled on that I had "opted for fixed cushion so it'll cost more, and plus the ottoman, and plus the rug".

Wait a minute... weren't we just talking about the 4-seater sofa?

Why did the rug and the ottoman come into picture?

She finally gave me the ultimatum.

"The decision is now yours:

1. Fixed cushion: top up $600.

2. Velcro-ed: top up $300.

3. Refund the sofa set.

4. You not happy, you can bring to CASE."

I was furious.

I demanded to talk to her boss (we're on the phone).

She said her boss can only speak Chinese etc. (I'm Indonesian with limited Chinese skill).

I said never mind, I still wanted to talk.

Then she siam-ed and said "I'm the boss, everyone else here is my worker".

The Main Story: The Sofa Set - Finale

On 24-June, I called and asked, how much is refund?

She calculated here and there, and said "$1250".

Now, the sofa set was sold to me at $1800, plus I upgraded to half-leather which cost me $500-600 more.

So, "retail" price is $2300-2400.

Given group discount, i.e. by calculation of individual item retail price and minus the group discount, it should have been in the range of $1500-1600.

So I went down to FCC again, feeling unjustified.

I saw Ken, and demanded to only start discussion when I saw her boss.

(and oh yes, she apparently has a boss)

Now, her boss is a lady, who speaks Chinese (not sure if she can't understand English or just pretending, but it's not for me to speculate).

In any case, I explained to her about the sofa-set with my broken Chinese.

Her attitude to me was unbelieveable.

This ladyboss:

1. was totally uninterested

2. told me she was the one who asked Ken to inform me about all the top-up and stuff.

3. told me that she had "empowered" Ken to handle my case, and asked me to just settle it with Ken.

4. walked away during our discussion as she was "busy" and "had other things to do".

In the end, I didn't want to waste my time, energy, money, my own peace-of-mind to this unreliable FCC, so I agreed on their price for refund of sofa set (4-seater and ottoman):

$1300 minus 5% because I paid with installment = $1235.

I agreed the amount after I put a note there in the invoice that I am totally not satisfied with their service, and that I shall be entitled to share my bad experience with anyone.

They didn't budge.

They're willing to trade a few hundreds with bad publicity.

Conclusion

I've learnt so much about FCC now that I am convinced that nobody else would need to be disadvantaged like the way I was.

You may forget what you've read until now, but just remember one thing:

"Do NOT buy ANYTHING from FCC Sungei Kadut"

If you want to ask specific questions, you can contact me at

sofyanwong@yahoo.com

Thanks for reading.

[eiffel76 1]

Look at the inside of the sofa I bought from FCC, this wonderful company we are talking about. You cannot see defects on the surface of the sofa, but the inside is made from fire wood. Yep my friend, a contractor for 30 years saw it and told me it is literally fire wood, the kind people use as fuel for a camp fire. Sure looks like fire wood to me.

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?2f5cfca2a6.jpg

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?86fc9f9d23.jpg

**** this looks bad!! better apply some coating on it to strengthen it and prevent termites...

[Baby_gergerl 0]

Baby gergerl how did you manage to cancel your order and get back your deposit?

I made a police report. Did not report to case. The guy even 'challenged' me to report to case. I believed that there's a limit to what CASE can do. I called up the bank to halt the payment to the merchant and as I had a police report in hand, they (the bank) could halt, but just for a number of days while we were advised to settle it with the merchant (Casa Culture). Of course, Casa Culture wouldn't budge, and said that we will not be entitled to full refund. Thank god that we signed up for 0% instalment (that means, they will get a full payment from the bank), I guessed that makes it easier for us to get the money back. I told the manager of the bank our side of the story and she called back a few minutes later that she will 'cancel' our transaction. as soon as she canceled our transaction, we went back to the shop for them to 'void' the invoice. I think for us, luck play a part as well.

[relaxman 0]

Hey everyone,

bewarned!! I am newbie in this as its my first furniture purchase. I would advice against going to species home furnishing.Their sales staff are very pushy and rude. The one who serviced me is candice aw(欧思伶).She is very persuasive and experienced talker. At first, i'm won over by their furniture design and her glib talking. I placed a deposit and later found that its too late for regrets.

Those sales person from species like to talk bad about their competitors,from what i observed. After talking bad about their competitors,they will promote their own furnitures. this is when they will try to win you over by their sweet talk. They will say that now the furniture is on promotion for a limited period only, if you don't buy now you may miss it. They are good at playing psychology, don't trust them, its just their sales tactic. Then they will ask you to put a deposit. If you change your mind later, they can still keep your deposit.

Their warranty terms are the worse among all the other competitors.I asked what if the leather has manufacturer defect on it? Candice aw(欧思伶) replied that there's no warranty on the leather. She said that if i fail to detect any defects upon delivery,than its not their problem already.Their warranty on mechanism is only one year as compared to two/three years(their competitors).

What made me mad is that when i told her this is the hardest decision in my life to make(jesting only), their sales person replied me:"you're the type of buyer that i never ever came across too". When i'm pondering whether to buy the sofa,another sales staff can ask me stupid question like why am i looking at the furniture.

Takecare.

Edited September 11, 2010 by relaxman