merryman 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 i read a post somewhere with this particular quote that captures my attention: "Trust us when i said, me and I believe marvin had think hard before posting what we wanted to say knowing the onslaught we will received. But we stand by what we say because I believe forumers should be mature enough to take criticisms, deflect criticisms, make logical sound rebuttals. With this believe, I will continue to contribute in whatever possible." In a way, i'm not sure if it's really mature to be saying things like this: "Ok listen everyone, according to mrspiglet this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. So dont bring up anything else other than what mrspiglet said, okay? Cannot say anything else.....just can ask questions about renovations with Ah Soon and nothing else." Just think of this, when someone says something good about ah soon, there will be ppl disagreeing and rebutting. That's fair. But then again, there will be ppl who disagree with the rebutt and put further points across. I guess we are all human beings and are subjected to individual's opinion. Having a little 'heated' discussion might help to bring points across but if it's not being objective, there's no reason to continue the discussion. Finally, "Frankly i dont really undestand, life is so simple and things turn up to be so complicated. For those ppl have concern or worries, dont engage ah soon services. Choose yr own contractor and move on with yr life. For those whom still thinking of whether to engage ah soon, dont expect ID standard.", a sentence well said. Cheers I almost want to take that as ncy saying that as a sarcasm but I chose to change what I wrote before I posted it... maybe you should relook at it too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gongkia 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 i read a post somewhere with this particular quote that captures my attention: "Trust us when i said, me and I believe marvin had think hard before posting what we wanted to say knowing the onslaught we will received. But we stand by what we say because I believe forumers should be mature enough to take criticisms, deflect criticisms, make logical sound rebuttals. With this believe, I will continue to contribute in whatever possible." In a way, i'm not sure if it's really mature to be saying things like this: "Ok listen everyone, according to mrspiglet this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. So dont bring up anything else other than what mrspiglet said, okay? Cannot say anything else.....just can ask questions about renovations with Ah Soon and nothing else." Just think of this, when someone says something good about ah soon, there will be ppl disagreeing and rebutting. That's fair. But then again, there will be ppl who disagree with the rebutt and put further points across. I guess we are all human beings and are subjected to individual's opinion. Having a little 'heated' discussion might help to bring points across but if it's not being objective, there's no reason to continue the discussion. Finally, "Frankly i dont really undestand, life is so simple and things turn up to be so complicated. For those ppl have concern or worries, dont engage ah soon services. Choose yr own contractor and move on with yr life. For those whom still thinking of whether to engage ah soon, dont expect ID standard.", a sentence well said. Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aubrey 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 the way i see it, ncy, this thread is all yours. cheers! i think i shall go clean my house now. FYI to all potential clients, my house has been undergoing rectifications and also work to be completed for almost a month now. so dont say there's no warning. if potential clients did not do enough homework, it is their fault and no one else's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ivy 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Frankly i dont really undestand, life is so simple and things turn up to be so complicated. For those ppl have concern or worries, dont engage ah soon services. Choose yr own contractor and move on with yr life. For those whom still thinking of whether to engage ah soon, dont expect ID standard. aiyah u appear earlier mah.. then i dun need to do the long winded thingy to remind all about the cons of engaging uncle liao.. spot on! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ivy 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 (edited) Just sifting out some of the bad reviews that ah soon's customers posted in the very first 2 pages of this thread and also throughout the whole 7 pages, we did ask alot of people to consider and reconsider and even recommend some to look else where if deadline is tight. In case whoever miss out and thought that ah soon's customers just say good things and cover bad things. Goodness! i'm surprised to see a thread under Ah soon's name! Have completed my reno and shifted in for 3wks, so far so gd. Value for money, reasonable gd QC and stringent abt his tiling and carpentry workmanship, but due to the popularity he gets in this forum, he's super busy now and beginning to outsource the jobs to some of the new project managers he engages. I've yet to see any feedback of how these new guys are working, so there's a certain element of risk here. For those that interested in engaging Ah soon, he's a typical contractor, no 3D drawings, no color planning. U'll have to know exactly what u want although he can give u some opinion. afterall, he has done up so many houses. Would only suggest that those who r willing to play a major part in overseeing their house's reno to take him up. This part aside, he's a very friendly n flexible uncle. Those who r interested in getting his contact can PM me. mm He is rather busy. So do prepared to have to handle some things yourself ... I think... it's got to do with expectations ba. If you are mentally prepared that you will have to do some things yourself then you wouldn't be so stressed. Read the various T-blogs(forummers who got Ah Soon) to see how they manage... and you can also PM me if you want some tips. ALSO... get more quotations.. so that you can make an informed choice... instead of getting Ah Soon right awayjust cos he gives a good price... and later on you might regret. If after looking at so many and you still choose Ah Soon then you will be less upset. Time for me to call Uncle Soon... Yes... with Ah Soon's growing popularity...... biz from this forum alone is soaring... whoever wants to take Ah Soon got to manage your expectation. He will be busy, you got to project management most of the time. And you got to be able to 'give & take'......... cannot expect everything to be perfect perfect. Ah Soon is nice and friendly. Very easy going, prices are good. BUT you got to realise you will do most of the 'work' (inspection) yourself. And he does not have time to work thru EVERY detail with you. You got to know what you want and tell him. He just dont have time for each and every project. Read all of Fondue, Apples, my blog too. - these 3 blogs got plenty of hiccups througout their reno But he is very committed to quality. If not right, he will change the things for you. Like my cabinet for example. He took out some doors and ask the carpentry to re-do. Very costly but he is committed to that. Since he is a contractor, he dont provide colour, design services. You will see from the forum here, those who use him. We design, plan our own house. That's the BIGGEST fulfullment we all got. Because you're new I suggest you read through a few blogs before you decide if you wish to get his number. You can PM any of us to get some opinion first. Hi Sohck don't be despair, that's what we all went through when we were all sourcing quote from him. Sometimes he underestimate the time he needs to spend at certain appointments and that's why those appointments downstream gets affected. This initial meet ups are a good testing ground on your acceptance level to uncle's working style. If you are already feeling frustrated at this point, I guess, Uncle may not be the right working partner for you. Somehow, if you read through some of Ah Soon's current customers' thread, you'll realise, we all have very high tolerance level for uncle. I don't think anybody can explain why, it's just that X factor (and i am not talking about looks ok, those who met uncle before will know hahahah) that uncle have, coupled with his sincerity that make us able to accomodate his working pattern while he accomodate our puny budget for our big dreams. Hi marvin! u r not alone, i'm sure we all had our fair share/taste of Ah soon's aeroplane flying. But anyway since u know what is ur acceptance level, there are a few gd IDs recommendations in these forum for ur consideration too! Can anyone help me, pet/ivy/fannie? Uncle owes me 4 things (my key inclusive!) and i need someone to help me bug him! In response to NCY, when I was searching for a contractor, i dont see a lot of forumers recommending their contractors. But I do read about Ah soon, heard about this style of working, and the time I may have to fork out to project mgt. So, recently after he has done up my house, we ask ourselves the question "Did we do the right thing to hire him" after the different saga we went thru. One question which we can't answer "if we had engage a ID or another contractor, would it be hussle free too?". We had our fair share of hiccups with Ah Soon and I have objectively blog about it. I dont believe in giving blankets answer "Oh, it is his sub-con fault" or "Oh, it is like that" and I got to accept it. I am the customer and I pay to have a reasonable level of service and quality. I now listed down several points of unhappiness: 1) Air con trunking forgotten to re-route 2) Kitchen cabinets made too short 3) TV console wood grain run wrongly 4) Cabinets doors lots of scratches A lot of my woes are carpentry related. And I have sat down and resolved one by one with Uncle. He has always given us the assurance and most of them are torn down and replaced without me incurring any single costs. Why we are so comfortable with him? He is committed to quality and willl do the best he can to make sure swee swee. Even when we called him at 10pm+ for the final saga about the washing for my whole house before I move in the next day, he sent 3 guys and his brother, Jason to wash up till 1am. Saying all these, humans are humans. We are prone to error too. No ID or contractors are error free. YET........ I must say some errors can best be avoided if Uncle got more time to project mgt. I expect the project mgt part but just that I didn't expect so much that I had to do. One big flaw is Uncle is overloaded with projects and can't give enough TIME to each of the existing ones. ThAT will be my biggest feedback. I still wish he has given more time to project mgt. I have no complaints for the work done weighed against the money I pay. My friend called my house "value for money'........ so much done at such a reasonable price. That's the biggest criteria for us. Well, are there good contractors out there.... I believe so. But not many of their clients are posting here to give Ah soon 'a run for his money'..... hahaha.... I mean, if you have a good house done by your contractors, post here to give others a informed alternative. I believe others will benefit from it. Pictures speaks a thousand words!!!! And I wont ask for any contact if there are no pictures to reveal anything. And I remain objective about Ah Soon. I dont idolize him or think he is any 'demi-god' hahaha.... got more lah.. but my eyes see double liao Edited June 22, 2009 by ivy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrspiglet 2 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Frankly i dont really undestand, life is so simple and things turn up to be so complicated. For those ppl have concern or worries, dont engage ah soon services. Choose yr own contractor and move on with yr life. For those whom still thinking of whether to engage ah soon, dont expect ID standard. Bingo. Well-said. There r tons of gd recommendations in renotalk. Ah Soon is not like the sole survivor in sunnyland SG. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackcar 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Frankly i dont really undestand, life is so simple and things turn up to be so complicated. For those ppl have concern or worries, dont engage ah soon services. Choose yr own contractor and move on with yr life. For those whom still thinking of whether to engage ah soon, dont expect ID standard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
merryman 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 fannie: i think some pple got 'live monitoring' on this particular thread. I'm not active in this thread until today cos i'm super tired from reading documents at work... i got live entertainment here! Note: this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. We share our pain n joys abt engaging him. Or maybe i should start complaining abt ah soon to let others know abt the 'bads' of engaging him. He owes me my keys! merryman: thks! for a moment i thought my english was that terrible. Welcome Ok listen everyone, according to mrspiglet this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. So dont bring up anything else other than what mrspiglet said, okay? Cannot say anything else.....just can ask questions about renovations with Ah Soon and nothing else. Wow...hahahahha Thanks for moving on, ncy... hahaha, I guess any other topic can have their own places elsewhere in the big forum so that people can get to know to read what is not related to Ah Soon instead of missing it and thinking it as something related to Ah Soon... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncy 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Ok listen everyone, according to mrspiglet this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. So dont bring up anything else other than what mrspiglet said, okay? Cannot say anything else.....just can ask questions about renovations with Ah Soon and nothing else. Wow...hahahahha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncy 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Hi merryman thats why I said the sentence opens to alot of intepretation. Too bad that I see it in negative light because I am biased. I need to admit that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrspiglet 2 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 (edited) fannie: i think some pple got 'live monitoring' on this particular thread. I'm not active in this thread until today cos i'm super tired from reading documents at work... i got live entertainment here! Note: this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. We share our pain n joys abt engaging him. Or maybe i should start complaining abt ah soon to let others know abt the 'bads' of engaging him. He owes me my keys! merryman: thks! for a moment i thought my english was that terrible. Edited June 22, 2009 by mrspiglet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncy 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Hi merryman, I stand by my choice of words. Idolized is the word I used and I stand by it. If others see it as an attack, they have every right to rebutt me and also criticize the wrong choice of words I used in their mind. But I agree that we should move on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
merryman 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Why am I agitated over an innocent suggestion made?Its because of this sentence There's no need to post everyday since u already completed reno Pls be more precise before writting. If you read it, it opens avenues for different kind of intepretations. U can write all u want. Likewise pple can post all they want too. And I never say that its wrong to update postings daily. Its only that I am low profile and different than others. So I hope you observe online etiquete as well by not trying to read between the lines and twist and turn my statement by making it as if I am blasting people that post and share daily their updates. There's no need to post everyday since u already completed reno. After and b4 pics will do enough justice for your contractor. Taking a look at another statement that follows, I see that as that there was no need to keep writing to complement any contractor as having a t-blog will already help. I don't see it as her telling you not to post everyday. That's my humble view. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncy 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Hi familyof4, thats why I said to those who doesnt know the risk of engaging a non licence HDB contractor to call HDB hotline to learn about the risks. This is a constructive feedback. No one knows better than HDB, rite? when it comes to risks. If a person decided to go for Ah Soon with knowing all the knowledge about him, then I believe he or she would have make a calculated decision and he or she should be comfortable with knowing the facts and can live with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
merryman 0 Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Yes precisely, when someone comments on Ah Soon negatively, those people are attacked. When Ah Soon postive comments are given, did anyone disputed the fact? I dont believe so. Those forumers incl myself just say, okay, Ah Soon may not be suitable for those who have tight deadline and he is not a licensed HDB contractor (not per my quote, someone else found out on that) To be fair, I'm not an Ah Soon's client (yet, havent began calling for contractors, only emailed some). I've actually re-read from the start of the thread and it started with how you commented about their comments, saying how the contractor was idolised. So were they attacked by you first? Again, I will say, anyone who has bad comments from personal experience, let them share. Let us not speculate. People who wrote about being flown aeroplane or forummer rock who has wrote about a not so well experience with Ah Soon 4 years ago, no one has attacked them. Even pinkpetter and others have also warned that Ah Soon might not suit everyone. Anyway, let this rest and let people share their experience of Ah Soon, be it good or bad... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
