Ah Soon

[rdnest 0]

Yowetan, not jason. Jason is Ah soon's brother, who is in charge of co-ordinating projects right after flooring is done. I think you referring to Alan. I heard this chap always quote very high. Anyway, from the feedback I read, I think this Alan so far didn't manage to seal much deals on behalf of ah soon.

Hi all, thanks to our RT bros & sis, Alan learns the hard way tt marking up high is definitely nt the way to get biz.

He has changed and re-offered my fren. The deal is now confirmed and reno will start on 10 June (fren set the date).

Stay tuned for the reno progress

[preciousjam 0]

if mr yeak's customers brand themselves as yeakers, why can't ah soon's customers start a fan club for him? (calling outselves sooners sounds funny to me)

hmmm........

Edited May 31, 2009 by preciousjam

[guy77 0]

just to add something:

think those have engaged uncle soon have said repeatedly that somehow some project management need to be done by us. it's a fact. thus, if u r busy and cannot do this part, no matter how attractive the quote is, dun take. and if it is not uncle who quote u, cos he is so busy, and u find the quote from alan or jason or whoever works with uncle is high, just forgone it la. no one points a knife to ask u to sign the quote. u have a choice.

i think for those who sign up with ah soon, we are also "chin chye" gang (or maybe i am la). as long as the problem not too serious (have seen worse), we can close one eye. but if wrong and cannot bear it, then point out to uncle la. i believe he will change the wrong things as in past experiences.

[aubrey 0]

can someone define overrated for me? seems like overrated here means "a lot of ah soon customers". so i guess mr yeak is the next to be overrated huh? everyone is entitled to their views and for those who think uncle is overrated, so... whats the point here? i think its clear enough that we, as ah soon's customers, given disclaimers on uncle. which those who said uncle is overrated has understood. they have to rightly pointed out that uncle's works requires lots of proj mgmt, a lot of supervision on owner's parts etc. how do they know? from the existing customers right?

if mr yeak's customers brand themselves as yeakers, why can't ah soon's customers start a fan club for him? (calling outselves sooners sounds funny to me) i think that somehow along the way all this is taken out of proportion and blown up. FYI i placed the title "superstar" just for fun. its not meant to be serious. its just me to say these things. so please dont take superstar out of context and say that i am idolizing him. far from it in fact.

our tblogs are his customers' testimonies, you wont find these honest to goodness comments on any other websites. testimonials mostly contains nice words written of a single person.

so to all potential uncle ah soon customers, even if u want to consider using ah soon, sorry to say but he is up to his neck with jobs and have started to reject. as much as u are choosing him, he is also choosing jobs now based on his schedule. if he can fits. which is what everyone is advocating anyway, be it uncle's customers of bystanders.

[stormcontrol 0]

i dunno y... but really feel tat this is a heated argument... whenever it concerns unker soon, there will be pple jumping in to clear the air... it makes me stress to even read and reply to any posts cos for fear tat pple would scold me for my own pt of view... i agree to wat ncy said to a certain extend... and i have to tink she is brave enuff to post... i believe she expected all these replies coming in for her... haha...

initially i wanted to engage unker soon for help, but i read wat the clients gone through in helping to coordinate etc, when unker did something wrong have to tell him then re-do etc... and i find it weird tat many pple can help unker soon to coordinate and play a major part in the reno works... not tat its no good, but for me whom i have to work late everyday, attend meetings here n there, i dun have the time to go through all these... i also fear sometimes unker soon did something wrong in the part of the reno and the works cannot be reversed out... i know any other contractor might have made the same mistake... but then, it seems like unker soon did quite a bit? as i realised tat in the t-blog, pple would mentioned tat unker soon would give this freebies etc... after all these considerations, i dropped unker soon out...

but still i have to agree tat unker soon quote is reasonable and competitve...

lol. i think it's just miscommunications lah. It's true there are many other good or even better contractors out there, it's just that uncle have a lot of publicity here cz i think most of his biz also come from recommendations from forummers here who recommend him to each other. So, no biggie.

Btw LingER, for the nature of your work i think you may not want to engage uncle or even contractor bah. Most of the time you'll need to be there for design discussions, or supervision/inspection. Which i think your job nature does not allow time for. Maybe you may want to get a reputable interior designer instead, who can help you out with all the design elements and jaga the work for you? It'll be slightly pricier but the peace of mind is priceless =)

For my case, i chose uncle also because i can afford the time to jaga. Me and wife are free nearly the whole of june so can take turns keeping an eye out on things.

[LingEr 0]

i dunno y... but really feel tat this is a heated argument... whenever it concerns unker soon, there will be pple jumping in to clear the air... it makes me stress to even read and reply to any posts cos for fear tat pple would scold me for my own pt of view... i agree to wat ncy said to a certain extend... and i have to tink she is brave enuff to post... i believe she expected all these replies coming in for her... haha...

initially i wanted to engage unker soon for help, but i read wat the clients gone through in helping to coordinate etc, when unker did something wrong have to tell him then re-do etc... and i find it weird tat many pple can help unker soon to coordinate and play a major part in the reno works... not tat its no good, but for me whom i have to work late everyday, attend meetings here n there, i dun have the time to go through all these... i also fear sometimes unker soon did something wrong in the part of the reno and the works cannot be reversed out... i know any other contractor might have made the same mistake... but then, it seems like unker soon did quite a bit? as i realised tat in the t-blog, pple would mentioned tat unker soon would give this freebies etc... after all these considerations, i dropped unker soon out...

but still i have to agree tat unker soon quote is reasonable and competitve...

[familyof4 0]

To familyof4, jaskel,smallboy, I will use familyof4 msg to answer all of you

May I ask if you have personally read Ah Soon's customers' t blog? Or do you have any personal encounter with him?

ncy: My observation is based on what I read on T Blogs and not thru personal encounter

I have a few things in mind that really made me wonder why u said:

1. you think Ah Soon is overrated when:

we, Uncle's customers do pin point the faults out when it happens. We do not hide and shun from such thigs, it's all real encounters, written all over in the blogs.

ncy: I think he is overrated, simply for the fact his names is mentioned everywhere here. Overrated might not be a bad thing. Unless you choose to see the word negatively. IPod is an overrated product. But who cares, right? Apple is laughing their way into the bank.

i think you may want to use "over-exposure" for uncle's case. in the consumers' world, it's always 姜太公钓鱼, be it choosing ID/contractors

2. he is just a contractor, we did not sell him, people ask for his contacts willingly and we do tell them the problems we face as well. True, like what Ivy said, we also ask people to go to Mr Yeak as uncle is unable to handle the overwhelming projects. What do you think when people still call him for quotes or even sign with him after we have shared all the hiccups in RT?

ncy: I fully agree with your statement above

3. idolising. I also burst out laughing. Would you spend tens of thousands just to let uncle renovate your house just because of idolising? Maybe you will, but I won't because neither of my hubby or myself earn so much to just play with the money.

ncy: I didnt say someone idolized uncle soon that leads to him landing on the job. I hope you dont misconstrue what I said. I also burst out laughing seeing how each sentence of yours getting more and more personal like I touched a raw nerve in you

be it personal or not, u had used the wrong word. FYI, there are some non-Ah Soon clients who also replied to this word that u used. am I the only one who read wrongly?

4. How many contractors/ID out there are willing to acknowledge the mistakes the sub-con made and willing to pull down and re-do for you without really even trying to cover up?

ncy: I am not from the Dept Of Statistics...hahaha joking. Errr....frankly I heard of contractors coming clean on this. So whats the point here in this question?

in fact, answer need not give statistics. if u had read the t blogs, the answer is there. Uncle is just another who is willing to admit the mistakes.

5. I do agree that since yourcontractor is good, do share the pictures of your reno. No harm introducing anny good and reliable contractor to the forum rather than trying to flame someone down right?

ncy: Again, I dont have the zanniest idea where you get this perception that I am putting someone down. I am saying it again that Ah Soon is not the only good contractor in SGP. So if you read the statement again, I am actually saying Ah Soon is good. Understand?Only that he is not the only one in SGP

you need to emphasize that he is NOT the only contractor in SG, everyone knows. period.

6. Judging Uncle base on the statement is really not fair for him because no one rates him here. We share experiences and how uncle does his "service recovery", I really take that as him having pride in his work and also ever so sincere. This is his virtue.

ncy: I have to agree with you on the above. Because if not he wont have so much backlog orders with him.

And to Jaskel, I didnt use the words teenages and celebratries, the choice fo words came from you. I only said idolized. So if you have that perception that I meant that, then sorry to dissappoint you I didnt mean that

[Coke 0]

as expected 越描越黑... *sigh* say, people interpret wrongly don't say feel uneasy. say liao become we over reactive and defensive. The thread is open to all mah.. does it mean we should not say anything just bcos we are ah soon customers? If we are using uncle and happy with his service thus far, is it wrong for us to post how we feel? so means Ah Soon thread ah soon customer cannot say anything if we perceived that some forummers may misunderstand certain facts? So continue to let this kind of misunderstood thought manifest? Why only reply to ah soon customers and not to those not using him but also pop by to share their unbias views? For those who were with us when we start facebook will know the objective well. Why single my statement "Let's join ah soon club" Pardon my bird brain, I will love to understand the intention of zeroing in on that statement. Read through carefully, get all the facts right before commenting in that manner. I won't waste time to reiterate the objective of starting that page. None of us disputed the fact that there are other good contractors around. Of course there are. That's why we say share yours.. with photos.. we don't mind referring to other good contractors like how we recommend Yeak as well. Don't read 50% aiyoh... In fact I think we openly recommended Yeak more often than ah soon becos the Yeakers, showed alot of good work from Mr YEak and their reviews are good. Why now only Yeak and Soon cos so far only Yeak and Soon customers post here mah... if there is another Mr ABC's whose happy customers post good reviews i am sure fellow forumers will also refer. Indeed we (or maybe I should not give a blanket answer, it is me) are defensive, cos how not to help a person whom we thought we have received his great help? 施比授更有福, 那是我的出发点. And DON'T MISREAD my intention again.

Maybe can try my ID Johnson from Ideal Design :) A

Edited May 30, 2009 by Coke

[Coke 0]

as expected 越描越黑... *sigh* say, people interpret wrongly don't say feel uneasy. say liao become we over reactive and defensive. The thread is open to all mah.. does it mean we should not say anything just bcos we are ah soon customers? If we are using uncle and happy with his service thus far, is it wrong for us to post how we feel? so means Ah Soon thread ah soon customer cannot say anything if we perceived that some forummers may misunderstand certain facts? So continue to let this kind of misunderstood thought manifest? Why only reply to ah soon customers and not to those not using him but also pop by to share their unbias views? For those who were with us when we start facebook will know the objective well. Why single my statement "Let's join ah soon club" Pardon my bird brain, I will love to understand the intention of zeroing in on that statement. Read through carefully, get all the facts right before commenting in that manner. I won't waste time to reiterate the objective of starting that page. None of us disputed the fact that there are other good contractors around. Of course there are. That's why we say share yours.. with photos.. we don't mind referring to other good contractors like how we recommend Yeak as well. Don't read 50% aiyoh... In fact I think we openly recommended Yeak more often than ah soon becos the Yeakers, showed alot of good work from Mr YEak and their reviews are good. Why now only Yeak and Soon cos so far only Yeak and Soon customers post here mah... if there is another Mr ABC's whose happy customers post good reviews i am sure fellow forumers will also refer. Indeed we (or maybe I should not give a blanket answer, it is me) are defensive, cos how not to help a person whom we thought we have received his great help? 施比授更有福, 那是我的出发点. And DON'T MISREAD my intention again.

There are indeed good contractors and good IDs around! Cheers �'

Edited May 30, 2009 by Coke

[stormcontrol 0]

Er, just curious (and confused). But this is actually the first time i'm hearing of other people other than uncle giving quotes for reno. If we're doing reno with uncle ah soon, shouldn't he be the one quoting??

Oh and by the way, objectively speaking, I think ncy sparked off this whole debate because ermm... i think ncy you misconstrued the meaning of, as well as misused two words. "overrated" and "idolise". Actually, both words are usually used in a derogatory manner in proper english. Especially "overrated" (it's quite a flippant word that actually has no positive meaning...). Reading your followup reply, the word you're looking for should probably be "over-exposed" but even then it's not acutally a very good synonym to what you wanted to describe... not unless you wanted to signal the intent of treating uncle as a celebrity... >_<". yowetan on the other hand has used "overrated" in exactly the way it is supposed to be used. In this case he has elaborated that uncle is overrated in terms of pricing. we know ppl round here usually rates uncle as amongst the cheapest contractor and now yowetan is saying that this rating is unwarranted or appraised too highly.

"idolise" when used in conjuction with an object signifies blind adoration/devotion/worship. No offense to the pious amongst us but all three of those meanings require some sort blind faith and well, some inability to be objective. And the implication of that well... might be alittle bit offensive.

However, i don't think nyc meant any of these negative things in his intial post, so let's just all chalk this one up to miscommunication and move on.

As an aside i chose uncle but i never considered him the cheapest. I notice some of his items are cheap but some are a bit expensive compared to others. What won me over though is that he is one of the contractors with the most "ideas" whom i have met. And more importantly, i can talk him into adding more stuff at no cost =p.

On a last note, i think it's sad that on RT only Mr Yeak, Uncle and Ho Bee are mentioned with any frequency. Would those who have positive experiences with other contractors also post up and recommend more? However, i think most ppl start to drift away and leave RT after their reno finish. Hence this does not happen. IMHO, Mr Yeak, Uncle and Ho Bee are so popular on RT simply because of Rondy, Angel81, applefreak, ilmare612, mace, pinkpetter. Those people who have completed their reno aeons ago but who are weirdly enough still hanging around renotalk (yin hun bu san or dead spirits refusing to reincarnate for the hanyu pinyin illiterate =p). They share their experiences, help newbs with their queries, and it's natural that newbs gravitate towards their contractors too when these people's t-blogs are almost constantly bumped to the top of the lists. I think no one will complain if more good and cheap contractors are posted up and shared. But if any contractor really want to shine on RT and attain the same exposure as the above 3, they would probably need to run into a client who is gonna haunt this forum long after his reno with them is done. =)

(hmm my MIL just came and told me tonight that her opposite door neighbour who is on very good terms with her is a contractor. And apparently she thinks that he's not retired and still in the trade. Apparently he did the reno for my MIL's friend a number of years ago. Did it up all stylo-mylo at only 10k. He refused to make a profit on the deal on account of my MIL... thanks mum, for sharing this with me after i've okayed uncle and chosen my living rm tiles... )

And oh yah. I know i'm crazy. typing this looooong post up at 4am in the morning. what can i say, my day ended badly and i felt looney enough to do this hahahahaha.....

Edited May 30, 2009 by stormcontrol

[ivy 0]

Yowetan, not jason. Jason is Ah soon's brother, who is in charge of co-ordinating projects right after flooring is done. I think you referring to Alan. I heard this chap always quote very high. Anyway, from the feedback I read, I think this Alan so far didn't manage to seal much deals on behalf of ah soon.

[yowetan 1]

I agree Uncle Soon's is not the only good contractor in Singapore. I am also agree with ncy that Uncle Soon is overated, in fact extemely overated in my honest opinion. Initially, my wife mentioned Uncle Soon to me when she chanced upon this forum. I read all of your t-blogs objectively. I am also a prospective home owner, and would love to do my reno simple and within budget as well.

Based on the pricing from Uncle Soon, I dun think he offers the best package and I believe his assistants (jason, if I am wrong or forgetful) do have a trait of mark up the quote. This is very disappointing.

Anyway, one person's meat is other person's poison. All the best to Soon's clan.

[ivy 0]

as expected 越描越黑... *sigh* say, people interpret wrongly don't say feel uneasy. say liao become we over reactive and defensive. The thread is open to all mah.. does it mean we should not say anything just bcos we are ah soon customers? If we are using uncle and happy with his service thus far, is it wrong for us to post how we feel? so means Ah Soon thread ah soon customer cannot say anything if we perceived that some forummers may misunderstand certain facts? So continue to let this kind of misunderstood thought manifest?

Why only reply to ah soon customers and not to those not using him but also pop by to share their unbias views?

For those who were with us when we start facebook will know the objective well. Why single my statement "Let's join ah soon club" Pardon my bird brain, I will love to understand the intention of zeroing in on that statement. Read through carefully, get all the facts right before commenting in that manner. I won't waste time to reiterate the objective of starting that page.

None of us disputed the fact that there are other good contractors around. Of course there are. That's why we say share yours.. with photos.. we don't mind referring to other good contractors like how we recommend Yeak as well. Don't read 50% aiyoh... In fact I think we openly recommended Yeak more often than ah soon becos the Yeakers, showed alot of good work from Mr YEak and their reviews are good. Why now only Yeak and Soon cos so far only Yeak and Soon customers post here mah... if there is another Mr ABC's whose happy customers post good reviews i am sure fellow forumers will also refer.

Indeed we (or maybe I should not give a blanket answer, it is me) are defensive, cos how not to help a person whom we thought we have received his great help? 施比授更有福, 那是我的出发点.

And DON'T MISREAD my intention again.

[marvin 0]

I read the lengthy discussion in this forum for these few days.

I think that ncy comments are just trying to be unbiased and objective. i dont think she is trying to put anyone down. Maybe the word idolising is wrong. So be it.

To be honest, when I post in this forum, I also have to try hard to think of proper words, otherwise I simply know the saliva from Ah Soon clients (Now, we dont use supporters or fans) here will be sufficient to flood us already.

Correct me if I am wrong, I do sense heated or defensive arguments coming from Ah Soon clients that I think are uncalled for and unnecessary.

As pointed out correctly by you all, we are all here to share our experiences. We are also real people.

I believe we are all here, just or going to get keys to our new homes, embarking on renovation to our dream home. It is a happy occasion. Lets be happy and move on.

I hope this episode will come to a close. However, comments (good and bad) about ah soon can still continue to pour in

[ncy 0]

I think I missed out Ivy in my reply above. Ivy which commented that I shouldnt flame anyone down. Okay this is coming from someone who has a line that says lets join Ah Soon club in Facebook.

I agree. Flaming down someone is a big No No. So with the title Ah Soon in this forum, means I cant have a dissenting view? Since when this forum became "there is no way other than the highway"? As flaming down someone is not good, the opposite is true as well. If you dont agree with the usage of the word idolize, we can agree to disagree.

But just like familyof4, again I say the same thing to you. Dont misconstrue the intention and meaning of my msg saying things like I should flame someone down? Dont bend and twist and try to read my statement as if its a quadrant from Nostradamus's prophecy hahahaha. All I amsaying is Ah Soon is not the only good contractor in SGP when it comes to quality and pricing. So in fact I am already saying he is good. Understand? Hahahaha....