Tree Affair? Please Help.

[mnphosis 0]

This is the 2nd post. I tried posting the 1st time but somehow it does not show. Sorry if there is a repeat post.

Hi,

this is our 2nd time getting a flat due to the enbloc scheme. Our 1st flat was very simply furnished so this new enbloc flat can be considered our 1st foray into the renovation world. We have checked out several ID & contractors and have read some 50% (or at least I think) of all the posts here and found one whih we quite liked. They understood exactly what we wanted and suggested very workable ideas. Designer was not pushy, team looked and sounded decent and educated. Very up to date ideas I must add.

The only issue is that I can find almost nothing on them. No reviews here nor anywhere else. All I see are their website at http://www.treeaffair.com/index.htm

A search on ACRA and HDB's licensed contractor website revealed that they do not have an HDB License. Moreover, their company's profile at ACRA has shown that the same name Tree Affair was terminated and then re-registered again, at the same address (not that it means anything. Just something I noticed). Their carpentry factory has changed from Kranji to Sungei Kadut too. Not that it means anything either.

Having read here that one should see the renovator's HDB License etc, I took note of it and asked the designer how they would go about carrying out reno works without a HDB License. They claimed that they use a 3rd party HDB contractor Ever Progress whose ACRA & HDB profile showed that this said contractor has a registered business at Anson Road International Plaza #03-09. This contractor is indeed HDB Licensed and has a live profile at the ACRA records.

However, feeling that this seemed weird cos International Plaza is hardly a place where a contractor would set up shop due to its high rent, I did some further checks and it revealed that #03-09 International Plaza was also the registered address of an I.T. company known as Yain Technologies. Moreover, this company is "Live" status with the ACRA profile.

This would mean that either Yain Tech or the Ever Progress contractor is using / sharing the office address simply for business registration purposes. It could be a home start up or a company using a "rental office" as a front only. Not that it implies anything either but with the facts off Tree Affairs having no discussion about them despite being in operation since 1997 and with them using a 3rd party contractor which does not have a real brick and motar shop front exept for a classy address right smack in the middle of town, I am really getting worried if this is my right choice.

Has anyone used Tree Affair before? They claim on their site that Carl Junior outlets or maybe an outlet was done by them. The rest are a mix of digital drawings etc.

I like their "designer"'s ability to translate everything we want into drawings and even suggest better alternate ideas as well as her non pushy approach. One can see that she is very committed and has an honest and affable sense about her. Only worry is at the end, will her contractor and carpentry guys be able to translate all the ideas and requests into real world results or is its just a case of "zhi3 shang4 tan2 bing1" discussing military strategies over paper (direct translation).

So before I finally decide to go with them or decide to drop them, can anyone with any advice or opinion, good or bad, please feel free to speak your mind.

Better still, if anyone has used them before, please let me know.

If anything said is too sensitive, you could pm me.

Thanks.

[Tree Affair PR 0]

Hi mnphosis,

thank you for your feedback on this. May I know which staffs of us have you spoken to regards to this matter? This is because most of our clients already know about our company organizational structure before they engage us as their contractor.

We are mobile contractors. Just like anyone who operates from the home. Tree Affair has more experiences into commercial and private property design. Due to referral from existing clients, we also have some HDB I.D projects along the way. Since we do not have a license for HDB, we will engage from our network of reliable and experienced HDB contractors whom we trust for many years. Some of them may or may not have a shop but they have a valid hdb license whom our clients can check anytime.

People who know us will understand that our way of work is rather unique; we don't have a huge showroom, a large shop space, or even a sales designer. What we have is an independent pricing policy. In which the savings on high shop rentals and high sales commissions are diverted into better quality building materials and more savings for our clients. Our prospective clients deal directly with our directors. We are happy being small, and that's what we want. And we are happy about it.

Tree Affair is operated under two main division namely, Tree Affair Design & Build Pte Ltd and Tree Affair Construction Pte Ltd.

If you have any enquiries, pls feel free to give us a call at 64403329 or 97673400 for Roy Ngai, our director.

This is the 2nd post. I tried posting the 1st time but somehow it does not show. Sorry if there is a repeat post.

Hi,

this is our 2nd time getting a flat due to the enbloc scheme. Our 1st flat was very simply furnished so this new enbloc flat can be considered our 1st foray into the renovation world. We have checked out several ID & contractors and have read some 50% (or at least I think) of all the posts here and found one whih we quite liked. They understood exactly what we wanted and suggested very workable ideas. Designer was not pushy, team looked and sounded decent and educated. Very up to date ideas I must add.

The only issue is that I can find almost nothing on them. No reviews here nor anywhere else. All I see are their website at http://www.treeaffair.com/index.htm

A search on ACRA and HDB's licensed contractor website revealed that they do not have an HDB License. Moreover, their company's profile at ACRA has shown that the same name Tree Affair was terminated and then re-registered again, at the same address (not that it means anything. Just something I noticed). Their carpentry factory has changed from Kranji to Sungei Kadut too. Not that it means anything either.

Having read here that one should see the renovator's HDB License etc, I took note of it and asked the designer how they would go about carrying out reno works without a HDB License. They claimed that they use a 3rd party HDB contractor Ever Progress whose ACRA & HDB profile showed that this said contractor has a registered business at Anson Road International Plaza #03-09. This contractor is indeed HDB Licensed and has a live profile at the ACRA records.

However, feeling that this seemed weird cos International Plaza is hardly a place where a contractor would set up shop due to its high rent, I did some further checks and it revealed that #03-09 International Plaza was also the registered address of an I.T. company known as Yain Technologies. Moreover, this company is "Live" status with the ACRA profile.

This would mean that either Yain Tech or the Ever Progress contractor is using / sharing the office address simply for business registration purposes. It could be a home start up or a company using a "rental office" as a front only. Not that it implies anything either but with the facts off Tree Affairs having no discussion about them despite being in operation since 1997 and with them using a 3rd party contractor which does not have a real brick and motar shop front exept for a classy address right smack in the middle of town, I am really getting worried if this is my right choice.

Has anyone used Tree Affair before? They claim on their site that Carl Junior outlets or maybe an outlet was done by them. The rest are a mix of digital drawings etc.

I like their "designer"'s ability to translate everything we want into drawings and even suggest better alternate ideas as well as her non pushy approach. One can see that she is very committed and has an honest and affable sense about her. Only worry is at the end, will her contractor and carpentry guys be able to translate all the ideas and requests into real world results or is its just a case of "zhi3 shang4 tan2 bing1" discussing military strategies over paper (direct translation).

So before I finally decide to go with them or decide to drop them, can anyone with any advice or opinion, good or bad, please feel free to speak your mind.

Better still, if anyone has used them before, please let me know.

If anything said is too sensitive, you could pm me.

Thanks.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Tree Affair PR