Unforgettable ~~

[May_dream1 14]

waha it really feels great to have them out of the house. Glad for you too to settle down and your reno is superb fast

I guess mine are fast compared to yours. Maybe I am lucky to find a better contractor than yours?

Anyway as long as you happy living there then forget the bad experience.

[idealistic 0]

woohoo, backz!

Have not update for a long time

Seems like renotalk is rather quiet too these couple of months Ha!

Last ended with problem on our tv console. Here are more details on our feature wall.

Side view of the feature wall for better illustration:

While carpentry is still under progress at that time and laminates are up, we noticed something is amissed.....

The black laminate circled in red where the tv will be placed caught our attention.

According to our discussion with the contractor, the section should be protruding.

The wooden part without laminate is for mirror installation which is installed later.

We pondered and no matter how we figured, the end product is flat surface after the mirror is up.

On the very night, we check with the contractor.

To our astonishment, he denied flatly and insisted that there is no prior agreement and he is not informed about our requirement. We based on the fact that we have communicated this during 3d drawing. During the 2nd 3D design proposal, we have brought this up during the discussion.

He has CONFIRMED that it IS PROTRUDING UP TO THE SIDE, but will not be able to tell from the 3D design.

This issue really makes our blood pressure shoot up as the feature wall is the item that we emphasize the most in the whole house and cannot withstand any mistake. And worse is, the contractor is not taking any responsibility.

We have shortlisted some design samples and emailed all to him during designing stage since he can't seems to come out with any nice design. And ALL the samples we provide him are with protuding effect.

If it is so easy, i do not need a "design consultant" and just put wallpaper on one whole flat wall. But in the end, our feature wall also turn up to be a flat wall.

What put us at disadvantage is the requirement is not documented.

TIP: WRITE IN DETAILS BLACK AND WHITE NO MATTER HOW SIMPLE IT MAY SEEMS TO BE

Edited June 6, 2011 by idealistic

[idealistic 0]

We guess no one has met such contractor. Ever wondered how is his attitude like? What has happened exactly is HE SHOUTED AT US NON STOP over the phone!! as in not giving us a chance to talk.

He can say things like this in mandarin: "You two win liao, husband and wife gang up against me and say i tell u this what u want me to do!"

Realising we are very persistent on this issue, he handed our case to his boss to settle with us.

We are really furious about this. His attitude especially.

While we thought an independent party gets to listen to us, WE ARE WRONG.Meeting his boss makes the situation worsen.

Here are what the boss suggested:

Issue 1: Console thickness

He claims that he sees no problem with the bulky console and suggests us to bring our friends here to see.

Rather irritated, we told him this is our house and we do not need other opinion and we know clearly what we want.

Bottom line is very simple: He is trying to delay us, drag us, making us accept what it is

Issue 2: Non protruding feature wall

First we need to wait after CNY AND WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE RECTIFICATIONS IE ALL COST INCLUDING LABOUR AND MATERIAL COST!

This is what he suggests and one's jaw can really drop!

What the boss has brought across is simply: THEY ARE NOT HOLDING ANY RESPONSIBILITIES. THIS IS CUSTOMER'S OWN PROBLEM.

He contradicts himself when he concluded what has happended by one word: MISCOMMUICATION

Yes? Miscommunication by BOTH his staff and the customer, BUT customer bears everything. The delay, the cost ....!!

One thing to bring up is when we tell him that his staff has mentioned that the protruding effect is not visible in the 3D drawing, he smiled sarcastically and said that it is not possible and he wants to prove to us by suggesting to do another 3D drawing. This is definitely a waste of time and not solving the problem.

In other words, implying that we are putting words in his staff mouth.

THIS IS THE SERVICE RECOVERY

=========================================================================================

We can only bang wall

Ultimately, we manage to get our console rectified BUT not the feature wall.

Edited June 6, 2011 by idealistic

[leeonline2011 0]

Hi idealistic,

Can PM me ur electrician? Thanx.

Can't send PM to u

[idealistic 0]

Hi idealistic,

Can PM me ur electrician? Thanx.

Can't send PM to u

PM-ed

oopps didnt realise the mail box is full after renotalk layout changed

[Serangoon4room 4]

Reno stages continues:

Here is our Walk-In-Wardrobe. Another "outsourced" item, ie not done by our contractor. Their quote is always by per foot run. Do not match with our requirement as what we need is hanging bar and hanging bar does not cost that high compared to drawers.

Did not do much research on pole system. Selected a reputable company with reasonable pricing.

<img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5558988938_8c7fe9c30b.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5558408069_9b99a9711e.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

_________________________________________________________

Hi, which company did you approach for walk-in wardrobe? i'm also thinking of doing pole system.

can pm me and how much it cost?

thanks!

[idealistic 0]

_________________________________________________________

Hi, which company did you approach for walk-in wardrobe? i'm also thinking of doing pole system.

can pm me and how much it cost?

thanks!

ya sure, will pm you

[idealistic 0]

WooWoo.. Merry Christmas folks!!

It has been a year. Last year my house was still under renovation and that was really a period of frustration.

Now enjoying the fruits and admiring the reno progress from nearby units haahaa!!

Just to update my study room pic which just got it furnished 2 to 3 months back. Really take our own sweet time to do up, on the other hand, we just can't find a study table to our liking. This is what we come up with utimately after staying for months.

[rain 0]

I've read through your blog and am glad I did. I am sourcing for contractors or IDs to do up some minor carpentry work and one of them who reverted is your ID. Judging from what he has done to your reno, I definitely would not contact him.

Your reno process must have been very stressful. Although my flat reno was a simple one, I also had a terrible contractor who has made me lose faith in these IDs and contractors, so I can empathize with your experience.

[ZzzMonster 7]

I feel for you having to go through what your ID put you through... Don't understand how these people do business... Thanks for sharing your experience so that we can be wary of this comany... I've sent you a PM

Merrry Christmas!

[idealistic 0]

As days passed, the frustration/anger/pain in the battle wore off, kind of forgotten the little details that have happened. The overall expense is still reasonable.

But will not forget the lessons learnt though. "MIS" has never been so popular before, until reno days, MIScommunication... MISunderstand... and customers bear the loss for all the "MIS", which is what we have experienced from his boss.

Having said that, there are even worse cases out there, producing low quality work.

It's over for me, but still browsing some fantastic reno in this forum occassionlly for leisure but not participating in the chat actively.

[idealistic 0]

Anyone has recommendation for door gate? Looking for one for my parents' house

[idealistic 0]

Caught a hiccup recently. Just half a year after we moved in

How will one feel about not having sofa and coffee table during CNY? In fact, we spent the days without sofa during christmas season. And eyeballs dropped on new year eve.

[ayazumi 0]

If you are not inviting any guests, don't need rush to get furnitures for the living hall.

[idealistic 0]

If you are not inviting any guests, don't need rush to get furnitures for the living hall.

Things happened and coincide with festive seasons.

We are not buying new furniture, everything in the house is new and we have been staying since last jun.

The problem is unknown bugs found in sofa and coffee tables. And all are bought from the same company, well... And is a reputable company.

This is not just an issue of rush. Don't think anyone including the owners would want to go near the living hall if the sofa and tables are infested with bugs. A home staying in fear is not a home