Modern Cozy Home @ Greenleaf

[Crystal Hoo 9]

I also buy things from taobao but its a spree that someone organised. There were two down lights I received that were broken... Can't get refund. U order from peeka?have u tried ordering bulky items?

[CharisOng 15]

Hmm.. I order 2 pcs of hello kitty mirror (quite big), several ceiling lights, 5 spotlights, 2 downlights & some misc items. Total shipping cost is $187.34.

First time ordering. I paid for concierge fee for them to check for me. But not sure did they actually check anot haha.

[Gwendie 0]

Our ID hunt was not a smooth sail.. Started our hunt quite early. About nearly 1 year earlier. We made rash decision and in the end wasted some money..

ID #1

Met him at one of the expo sales. Pretty nice chap. He was rather fast in replying messages.. Met him 2 weeks later from the first meeting with quotation, proposed floor plan, lighting plan & sketched design of our living room. But his quotation is not within our stated budget. He is rather pushy and keep asking us to pay a small amount of deposit $500 so that he can show us his 3D sketch. I find it is too early to commit anything and he was the first ID we've met. As time passes, our requirements changed along the way. Asked for a re-quote based on different items, promised to re-quote but no news from him since. So we dropped him.

ID#2

This one is also thru expo sales. A young pretty lady. Not very experienced. Kept asking for what kind of ideas we have in mind. Then I only know that I want something modern but I am looking someone who can impress me with their designs. As I feel if I know exactly what I want, I wont be sourcing for IDs. I will be looking for contractors already. Didnt feel comfortable & safe to let her handle our project. Pushy lady. So we dropped her as well.

ID#3

This ID was recommended by my colleague. Provided him with our requirements through email, whatapps & phone calls. During our first meeting, he showed us his quotation and is within our budget. Rather cheap.. I was running on fever that day and he was very pushy. When I stepped out of his office to buy something to drink, he immediately asked my hubby to sign the contract. Sadly for him, my hubby isn’t the decision maker. But I don’t like his yaya papaya attitude. I feel he is more of contractor than ID. His ideas are not impressive & boring. So dropped him too.

ID#4

We walked into Ci****n during expo. This ID, Z** Z**g, approached us when we are browsing thru their showroom. Both of us fell in love with their carpentry. Woodgrain PVC internal carcass. Sat down and discuss. He introduced us with their package and pretty good deal if anyone is not changing any items in their package. Free OM sofa or dining table & Courts Vouchers in return for paying GST. There are alot of items that we had to change and some other VO. He promised that it will not be very expensive. And we had to pay a sum of deposit ($1288) to secure the package. We made a very rash decision to pay the deposit without doing any research on them. We are soooooo out of our minds. Totally regretted it. Everytime i asked something, he would say “Dont worry. I will make nice nice for you.” The full quotation amount is on higher side, slightly more than our budget but still manageable. Asked for discounts, and he say it’s already very cheap. =.=

After rounds of discussion & meeting at our new place, I find that he is not listening to my requirements and he tends to make us accept this way. For example: I want glass backsplash on both sides of my kitchen and he keeps insisting that it will be very ugly due to the switches & powerpoints. I find it worse if one side is glass and the other is HDB tiles. And many other things that we don’t agree on. Everyone is saying that we must find ID/Contractor that you feel most comfortable with. He is definitely not the one. I have yet to reply him to tell him that I’m going to forfeit my deposit.

ID#5

He is my sis colleague cum best friend’s relative. Friendly guy. I provided him with my floor plan & an edited floor plan to show him what layout I prefer. (After meeting so many IDs, I have clearer idea of what I want for my home) I intend to integrate my hubby’s bedside table into the wardrobe. I also sent him this drawing to show him.

During our 1^st meeting at his “showroom”, he don’t seem well prepared and he just simply print out my edited floor plan & the wardrobe which my hubby drew and used them to explain his quotation. Less professional I would say. And he is the only one that tells me that it would be better if we can buy BLUM products ourselves and they install it for us. In his quotation, he is charging us $1,200 for each room (Master bedroom, Living Room & Kitchen), so total of $3,600 just on blum. He did throw in mirror for dining area wall & some wallpapers. We shortlisted him cuz thinking since he’s my sis best friend’s bro-in-law, 肥水不流外人田。Haha..

ID#6

Also introduced by my sis friend. Highly recommended by her. And she said a lot of positive things about this ID. So I sent him my floor plan (empty one this time). I called him to tell him my requirements and arranged a meeting a week later. To my surprise, he is the only one that did not miss out anything in his quotation. The kitchen layout is correct and our thoughts are in the same track. I told him to design something for my ceiling as I don’t want L Box but I can accept cove lightings. Hence his floorplan includes all the layout of the carpentry work etc and the lightings as well. He goes through the quotation item by item, showing us where it will be in our house, what kind of materials and concept he had in mind and showing us samples. He is very patient, detailed & experienced. I can be very longwinded and he slowly answered all my questions. He did tell us that his company don’t do advertising like regular companies do. They only through word of mouth. This company is newly set up, less than a year. Kinda worries me if they will run away with my money not. Haha. He says it’s up to us whether we can trust & feel comfortable not.

I told him that we collected our keys 3 weeks ago and we have not completed checking our house and straightaway he ask whether we are free that coming Sunday. He came down to help us check the house even though we did not say we will be confirming him. Very nice of him right?

My hubby and I feel very comfortable and no troubles conveying our thoughts & wants. He will advise & improve them. And its like TADA! He’s the one I want to engage to build our home sweet home. Currently negotiating on the price then we will go ahead to sign the contract. God bless us.

Updated: Received this revised quotation and given us some discount. Happy that at least he's willing to give some discount. Will be signing the contract this week.

ID#7

Recommended by neighbour from same project. Li***l & Ri***e (partners) from Abs****k. Mr. L inform us 12 mins before appt time that he will be late for meeting for 20mins. We already on the way to their showroom in yishun. We reached there on time and waited for 1 hour but he’s not here yet. So I whatapps him that we will be leaving and we left. His partner Mr. R called me to apologise and ask to meet him anywhere we prefer. So we agree to meet him at our new place. Keep apologising to us, very polite young man. 2-3 years experience in this field. Quite disappointed with their design and their ceiling is just false ceiling & L box at tv area. Miscommunication between Mr. L & Mr. R as Mr. L didn’t convey my requirements fully & correctly. My kitchen layout was wrong and many things are not included in the quotation. Mr. R asked us how we feel about their work, and I replied honestly that I don’t like how they design my ceiling. I feel its too simple and someone is doing L box. I want something special. Straightaway he just ask what kind of design I want. (If I know, I will be hiring contractor instead. Sorry for being so picky XD) Waiting for ppl to impress me I guess.

I received their revised quotation yesterday. Due to their lateness, they gave us a $120 discount as compensation. Pricing wise, not very expensive. Acceptable range, cheaper than ID#6. Sadly I am more interested in ID#6’s design.

And many other IDs…

Sorry for being so long winded. And bear with my broken English.

Hi are you able to pm me yr chosen ID and ID#7. Thanks

[myzticalz 14]

Hi, would like to have your ID's contact as well. Thanks!

[Jerning 0]

Can u pm me ur idcontact too ? Thanks !

[CharisOng 15]

Hi are you able to pm me yr chosen ID and ID#7. Thanks

Hi, would like to have your ID's contact as well. Thanks!

Can u pm me ur idcontact too ? Thanks !

Pm-ed all of you already. =D

[keyik 0]

That is not exactly what he told me la.. its what I understood from what he told me. Provided I didnt misunderstood him la. Haha.. not that he dont want alot of business bah.. who dont want to earn money right.

I read from other blogs that they hire famous contractor cuz of good ratings but in the end cuz too overwhelming business, like too busy to handle like that.

Well intention of that post is let ppl know that if they wanna search for reviews etc, should be nth useful u can find. I also tried searching hahaha. If feels comfortable den ask for his contact.

i agreed wat u comment. Now I facing slow progress reno due to he has too many projects on hand at one-time. he really no time for us

[Arshavin 4]

These days BTO units r built by those small or medium sized companies. They don't have those KPI or good customer service as those big companies.

So we have to follow up our defects closely and pester them till they do their work properly

My toilet bowl was still leaking after 2 attempts by BSC to fix it. Only after my wife show the head of HDB the video of toilet leaking water , the BSC remove the toilet bowl and hack the wall tiles to replace the leaking pipe.

[CharisOng 15]

i agreed wat u comment. Now I facing slow progress reno due to he has too many projects on hand at one-time. he really no time for us

Who did u engaged? Famous Mr. K? Well I prefer someone who have time to ans my questions as I do have alot of questions to ask. I won't feel comfortable if my id/contractor got no time to ans me haha.

These days BTO units r built by those small or medium sized companies. They don't have those KPI or good customer service as those big companies.

So we have to follow up our defects closely and pester them till they do their work properly

My toilet bowl was still leaking after 2 attempts by BSC to fix it. Only after my wife show the head of HDB the video of toilet leaking water , the BSC remove the toilet bowl and hack the wall tiles to replace the leaking pipe.

I feel you, Arshavin. It has been a month since I submitted the defects list. Work conducted on a half past six standard. I can find new defects everything I visit my flat. Like newly discovered chipped toilet floor tile. Now I'm on my way to meet bsc to go through one by one what are the outstanding defects to be completed by this sat. Cuz my reno already starting, so not so nice to still be doing defects.

[foomeng3 0]

Hi charis dont mind can pm me e contact of ur id? Thx

[HansamuQ 5]

Mine high floor. BSC still doing the defects after 3 weeks. The window frames is >.< so many dents and uneven colour tones (Cuz they spray paint on it.) Hai..

If have mentioned that I paid a deposit to ID#4 right? My friend suggested me to talk to them see if can request them to do some carpentry work for me. Instead, ID#4 used a clause in their contract that states that if I cancel the contract, i will have to pay 20% of the contract amount. Later i will post the chat log between the ID and me. My sis helped me called their founder and he ask me to write an email to their customer care to cancel my contract and agree to forfeit the deposit. Someone pointed out to me that the clause will not be valid due to being unfair trade terms.

Is there nothing that I can do to savage part of the deposit? Doing some carpentry work is preferable. Haiz headache.

I think i saw your chat log some where (Whatsapp right?) Can't rem where i read it. So how is it? Forfeit the deposit? Anyway hope all is good and turns out well.

[CharisOng 15]

HansamuQ, I think you seen it in Blacklisted ID/COntractor FB group. Hmm I have yet to email Ciseern. Haiz. Too much on my mind nowadays, still have to draft email to them. Sian.

Collected my padlock keys from bsc. Closed the defects list although there are some other defects not done yet. They ensure that they will resume after my reno. They gave me another defect form to fill in and ask me to continue look out for defects (if any) and write in the list.

[HansamuQ 5]

HansamuQ, I think you seen it in Blacklisted ID/COntractor FB group. Hmm I have yet to email Ciseern. Haiz. Too much on my mind nowadays, still have to draft email to them. Sian.

Collected my padlock keys from bsc. Closed the defects list although there are some other defects not done yet. They ensure that they will resume after my reno. They gave me another defect form to fill in and ask me to continue look out for defects (if any) and write in the list.

Yes correct, from there. Im in the group too. Good luck on your reno!

[CharisOng 15]

Hi charis dont mind can pm me e contact of ur id? Thx

Pm u already.

[CharisOng 15]

Status Update: Day 5 (02 May 2014)

Cabinet base done up. Master Bedroom toilet curb done too. Nth much had been done other than these 2.