Review Of Mong Design Studio

[JO8 0]

Hello everyone, does anyone have comments/reviews of Mong design studio? Appreciate tons

[tanweiw 2]

I spoke to them before

Very impressed with Maena Ong the director ideas and design

However, their price is slightly on the higher side

[renovation1 0]

One has to scrutinise the quotations as mistakes are expected and the onus is on the client to spot them or pay the price, literally. They are simply unable to handle the sheer volume of a few projects at the same time. Makes you feel unimportant though you are the paying customers especially when they need to attend to another project. Staff are all under 28 years old with less than a couple of years experience in the industry except the lady boss and her husband which makes the team a rather less competent one. Very defensive even when blatant mistakes are spotted. Price does not match service provided as one would expect to pay at least $60k (that's like the minimum bar they have set to charge) for works that's definitely not worth the price. What you see on your 3D design (which you are made to pay $1800 just for the design) is not what you get in the end. Vanity is the biggest sin as we were lured and tempted by their very beautiful designs on magazine covers and such. The designs they did for us some are non functional and mediocre at best.
They said they are the equivalent of Starbucks coffee but when you have paid Premium Grande price you only get back coffeeshop coffee from them both in terms of service and work done.

 

 

[fabb 0]

Agree with renovation1's comments. I used Mong for my home renovation recently, they have nice designs but they project management and workmanship was a far cry from even average. For their price point, i would expect above average workmanship. Their follow ups are even worse. 

[bsk 0]

Couldn't agree more. I had a friend that recommended me to Mong when they will about to start renovating. The first meet up was good, the Director Maena Ong was good with her planning and sell her team very well about project manager. But the price was so steep and we had to think twice if the workmanship and management was worth the money. 

Luckily i did not proceed due to the price. But my friend who recommended me is having problems with her renovations. Simple things like agreed arrangements and checking on site was done poorly. Communication between the team and project manager was horrible. It seems like a big team but in fact it just a handful of them. When problem arises, the designer (Maena Ong) does not step out to solve your problems but tasks a junior to face the whole problem which was also correctly mention by renovation1 (not sure why still paying design fee when designer not doing her job and project manager is always not on site and not contactable). So please do not be fooled by the designer sweet promises, cause it will never be fulfilled even if it is fulfilled, it was because we as the clients are forced to accept and just hoping to move on and end the nightmare. Think twice before engaging. Nice ideas but bad management and workmanship which my friend had said " rather a normal house than a headache renovation". 

Edited December 2, 2017 by bsk

[Viv80 0]

I totally agree with renovation1’s comments too

[Viv80 0]

I hired them to renovate my 2.5 storey semi-D. Like the rest I was lured by their fanciful photos and designs that were advertised in home decor magazines. the first 2-3 meet ups to discuss about the design were very good. We were sold by the 3D design that Maena put on. So we signed on. 

Disappointed by the results considering that we paid a lot. 
 

these are the following big mistakes hey made which I felt was so unacceptable for a “ reputable” ID company.

 

1) Maena was very confident that we were able to make our first floor ceiling height higher. We went down to recce our house with the contractor on site and they made a small hole through the false ceiling to access if it was possible to increase the height. My father who is a lay person commented to the contractor that it doesn’t look possible because he could see thick trunking and pipes very Low down. Maena and the contractor reassured us that it was possible . So over the next few weeks they proceeded to hack down the whole false ceiling and removed 2 central aircon units ( those that lay flush against the ceiling) and 4 weeks later reported to us that it was not possible. We were supposed to pay $7k for the hacking process and in addition to that $6k for the 2 new aircon units. We complained and they agreed to waive off the $7k since nothing was achieved. It was still a sore point though because we had to pay for 2 new aircon units ( albeit it’s new) when technically it was  not necessary

 

2) the inbuilt materials are of very Low grade and the design are not luxurious looking as how we had hoped it to be. We chose Mong because we wanted luxurious look and the quality is poor with poor workmanship . One example is that the TV wall that was designed had the shelves where the electric sockets are all exposed. ( not concealed )So all the wiring of the different appliances such as the modem, out central CCTV and our digital telephone are all exposed and it super ugly. Can’t be that a senior ID didn’t think of that and left it exposed as a design?? 
 

3) the contractor team accidentally broke my house main door lock. Mong agreed to pay for it although they said it is not entirely their fault. “ wear and tear is to blame but out of goodwill they will pay for it” 

they got 3 different locksmiths to come who all exclaimed that house lock is very old and special. Can’t find the parts to fix it so what they did was to make the old fashion super ugly bolt latch to latch the door against the wall superiorly like old HDB flats. 
And guess what  , when my friends came visiting, they straight away exclaimed that the doors are good quality expensive doors from FASCINA! I called the FASCINA people down and they repaired my door turnstile. I was super upset because why is it a high end ID firm who charges so much and can’t  even recognise quality, expensive stuff. this tells u that Mong just outsource the work to cheap contractor firms and doesn’t supervise at all. 
 

so this is my bad experience with Mong Design. 
 

 

[ammonite 0]

The website of this company now redirects to the website of a newer company called Mow Interior.
Believe the director also goes by a different name now.

[james20t21 0]

Anyone have recent unpleasant experience with Mong Studio or MOW Interior? Please get in touch

[james20t21 0]

On 6/25/2014 at 10:59 PM, JO8 said:

Hello everyone, does anyone have comments/reviews of Mong design studio? Appreciate tons

 

On 4/16/2021 at 10:37 PM, Viv80 said:

I hired them to renovate my 2.5 storey semi-D. Like the rest I was lured by their fanciful photos and designs that were advertised in home decor magazines. the first 2-3 meet ups to discuss about the design were very good. We were sold by the 3D design that Maena put on. So we signed on. 

Disappointed by the results considering that we paid a lot. 
 

these are the following big mistakes hey made which I felt was so unacceptable for a “ reputable” ID company.

 

1) Maena was very confident that we were able to make our first floor ceiling height higher. We went down to recce our house with the contractor on site and they made a small hole through the false ceiling to access if it was possible to increase the height. My father who is a lay person commented to the contractor that it doesn’t look possible because he could see thick trunking and pipes very Low down. Maena and the contractor reassured us that it was possible . So over the next few weeks they proceeded to hack down the whole false ceiling and removed 2 central aircon units ( those that lay flush against the ceiling) and 4 weeks later reported to us that it was not possible. We were supposed to pay $7k for the hacking process and in addition to that $6k for the 2 new aircon units. We complained and they agreed to waive off the $7k since nothing was achieved. It was still a sore point though because we had to pay for 2 new aircon units ( albeit it’s new) when technically it was  not necessary

 

2) the inbuilt materials are of very Low grade and the design are not luxurious looking as how we had hoped it to be. We chose Mong because we wanted luxurious look and the quality is poor with poor workmanship . One example is that the TV wall that was designed had the shelves where the electric sockets are all exposed. ( not concealed )So all the wiring of the different appliances such as the modem, out central CCTV and our digital telephone are all exposed and it super ugly. Can’t be that a senior ID didn’t think of that and left it exposed as a design?? 
 

3) the contractor team accidentally broke my house main door lock. Mong agreed to pay for it although they said it is not entirely their fault. “ wear and tear is to blame but out of goodwill they will pay for it” 

they got 3 different locksmiths to come who all exclaimed that house lock is very old and special. Can’t find the parts to fix it so what they did was to make the old fashion super ugly bolt latch to latch the door against the wall superiorly like old HDB flats. 
And guess what  , when my friends came visiting, they straight away exclaimed that the doors are good quality expensive doors from FASCINA! I called the FASCINA people down and they repaired my door turnstile. I was super upset because why is it a high end ID firm who charges so much and can’t  even recognise quality, expensive stuff. this tells u that Mong just outsource the work to cheap contractor firms and doesn’t supervise at all. 
 

so this is my bad experience with Mong Design. 
 

 

Hi, I'm going through the same problems now with Mow Interior previously known as Mong with Director Maena Ong and also now known as Shermaine Ong. But, my case is now being handled by my lawyer