Mix & Match

28th April 2007 - Hb and I met Eesy (yes, that's the name of the guy) at Kallang in the morning and he brought us to Haffari, a shop at Balestier that sells tiles. There we were, selecting tiles for different parts of the house and it was kinda fun! We were pretty amazed that Haffari actually carries tiles with wallpaper designs! So who says you have got to use wallpaper? Use tiles manz! They even come with shiny specks! I love our toilet tiles, wahahahhaha! Did I mention we are going to redo both toilets?? Yes, that's what we are going to do, as I hate the current tiles provided by H*B! In particular, I like the tiles we are going to use for our balcony ledge. Kinda retro in a way, and being glossy, the black colour, together with its design, becomes an attraction by itself! Eesy was quite surprised that we only took 1.5 hours to select all our tiles. I guess he doesn't know that I like to do things "chop chop", lol. We went to his office at Upper Boon Keng Road to select the type of laminate we want for the bedrooms and study. Done within 20 mins, haha! Eesy told us that he has already applied for the permit, so we'll be able to start on our renovation next week, yay! Can't wait for our little corner to be done up nicely!

*Different designs for different parts of the house. We were given samples of those that we selected to bring home too, cool!

Showed The Low Clan the sample tiles we brought back and they also like the designs we chose, phew! Eesy is really quite easy-going, lol. We were supposed to select the $2.70 psf range for the toilet, but we eyed the range that cost $3.20 psf and he was willing to absorb the cost! In fact, there are many things he is quite flexible with and doesn't charge us extra. I am sure if it were Albert, he would definitely charge is the extra cost per square feet!


- Phebe

Life in a Glass House (Part 2)

Yes, True Believers, the moment you have been waiting for is here. So make sure you are securely strapped into a comfortable chair as I unveil the magical numbers that make little neon dollar signs go "Ka-ching!" in the eyes of contractors all over Singapore, JB, and some say Timbuktu.

There we were, Her Royal Majesty and I, tucked in a corner of a burger joint at Jurong Point, waiting for the salesperson to show up with his quotation. With the amount of work he had proposed (hacking down walls, putting up glass panels, glass doors, converting the master bedroom to a walk-in-wardrobe, etc), we were confident that the final sum would at least exceed our budget by 10K. In fact, I was pretty sure that it would overshoot our wallet capacity by about 20K.

The moment he fished out the quotation from his file, we immediately pushed aside the remnants of our artery-bursting dinner, and quickly flipped to the last page. To our surprise, the total sum was a few hundred dollars below our budget!!

We had always thought that this salesperson's ideas for our flat were different from most other contractors, but in a good way. So it was a happy surprise for us when we found out that he had managed to secure sponsorships from some of his suppliers, and was able to provide some items at no charge!

Her Royal Majesty and I managed to suppress our primal urges to burst out in scary, evil laughter, and did our best to smile politely so that the salesperson won't be tempted to call the police or whoever it is that you call when a pair of homeowners are utterly convinced that they have gotten the bargain of the year.

Needless to say, we signed on the dotted line soon after, and today, the total sum has grown by a couple of hundred dollars to hit the exact upper limit of our budget. To date, we are happy to report that the cash outflow seems to have extremely poor growth prospects, and we are looking forward to see our very own glass house come into fruition.

- Melvin

Life in a Glass House

Our journey to building a livable, comfortable, 50% stylish, 100% affordable home has been nothing short of eventful so far. From encounters with talkative old men to our discovery of the dirty truth behind an established "interior design company", we have probably had our fair share of excitement so far.

Just when we were about to wash our hands of the interior design industry, along came an offer by a little known outfit --- Sxxxtxxce Interior Design. Like most other companies, they initially took our list of "to-do items" and offered to give us a quotation for that. However, somehow as we started discussing about what we could do to our house, I guess we must have infected the salesperson with our enthusiasm, which in turn led to his somewhat audacious suggestion: to build us a glasshouse.

Or at least, that's what it seems like on hindsight. Essentially, the idea was to tear down several walls, and replace them with glass panels to expand the field of vision and allow more light to enter. If everything works out nicely, we should be able to have a full view of the living room, balcony and study, the moment they step into our flat.

That, plus the suggestion to convert the master bedroom into a giant walk-in-wardrobe, caused all sorts of alarm bells to go off. While the salesperson's ideas were somewhat dangerously seductive, they also caused our wallets to automatically deflat as we furiously did our mental sums of the costs involved.

That's when the salesguy casually repeated that he was keen on using our flat as his company's pièce de résistance and would be willing to sponsor a portion of the total cost for the privilege of doing so. Naturally, Her Royal Majesty and I were cautious about such an offer, and our immediate reaction was that of cynicism and disbelief. After all, how much could a relatively unknown company sponsor? Nevertheless, as typical Singaporeans, we believe that letting go of the opportunity to grab any bargain is unpardonable, and agreed to let him come back to us with an offer. Secretly, Her Royal Majesty and I made a side-bet on how much the offer would exceed our budget, whether it would be 10K or 20K.

Watch this space to find out how much the salesperson eventually quoted us for our renovation and whether our wallets survive this ordeal.


- Melvin

Renozone Interior Design

I realise that Sgbrides forum is really quite useful. Useful when you need quick information. Someone recommended me to Renozone and we decided to give them a call. We emailed our floor plan to Miker, who was only given half a day to come up with a quotation for what we wanted. Hb and I went down to Renozone, which was located at Jalan Klapa, somewhere between Bugis and Lavender.

Miker is very customer service oriented and so far, Hb and I feel that his service is the best. He listened with patience and never interrupted us, unlike Alan. In fact, we were very surprised that within the short time frame given, Miker was able to come up with 3 sheets of proposed floor plan! He would also explain to us various methods we can go about doing the things we want. Here are some examples….

Kitchen cabinets – He showed us many samples of solid surface tops and explained to us the difference.

Walk-in- Wardrobe – He showed us samples of different types of wood and explained to us the benefits of each.

Feature Walls – He shows us other methods to do it cheaper but yet as good.

Window grilles – He showed us many samples and colours and explained the difference.

The above are just some of many examples. Hb and I both felt “enlightened” when we left Renozone. It was as if we had attended some kind of technical crash course and the information gained was indeed very useful.

We met up with Miker at our flat as well for him to take measurements. His quotation is also very reasonable and he tries his best to help us reduce the cost.

I received feedback from a friend that her flat renovation with Renozone is going on very well and she is very satisfied with their work.

Conclusion: Hb and I did not engage Renozone’s services as we have a better offer. However, in terms of customer service, Miker is really good.

Sharing our experience with Renozone, Miker in particular, is the least we can do in return for all his help. For those of you who are looking for IDs, you may consider this company!

Good luck!


- Phebe

Tick Tat Tick Tat

23 Apr 2007 - Hb and I went down to our new place again at night as we wanted to finish checking the toilet floor tiles as we had to submit our defect list on Wednesday. Hb brought along his table lamp while The EL (aka my dad) gave us one of his powerful bulbs. It was quite fun visiting the flat at night, haha and it was kind of thrilling in a way! Hb checked for hollow tiles while I lazed around as I didn’t want to get myself all hot and sweaty, lol.

Knock Knock...Swish Swoosh

22 Apr 2007 - After church, Hb and I went down to our new place again. Hb was supposed to wash the toilets to clean off all the masking tapes. As a form of displaying my moral support, I went to buy detergent and scrubbing materials for him. Never thought the day would come when I would shop for toilet cleaning items and the shop attendant was trying not to burst out laughing when he saw me scrutinizing the different types of toilet brushes, lol. In the end, I decided to buy the brush I thought looked the prettiest, lol. To make our lives easier, we even brought along the 2 portable stools we bought when camping overnight at HDB in January!

While Hb washed the toilets, I kept myself busy by checking for hollow tiles in the kitchen. Super tiring and I passed on the job to Hb after he finished cleaning the toilets. Felt particularly satisfied even though we did not manage to finish checking the floor tiles of the toilets as I had to go back to the office at night.


- Phebe

We Have Collected Our Keys!

21 Apr 2007 - After a long wait of more than 3 months since we applied for our EA, we finally collected our keys! Hb and I went down to HDB on 21 April 2007 and after all the paperwork was done, we were given a key pouch containing 26 keys! Signed on the legal documents more than 20 times until I also didn’t know what I was signing, haha! Surprisingly, everything was done within 1.5 hours! By right, Hb has a 90% ownership since most of the monthly payment will be borne by him, plus all the PUB bills and conservancy charges, but by left, since he indicated in the contract as “Joint tenancy”, that means that officially, its 50-50! Wahahahahahahaa! We had to pay 3 months worth of conservancy charges that amounted to $241.50…. that means $80.50 per month just for rubbish clearance and general maintenance! Now I understand why Singapore is so cash rich…

Went over to our new place in the evening and started checking for defects as we were supposed to submit our defect list within a week. Super tiring! The Low Clan came over to help us check for defects as well and thankfully, there weren’t too many as expected~!


- Phebe

Our Unpleasant Episode with C**w Interior Design

Hb and I engaged the services of C**w Interior Design on 27th March. Our contract with this company lasted for less than a month before we decided to terminate their services. This entry contains a full account of what happened between us and the above said company.

27th March 2007

Hb and I went down to C**w Interior Design’s showroom for the first time at about 8.45pm. It was the first interior design company that we had approached regarding the renovation of our flat and upon arrival, we were served by Alan Poo (name has been changed).

We briefly described what we hoped to include in the renovation of our flat to Alan, and he gave us a quotation on the spot. Alan then proceeded to repeatedly coax us to sign the agreement with him, and disregarded the fact that it was already close to midnight at that point. All the other staff members had left the showroom by then, and we were the only customers left.

In order to induce us to sign the agreement, Alan claimed that we would only be able to enjoy the price that he had quoted if we signed the agreement and paid a deposit immediately. According to Alan, the deposit amounted to 10% of the total cost of services provided and he also claimed that it was compulsory to pay such an amount in accordance with company policy.

At that time, we had no intention of committing ourselves to the services of any particular interior design firm, but eventually, we still succumbed to Alan’s relentless persuasion. Do keep in mind that it was close to midnight, and we were understandably anxious to end the discussion.

Although we paid the deposit of $1500, we did not sign any agreement or contract on that night. We gave this deposit because we trusted Alan’s claims about his company’s services, and also because we were pressurised into believing that if we did not pay the deposit, we would not be able to enjoy the prices quoted.

Being new to renovation services in general, we placed our faith in what Alan had claimed and genuinely believed that he had given us a fair deal. At this point, we had not signed any form of legal agreement to safeguard our interests and simply trusted Alan enough to pay the deposit. Alan told us that should we wish to terminate the contract, there was a chance that the deposit would be forfeited.

30th March 2007

We went down to C**w’s showroom for the second time as we wanted to discuss some details about the renovation. Alan produced a typed invoice dated 28th March 2007 in which some of the items were later amended by myself on the spot as he admitted to not being very proficient with the use of the computer. I pointed out to Alan that the date of the invoice should be changed to 30th March 2007 but he insisted that there was no need for such a change.

Again, we trusted Alan’s statements and thus signed the invoice dated 28th March 2007 even though the accurate date should be 30th March 2007. Thus, neither did the date on the invoice correspond to the actual date of the signing of the agreement, nor the date shown on the receipt for payment of the deposit (27th March 2007).

We were very reluctant to sign the agreement as there were details that we still wanted to deliberate, but Alan kept reiterating that his management had repeatedly pressured him for the balance of the deposit. He also claimed that he would get into trouble with his management if we did not sign the agreement. Therefore, although the renovation details were not 100% finalized, we still signed the agreement in order to prevent unnecessary trouble for Albert.

11th April 2007

We had arranged to meet Alan at the McDonald’s restaurant at Jurong Entertainment Centre at 10pm to discuss some details of our renovation. Unfortunately, Alan was late for the meeting and kept us waiting for more than half an hour. The drawings were ready and the meeting was to discuss more details about the renovation. During the meeting, he kept pressing us to make the balance of the deposit by saying that his management had repeatedly pressured him for the remainder of our deposit.

We requested to meet up with the designer to tell him exactly what we want but to our surprise, Alan said that it was not possible because “the designer very busy” and “boss doesn’t allow”. Alan’s behaviour caused doubts to form in our minds as we were sure that most interior designers would want to meet their clients in order to have a first-hand understanding of the client’s needs. In fact, based on the experiences of friends who have completed their renovations, we understood that it was a common and fundamental practice throughout the industry for the designer and client to meet and discuss about the details of the renovation. Therefore, Albert’s response was a disturbing aberration from what we considered to be a basic aspect of the profession and industry.

15th April 2007

We went to C**w’s showroom to meet Alan as previously arranged with him, but unfortunately he was late again. Given our busy schedules, punctuality is very important to us and is a basic requirement that we ask of anyone whom we work with. We requested again to meet the designer but Alan kept repeating the same reasons as stated on 11 April 2007 and refused to comply.

We then told him that we were not satisfied with the design and showed him some pictures as a guide to what we wanted to achieve. To our dismay, instead of offering solutions and constructive suggestions, Alan insisted on putting down our ideas by continually interrupting us in mid-conversation. This happened so many times throughout the conversation that both of us literally had no opportunity to respond. In our opinion, this is an example of extremely poor customer service, and it is unfortunate that Alan was oblivious to his behaviour and in fact, persisted in it.

As a further illustration of his behaviour that evening, Alan said that “if you don’t want what the designer draw and also don’t want what you show me then what you want?” Do note that this remark was made in a tone that strongly suggested contempt for our ideas and opinions. As a professional with many years of experience in the service industry, I had expected Alan to at least display some form of civility towards us even though he may not agree with our ideas. Unfortunately, all that we could discern from his behaviour were an unwillingness to listen to the customer, and a dismissive attitude towards all ideas that were not his.

Throughout the numerous meetings and telephone conversations that we had with Alan, he has never failed to leave us feeling extremely frustrated. Firstly, he would insist on dominating discussions by interrupting us continually, such that conversations always end up being a one-way flow of repetitive information from him. Secondly, he always seemed eager to charge additional costs for minor changes to items that other interior design firms are willing to perform for free. To date, he has added more than $3000 to the amount which he quoted on the evening of 27 March 2007.

In view of our highly unsatisfactory service experience with Alan, and his failure to incorporate our needs into the design concept, we have made the decision to terminate the company’s services. As actual renovation work has not commenced and the company has not incurred any costs, we requested for a full cash refund of the deposit paid previously. However, Alan retorted that the deposit would be forfeited and that we would have to pay the company a 20% cancellation charge. You may wish to note that Alan failed to mention these cancellation charges when persuading us to sign the agreement on the evening of 27 March 2007.

The Battle

After a verbal fight over the phone between Hb and Alan, the latter promised to check with his manager whether it was possible that we need not pay the 20% cancellation charge and get back to us within the day. I called CASE to check and sad to say, found that C**w has every right to pursue the 20% charges as we had signed the contract.

We felt that it would be better to speak to Alan’s manager directly and thus, Hb called the man, who was known as Dave (name has been changed). Just as we have expected, Alan did not mention our case to Dave. Dave promised to get back to us upon checking with Alan about the matter. As both of us did not trust Dave, we decided to contact the company’s Managing Director. Without the knowledge of Dave and Alan, we couriered a letter to the MD the very next day as we knew he would be in the office. Do note that Alan had lied to us previously that the MD was out of town and would only be back in June. When Hb called Dave again, Dave was very rude and said “I got no time to entertain you”. We decided to call the MD and related the incident to him, who also promised to get back to us within 2 days.

Two days passed and Hb paid C**w a surprise visit at the MD’s office. We had prepared our own agreement form the previous night and were determined not to let C**w bill us the 20% cancellation charge. Thankfully, they had also prepared their own set of agreement and both parties now have nothing to do with each other anymore. We did not manage to get our deposit back but I guess it’s a lesson well learnt. There is no point in continuing the contract just for that $1500 as the trust is no longer there. We are just relieved to get out C**w Interior Design finally!

For all who are hunting for ID firms, do take note to read all the terms and conditions carefully. Do not be pressurized into signing anything. For your information, the above ID firm is located at Jurong East.

BEWARE.

- Phebe

Introduction

Mdm Yik: Why didn't you switch off the aircon when its not in use??! Do you know that our monthly PUB bill amounts up to at least $200++?!! Can save must save! You think that maintaining a home is very easy is it?! There are never ending bills to pay you know!"

ME (muttering to myself): Aiya she is just exaggerating...only pay for PUB bills mah... she makes it sound as if setting up a home is a chore....

I have never thought that setting up a home is easy, but neither have I thought that it would be that troublesome either. Mdm Yik was right. I was ignorant then. By the way, Mdm Yik is my mum. :)

Hb and I have been planning to get a place of our own since Nov 2005, which was when there was a balloting exercise for flats in Toa Payoh. We failed to get a unit as there were simply too many applicants and although we both felt rather disappointed, I was somewhat secretly pleased as I have always preferred living in the West. A walk-in-selection (WIS) exercise for Jurong West flats in June 2006 made me jump with joy as that meant I would be able to live in the West like I always had. Unfortunately, on the day of selection, all the units that we had shortlisted got snapped up by other applicants and being unwilling to take 2nd level units, we decided to give up. Another WIS exercise was launched in Sep 2006 for Seng Kang flats and after viewing the area and concluded it as being “a vast piece of empty land”, Hb and I decided not to apply for it. In Oct 2006, we decided to make a $10 investment by balloting for a unit at Redhill. We thought it was fun to “join in the crowd” even though we knew there wasn’t much hope of being successful. True enough, we failed, and laughed about it! We finally decided to get a resale flat even though we both preferred new ones. Just when we were about to make an offer that particular weekend, news came that there was going to be a WIS exercise! To cut the long story short, I’ll just say that we have gotten our 1st choice unit at Jurong West! Finally Lady Luck is smiling on us!

We started our search for ID firms after Chinese New Year after we got tired of friends constantly questioning us about our ID hunting progress. This “blog” will be a record of our whole renovation experience, from the beginning till the end, from how we started off searching for ID companies to the problems we encounter just to get our little corner set up.

- Phebe