A green horn like me, first time getting my hdb 3 room flat (resale), like everyone else, went to several id/renovation companies to compare quotes.
And as green as i am, i have chosen the lowest quotes for my kitchen & 2 toilets renovation from ** (company name is removed by editor, but the company name hint is "look up into the blue bright cloudy _ _ _".
With no experience and knowledge with renovation, i will presume all that is listed in the contract will be taken care of... until the renovation starts..
From my understanding from the id's renovation schedule, the renovation will take 1 month to complete. But until the 3rd week of my renovation, my house still remains unpainted, unwire, toilets and fittings all not installed, kitchen cabinet not even up, air con hole not mend (the house is still in war zone state). When i took leave to check on the status of the work, no workers is around. I called the id designer, and they will as usual said everything will be up next week. (even green horn like me knows 1 week to complete everything is not possible).
4th week came, which is the completion and final hand over day, i took leave to inspect the house, and to my horror, they are still painting! They took 3-4 days to paint a 3 room flat! and the painting outline are crooked. My toilet sink are broken, and my store room door knobs are scratched and tainted and the ceiling paint are in patches.
After i complained, they gives tones of reasons and excuses and the paint job is just paint over, they don't mend the patches (my ceiling look like maps or clouds floating). I was very angry, i feel cheated when i was quoted $1,200 for a paint job with patches. it was only after I express my grievances, they agree to do the patching.
I feel they have no sense of responsibility at all, they do not follow up on the work of their contractors and they do not check on the outcome of the work. It was always during my saturday inspection that i realised all the things are not in order.
On the 6th week, then they install my solid top kitchen but yet to complete the kitchen sink tap. And they have the cheek to ask for final payment to be paid the following day, when i haven't even inspect the house!
While i am glad everything will be final soon. It has been an agonizing 6 weeks with alot of frustration and nightmares.
To everyone who is going to engage any id/contractors, i would recommend you all to get recommendation from your friends, colleagues, or relatives with their existing contractors and check with them on their creditability. DO NOT engage an "unknown" id/contractors unless you are a risk taker!
