zirhk3355

This I very much agree. Good idea! In fact, it also answers my earlier concern for safety where the delivery trucks are crowding at Sheng Siong's loading bay, causing danger as there are outgoing cars from the MSCP's ramp next to this loading bay. Thus, this ramp should be for cars going into the MSCP only because they are not in any blind spots. Outgoing cars should use the other ramp near to the church. Hmmz, now all we need is to find out who to feedback to - anyone knows the correct dept to call, so as to prevent ourselves from being taichi around the whole government??

I believe it should be a matter of time for them to install convex mirrors there, maybe waiting for stock. They have this at most two-directional ramps like this. The designer of the MSCP must be quite dumb if s/he actually overlook such an obvious matter that even we laymen could see...

Personally I would think its quite impossible and the agency WILL go all the way to small claim tribunal to claim against you for the remaining 1%; most big agencies have an operations manager (or something like that) who's main job is to go to small claim tribunal to make claims everyday. Legally you almost have no recourse and the only way is to speak to the agency for discount. However that would also be very difficult because why would they take out the piece of meat that is already inside their mouth? My suggestion is just to pay up and move on - concentrate on reno for your new flat lor, moving should be a happy affair, dun let such small money issues affect you lah...

The key issue: The sale that you finally made, was it with a buyer that the agent brought? Although you have signed exclusive agency with the agent (and he probably chucked you aside after that), you could terminate that arrangement when you find that the agent's service is unreasonable bad. But if you had not terminated it before the sale, or you had bought from a buyer that the agent brings you, then its very hard to 'siam' the commission because you had signed in black and white. At the end of the day, the basis of the commission comes from whether the agent brings the buyers to you and that the transaction was done successfully. If these two components are fulfilled, the rest of the other services are usually not important.

Oh you got singnet broadband also?? Mine just installed 1 hr ago...hehe...so now happily surfing here... The mio tv nothing to watch one leh...all must purchase, only video-on-demand, curse of golden flower and street fighter, which watched a long time ago liao...

Its not that people do not want to DIY, but being pressurised into engaging an agent. If you met with the seller's agent and you are represented, chances are you will not be allowed to view the flat unless you agree to engage him/her as your agent also. The key issue is how to 'counter-cheat' the seller's agent and let him/her allow you to buy the flat without paying any commission. BTW interesting forum ( WHICH THIS MODERATOR HAS DELETED ALL LINKS) you got there...

Continue with my encounter: When the HDB antenna guy came, he warned me that since we had shifted our antenna point, starhub might not want to activate it for us. This is because the contractor who did the antenna point for HDB is certified by starhub as well, so you see the label on the antenna box, "Do not alter or tamper." Accordingly, starhub reserved their rights not to activate the point for you simply because you had shifted it because once they put the sticker on the box and something goes wrong, they will have to be responsible for it. But some nice contractors may do it for you, depends on their 'mood'. So when the starhub guy came, I was praying hard that he will not be fussy - ask my wife to speak to him, quickly offer drinks and switch on the aircon. Turned out to be a nice foreigner (think Burmese or Vietnamese) who also said the same thing as the hdb antenna guy, but he said he will activate for me and proceed to put the sticker on the shifted antenna box. He did not even check my original antenna point. So I guess you got a nasty one instead - maybe can call starhub later and try to get another contractor to come? No problem! Feel free to drop by for a drink when you a free...

Sorry to be straight here, but you do understand that you had agreed to the date for 1st appt and the buyer, since they are so concerned about it, had obviously made other commitments as well, eg sell their flats, reno, fengshui, etc. Thus, its quite unfair that you said "have to listen to the buyer" - you are in the wrong, my friend! The buyer is actually in the right to ask for compensation, which would probably be the reasonable loss they would incur if the 1st appt is postponed, eg rental. IMO, to settle this amicably, first you got to explain to the buyer about your situation (remember you are asking for a favour here) and ask for their understanding. Then, ask them about their situation why they are not willing to postpone, then be creative and see how you can settle their problems. Eg if they got no place to stay or to put their stuff, maybe you can let them move in early, reno early or pay for storing their stuff in the warehouse? Word of caution: Once you managed settle amicably, remember to put it down in black and white so as to protect yourself.

Any chance that we can have beer together, it will not be for internet access lah, my friend! My fav is heineken... I thought they are already charging for wireless@SG? I am referring to the free ones; hopeless!

Wah, that's not cheap! Even if you are talking about root beer...that's $9.50 per carton of 24 cans, less than 30mins will be almost $10? Wahh... The lack of prepaid internet access in Singapore is amazing to me; when I was in Sydney, I can find internet at almost all convenience stores, ranging from $2/hr to $5 unlimited, ALL BROADBAND. Why can't our 7-11 do the same?? Dun tell me about wireless@SG, its hopeless... Yes! Come over! Deepavali will also be coming, morning at 10am...

Kids-wise, I also do not believe in competing lah. So what if my kids are 'cleverer' than your kids, whoever's kids or vice versa? I had seen so many people excel without any high education, so I rather teach my kid more 'social skills' like human interaction, mixing with others, etc. Then again, I am talking now without any kids yet, maybe got kids liao will talk differently...hehe...we will see! On the TV issue, yes I had called 1633 and they will come to activate for me tomorrow, FOC. At the same time, the HDB's antenna contractor came up today (because I reported it as defect to the building centre). After some fiddling, found that its actually my Samsung TV's cable that is faulty; so I used the HDB's cables (those that was placed in the letterbox) and it is very clear now. But the contactor said its still better to switch to starhub's signal instead of HDB's signal, so tomorrow will still get starhub to come. Speaking of the HDB's cables, the contractor told me that they are much better than the free cables that comes together with the TV, so you guys should also use if you can. My contentment with shengsiong is the illegal parking by the delivery trucks, easily six to seven BIG trucks during peak times. Its really a bad delivery location at the entrance of the MSCP; the trucks will just park along the road leaving only one narrow lane to pass thru, sometimes with the trolleys and forklifts going to and fro. I saw, so many times, two cars come head-to-head and one of them will have to reverse awkwardly. Once, I was in a taxi coming back and suddenly a car came out from the MSCP and we almost bang into it. Can't blame that car also, because its right view was blocked by another lorry parking right next to the MSCP's entrance. Really, I swear an accident will happen there very soon.

Did you came? I only saw motorman yesterday? Anyway I do not have internet access (bardy singnet says can only activate on 27th), so occasionally I will 'steal' my wife's laptop and go back to my parents' place to use the wireless. So anyone who wants to come is most welcome, but in case I am not home do call me on my mobile if you have. For the duro, I had fitted it today and it works fine. This is a different lock because I took the wrong lockset earlier. Both padlocks (earlier and now) can fit on the gate, and I am putting it at the top of the gate, near the lock's holder.

I dun understand why is there a concern to do that? At the end of the day, you are paying back the agents in their own coin. For me, really, I will simply agree to pay the 1% comm VERBALLY but NEVER sign any comm agreement, reason being I am not sure if I want to buy this flat and I am worried that if I signed already then I look for other flats also have to pay you comm. Period. Wait, I must qualify; I am not saying that I will not pay the agent AT ALL, but I want to reserve the rights NOT to pay if s/he is screwed up. Without the comm agreement, there is almost 0% chance that the agent can collect any money from you, unless s/he go and record your verbal agreement, which could also be challenged in court that the recording was taken out of context and/or tampered with. Am I being unfair? I really do not think so! As long as I do not make the agent do things for me. In fact, it will ONLY be unfair when one agent collects commission from both sellers and buyers; who is he really representing? In a dispute, who will he side? Oh dun tell me he will be a "neutral party"; how can a neutral party be collecting money from you? This is the same for many other industries (if not all), especially so for legal services. Guys, think about this: If it is absurd to have one lawyer representing the defendant and the plaintiff, why is okay for one agent to represent both buyer and seller?

Yes, you can downgrade but there will be a levy. Whether you can take loan will depend on your eligibility, which got several factors, eg owns private property, how many loans you had taken, etc. All these info are available on HDB website leh...

No special tools leh, just bare hands. Its not really tight, just abit misaligned for mine, so when opening/closing the padlock must push one side of the gate harder lor to align them. But if your wrought iron gate is badly misaligned, you can call the building centre people to adjust it for you. Yesterday I went to report a few defects and they came up swiftly today morning and settle everything! Somemore very polite, then after that I realised why; got quality survey form to fill up! Hehe...but they are really good lah, so I give a good review...plus a packet of drink for each worker... If I am not wrong predaking is 308...

Thanks! When is your turn?? Dun paiseh lah, wifey and me always like to have guests, make the flat more lively. Otherwise just the two of us, not enough 'ren-qi'! Thanks! Actually my reno is average only, maybe looks good on video? Hehe...never spend alot, the usual reno budget, just that spend alot of time to tekan and squeeze my ID for this and that... Yeah, we must keep this going until all the little juniors come out and until we discuss about their schooling even!! I believe we can do it as long as we are all sincere to make long-term friends. But if like many forummers who are just coming in here to ride the wind for discounts, bargains, lobangs, etc., yeah these are the jokers who will disappear in thin air lor, then you realised you are taken for a ride when you actually hope to make friends with him/her. On the other hand, maybe its not all that bad for the forum to become quieter, maybe we could have shifted to 'live' gathering at koufu downstairs when it opens on 1st Oct?? I always believe in more human interaction, cannot always hide behind a computer lah... Bro you know what is the number to call? I am not subscribing for SCV (at least not at the moment), will they activate for me also?

Just want to share my experience with this mover, who almost cause me alot of inconvenience. They also have this big yellow/blue sticker with a truck, usually sticks several of their ads together on the lifts of new estates. I kana this for my new flat at Tanglin Halt. Called up Robert (believed to be the boss) and got him to quote for moving; so he sent his supervisor to come and view the furniture, gave me a quote and a few days later, the boxes for packing. Everything was smooth until the day itself. When the workers arrived at my parents' place (where I was staying), the supervisor at site (not the same as above) told my mum that our wardrobe needs dismantling, alot of work and thus extra charge of $100. I called Robert immediately and reasoned that his supervisor had seen the wardrobe before so why only now got extra charge? To my surprise he became very aggressive; straightaway tell me, "If not ok then don't move lor!" and cut off the line! I kept trying to call him back and he even use vurgarities and cut off the line everytime. I had consulted FS for my house-moving, plus take leave and everything packed, so how to cancel?? Bo pianz, I called to say sorry and agreed to the extra charge. They were the cheapest during my search for movers, but with the $100 increase they became the most ex! Halfway thru, a kind worker told me that the wardrobe can be carried over, so no need to dismantle. He said he will call his boss to tell him. When everything was done, lo and behold, Robert STILL demand for $50 extra! I asked him why, and he rudely said still got some labour charges even though never dismantle. This time, the ball is in my court, so I told my wife to get all the workers out from our flat, lock the gate and then I told Robert off directly that I am not going to pay a single cent extra and cut off his line. But remembering that kind worker, my wife gave them an extra tip of $20 instead. I heard from others that such scams are not unique and alot of movers do it, because they know you will just give in to it since you are all prepared to move and very inconvenient to cancel. The worst thing for me was that I was not around during the moving and imagine my worry that my mum and wife had to face them directly. Though my dad was around, but he is reaching 60 liao, so still very worried. Morale of the story: Play the tricksters back at their own game. Agree to whatever extra charges first so as not to cancel the moving, then don't pay later. There is no black and white, receipts or invoices whatever; all verbal so they cannot do anything to you. But make sure you have a man with you, because these people are usually rowdy and things could get out of hand.

Hi guys, the lockset is taken! Also thanks for the well-wishes! Yes I have officially moved in, very messy now. BTW TYM was the first to come and sit on my sofa, haha! Should have read about the Duro lock earlier, cuz I already bought. The problem is actually not with the padlock but our wrought-iron gate; the two pillars are not aligned properly so its very hard to get it in. I managed to squeeze it on the gate, but the locking bar will not spring open, have to pull it out after unlocking.

Anyone want my lockset? This is for the wooden door. Dun need it after I changed to Duro. Price?? Free, but self-collection at my convenience. Anyone knows how many keys its supposed to come with? I lost count because gave my parents and ID, took back a few but not sure how many should be in total. I will try to find all the keys. PM me, first come first serve. Will post this on my blog also...so be fast!

Both history and statistics have shown that people who got alot of kids usually got nothing to do. Just look at our grandparents; last time the hawkers, farmers, etc will have more kids while those who are businessmen and busy with their business will have fewer kids. Erm, today it is still the same. My ex-neighbour in a 1-rm flat got 5 kids, father is a cleaner/odd-job-labourer and mother not working. Wonder how to survive...please don't ask me what race.

The permeability of PVC (or plastic) is almost zero, eg if you put water on it, it will not seep thru. This is not good for close contact with our skin, as all of us sweat, especially in this hot weather. If you have a PVC sofa you will find your backside wet-wet very quickly, worse if you are blessed horizontally like me. Those people I know who have PVC sofa end up not spending much time on it, for decoration purposes only. My advice to either raise the budget for a good leather sofa, or just make do with fabric ones. Actually nowadays I find alot of fabrics to be very nice and comfy also, depends on quality.

Not sure how it looks like from the outside; is there a panel over the doorknob and the lock? If not, then you can easily replace the lock with any locksmith. In fact you can just change the lockset. If budget allows then can go for Duro, $228 for letterbox, lockset and one padlock, all using one key. This is available at all homefix shops and diy shops too, I think...

Yes some IDs will put the sand/haulage/cement/etc separately, while some will build-in to other items. You just need to compare each masonary work item to know if any of the quotes are too high. I prefer them to separate the items, so that I can take them out if I do not need and/or got cheaper lobangs. Items lumped together are always harder to bargain/negotiate.

Like above someone said, this is really quite rare in the industry, almost never seen before. So why bring it up?? To find a double-glazed windows not vaccum properly is like trying to find a television that don't have teletext - possible, but more impossible lah!! Bro, we don't get any points for more posts in the forum one leh...

I thought the delivery men can only leave after you sign the acknowledgement form? Nothing they can do if you just refused to sign mah. But if you had already signed and let them leave, then yes, its true they will never come back again. Their salary is very much dependent on the number of cases they could handle.