shazcarvalho

Hi guys, just wanted to share my experience with you all and possibly get some advice. I got the keys to my resale HDB flat in May this year. After which, I started looking for an electrician. I checked quotes online as well as had a couple of electricians recommended by friends. I met up with one guy upon my friend's recommendation. He came down on a Saturday and gave me a rather reasonable quote. He also mentioned that the trunking cost will be minimal and will be added in after the work is done because he can't gauge how much he will need to use. So, I asked him to please work with my contractor on the schedule. She feedback to me that he was very uncooperative. Didn't keep to his schedule, turned up as and when he felt like it. I am a single, working woman so I could only head down on weekdays after work and on weekends to check the progress. My contractor also kept me in the loop through the phone. The renovations commenced end on the second week of June. It was scheduled to end on 18 July, I was to move in on 19 July. The weekend before it was scheduled to end, I checked with my electrician on the status and requested that he complete everything by 15 July. He told me it was not gonna be a problem. The contractor handed over the house to me on 18 July in the evening. I had gone down for a final look and realised that one of the twin sockets was incomplete. Some others were crooked and not aligned. So then I contacted the electrician and asked him when he would be completing everything, he said he will arrange again but he cannot do weekends. He can only do on weekdays between 9am to 5pm. So that meant I had to take a day off work to see that everything is completed, which is unfair to me. Over the next couple of weeks, I tried to arrange for a time. There was one weekday that my friend was gonna be around so I dropped him that he could come on a Friday, so just let me know if he can make it. I dropped him that message on a Tuesday. There was no sight, no sound. Then 2 weeks later, he emailed me and told me that I have overlooked payment, I replied him that it was not an oversight but that the work has not been completed. Subsequently, we kept missing each other's calls. When I finally did manage to speak to him, he started shouting at me and I couldn't get a word in so I passed the phone to my friend who was with me at the time. I did tell him that he can even come and fix in the evenings after 6pm. His response was "who works at that time?". He was adamant about not being able to work on weekends. In the first place, before I agreed to engage him, it should have been made clear to me that he cannot work at certain times. Its absurd because the first time we met was on a Saturday. When my friend was talking to him, he was shouting at her too and saying that he does not work on weekends. She did offer to pay half of cost for the incomplete and crooked ones, he told her to go and give the money to God. After that very unpleasant situation, I spoke to the friend who had recommended him and she also saw the incomplete and crooked work done. She said that he was actually recommended by her colleague. So she spoke to her colleague who said that she would have a word with him but after that, nothing. This happened on 18 Aug. 2 days ago, he emailed me and asked me to settle everything by this week. He is denying everything mentioned before and is accusing me of shouting at him instead. This guy is so very dishonest and has a terrible attitude. In his quotation and invoice, it is stated that a deposit is required upfront, which has been paid. The remaining amount is to be paid upon completion. However, because it was not complete and some of the crooked ones were not rectified, I feel that its unfair for him to demand full payment. Now, he is saying that I am the one who shouted at him and I am the one who is inflexible with the timing. Can anyone advise me how I should go about dealing with this?

I got the keys to my new house on 5 May. I had been scouting for IDs and contractors since March. My budget is small at 30K. The contractors I met quoted me between 32K - 41K. Of course, I had a hard time trying to find one that was reliable and knew what I wanted. I came onto this forum hoping to get some ideas and I did approach a couple more IDs after getting my keys. I was approached by a contractor on this forum. I went down for a meeting and they gave off a good vibe. This was already the end of May. They had been very responsive and quick in getting back to me on all my queries and in giving me the quotes. They were also very confident on delivering by 9 July which is the date I gave for completion. The works started last Tue and last evening when I went down, only the bathroom wall tiles were done, can you believe it?? Everything else was still in a mess and even the hacking was not done proper. There are still nails and hooks stuck in the walls and ceiling. Its very worrying. And the best part is, they told me they don't have the policy of having a penalty if they do not finish the job on time or as scheduled. The project manager should be on top of things yet I feel that she isn't. I spoke to her last night and voiced my concerns and unhappiness. I hope she heard me and would buck the **** up. There's 3 more weeks to go, let's see what happens. I'll be updating this post again.

Hello, I am renovating my 3-room flat and need to change some of the lighting points and install lights. Can anyone recommend a good and affordable elctrician? I recently got a quote for $2,400 to relocate some points, installation of lights and fan as well as changing the switch covers. Thanks!

Hi Dwi, can share/ pm me your quotation? Thanks alot!

Hi there, I just got my keys to my resale flat and I have actually been getting renovation quotes and surfing the net for ideas and reviews. Has anyone used D'esprit Interior before? Out of all the quotes, theirs is the most affordable and within my budget but I can't seem to find any reviews on them.