Life Story Versus Life Storey

[dc71 0]

Anyone know if Casa Culture, Fashion Home or related co is still operating out of the Blue Building at 18 Genting Lane?

Just to add my experience as a warning, since I just came across this thread. I ordered a sofa there when it was called Fashion Home last year, specifying complete leather covering. Unfortunately I made the mistake of paying in full up front ($1700), since the salesman (called himself Kim initially, I later found out he was Nicholas, one of the directors) was very pleasant and convincing in his pre-sales.

The sofa was delivered eventually a couple of weeks later than the agreed delivery date, and was covered with synthetic PU material. When I complained, Kim/Nicholas offered me a $300 refund if I agreed to keep the sofa. I refused since it was not what I ordered, and told him that I wanted a replacement in the agreed full leather covering or a full refund.

Over the course of several weeks Nicholas came up with several delaying and obstructive tactics e.g.

- Saying he'd speak to the boss about my case

- Trying to tell me that "in the furniture trade, 'leather' usually means PU" - utter bulls**t

- Saying that if they'd agreed full real leather cover, the price would have been higher - ignoring the fact that the invoice stated "Complete Leather"

- Offering me a 'half-leather' replacement with no price adjustment

After visiting for the 3rd time to discuss with him, Kim stated that they would not provide a replacement matching the original description, and also wouldn't give me a full refund, I decided to go to the small claims tribunal. Fashion Home did not attend the hearing and the small claims tribunal duly awarded my claim for a full refund.

To my surprise, Fashion Home then wrote back and got a deferment on the claim and another hearing. This was just more delaying tactics, as once again they did not attend for the hearing, and the tribunal upheld the award to me. They had a chance to settle then, but still refused to, so I obtained a Writ of Seizure & Sale, and duly went with the Bailiff to collect payment, however the shop was closed at the time. The bailiff also told me he'd been to the same company before and they'd finally paid up only after the Writ of Seizure.

Finally, they called me back (the first call I'd actually ever received from them), saying that they would refund in one week as they were waiting for the boss to return from China. So I made the mistake of delaying the next trip with the Bailiff, hoping they would make good on their promise. After receiving no refund, I went back to the shop to find it was now Casa Culture, under a different Pte Ltd company.

The Bailiff then told me that we could not apply seizure against Casa Culture since it's a separate company (even though Fashion Home was still listed as 'live' at the same address). A company check showed that one of the directors at Casa Culture shares a home address with one of the Fashion Home directors. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions!

So overall I'm down by $1900 including tribunal/bailiff costs and a lot of time wasted. Based on my experience, I can only offer the following advice:

- Do homework before buying from any shop to check for bad experiences from others

- Pay minimum deposit and insist they write on the invoice 'full refund to be provided if not delivered on time or as described'

- If you do end up having to file a small claim in order to recover money, don't delay on any step as this gives more time to arrange a name change or switch company. Follow right through to Writ of Seizure and the Bailiff visit with minimum delays.