Comparision Between Chew Design, Unimax And Northwest

[steelze 0]

has been to these three IDs..and these are my personal opinions about them.

Chew Design

met Mr A during their road show in HDB. a nice and friendly guy and is able to give good ideas on design. first he told us that he will be able to give us a 2D drawing after one week. however, after two weeks, there was still no news. gave him a call and he said he was waiting for us to confirm on the fengshui. i was like huh? ..but never mind, we sat down and discussed. but the price they quoted is way above our budget. so we told him we shall discuss again. that was in feb and till now, we never heard from him again. conclusion: they only bother to do "high budget" business. no follow up. although i like their design but too bad, their service sucks. and had to bargain a fair bit before he's willing to reduce few hundreds $$. still the price he quoted is way too high.

Unimax

was drawn to their promise, indicating that they are able to provide 3D drawing even though never sign contract with them. so happily went down, met up with J (interior designer) and told him what i wanted. he said he's busy and wont be able to provide a 3D design so soon. but he promised to provide a 2D drawing instead. within a week, he provided a 2D drawing and quotation (but using pencil to draw on a paper, scan and email). went down to discuss with him. in fact, during the first meet up, i've already informed him that i only have this budget and asked him not to go beyond this budget. well, he came back with a quotation that is 5k above my budget and was in fact more than Chew Design!! got a bit angry because i've specifically told him my budget and he said it shouldn't go beyond my budget during the first meet up. anyway, he's willing to give some discount but..on the expenses of my design. he said: featured wall, make it smaller so i can give u this xxx price. forgo this bay window and i can further discount this xxx price. or maybe you can consider having this length of bay window and that will cut down the final cost. what is this????? i mean i want my house to be designed in this way, with this budget and was hoping you can give me a good discount on the price but NOT discount on my DESIGN. ridiculous!! conclusion: yes, will give discount but at the expenses of your home design.

*

this is the first ID i went to. roughly told him what kind of design i want and the ID (Max) is very professional. within days, he was able to come up with 2D drawing and quotation. that was in jan and i was still looking around for ID at that point of time. every now and then he will follow up with a call and checked if any ID has been selected. in fact, he has been constantly following up since Jan till now. sometimes find him such a pain..hahaha...but at least he bothered.

so finally met up with him again this month, because i have made some changes to the design. he gave a final quote but ... my friend has recommended me a contractor and of course the price is definitely cheaper when you compared between an ID and contractor. but he was persistent and is willing to discuss on the quote. he has given us..i would say, a reasonable quote and cheaper as compared with Chew Design and Unimax. too bad, i wanted to save more for my furnishings and final decision is to go for the contractor. at the last meet up, he's even willing to lower to the same price that my contractor has quoted me! however, i was drawn towards the contractor because of all the freebies that he's giving. although the contractor told me he is not able to give him any 3D drawing, but i don't mind, because of the savings and freebies. conclusion: highly recommended for his good customer service. you may request him to bring you to a house that was under reno or completed reno to look at their workmanship.

Max is a very responsible ID to look for (if you are going to use NW). he's very responsible and is able to deliver what he promised within the specified days. for eg, if he said he's going to give u a quote within 2 days, you can be reassured that you will receive his call within 2 days. he is very responsive and answers his calls or sms almost immediately.

~ the end ~

none of the above... expensive showroom cost need to be recovered from high reno quotes. =) u need to source for more IDs /contractors...

[RenoFeed 0]

* service & Reno sucks...Highly NOT recommended

http://img853.imageshack.us/g/20110319112510.jpg/

Edited March 22, 2011 by RenoFeed

[stinker808 0]

* service & Reno sucks...Highly NOT recommended

http://img853.imageshack.us/g/20110319112510.jpg/

Hi,

Saw ur pics. really not a fantastic job. feel bad for u. im in the middle of negotiating with NW now, with an ID by the name of Daniel. have u encounter him before?

Edited March 22, 2011 by stinker808

[RenoFeed 0]

i dont understand how can NW claims they r Interior design firm...

Edited March 22, 2011 by RenoFeed

[RenoFeed 0]

nope...mine is call Ben....very disappointed with his service....this ID not even visit yr hse to take a look the final job. this ID only care abt his leave...die die must on leave on Wed even u want him settle the outstanding issue....think they only take care those ppl who take package or more than $30K reno project...sigh..

[VoDoo 0]

Source like ID is like finding gf/bf. HAHA

Is the chemistry and his knowledge that win you over.

Make you believe that you found the right person to do the job for you

[stinker808 0]

nope...mine is call Ben....very disappointed with his service....this ID not even visit yr hse to take a look the final job. this ID only care abt his leave...die die must on leave on Wed even u want him settle the outstanding issue....think they only take care those ppl who take package or more than $30K reno project...sigh..

Icic.... at least the Daniel was gd enough to come up to my house to see and give recommendations. Took almost 1 1/2 hrs to discuss and negotiate on the work to be done and the rest.

Hope he turns out to be that good if I sign up with him.

Cheers

[RenoFeed 0]

ya lor....u never know until engage them....

[RenoFeed 0]

Good Luck ....remember ask for job schedule leh...sometime they will claim work has done but actually not...just like chemical wash etc ...

[stinker808 0]

Yeah...... Definitely...... though all the three ID firms say my requirements shod only take 3 weeks, 1 month max.... but i will die die squeeze the job schedule out and inspect as and when since im doing outdoor sales...... surprise attack....... hahahaha

Cheers