Do Not Go To L+phe** (or Liv**g Ph*o*e**n)

[blueking07 0]

I had such a bad experience at L+Phe** at Balestier. This is my first post here because I feel so strongly about being "cheated" by them that I have to warn all forumers.

L+Phe** (also known as Livi**g Ph**n Pte Ltd) sells bathroom stuff (wc, basin, towel bar, etc) and kitchen stuff (taps, mixers, etc). Please avoid this place to save yourself from paying more $$$ and getting less in return!

I went to this shop (let's call it LP) twice to look at their basins. Because my vanity cabinet is rather small (less than 400mm), I have a very limited range to choose from. I have been walking up and down Balestier and Geylang many times, checking out the various shops recommended on this Renotalk. But most of the basin did not fit my requirement. I finally found one that fits and looks alright at LP. So I asked the salesgirl for more info about the basin.

Problem 1: Lack of knowledge

Salesgirl is PRC and cant understand much English. No problem, I can communicate in Mandarin. But what's worse is the she doesn't know her products! Everytime I ask her a question on a basin or WC (I was looking for WC too), she had to flip her little notebook and refer to her notes. And as if to prove her lack of knowledge, she often tell us the wrong info about the product. This could be info like size of WC, where the items are made in, and even price of item! Her boss keeps interrupting her to correct her. We suspect her boss think we look like a young couple so she sent her PRC staff for "training" with us. Her lack of product knowledge is unbearable.

Problem 2: Boss tell staff to "just put everything on invoice" without discussing price with us

After we finally selected the WC and basin we want, the boss who has been assisting us told her PRC staff to "just put all the items we selected and ALL THE NECESSARY ACCESSORIES" on the invoice. The "necessary accesories" include things like the s-pipe under the sink, the pan collar for the wc, the pop up waste trap for basin etc. Please note that they just simply add the items into the invoice without discussing with us! It's not as if it's free or part of their basin/wc package. How can they just add the items!

Problem 3: Overcharging

Most places selling WC along Balestier package the pan collar into the WC price (at least those that we asked were willing to give us FOC). This place was selling it to us for $20!!! LP also wanted to sell us the plastic s-pipe for $8. A check with other shops show that it cost around $3 only. LP also charged us $45 for the pop up waste trap for basin. We bought a similar one for only $15 at other places today. There were many such extra accessories which they wanted to add into the invoice without informing us the price.

Problem 4: Boss left without giving us a chance to bargain

When you select the items you'd like to buy, the next step is to talk about the price right? The boss simply left the PRC girl and went upstairs to rest WITHOUT allowing us to discuss or bargain the price. She just said I gave you very good discount and left. Her so-called "very good discount" is the normal 20% discount she gave to everything in the shop! That's no discount at all! We had bought the WC and basin together because we know we can bargain for a better discount. But she did not give us any discount at all and refuse to talk to us! When we ask the PRC staff to give us a package discount, she had to run upstairs to talk to her boss, then run down to tell us the price. Then she will get our answer and run back up to tell her boss. This happen a few times and I was getting impatient cos I was sick that day.

So being sick, I had no energy to pursue the matter on the spot. I should have walked away. I know that but I was too sick to realise I was being taken advantage of by this shop! Not only do they sell overpriced stuff, beware that they add in those so-called "necessary accessories" without telling you! They even claim all shops sells those accessories with the wc and basin.

I'm so glad I did not buy those "necessary accessories" from them. I saved almost $100 by buying from other places today. It wasn't until today when I was feeling better than I realised how I have been "cheated" by this shop!

And I even paid too much for my WC. A check with other shops (before any discount) show that I paid $30 extra for the WC. No other shops sell that brand more expensive than this LP shop!

Please avoid visiting L+Phe** at Balestier. They are not honest and upfront with their sales tactics.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info about this dishonest store. I have much to share.

p.s. On the other hand, I got super good deal for kitchen sink and rain shower at Geylang today! One of the shops recommended by Renotalk! Super happy! The same stuff at LP was selling for much less at this shop! I'm never going back to LP! You've been warned!

[ordix 0]

Not to flame u, but if you already done your research 'along Balestier', u wont get 'cheated'

I see nothing wrong with shops marking up their prices, this is business not hobby club baking free cakes

that is why ppl shop and compare prices in the first place.

I am a satisfied customer of Living Phenomenon myself, because i done my research and i only bought things that cannot be bought at other shops there.

if you are not happy with the final price, dun buy from them which i glad u did cos if u bought from them, i bet you would go to the extend to go CASE to get back your money.

pls do your research first before buying anything for your home. its common that some shops ask you to buy accessories, some dun, some 'package' some mark up high price give u better discount, some price their item cheaper but dun give much discount.

with your experience with them, i wont call them cheating you but only that you have bad service experience with them. sometimes buying things depends on ur luck. luck to buy from certain sales guy.

i rem when i bought my sanitary wares, i went living phenomon many times. different staffs gave me different prices too.

in the end i went there so many times til the boss recognize me.

lastly if you want 'cheap n good' stuffs, pls avoid Living Phenomenon cos their stuff are pricier than normal shops but they sell more exotic 'designer' stuff.

n pls use this bad experience to buy electronics for your home too, the same theory apply. do your research, not happy with the final price, buy somewhere else.

Edited May 19, 2010 by ordix

[blueking07 0]

Not to flame u, but if you already done your research 'along Balestier', u wont get 'cheated'

I see nothing wrong with shops marking up their prices, this is business not hobby club baking free cakes

that is why ppl shop and compare prices in the first place.

I am a satisfied customer of Living Phenomenon myself, because i done my research and i only bought things that cannot be bought at other shops there.

if you are not happy with the final price, dun buy from them which i glad u did cos if u bought from them, i bet you would go to the extend to go CASE to get back your money.

pls do your research first before buying anything for your home. its common that some shops ask you to buy accessories, some dun, some 'package' some mark up high price give u better discount, some price their item cheaper but dun give much discount.

with your experience with them, i wont call them cheating you but only that you have bad service experience with them. sometimes buying things depends on ur luck. luck to buy from certain sales guy.

i rem when i bought my sanitary wares, i went living phenomon many times. different staffs gave me different prices too.

in the end i went there so many times til the boss recognize me.

lastly if you want 'cheap n good' stuffs, pls avoid Living Phenomenon cos their stuff are pricier than normal shops but they sell more exotic 'designer' stuff.

n pls use this bad experience to buy electronics for your home too, the same theory apply. do your research, not happy with the final price, buy somewhere else.

My purpose of this post is just to warn other forumers. They are free to make up their own mind if they are keen to be subjected to "bad service experience" or "cheating" (however we like to call that). I believe most people would appreciate that someone warn them of sales tactic like making customers believe those are all "necessary accessories" which all customers buy -- when they are not.

I did do my research, hence I did not believe what they make the sales story out to be. My purpose here again is to warn other forumers whom I'm sure are here to share tips and learn from others' experience.

Living Phenomenon do not sell designer stuff. So you are right by saying "designer" (with quotation mark). They look like cheap rip off of other quality stuff sold elsewhere. If they had indeed like you mention "package" those accessories so as to give customer a good discount, I would have accepted it as a normal sales practice. But they have not. They simply add the items into the invoice without asking me if I was agreeable to the price first. That is a bad sales experience, or irresponsible dishonest sales tactic, only individual can come to terms with that themselves.

I'm glad you find them okay and find the more expensive price tag okay too. I'll take my money to spend on equal quality and more reasonable price tag items elsewhere. I'll take my experience and share it with forumers here too. Hope we'll all learn to be sharper, and this shop will learn to be more honest in their dealings with future customers. Everyone wins.

Hope this helps.