Lôft I'klektic

[EMinlove 2]

Haiz... Just to share what happened....

I was actually at my house on the day they did the plumbling and some other works... it was the last day before they close shop for CNY and I believe they were in a rush to finish all outstanding works... I was standing around in my living room and I saw one worker clearing 'rubbish', but what was in his hands was a box containing my new purchases! I got a shock and ask for the worker to hand over the box to me. To my astonishment, there was really lots and lots of rubbish covering my set of new spotlights costing more than $300, taps and drain covers that I bought from taobao and spare parts for my Grohe taps and he actually ask the worker to throw all these away!! I was so angry (my blood is boiling as I type this)!!! When I confronted him, he still dare to argue back saying that I 'anyhow' leave my box lying around when in fact I had left it in a corner of my utility room!

As my Grohe tap connectors are also in the box that he wanted to throw away, I asked why didn't he use it and guess what. He said that he has already installed a china-made one for me already!! That connector was embedded in the concrete wall and there was no way to replace unless I hack that part away which would be massive work! I was really boiling!! My Grohe connector was made of brass and of a superior quality compared to the cheapskate steel connector that he installed! True enough, it was not compatible and 1-2 days later, it started leaking.. It was CNY period and Alan couldn't get anyone to come down.. He told us his workers only start work a few days later!! My tap dripped on for the next one week before someone came down to fix! The workers whom came to fix the leakage also can't change the connector but to add more tape and sand off part of my tap and connector to make it fit better. My heart broke as I saw what they did to my brand new Grohe shower set. :dunno:

and now its dripping again!!!

Wow, simplehuman....I am sorry to hear that you are facing so much trouble with your Reno. Honestly you have too much patience. I would have scream and asked him to change entire thing back to Groche at their cost. The item you bought is not cheap, why should you compromise on poor service for your home? If the connector does not fit nicely, in long run you will have more problem ler

[Makanology 29]

Hi Makan,

I was unable to upload photos using flickr. Could you teach me how to do it? Thanks.

Hi Harriette, no problem! On your desired picture on Flickr, click on that button with the upwards arrow. Choose BB code (image size: I usually choose medium which is 500x375).

The URL for BB code will show. Select all and copy. Then on renotalk, just paste the whole link and your picture should show!

[Makanology 29]

This is what happen to my friend's house too previously, he bought a whole set but yet the person who fix it did not use those connector and etc, causing quite a lot of problems.

Best part about it when you check with them, they can tell you in the face like they are not in the wrong that he think its the same and been using those for a long time ...

E here,

To be honest, these "dead-brainers" must have plenty of similar experiences like this, be it Grohe or some cheapo china brands. They just don't learn even when it is crystal clear to use everything from the same set as I m pretty sure experiences like this occur frequently. They are unwilling to adapt to changes and blame us clients for buying from oversea suppliers or retailers. In this age of Internet and ecommerce, little do they realise that they are still stuck in the mindset of the 70s or 80s where we pay rip-off and ridiculously marked up prices by local businesses using excuses like rental or shipping or staffing costs to jack up prices.

[Makanology 29]

Songz, u're right!

Tat's what the guy with googles told me straight in the face! He claims that every company makes their stuff in China whether branded or not and that its all the same! But hey, this is Grohe! Shall I exchange a taobao wallet with his Gucci (if he has one) and tell him its the same?

E here.

That's ah Beng. Very drama fella. U r correct in that sense, not every company has the same quality standards as each other. Some are more stringent than most. But apparently his perspective is so narrow, so it means literally everything made in china is of the same grade and quality. Since he sees it this way, tell him u ll offer to buy his real Grohe faucet for 50$ since it doesn't matter anyway cos high priced quality stuff is the same as a cheapo since both is made in China. What a moron.

[Makanology 29]

thanks for the advice =) My electrical was pretty straight forward and I was there when they did the work. So thankfully nothing went really wrong. One thing though, one of them had the cheek to ask me... whether to carry on installing the heater switch when the light for the heater switch was spoilt. The switch wasn't even installed and changing it simply means unscrewing the connectors and using a new one.

It was changed eventually, but I dont understand why he asked in the first place.

E here.

Glad everything works out ok. Well, that's the typical yes man mentality. Only when someone tells him to, then he ll do. Else he ll just sit and wait for instructions. Given the case that if he's hungry, I doubt he ll go find lunch but my gut instincts tell me that he ll head downstairs and buy his lunch. So it's clearly a case of misplaced common sense and initiative.

[Songz 132]

Anyway its good to supervise the renovation whenever you can.

Although its very taxing and tiring, I believe during renovation the least needed is to check on the progress of the renovation daily during night after work.

Unless you are lucky like my brother who have a very responsible ID and keep update to you regularly, however of cause it comes with a PRICE

(*just my 2 cents worth)

[vw7983 0]

Hi vw7983, I have a feeling this is a 'normal market practice' did you try asking Dorothy to rectify?

for rectification (some other issues), first few times she responded and her workers came to rectify some but not all. then after that MIA already til the day she asked for last payment.

but after paying last payment, her usual reply will be "oh i will send my guys over".

again, i think this is "normal businessman / businesswoman practice".

frankly speaking, quite sian with all the issues already. i think we will just live with it or just try to rectify ourselves.

[san20sg 1]

Who is ur id vw?

[Makanology 29]

Next week is CNY and being avid Taobao fans, we bought our decor from it. Very happy with our purchases

Bought CNY decal and DIY the 福 picture with an Ikea frame

Chinese New Year of the Horse! by Makanology, on Flickr

Love the little horses!

Chinese New Year of the Horse! by Makanology, on Flickr

The firecracker turned out to be bigger than expected but luckily they have a space next to our 招财Hello Kitty🐱!

Chinese New Year of the Horse! by Makanology, on Flickr

Now we are ready to usher in the year of the Horse with our colorful little house!

Edited January 21, 2014 by Makanology

[jus4fun 4]

So cheery! First CNY in ur new complete house! 恭喜恭喜!

[Makanology 29]

E here,

Anyway as I was going to fix the 3M Undersink filtrete system, to my horror I realised that the stupid plumbers didn't use the original parts as intended. They didn't return me the hot/cold water tubing for all three sets of Delta faucets.

Now in place, they gave me some cheapo tubing which totally can't fit my 3M tubing due to the difference in screw threads. I went to our local hardware shop and I m on quite good terms with the shopkeeper who told me that the original tubing that comes with it is quite costly and hard to find.

Although I did remember telling Ah Beng the plumber that I don't need hot/cold water, but I I didn't recall telling him to use his own and keep mine. Since we are using cold water, it doesn't matter whether both tubes are hot or cold because both can still be used regardless.

Bloody dumb retards. Now I have to go hunt high and low for the tubes that fit all because some itchy fingers cannot take instructions and use the original parts and which in turn kept all my hot/water tubings that wasn't used!

Edited January 22, 2014 by Makanology

[Songz 132]

E here,

Anyway as I was going to fix the 3M Undersink filtrete system, to my horror I realised that the stupid plumbers didn't use the original parts as intended. They didn't return me the hot/cold water tubing for all three sets of Delta faucets.

Now in place, they gave me some cheapo tubing which totally can't fit my 3M tubing due to the difference in screw threads. I went to our local hardware shop and I m on quite good terms with the shopkeeper who told me that the original tubing that comes with it is quite costly and hard to find.

Although I did remember telling Ah Beng the plumber that I don't need hot/cold water, but I I didn't recall telling him to use his own and keep mine. Since we are using cold water, it doesn't matter whether both tubes are hot or cold because both can still be used regardless.

Bloody dumb retards. Now I have to go hunt high and low for the tubes that fit all because some itchy fingers cannot take instructions and use the original parts and which in turn kept all my hot/water tubings that wasn't used!

Anyway you can contact the plumber to get it back ?

To my knowledge most of these plumbers always use their own as they are used to it and take for granted they are all the same.

Hope you can resolve it.

[jus4fun 4]

Oh dear! After the drama at the sale, then all the hiccups during the reno, and now the reno gaps are unfolding..

Really hope 一切顺顺利利 for u in the coming Yr of the Horse!

[Makanology 29]

Anyway you can contact the plumber to get it back ?

To my knowledge most of these plumbers always use their own as they are used to it and take for granted they are all the same.

Hope you can resolve it.

E here,

I contacted Ah Meng, the mason master, as he usually works hand in hand with the plumbers and he was shocked to hear that. He will get Ah Beng to call back but apparently still nothing as yet. The pipe connector/adaptor is pretty difficult to acquire here in SG as most faucet sets come with their own tubes ready for fitting.

What troubles me is that despite the faucet set comes with everything, they didn't use everything because:

1. Like jus4fun said, they are so used to using their own, using something else makes their work longer and tedious.

2. They switch those parts which are deemed "unnecessary" for their own benefits since we don't need the hot/cold water tubes or even know how to fix it.

The best part is that they charged Alan for the "extra bits" used and took ours away just so they probably can "re-use" and "re-charge" on someone's else renovation project. Guess who is paying for it in the end?

As we speak, I m trying to find/remember the name of the plumbing company so that i can bring this up to them and get back all my hot/cold water tubes likewise post their name here for reference.

Probably after reading this, Alan will probably be laughing at the lot of us for buying from overseas but i ll give him the :finger: because his idiotic plumber started being a smartass and use his own fitting causing all these indirect problems despite crystal clear instructions.

[Astarz 10]

so sorry to hear that, sometimes i feel in our renovation industry, some of the people are not very professional or into details. they just wanna make ends meet. sometimes, all it takes is a bit of asking, reconfirming and making sure things are fallen into the right places. Sadly it wasn't all the time..

E here,

I contacted Ah Meng, the mason master, as he usually works hand in hand with the plumbers and he was shocked to hear that. He will get Ah Beng to call back but apparently still nothing as yet. The pipe connector/adaptor is pretty difficult to acquire here in SG as most faucet sets come with their own tubes ready for fitting.

What troubles me is that despite the faucet set comes with everything, they didn't use everything because:

1. Like jus4fun said, they are so used to using their own, using something else makes their work longer and tedious.

2. They switch those parts which are deemed "unnecessary" for their own benefits since we don't need the hot/cold water tubes or even know how to fix it.

The best part is that they charged Alan for the "extra bits" used and took ours away just so they probably can "re-use" and "re-charge" on someone's else renovation project. Guess who is paying for it in the end?

As we speak, I m trying to find/remember the name of the plumbing company so that i can bring this up to them and get back all my hot/cold water tubes likewise post their name here for reference.

Probably after reading this, Alan will probably be laughing at the lot of us for buying from overseas but i ll give him the :finger: because his idiotic plumber started being a smartass and use his own fitting causing all these indirect problems despite crystal clear instructions.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Astarz