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Interior Designer Recommendation (or Boycotted) List

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On 02/04/2017 at 4:49 PM, lynnlhc said:

Hi, just to share. I also recently concluded my HDB 5 room resale renovation. Can happily recommend Kelvin Tay from Singapore Carpentry. I initially chanced about them when i was searching for a carpenter contractor but turns out they also provide the full range of ID services, and no initial design fee so i did not feel any sales pressure at all. He also has a background in architecture so we felt quite at ease from the get go. 

I can safely recommend, after reviewing 5 IDs and 3 'main contractors', as i also explored renotalk as well as some referrals from friends. I wont go too indepth here on why i did not pick the rest, but i dont feel comfortable 'boycotting' them here, just that i felt they werent suitable for my needs.

You can PM me for his contact, or if you need my renovation pictures as i posted it to an album. 

Hi, could you pm me his contact? Thanks

 

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I had a terrible experience with a contractor because I wanted to save costs and thought I can design my own house. Afterall, it's not rocket science right? I was so wrong. Contractor wasn't the on the ball type to begin with, so I had to oversee all the works myself and there was delay after delay. Also realized if there is no one to oversee the project for you it's super time consuming and if you are not totally sure which work should come first and what the whole process should be like, you don't expect the contractor to plan all this for you. What you can only expect is deadlines for each separate section of the house that you want to get done and they will hopefully do it in the promised time, which they didn't (hoping for too much). In the end, gave up and went with a particular ID firm that my friend recommended to me. It's a much more different experience - almost like hands free, thank god I didn't kena one of those nightmare ones - as the consultant just took over all the works, and help me to clear up the loose ends as well as plan the layout in ways that I won't be able to do on my own. Moral of the story: clever can already, don't act clever! Don't try to save some money by trying to the work of professionals end up spending more, and also make myself stress and unhappy throughout the process. The consultant from the firm was very pleasant and kept me updated on the process and let me know when there were delays but also quickly assured me how it was being followed up on. Completed my reno just mid of last month and super happy with the results. Only regret is i didn't go with professional firm in the first place and try to "gey kiang". Most importantly is the consultant would keep me updated on the process and let me know if there were any delays but also quickly assure me what is being done about it and what problems there are but how they will solve it and by when, instead of just giving me problems (like the contractor did) and ask me what to do - which is like I am stunned, how should I know when I am not in the renovation industry?? I hire you to solve my problem but instead you tell just identify the problem and ask me how to solve?

Really recommend to find a good ID when doing reno. Saw some posts that also got good contractors. Unfortunately not the case for me, but the ID was great and will happily recommend them to anyone. 

 

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On 8/10/2017 at 11:17 PM, deschong18 said:

I had a terrible experience with a contractor because I wanted to save costs and thought I can design my own house. Afterall, it's not rocket science right? I was so wrong. Contractor wasn't the on the ball type to begin with, so I had to oversee all the works myself and there was delay after delay. Also realized if there is no one to oversee the project for you it's super time consuming and if you are not totally sure which work should come first and what the whole process should be like, you don't expect the contractor to plan all this for you. What you can only expect is deadlines for each separate section of the house that you want to get done and they will hopefully do it in the promised time, which they didn't (hoping for too much). In the end, gave up and went with a particular ID firm that my friend recommended to me. It's a much more different experience - almost like hands free, thank god I didn't kena one of those nightmare ones - as the consultant just took over all the works, and help me to clear up the loose ends as well as plan the layout in ways that I won't be able to do on my own. Moral of the story: clever can already, don't act clever! Don't try to save some money by trying to the work of professionals end up spending more, and also make myself stress and unhappy throughout the process. The consultant from the firm was very pleasant and kept me updated on the process and let me know when there were delays but also quickly assured me how it was being followed up on. Completed my reno just mid of last month and super happy with the results. Only regret is i didn't go with professional firm in the first place and try to "gey kiang". Most importantly is the consultant would keep me updated on the process and let me know if there were any delays but also quickly assure me what is being done about it and what problems there are but how they will solve it and by when, instead of just giving me problems (like the contractor did) and ask me what to do - which is like I am stunned, how should I know when I am not in the renovation industry?? I hire you to solve my problem but instead you tell just identify the problem and ask me how to solve?

Really recommend to find a good ID when doing reno. Saw some posts that also got good contractors. Unfortunately not the case for me, but the ID was great and will happily recommend them to anyone. 

Can pm me the ID name/contact? Thanks

 

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Sharing my unpleasant experience with this ID which we met. I wont mention the ID name for, but i believe its a good experience for all to learn if you are in the process / looking to get your renovation done. The designer here will be know as XXX ID

I have been liaising with XXX ID since June. After we got our keys and settled the defects with BSC, we were ready to look into renovation. However, we still have the following questions on 15 Aug 2017 unanswered so we did not agree to sign the quotation in a rushed manner :

1) Firstly, their company name registered on HDB and the name provided on the quotation is different. On the quotation is XX ID and on the registered name is XXX ID. (Think again. Would you be comfortable to sign on a quotation which the name on it and the registered name is different?)

2) We were told that XXX ID is actually under case trust. But we are unable to find it on 15 Aug on the website. (The ID in charge told me that he will check it out and get back to me. After which he told me that it was another company with similar name and not them.)

We then found that both XX ID and XXX ID  is under the same company.

3) On the website, XXX ID mentioned that they have partnered with Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC). I ask what kind of projects or partnership they have with SGBC, the ID in charge is unable to answer me. I have requested for him to check with his manager, but he is not very willing to do so. But in the end he says he will try. But ultimately there were no answer from him at all. And I notice that they have remove partnership with SGBC portion on the website. It seems to me that they are using SGBC name to promote themselves in the renovation industry even though there might or might not have any partnership at all. It does left me some doubts on the integrity of XXX ID.

4) Even with doubts and questions, plus missing items inside quotation which is not added to the cost, we are still considering them. But on sat morning 19 Aug, the ID in charge told me over the phone that due to many orders and lack of man power, the quotation he gave me cannot be done and the business is closed. 

This ID had indicated in the quotation that quote amount will increase 10% after 21 Aug. He make no mention of it during face to face discussion. After which, due to the above mentioned being unsettled, he say he will extend the deadline. Then on 19 Aug Sat, he told me they are unable to deliver the service due to many order and lack of manpower. In short, they failed to deliver their promise. They failed to deliver. (Even before renovation starts.)

Just sharing my honest feedback and experience. If you ever see IDs with suspicious names or claims, do beware. If any of you would like to know the name of the ID, please pm me and I will revert to you.

Edited by speeddemon
 

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On ‎27‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 0:58 PM, speeddemon said:

Sharing my unpleasant experience with this ID which we met. I wont mention the ID name for, but i believe its a good experience for all to learn if you are in the process / looking to get your renovation done. The designer here will be know as XXX ID

I have been liaising with XXX ID since June. After we got our keys and settled the defects with BSC, we were ready to look into renovation. However, we still have the following questions on 15 Aug 2017 unanswered so we did not agree to sign the quotation in a rushed manner :

1) Firstly, their company name registered on HDB and the name provided on the quotation is different. On the quotation is XX ID and on the registered name is XXX ID. (Think again. Would you be comfortable to sign on a quotation which the name on it and the registered name is different?)

2) We were told that XXX ID is actually under case trust. But we are unable to find it on 15 Aug on the website. (The ID in charge told me that he will check it out and get back to me. After which he told me that it was another company with similar name and not them.)

We then found that both XX ID and XXX ID  is under the same company.

3) On the website, XXX ID mentioned that they have partnered with Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC). I ask what kind of projects or partnership they have with SGBC, the ID in charge is unable to answer me. I have requested for him to check with his manager, but he is not very willing to do so. But in the end he says he will try. But ultimately there were no answer from him at all. And I notice that they have remove partnership with SGBC portion on the website. It seems to me that they are using SGBC name to promote themselves in the renovation industry even though there might or might not have any partnership at all. It does left me some doubts on the integrity of XXX ID.

4) Even with doubts and questions, plus missing items inside quotation which is not added to the cost, we are still considering them. But on sat morning 19 Aug, the ID in charge told me over the phone that due to many orders and lack of man power, the quotation he gave me cannot be done and the business is closed. 

This ID had indicated in the quotation that quote amount will increase 10% after 21 Aug. He make no mention of it during face to face discussion. After which, due to the above mentioned being unsettled, he say he will extend the deadline. Then on 19 Aug Sat, he told me they are unable to deliver the service due to many order and lack of manpower. In short, they failed to deliver their promise. They failed to deliver. (Even before renovation starts.)

Just sharing my honest feedback and experience. If you ever see IDs with suspicious names or claims, do beware. If any of you would like to know the name of the ID, please pm me and I will revert to you.

hi, do you mind to pm which ID is that? recently I found one which everything goes smoothly but when we were abt to sign up with them, they told us they will issue the quotation under the other firm's name due to they are having an audit and to prevent GST charges. and they are using other firm's license too.

 

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11 hours ago, JSRL said:

hi, do you mind to pm which ID is that? recently I found one which everything goes smoothly but when we were abt to sign up with them, they told us they will issue the quotation under the other firm's name due to they are having an audit and to prevent GST charges. and they are using other firm's license too.

Drop me a PM thanks

 

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