Our personal reviews on Contractors & Interior Designers

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18) ID, Irene (Intra Design)
Contacts From?: Forum - Highly Recommended in forum
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Very Bad
In short, she is the worst ID / Contractor we ever met.
We offered to email her our requirement prior to the meetup but she rejected our offer even though we said we got some geomancer's requirement that we need to follow. We then went ahead to meet her, after showing her the requirement, she actually give us the very difficult to do face and then she really had difficultly doing the space planning.

We do not think that having geomancer's requirement is new and the only difficulty we had is the slanted stove, which is so easy to draw on paper though might be technically difficult to build.

She also do not know what is the differences between a island table and a L-shape table. She gave us recommendation blindly, like asking us to build our table that way, but can't be done because there will be NO more space for other important things like fridge and washing machine. When we told her it can't be done, she just anyhow amend to fit in.

Whenever we asked her for alternative to her wonderful "space planning" she proposed, she will just say things like "bo bian since you consult feng shui, then design has to be ugly", "Your layout too small, bo bian, got to leave with the small space and ugly design".

In actual fact, her layout is not only ugly but not workable too. Come on, isn't a ID supposed to solve my problem. She told us that she cannot do magic and even ask us how how other IDs have proposed. We refused to say and she told us we can engage another ID if we prefer their design.

Lastly, she told us she will give us the quotation after 2 weeks and refused to give us earlier. I guess she purposely drag so long so that we will not look for her anymore. As expected, no news from her since then.

To date, we have talk to 17 others ID and contractor and no one talk, behave and design the way she do. To think that someone like her have got good reviews in the forum, It's either the people house is very standard and requires no design, or that the person giving good comments is herself!


17) ID, Dave (Intra Design)
Contacts From?: Forum - Highly Recommended in forum
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Neutral
Never respond to us at all.

16) ID, Kenneth (Ideal House)
Contacts From?: Forum - Highly Recommended in forum
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: So far so good
Experience: So far so good
We called him and he said he is very busy and ask us to call back again in 3 weeks time and we really did call back in 3 weeks time =P He then asked us to email him our layout and requirement and we were quite okay with the pricing though some is not very applicable, thus we arrange to meet him at his office.

We were pretty comfortable with him and find him very easy-going and finally awarded the contract to him =)

15) ID, Roy (Inzen)
Contacts From?: Forum - Recommended in forum
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Neutral
Experience: Neutral
He was only recommended in the forum recently and i think out of a sudden, he received alot of customers and our guess is that, he is unable to cope.

It took him 2 weeks to give us the quotation and it was very incomplete thus we arrange for an appointment at our new house. Only on the day itself, he changed the appointment venue to his office because he was busy with one of his customer.

We reached his office and waited quite a while, he told his designer to show us some of his portfolio which is not at all interesting. Finally got to talk to him, took quite a while to break the ice but nevertheless, we were comfortable with him though he wasn't very comfortable in doing the slanted stove. We discuss about our requirements and then he said he can give us the revised quotation few days later.

We waited but did not receive the revised quotation and send him sms to remind. He then promise to send like within that few days but did not. Sms-ed him then no reply and decided to call him but nobody pick up. He called back within the same day and finally send us the revised quotation. We were wondering if we can really trust someone who is so not-contactable...

We then arrange to meet him and was annoyed that we do not have enough time to communicate with him. When we reach there, he was with another customer and we waited like 15minutes and after a while, another of his customer came. Everything seems to be so rush...

We were considering between him and Kenneth but in the end we awarded the contract to kenneth because we were afraid he couldn't handle so many projects. And main thing is that, we wasn't comfortable with someone who is so busy, might be un-contactable and someone who cannot afford to spend more than half an hour with us...

14) ID, Andrew (Fuse Concept)
Contacts From?: Forum - Recommended in forum
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Bad

We wanted very much to award the contract to him, however things changed after he gave us the proposal and quotation. It is not about the design or the price but the kind of 'attitude' he choose to give us, and until now we are clueless on why he bahaved this way.

Sigh, It's really a pity.

Anyway, designers are weird... Perhaps he changed his mind and do not want to do our house anymore, or he is unhappy because we make comparison on the quotation he gave and the one his colleague Jet gave last year or just because he is over-confident that we will award the contract to him?

On the day he shown us the proposal and quotation, we were very impressed with the design. He remember every single information we gave him and came out with a layout that meet our requirement. The quotation is 20k after GST but the budget we gave him is just 18k(It should include GST, but he didn't ask so we didn't say too). Though it is more than our budget, we appreciate that he really did try to keep the cost low and not compromising on the design. He told us that he will not press us for an answer right away... but...

He sms-ed us for an answer the very next day! Not only that, he was very persistent...

There was some miscellanous items which add up to $1200 whilst Jet's quotation is FOC, we told Andrew and he kindly explained to us that the previous profit margin might be higher. He said he can give me all these free if i pay him 25k, but of course i take it as a joke...

Well, the thing is, the previous contract is around 20k without GST but Jet did mention he is willing to absorb the GST for us and the items we are doing is more or less the same so profit margin should not varies that much. Whatever it is, we didn't voice this up to him at all.

He then said the current quotation is already within our budget of 18k cos' he assume 18k budget is without GST, If we want it to be 18k inclusive of GST, he is unable to do so. Then later told us he is willing to absorb half of the 7% GST if we can commit by end of the month, which is ending in few days time.

Actually we wasn't really persistent in asking for discount, but he was persistent and even told us either he can give me the half of 7% discount or some freebies. We kinda feel that he is giving us a take it or leave it attitude. It is like we ask one question, he shoot us back with many many explanation. It seems like he is very eager to close the deal and want us to give him an answer right away.

We requested for showflats but he told us he has hand over most of the units, later told us he has one unit which can be view within 2 days because he is going to hand over soon. We agreed but on the day itself, just 20minutes before our appointment time, he sms-ed us and told us he is there but cannot view because the owner lock the main door. Well he did apologize...

We ask him to arrange for another one again and few days later, he sms-ed us whether we want to view the same flat on that day. We agreed and he said he will check with the owner then no news for few hours. We then sms him and asked "Is the viewing of showflat confirmed?". His reply was "It is not a showflat, we do not have showflat that is one of my project, it is never a showflat." We really felt very annoyed with his reply and ever since... no news from him.

13) ID, Gary Wong (Violet Interior Pte Ltd)
Contacts From?: Random Visit in Expo's roadshow.
Quotation Received?: Yes
Experience: Bad
Verdict: Dropped
As our new flat came with homogenous tiles with parquet skirting, and parquet flooring with parquet skirting, we were unable to use the promotion package. Thus we could not use the package. The budgetary quotation given by him was rather expensive. This guy seemed inexperienced, and later his senior entertained us. It seemed quite weird. I was wondering if his so-called senior was really capable. The measurements which he gave was way too off.


12) ID, Paul (Homeworkz Interior Pte Ltd)
Contacts From?: Random Walk-in Visit (From Newspaper Advertisement)
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Very Bad
Was this guy an ID in the first place? Had he ever done any renovation before? Or he was living in his own era? We were shocked when he asked us where was the rubbish chute in the flat. And he seemed very blur throughout the whole discussion. Simply a waste of our time. Whenever we proposed something, he would bring us to see the few samples, asking if this was what we wanted in the design. Was our English so bad or his command of English was so poor? Furthermore, he quoted $1800 for painting of our 5-room flat with only 3 choices of colour.

He was very 'sincere', contacted us few times asking for our decision and send promotional sms saying they can absorb the GST if we sign within the week. The latest news we got from him is that he has opened his own company Classic 3D Design, and he is willing to abosrt the GST.


11) Ahmad Zaky (Dynamics - Oriental Interiors and Concept Pte Ltd)
Name / Company:
Contacts From?: Random Walk-in Visit
Quotation Received?: Yes
Experience: Neutral
Verdict: Dropped
This company only does Kitchen and the selling point they claimed is that they use Blum system. We were losing hope in choosing the correct IDs / Contractor and thought this company will be good for us since Blum = Good. We got a verbal quote of 6k, which we felt is rather reasonable because some companies quote us this amount too...

We checked with Blum and confirmed Blum only sell the parts mainly to contractors and they do not have a company or recommended company to do Kitchen for consumers. After some thoughts, we think this company is just like a normal contractor company that use blum.


10) ID, Khoo Hock Leng (Weiken)
Contacts From?: Random Walk-in Visit
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Good
Khoo looked very senior to us, perhaps due to his white hair. He gave us the quotation on the spot. We kinda feel that he lacked creativity.

On the visit to our new flat, he advised us not to change the hollow tiles as these might affect the rest of the unaffected tiles in the future. He then cited a few cases of why tiles in some HDB flats came popping out. He also showed us a sketch of the layout in 2D view of the kitchen and study room, and gave us an official quotation on the same day. There were some reductions in the quotation. He also mentioned to us that management would start to implement GST starting 1 May 2008.

Well, we would have considered him if the quotation was much cheaper.


9) ID, Lance Ching (Home Guide Design & Contracts Pte Ltd)
Contacts From?: Crystalbelle
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Good
Our impression of Lance was that he is rather creative in his design and thoughts, mainly because he has the designer style(風格). He did proposed a space planning layout based on our basic requirements, instead of us telling him what exactly we want.

At this stage, we have already paid the 10% deposit to Jason from Unimax, but Lance was very sincere so we went ahead to meet him for the proposal and quotation as planned. One of our geomancer's requiremenet is that there should not have any Fridge directly opposite our stove and he made this mistake. We kinda feel that he is not paying enough attention to our kitchen.

The quotation is quite shocking. He charged us on every little small items which most IDs could turn a blind eye to. For similar items in the list, it is like 3k more expensive than Unimax's quotation and when i told him that, he said this is normal. He did gave us an overall discount of 10% and round down to the nearest thousand but still it is too expensive.

We would have considered him if the quotation was much cheaper.


8) ID, Melvin (Ideal House)
Contacts From?: Jinny
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Bad
We made an appointment with him and he informed us on the meeting day itself that he had overlooked his other appointments and got to postpone our appointment to the next day. Then he did not turn up giving us lame excuses that he rode a bike and was caught in the heavy rain. Even though we agreed to wait for him, he just refused.

He didn't even bother to call and apologize and no news ever since.


7) Contractor, Charles (Company Unknown - No Name Card given)
Contacts From?: Terence's boss
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Neutral
We met him in our new house and everything was going on fine but it seems that he is not very confident of doing our slanted stove too. He then promised to get back to us the very next week for a quotation but he went Missing-In-Action. SMS-ed him but no reply!


6) Contractor, Alan Choi (Company Unknown - Name Card misplaced)
Contacts From?: Mint
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Neutral
We met him in our new house and it seems that he is not very confident of doing our slanted stove. He even mention something like asking us to talk to the carpenter directly on what we want to do! He then promised to get back to us the very next week for a quotation but he went Missing-In-Action.


5) Contractor, Stanley Teo (Kim Teck Lee Renovation Contractor)
Contacts From?: Lynn (Valerie's Sister)
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Neutral
Stanley seemed to be very experienced but refused to listen to our requirements, very stubborn in nature and said we got no choice but to follow his proposed layout because of our slanted stove position. Despite all these, we are confident that he can do a good job, mainly because he just renovated Lynn's house not long ago.

We had high expectations of him that the quotation would be much more cheaper but was disappointed that the price of individual items quoted was either the same or even more expensive than what Jason from Unimax quoted.

We would have considered him if the quotation was much cheaper.


4) ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation)
Name / Company:
Contacts From?: Random
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Selected and paid 10% Deposit.
Experience: Terribly horrible. Highly NOT recommended.

In short, he lied and then twists his words. Imagine our renovation haven even started and we getting this kind of shit from him.

Not to mention we found out the quotation he gave us is so much higher! Though we are very pissed off with him, we are really pleased and feel so fortunate that we did not engage him only to have problems during the renovation.

Please read here for more details...

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 1

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 2

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 3

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 4

3) ID, Alan Neo (GPlan Design Pte Ltd)
Contacts From?: Walk-in Visit because company is highly recommended in forum.
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Neutral
Another typical Interior "Designer". After a discussion with Alan at GPlan, we arranged for a second appointment to view one of his show flats near our new house and he promised to give us the quotation on that day. But in the end he said he was too busy and would emailed us in a few days time. No news ever since.

The show flat we visited was already occupied by a young couple. Not sure whether the young couple maintained the flat properly or not, as the workmanship seemed to be quite bad.

Well, We feel that they are over-rated in forum.


2) ID, Chris Chua (Summit Design)
Contacts From?: Random Visit in Expo's roadshow.
Quotation Received?: No
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Bad.
Just like a typical Interior "Designer", we have to tell him exactly what we want to do. He even promised to give us a 3D design and quotation in 2 weeks time but no news ever since. Simply a waste of our time.


1) ID, Jet Li (Fuse Concept Pte Ltd)
Contacts From?: Squarerooms magazine, "Interior Design Plans for free" promotion form.
Quotation Received?: Yes
Verdict: Dropped
Experience: Very Good
In short, we weren't ready yet. We were not prepared for the renovation, clueless about renovation, clueless about what we wanted, not sure when we wanted to start and had yet to consult a geomancer. We also unsure what was our budget.

Jet was the first ID we met and he was the only one whom we could rest assured that he would be able to give us an unique design that was different from the rest. A young chap full of ideas, everything he proposed he was able to explain to us the reasons behind it.

He didn't seem to like the idea of us engaging a geomancer as this would restrict his ideas and designs. After we engaged a geomancer and got back to him regarding the slanted stove position, he seemed to be completely clueless on how to design our kitchen. He also commented that if we were to start our renovation only end of the year, it is better for us to start looking for a interior designer / contractor later part of the year because design trends and material prices would be different by then. We were also worried that he only knew design and might not be able to control the whole renovation progress well, thus we didn't follow up with him.

We did consider meeting him again with our new requirements and see what he can proposed, but decided to give his colleague, Andrew, a try instead.

Last Updated: June 14, 2008

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 4

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The appointment with Jason's Manager...

We reached their office on time and he wasn't around. His fellow colleague helped to call him and he was asking questions like who we are, whether we make appointment and what is the appointment regarding... After that, that guy told us he is just nearby and will be back in 10 minutes... Felt very annoyed because he seems to have forgotten about our appointment and we waited more than 10 minutes?


I went to the toilet and when I came back, the manager is already back and Terence was explaining to him on how un-responsive Jason is after we signed the contract. The very first thing I asked is whether the refund is confirmed. He confidently told us the refund is not a big problem and he will definitely refund us and the amount is so small. He said the purpose of the meeting is because he wants to hear the customer
side of story and not a one-side story from Jason.

Apparently Jason told him that we are very fussy about our own house on the HDB defects and that we are a very difficult customer and so he will suffer if he takes our project. So you see? The problem is because he does not want to do our business. By the way, what does me being fussy about my OWN house got to do with him? Everybody knows how sloppy HDB Contractor is and I believe no one will love to have a house full of defects right? This just makes me believe that Jason is not confident with himself and his company's workmanship...

I dun like the Manager. I asked him whether our contract is "Case Trust" since we are using their sister's company name and not the main one, and he went on to share with us on why they waived our GST by using their sister's company and that they have to incurred the GST on their side since they still have to pay GST to their supplier. And you see, he didn't answer my question. I asked the same question again and the answer is not convincing. He said both companies are handled by the same group of people and so it will be the same, which I doubt so...

Is he expecting me to be grateful to him for absorbing our GST and to pay GST to his supplier out of his pocket? Seriously this is just his company's internal affair and I do not want to know.

These are the issues we feedback to him:
- Jason promised to reserve the free gift of stainless steel cutlery set but in the end forgot, resulting in out of stock.

- Jason said he will replace the stainless steel cutlery set with a wok and kitchen utensil set, but in the end told us only have the kitchen utensil set.

- Jason asked us to check Mayer website ourselves when we asked him which one is the free gift, and we sms-ed him the model number of the work and utensil set asking whether that is the one but no reply from him.

- Jason said it is out of his goodwill to give us the free gift and keep on emphasizing that we are not at all entitled to it in the first place, but he is the one who said will reserve the free gift for us.

- Jason said his company do not give free gift anymore so he cannot replace the gift with anything else, but in the end twist his words in saying his company do not give free gift but the supplier does.

- Jason indirectly labeled us as nasty customer and said we are very particular about our HDB Defects.

- Jason argued that he did confirmed the day and time to meet us even though he did not. No apology at all and just said it is indicated in his organizer.

- Jason refused to give us 2D drawings saying it is not at all accurate.

- Jason said the promotion for kitchen at $69/pfr is over because it is for their 10th anniversary and pressured us to sign with him, but the same promotion is still on, on their recent expo home fair except that it is now 11th year anniversary.

- Jason said he dun earn commission from his introduced electrician, curtain tailor, air-con man and all quotes would be direct from respective company. Later on he said company earns commission from it, and this is very normal.


Throughout the whole conversation, the manager just side with Jason most of the time, even explained to us on how stingy Jason is and that he couldn't bear to fork out his own money to buy us the stainless steel cutlery set.

Well, No apology at all... Anyway, he said refunds will be done within a week.

To Unimax, I wish you all the best in your downhill business!


If you have any issues with Unimax, I think can contact this manager too. I only realise he is the General Manager after the whole conversation.
Paul Chang
+65 90619998

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 3

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Val: Any updates on the refund?
Jason: No My manager will call you first. Just a routine procedure.
Val: Is the refund confirmed?
Jason: Not yet
Val: Then when is your manager going to call me?
Jason: Not sure
Val: Give me your manager contact, I will call him myself.


Jason wasn't at all responsive and Val even have to sms him few times to get his reply. Anyway, we have made an appointment with his manager on Thursday to thrash things out.

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 2

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Val: After much consideration, we decided not to engage your services to renovate our house. Hope u keep your promise to refund the amount we had paid earlier.
Jason: Ok
Val: Thanks. How can we go about getting back e refund? Cheque?
Jason: Yes by cheque but give me some time to do up the paper work. Thx.
Val: Okay. Roughly by when?
Jason: Will let you know got to settle with my boss first.


Hopefully he will keep to his promise in refunding us!

ID, Jason Yip (Unimax Creative / Unimax Creation) - Part 1

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I sms-ed Jason this morning regarding the free gift and also asked him some aircon questions and he called me. Guess what? We quarreled. What I can concluded is that we really got communication problem!

On our very first meeting where we paid the $200 deposit, he told us that the promotion for the free stainless steel cutlery set which is worth $100 is over but he will reserve a set for us. On that day when we meet him at expo to sign the contract, they are still giving the free cutlery set and he told us he will get us one set too. Anyway, we didn't really insist that we want the free cutlery set, because it is so cheap. Well, some other companies are giving free air-con lor.

Later on, he told us that the supplier got no more stock for the cutlery set thus he will replace us with something else, and he is not clear in what he is giving us. Terence asked him few times but still we are unsure of what we are getting... he checked with Jason again and he asked us to check Mayer website, which we did and thought we will be getting a wok plus a kitchen utensil set. Terence sms-ed him giving him the exact model number and asked if that is the one, yet no reply.

So when Jason called, I asked about the free gift. He told me it is only a kitchen utensil set and there is no wok. Well, I gave him the benefit of doubts that Terence interprets it wrongly that there is a wok, so I didn't asked Jason. I just checked with Terence and he said he is very sure Jason did mention there is a wok. I am very disappointed with Jason.

Anyway, I told Jason I dun like the utensil set and it only worth $3X and asked if I can change for something else. He told me that the supplier only have this free gift, then I said they will always have free gift to give on road shows, and he said, they have stop giving free gift and will not be giving any more.

So the impression he gave me is that he cannot give me any other free gift because there are no more free gifts.

Then he said when I sign the contract, the promotion for the free gift is over and he is giving me out of his goodwill. I got so irritated because he repeated this many times. And he also said the value of this gift and the cutlery set is the same, but I asked him how can it be the same when one is worth $100 and another $3X. He didn't want to answer my question and keep repeating the goodwill thingy. It is only when I keep repeating my question to him, then later on he admit it is his mistake in saying the value is the same.

In the end I got so fed-up and said, "Ok I got no choice right? Since I got no choice, then I just have to take whatever free gift you want to give me!" Him, being sensitive also... is not happy that I used the word "no choice", then he repeated that it is out of goodwill and that he got no choice too bla bla bla I cannot stand it then I said "Ok, I got no choice and you got no choice so I can only take this free gift." Then I added on that if next time his company is giving other free gift, I will assume that he is telling a lie because he told me his company will not be giving any more free gifts. He get worked up or maybe worried and then he tried to twist his words! He said even if you go Harvey Norman buy things also not like this. He said I should understand that when I sign up for the contract, there is no free gift and he is giving me out of goodwill. yah, goodwill again! I told him that of course I understand that I will not be eligible for the next promotion but this is not what he told me earlier on. The fact is that he told me the company will not be giving any more free gifts!

Then he tell me he is not wrong because the company is not giving any more free gift, this kind of free gift is given by supplier. I told him I wouldn't know all these, and he said it is always in this case. Come on, how would a customer know if the free gift is given by the company or the supplier? He said the free gift is from Mayer and obviously is from the supplier, but I told him his company can buy from Mayer and give it away to the customer... he told me this will never be the case. I got so fed-up and told him, how would I know? I don't work in any renovation company or even service line, how would a customer know if free gift is given by company or supplier?

What I am angry is that he twists his words, or maybe not twists, he plays around with his words misleading me but yet still insist that he is not wrong? He said he did not mean it that way in the first place. I told him this is the impression you gave me when you reply me.

And he keep on explaining he cannot give me the cutlery set because his supplier dun have and bla bla bla but this is not the issue anymore. The issue now is I feel that he twist his words, saying one thing now and another later on. He said he is not wrong, saying that was the impression that I gave him when I asked him that question: (I said they will always have free gift to give on road shows, and he said, they have stop giving free gift and will not be giving any more.) and what he answered is facts.

He insists that I am forcing him to give me the cutlery set which is not true actually. Well, he still doesn't understand why I am angry and said I am unhappy because he couldn't give me the free gift. Then I said "We really got communicate problem, if such a small matter also like this then how to work together?" He asked me so what I want which I replied saying I will just engage him to do the kitchen. Then he suggested that he can refund my deposit, reason being he wants his customer to be happy and then he went on and on to sell himself. He said if I go to other company they wun even let me take back the refunds, and said if you asked that same question to other IDs, they still will reply you the same way I reply you, and he say he already did his job and is doing his best in service already and he said I am hurt, but he is hurt too. =_=" I clarify that I did not said he did not do a job and he said this is the impression I gave him.

I told him that when i asked that question, he should have just told me i am not eligible and not say there is no free gift. He said he wouldn't know how deep i expect his answers to be and what he answered is right and is the fact! Then he bring up the Havrvey Norman story again.

He even accidentally said that to different customer he need to use different tactic to reply and how he know how i will react if he told me "No, i can't give you the free gift cos' you wun be eligible for it anymore." I told him, he do need to use any tactic on me, can just tell me I am not eligible for it will do. Then he eat back his words and said, "Oh I mean not tactic, is just the way of talking and replying."

Anyway, I told him I will discuss with Terence on whether to refund and get back to him and he is fine with it.