We went for one of those Expo home and furnishing fairs as there was a high concentration of IDs under one roof. The Purple Dino wanted to cut down on some legwork you see..
Baroque @Expo & Joo Chiat
Feedback: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1017
This is one of the more frequent names in the Renotalk forum at that time, and pricing was supposed to be more ok.
At the Expo show, we talked to a lady who sat us down and started scribbling on a blank piece of A4 paper on what we wanted. Punching some numbers, she gave the quotation on
the spot. She didn't give much feedback and was just 'orh orh orh'ing' all the time. Our conclusion: general lack of interest in our business.
After going back and giving the forums some more reading, we decided to give them another chance and dropped by their HQ at Joo Chiat after our appointment at Rezt & Relax.
Andy was more convincing and was able to produce a printed quotation after a week or so. He was able to give some feedback, but only when asked. We heard that his colleague
Lawrence (or something) was one of the more popular ones around, but he wasn't free on the day we walked in.
The best thing about Baroque? Andy passed us a quotation of electrical works pricing (e.g. how much each lighting point costs, new cable TV point etc). which we thought
was reasonable. It became our benchmark for price comparison and has it's own place in our Reno Folder.
Rating: 3.5/2.5/2/3.5/?
Orange Cube @Expo & Kaki Bukit
Feedback: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8542
Actual: http://odielim.blogspot.com/
http://gnmrenovation.blogspot.com
Their booth was nice, with various modern themes decked in daring colours. Their displays inspired us to have our own "cozy corner", a place to relax, read a book, listen
to soothing music while lounging on a comfortable seat..
We talked to David, a rather young chap who was eager to show off his ideas and some designs he and his colleagues have done.
David was the one who gave the idea for using two rows of parallel wardrobes to create the WIW. The display at Expo also left our mouths watering for a cozy settee in our
new home.
On the flipside, he urged us to pay a deposit to secure this
"special package" at Expo, which we turned down right away. We have decided that we should never rush into any deals especially if it involves a big sum of money and
smooth talking salespersons. Nevertheless, we decided to drop by their HQ at Kaki Bukit to view the quotation David will be doing up.
Orange cube had a nice showroom in Kaki Bukit. Spacious and bright, the design really reflects the name of the company. Seems that they like to use bright colours.
Having done some homework in between our initial meeting @Expo and here, we learnt that their lead designer Amos was well received, and that we had friend (Mr Machine Gun) who
had utilised his services just some months ago and found their work satisfactory.
However, the initial pricing came up to be the highest we've seen so far! $42k excluding GST!
Despite David coming back on several attempts: waiving off GST, offering free System 3 (and then System 4) aircon from Mitsubishi/Daikin, further discounts etc, we still
felt that pricing was on the high side after striking off some of the nice-to-haves. Having analysed the breakdown from the quotation, their windows and wetworks (floor tiles,
cement bases etc) were highest in all that we have compared. Conclusion: Mr Machine Gun must be rich..kekeke..
Rating: 1/3/4/2.5/3
Vogue Design Place @Expo & Balestier
Feedback: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11702
Actual: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=209&&st=160
Their young staff invited us into their booth, but a more senior person took over. Mr Jimmy sounded like he knew his stuff, as he emphasised that he had started
off as a carpenter and had more than 10 years of experience under his belt at several "more famous" ID firms. He drew a basic layout, listened to what we wanted and made
practical suggestions. Subsequently we were to meet him at his HQ at Balestier a week after.
Going back, we were unable to find any references to the firm at all in the forums (later on we did though, and though it didn't look good with some complaints). Purple Dino
was also concerned that it was not listed in HDB/RADAC's list of licensed contractors (but ironic..see more recent posts). However, the quote that Jimmy gave us was quite
competitive and we were able to redo our toilets (see post here) within our budget. The showroom
was also nicely done up with a dark cozy theme with a dash of goth.
Amongst all the IDs we had one of the most interaction with Jimmy, and we met him no lesser than 4-5 times. He also offered to show us some of the units he had just completed. He brought us to the tileshops along Balestier and gave his recommendations on some of the tiles.
In the end, what made us drop Vogue? Well, the place that was recently done up and shown to us killed this firm from our shortlist. We didn't like the carpentry workmanship, and although Jimmy had said that the place was close to the theme we were looking for, it wasn't. It felt antiquated and cramped (but that could be partly due to the tiny 4 room layout of the new Punggol unit). It dawned upon us that maybe the firm will be unable to convey our ideas well enough. Sorry Jimmy, you tried hard, but we just didn't bite.Note: Even after we dropped Vogue, Jimmy was nice enough to drop us a note that he has since left Vogue and joined another firm. Kudos to his professionalism and patience.
Rating: 4/4/2/3/2
Rezt & Relax @Expo & Joo Chiat
Feedback: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1093
It was only after we turned back to walk through the Expo booths one more time that we came to sit down at Rezt & Relax. The booth was appealing in its "arty" and mysterious feel.
It did feel like there was some thought that have gone into the design. Rezt & Relax felt expensive and "class" alright..
However, the person who attended to us (no offense intended) felt like a "lao beng" to us. hahaha..How contradicting!
After hearing our inputs, we were invited to their HQ @Joo Chiat. Upon entering their dark, industrial-feel office, there were rows of newspaper and magazine cuttings displayed,
apparently some accolades from the media. (hmm..but some are from the evening tabloids wor.. that would explain the "Bengish" relationships.. :P)
Lao Beng probably felt that we would not give them much to earn, as he has delegated a rather young (barely-out-of-poly young) man named Max to serve us.
Max had some nifty ideas but they were expensive ones. At the end of the day, Rezt and Relax's quotation wasn't as expensive as Orange Cube's, solely because we dropped so many
items off to make the numbers reasonable. Otherwise we would have no doubt that if an apples-to-apples comparison was made, R&R was the most expensive of the lot.
Rating: 1/1/2/2/?
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