Journey to find an ID (2) - Our Review

Following my 1st post on our ID search, here’s the 2nd post, jumping straight into our “reviews” of the experiences.

(note: there will be part 3! Where we met with IDs that people we knew recommended, & also our tips accumulated after going through this screening process)

1️⃣

• middle aged male designer was assigned

• initial meeting took 3 hours (he claimed it’s because it’s our first so he has to explain many things…)

• kept trying to use emotional blackmail “jokingly” by saying all the prospective clients who see him as the first ID never signed with him 🚩

• dismissive: of 10 things I raised with him, 8/9 of them he’d respond (in mandarin), “let me tell you, don’t do” to the point where I almost asked him if that’s his house or mine 🚩

• ideas and proposed designs were pretty dated & not what we even wanted, as if he just wanted to do what he wants instead of listen and work with us

• some of the things he mentioned were helpful, relating to practical items e.g. placement of gas pipe but also cos he’s the first one we met so he had to explain

2️⃣

• older more experienced male designer paired with a very quiet young lady

• he said that they would both be a part of the project but she never spoke up during the meetings, only texted us administrative things

• male senior was much more professional than ID 1, & seemed to know how to talk & present his design ideas

• experience was overall pleasant otherwise

• on 2nd meeting he asked about our occupations while going through quotation (we’re not comfortable with this so 🚩)

all designers need to start somewhere & pairing with a senior seems like a good idea. However from a consumer standpoint it’s difficult to trust if this wasn’t clearly stated at the beginning. Or if there’s no clear communication on how the work is going to be split.)

3️⃣

• V famous firm

• Obviously inexperienced junior designer was assigned to us

• didn’t instill confidence, couldn’t answer some questions & didn’t seem like he knew much about design

• at one point he even needed to grab a colleague to answer a question when we met in his showroom

• He didn’t even know where the sample catalogue was at… 🚩🚩

• 🚩🚩🚩 he point blank asked us about our occupations. Unlike ID 2 who only asked in passing because we were chatting on the 2nd meeting & after quotation was given, ID 3 striked us as opportunistic & we expected him to try to fleece us

true enough on the 2nd meeting, the quotation was way higher for works lesser than what the first 2 IDs quoted us for

• we tried to cut certain items further & it was still super high. For no hacking of walls, no works done to 2 BRs, 2 toilets. You can draw your own conclusion…

4️⃣

• Last to contact us

• original designer assigned made us wait for 20-30 mins when we went down to the showroom as she was still meeting prior client (right beside us) 🚩🚩

• a younger designer came to attend to us, saying that she will now be on the project (???) 🚩

• so the entire meeting we never met nor spoke to the original assigned designer

• because the new designer was dragged in last min, naturally she wasn’t prepared & the meeting only lasted 10-15mins as she said she needed time to think about ideas🚩

• impression was that this firm is super busy & didn’t seemed to be able to handle their projects in an organised manner

• oh I forgot — we were even locked outside the showroom for 15 mins because the original assigned designer probably forgot she scheduled to meet us on the same day she was meeting other clients lol

• Final quotation given on 2nd meeting (both were present) was pretty low, with a proposed layout that was fairly refreshing. There was even hacking so we wondered how it was so cheap…

5️⃣

Only received a phone call. Upon hearing that our project will only be completed in 1-1.5 years, the guy just said they’ll contact me nearer the date and promptly hung up the phone.

Didn’t feel very comfortable with them.

SHORT CONCLUSION?

• while we were glad to have started the journey by meeting a few designers, the experience to endure was mostly unpleasant

• sure, you gain some insights & basic ideas about renovating your first home. But we’re not sure this is the best way to begin

• this industry is difficult to trust. Even ID 2 which we initially quite liked, we realised on hindsight the 🚩🚩 present

I’ll discuss the IDs that people we knew had engaged & recommended to us next!