When I was informed that they wanted to renovate a commercial space, I immediately backed out and got my colleague to serve them instead, which she did and after an hour of consultation, my colleague walked them out and then came up to me and ask me if I was interested to come up with a design proposal for that commercial space since design wasn't really her strongest suite and also because she didn't have a lot of time to prepare the proposal. The idea of just coming up with the design and nothing else is pretty much my dream job, I hate the project coordination portion of Interior Design, so I agreed to her request under the condition that I will purely be in charge of the design aspect of it and that is it, she will handle all the nitty gritty renovation stuff.
I came up with a proposal within an hour and then passed it to her, the following week, she meets up with the clients, goes through the design proposal and they were very impress with the design, but they decided not to go forward with my company because they felt that the price was too high for them, so they told my colleague that they will be engaging another designer instead and that was that, the price my colleague prepared for them was pretty much non-negotiable because if you do not want a cookie cutter design, then be prepared to pay the price to achieve that look.
About a week after the rejection, surprise surprise, the clients actually messaged back and decided they wanted to engage my colleague after all, it was really out of the blue because the last time they messaged my colleague, they told her they will be engaging another Interior Designer, and then all of a sudden they are back again? We didn't think too much about it and were just happy that the project was clinched.
They were still a little tight on cash, so my original design was altered to fit their budget by my colleague and I really didn't like the final result because a lot of what made the space looked good in my opinion was removed, like a concrete wall that was meant to give texture to an otherwise flat looking space, and instead of painting all the walls with stripes like I had originally envisioned, only one wall was painted and the others were left stark white, which ended up making the place look half done and really cheap, but the clients didn't really have too much of an issue with it because for them, budget was more important than the overall aesthetics I guess, which also makes me wonder how bland were the designs proposed the other interior designers they visited.
The project finally starts and in my company, we have a very strict payment policy, the renovation itself can only commence once the client has paid 50% of the total renovation fees, this is a policy that is pretty much practiced by any legit Interior Design firms in Singapore, and after the owner has paid up 95% of the entire renovation fee, then we can do proceed to actually complete the entire renovation and really finish up the space. These clients told my colleague that they were tight on cash, so they can't make the 50% payment yet, but requested for the renovation works to start first because they had to make sure the place was done in time for them to operate 2 months later. My colleague took pity on them,so she proceeded to arrange all the renovation works with the contractors without informing our finance side.
At this stage, if the company found out about this, they will have the right to cease all the works and my colleague would have gotten into trouble, but fortunately for her, this wasn't brought to the company's attention until much later on when the client finally paid up, but it wasn't even 50%, they only paid about 30% and claimed that once their other shop closes, they will have the money to pay up.
This dragged on for a while and then when the carpentry was finally done and the clients were suppose to pay up to 95% of the renovation fee, same excuses again, that they still didn't have the money and couldn't pay up the full amount, so they just paid up to 80% and my colleague proceeded with the carpentry installation, once again out of pity and goodwill.
During this period, my colleague would reach out to the clients and ask them to pay up till the 95% because the company had found out about it and was already pressuring her , but the clients would come up with the same excuse, that they didn't have enough cash on hand and requested her to give them a bit more time, and it was this constant back and forth until finally one day, the clients suddenly had a change of tune and decided to play the "workmanship is unacceptable" card and it is just fucking disgusting the way they were nitpicking on even the smallest issues.
First issue that they brought up to my colleague was about a power trip cause by bad electrical works.
1. Power Trip
According to them, when they turn on one of their mini fridges, it would short-circuit the entire shop, and they blamed it on the bad wiring done by the electricians. The problem is the shop's electrical works has already been approved by the shopping center management, there was zero issue during the inspection so there was no way it was due to bad wiring, all the power outlets were tested prior and it just didn't make any sense. The client even went and told my colleague that they got the "fridge" supplier down to inspect and the supplier told them it was due to the bad electrical works.
I told my colleague that it was pointless for her to solve the issue on her own, and it would be best to ask the clients to arrange a date for the electrician and the fridge supplier to meet, this way, the 2 experts can really determine what was actually causing the short circuit, and she did, but then a few days later, the clients suddenly said the supplier couldn't make it and they had to cancel the appointment with the electrician.
The electrician and the supplier never met, the shop is currently in operations, I am guessing that means the fridge is also working fine in order for the shop to be operational, and so far, there hasn't been any short circuit, the fridge issue has not been brought up since. My colleague and I then came to the conclusion that the "supplier" was completely made up, the clients didn't get anyone down to check their fridge, they were blatantly lying about being told that by the supplier that it was bad wiring.
 |
| Liar Liar |
2. Bad Carpentry Workmanship.
After unsuccessfully finding fault with the electrical works, they decided to set their sights on finding issue with the carpentry work.
So for their place, what I had proposed in my design was to do suspended shelving that would act as tables, where customers could sit down and place their bags and drinks on, it wasn't meant to be a heavy duty table, and this was reiterated by my colleagues to them multiple times.
Nothing heavy was to be placed on the shelving tables because it is not meant to be used for heavy items. They went to put 2 safe deposit boxes on it.
2 SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES.
And then they have the audacity to message my colleague and tell her that the shelving are bending due to poor workmanship, and then accuse my colleague that they weren't inform about not putting heavy items on it.
They then requested for the shelving to be removed, which I don't think they meant and was trying to force my colleague to settle with a monetary compensation instead, but then my colleague agreed to it and got the carpenter down to actually dismantle the shelving, so they no longer have the built in shelve cum table, which is great, except for the shameless fact that the client then requested for a refund for that shelving.
Extremely disgusting individuals.
My colleague has since given up on this project and requested for another colleague to take over because she just couldn't handle the clients anymore and as far as I am aware, that other colleague is also currently going through the same shit as her, with new issues being brought up and the best fucking line the clients said to that other colleague was...
"I don't know what I did to deserve this from you guys, I don't think we have underpaid you for the renovation works."
FUCK YOU! You only paid 80% when you are suppose to have paid 95%! THAT IS UNDERPAYING! And then the earlier sentence about being undeserving of going through their current predicament.
It is just really disgusting how ungrateful these 2 clients are, after all the help my colleague offered them, the discounts she ended up giving, starting the renovation work before they have made the proper payment to ensure they can operate their business in time, this is how they show their gratitude.
2 Fucking Ingrates.
Right now, everyone who is aware of this 2 pieces of shit at work are theorizing that they are stirring up all this shitstorm to void their final 20% payment and also to get even more refund.
GROSS!
Before starting the renovation, I was still joking with my colleague that we should be getting special discounts whenever we get drinks from the shop, but looking at the current state of the working relationship, fuck no am I ever going to support their business.
No comments:
Post a Comment