This is KX-Unit’s Official Press Release in tandem with the recent report by the Straits Times on 10th July, 2016, regarding our clients, Mr Matthew Alan and his wife, and Renovation Firm Sense Ideas Design. Our clients had engaged Sense Ideas Design last December to renovate their 3-room apartment with renovation works slated to start in January 2016. Even though Sense Ideas Design had requested for an advance payment of $63,000 (90% of the supposed renovation costs), they failed in completing the renovation works as agreed, having only completed about 10% of the renovation works.

Our clients had engaged the renovation firm last year to renovate their new apartment so that they would be able to move in early this year. They chanced upon the firm on forums and saw good reviews, prompting them to engage the firm. The period was difficult for our clients as they were making arrangement for their for their relatives abroad to come over, and for their arrival of their first newborn. Their decision to advance the payment to Sense Ideas upon their request was contrary to industry norms of progressive payment. They had justified the need for advance payments for raw materials and labour costs. However, this amount were already factored in the initial payment.

In a bid to free up bandwidth for their wedding arrangements, our clients relented to the requests from the renovation firm. In addition, our clients were on a tight schedule to move into their new apartment as their rental lease was expiring and they did not want to further delay the process. However, Sense Ideas Design not only failed to complete the renovation works, they also failed to inform our client that they were greatly behind schedule. When our clients went down to check on the state of the apartment, they were shocked to see that it was left as minimal work was done and the state of apartment is similar to it was four months ago. The new lightings, wooden beams, marble tiles, wirings, etc. were still kept in their bundles and packages, placed in the middle of the unit. The apartment was not liveable.

Our clients frantic attempts to extend their existing rental lease were also rejected as the landlord already had a new incoming tenant. Nonetheless, our client got no other alternatives and went on with their plans. They were disappointed once again to find out that Sense Ideas Design had refused to meet them to discuss about re-paying the 90% renovation sum that they had taken. Emails to the renovation firm’s point of contact went unanswered, and missed-calls were not reutrned. Visits to the company were also futile.

When our clients finally received a call from the firm, our clients were told that the firm had no money to repay them and that they intended to repay the amount to them for $500 per month. This timeframe was challenging for our clients as they have had to find another renovator to take over the renovation works, and the money initially allocated for the work would take almost a decade to be recovered.

As the case is on-going, KX-Unit will continue to assist our clients in the recovery of their renovation sum with utmost professionalism. At KX-Unit, we seek to serve the best interests of our clients. We have done so, and we will continue to do so. You can contact us at +65 6291 3656 or +65 8112 7790 or email KX-Unit at enquiries@KX-Unit.com for any queries on the case or information about our services.

(http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/couple-left-in-a-fix-after-paying-63000-for-renovation-works)