Home renovation hiccups
Mistakes happen, but some firms could have handled it better
Note: This post may seem like a personal rant instead of the latest tech happenings in Singapore. Feel free to skip.
Imagine your TV console resting upside down in your newly-renovated living room like a beached whale. And all because the screws that came with the TV console were not the right ones, which meant that the installers couldn’t set it up. Thank god I had planned to wall-mount my TCL TV, which was coming later that day, so that shouldn’t be a total disaster, right?
Well, except that when the TV arrived, it turned out that the installers brought the wrong type of wall mount, one that was inferior and cheaper than the one I had paid for. That’s how I ended up with the scene pictured above. At least the sofa, which, like the TV console, was bought from local furniture brand Castlery, was great. It was soft and so easy to sink into.
So how did the companies fix the mistakes? Castlery had a WhatsApp chat that responded promptly. By the next day, I could pick a new time slot for the replacement team to come and fix the TV console. But the earliest slot was 10 days later, which I found unacceptable. After my wife insisted on an earlier time slot, Castlery eventually moved it forward by four days. However, it still meant having the TV console taking up a big chunk of the living room for almost a week.
As for the TV, the installers came back the next day with the correct wall mount. Problem solved.
But there’s more. You see, I had also bought two standing desks from local brand Ulti at the IT Show in March. We had tested their monitor arm some time ago, and I had found their Sonos Era 300 stands affordable and easy to set up. So I thought I try Ulti’s standing desks instead of one from the usual brands like Omnidesk and Secretlab.
Now, I needed the desks in late April for my new place, and I was reassured that they would be delivered by then. There wasn’t any confirmation email, though, which should have been a red flag. All I had was my receipt from the IT Show, which had a WhatsApp contact. On 1st April, I pinged the WhatsApp number and asked about the desks. I was told that they will be delivered from mid April onwards.
Come mid April, and I contacted Ulti’s WhatsApp again to arrange the delivery date. All this while, I was yet to receive a confirmed date. Once again, there was no date, just that it was possible to deliver on my desired date (April 23). A few days before April 23, I checked with Ulti again. That’s when I was informed that the shipment was delayed till April 29 to 30, with deliveries scheduled from the first week of May.
So there I was in my new home, working from a loan laptop (thanks Honor) because I didn’t have a desk for my desktop PC. But I did finally have a delivery slot (May 7 from 3 to 6pm). Alas, there was one last delay. On May 7, around 6pm, I contacted Ulti again, and was informed of another delay. Instead, the desks would be delivered the next morning at 11am.
Some delays are unavoidable, but where Ulti dropped the ball is the communications. I was always the one asking for updates. The company never once reached out. Until after the delivery where I got an apology over WhatsApp for the delay and a link to leave a photo review of the desks on Google for an extra two years of warranty. Suffice to say, I won’t be recommending Ulti to anyone I know.
On the flip side, I would highly recommend Number One Lighting on Shopee. Kudos to the person manning the chat for helping me pick the right replacement remote control for a ceiling fan. And all for a product that costs S$50. I also had a good experience with Brandt’s aftersales service. When my new Brandt dishwasher froze up, the company sent a technician to fix the problem the next day.
And a final shoutout to my interior designer and contractor Edwin Foo from Visual Dreams. He’s not the cheapest in the business, but he’s responsive, quick to rectify issues, proactive with updates, and doesn’t nickel-and-dime you with loads of add-ons as the renovation progresses.
In the bigger scheme of things, these hiccups aren’t that serious. At least there weren’t any costly or permanent mistakes that I have to live with for the foreseeable future. I’ll call that a win.
This week, we checked out the unique but extremely pricey Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo dual-screen gaming laptop, tried out the Belkin BoostCharge Pro Power Bank 10K, and sat for hours on the Ikea Bästboll gaming chair.
The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo is not for everyone. For one, it’s priced at an eye-watering S$11,699. This gets you a unique dual-screen laptop that’s adept at both work and play. You get a productivity boost from the two screens, which also enable several other usage modes. Meanwhile, the laptop is equipped with flagship-tier gaming hardware. It’s definitely a niche product, but it’s also one of a kind.
The Belkin BoostCharge Pro Power Bank 10K is not the cheapest (S$169), but it does help Apple users travel light since it has an integrated cable and can charge your iPhone and the Apple Watch at the same time (up to 45W total). Its 10,000mAh capacity is good for around 1.7 times for an iPhone 16 Pro. There’s even a nice digital display to tell you whether it's charging and the amount of charge remaining.
If you’re shopping for a gaming chair that’s perfect for Singapore’s humid weather, consider the Ikea Bästboll. It has an all-mesh and aluminium design that’s both sturdy and cooling. It also rivals more established gaming chair brands when it comes to the level of adjustment offered to users. And it’s reasonably priced, too, at S$499.