The Ultimate List of Interior Designers To Avoid In Singapore

$55,000 an average cost of renovating a HDB flat

According to Consumers Association of Singapore, complaints involving contractors (renovation and interior design) take up 8% of the total complaints in the year 2017.

This percentage could have been higher given that a lot of such cases usually go unreported.

With renovation being one of the large ticket items for Singaporean couples, a trustworthy interior designing contractor is important. In the first 7 months of the year 2017, a total contract value of $8,420,000 was received over renovation complaints.

The ultimate list of interior designers to avoid in Singapore

To come out with the ultimate list, we combined the list we found on SMRT Feedback with that on Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).

If you are looking to get a package from any of the contractor in the list below, do think twice.

Further reading: How to spot a renovation scam?

The sad part about renovation scams is the long process before it gets reported.

• A victim needs to first recognise that he has been scammed. This process usually takes up months before the realisation kicks.
• Usually, quite a huge amount of money is involved which means a troublesome process for the victim in hope of recouping his loss through various means.

By the time a scam got reported, a few other victims would have fallen for the scam by the same ” interior company”.

Types of renovation scams

There are a few common scam methods being adopted these days:

• Work not done after initial payment, with work falling short of what was promised. When victims grew anxious about the completion deadline of their home, the contractor demanded further payment.
• Interior designers falling to provide the promised service after payment.
• Provides an attractive renovation package, but materials used were not of the promised quality.
• There are also cases where interior designers disappeared after the first payment was made.

What can consumers look out for?

As mentioned in one of our interviews with 4 interior design experts, here are some things we can lookout for.

• It is important to research the credentials and history of the interior designer that you will be using, before making your first payment.
• While cheaper packages may seem attractive, it usually comes with a price. One of such is the compromising of quality of the materials used.
• It is important to set a realistic budget and educate yourself on the information on sales and promotions before heading out to search for an interior designer.
• Usually getting a quotation from a few interior designers is necessary. If a package appears too good to be true, it probably is.
• The most one should be paying is a 20% deposit at most. If the interior designer is asking for a percentage such as 50%, maybe it is time to think twice.